News in Brief
Erdogan defies predictions of political demise
REUTERS – President Recep Tayyip Erdogan defied forecasts of his political demise in Turkey’s elections, rallying voters with a potent mix of religious conservatism and nationalism that looks set to propel his rule into a third decade on Sunday.
Though he has yet to clinch victory – Erdogan must first beat Kemal Kilicdaroglu in Sunday’s runoff – his momentum has only grown since he emerged with a solid lead in the first round on May 14, and analysts fully expect him to win.
Russia says its border regions attacked
AP – Russia’s southern Belgorod region bordering Ukraine came under attack Friday from Ukrainian artillery fire, mortar shells and drones, authorities said, hours after two drones struck a Russian city in an area next to the reunited Crimea Peninsula.
Moscow’s forces, meanwhile, struck a building containing psychology and veterinary clinics in the city of Dnipro, in Ukraine, killing two people and wounding 30, Ukrainian officials said.
Sweden
a European hub for drug smuggling
AFP – A port in southern Sweden has become a European hub for cocaine being smuggled from South America to the continent, Swedish customs warned Friday following several large drug seizures this year.
Swedish customs agents have seized 867 kilograms of cocaine at the Helsingborg port since the beginning of this year, the customs agency said, compared with the 822 kilograms seized in the whole of Sweden last year. Including seizures abroad destined for Helsingborg, a total of 1.3 tonnes of cocaine had been seized since September 2022.