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☆ Kentucky Republicans to choose challenger to Democratic Governor Beshear
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-16 | by ( Joseph Ax | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

May 16 (Reuters) - Republican voters in Kentucky were casting ballots on Tuesday to choose their party's challenger to Democratic Governor Andy Beshear, setting up one of the most closely watched elections of the year. The winner will face Beshear, who enjoys high approval ratings despite being a Democrat in a strongly Republican state, in the November general election. Trump won Kentucky in the 2020 election against Democrat Joe Biden by more than 25 percentage points. While Cameron has Trump's official endorsement, other candidates have sought to claim the mantle of Trump's "Make America Great Again" movement. One Republican challenger, Stephen Knipper, has echoed Trump's false claims that the 2020 election was rigged and endorsed conspiracy theories about voting machines.

☆ Turkish Election Goes to Runoff After Erdogan Takes Lead in First Round
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Jared Malsin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan will face opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the second round of the presidential election on May 28. WSJ’s Jared Malsin explains what’s at stake. Photo: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty ImagesISTANBUL—Turkey will hold a runoff presidential election later this month, officials said Monday, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan emerging from this weekend’s polls with a surprise advantage over his main challenger in a vote with far-ranging domestic and geopolitical implications. Mr. Erdogan won 49.51% and his opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu had 44.88% in the first round of the election on Sunday, with all of the votes counted, according to the head of the Turkish Supreme Election Council.

☆ Erdogan Ahead of Challenger as Turkey Appears Headed for Runoff Election
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Jared Malsin | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Supporters of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan wave flags and banners in Ankara. Photo: necati savas/ShutterstockISTANBUL—Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has emerged with a surprise advantage in a fight for his political survival, pulling ahead of his main challenger in Sunday’s election ahead of a likely runoff ballot that could have far-ranging domestic and geopolitical implications. As of Monday morning, Mr. Erdogan had won 49.40% of the votes counted so far and his opponent Kemal Kilicdaroglu had 44.96%, according to the head of the Turkish Supreme Election Council. The head of the election board said 99% of the ballot boxes had been entered into the agency’s central system.

☆ Analysis: Erdogan election showing cools Turkish turnaround hopes
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Marc Jones | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

LONDON, May 15 (Reuters) - Hopes among investors of a surge in Turkish markets evaporated on Monday after long-standing President Tayyip Erdogan took a commanding position in Turkey's elections. "Hope is dead," Abrdn's head of emerging market local currency debt Kieran Curtis said of the prospects for Erdogan's main challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu and meaningful policy change. Monday's initial market reaction had seen the Turkish lira dip to 2-month low alongside more pronounced drops in banking shares and hard currency government bonds. "A continuity of policies would argue for low FX volatility," JPMorgan added, as Erdogan's economic team would look to limit the changes and FX volatility. Reuters GraphicsAdditional reporting by Libby George and Karin Strohecker; Editing by Alexander SmithOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Erdogan's milestones as Turkey faces May 28 runoff vote
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

[1/2] Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan greets supporters at the AK Party headquarters in Ankara, Turkey May 15, 2023. August 2001: He establishes the Justice and Development Party, or AK Party (AKP), and is elected chairman. November 2002: The AKP wins elections with nearly 35% of votes after the worst economic slump since the 1970s, promising to break with past mismanagement and recessions. June 2018: Erdogan wins snap presidential elections. Though his popularity has suffered due to a cost-of-living crisis, Erdogan wins more votes than his rival but falls short of the 50% threshold needed to win in the first round, teeing up a May 28 runoff.

☆ What’s Next for Turkey?
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Justin Porter | Jonathan Wolfe | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Although he fell just short of an outright majority, with 49.5 percent of the vote, signs point strongly to yet another Erdogan victory in two weeks. A third candidate, Sinan Ogan, received 5.2 percent, and his right-wing supporters are likely to vote for Erdogan in the runoff, analysts say. Erdogan’s party and its allies also maintained a commanding majority in the parliamentary vote after stepping up nationalist rhetoric. However, my colleague Ben Hubbard reported that Erdogan’s failure to secure an outright majority this weekend indicated that some voters had grown tired of his financial management and drastic consolidation of power. Turkey has been struggling with a sinking currency and painful inflation that exceeded 80 percent last year.

☆ Four Takeaways from Turkey’s Nail-Biting Presidential Election
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Gulsin Harman | Ben Hubbard | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Turkey’s nail-biter election on Sunday made clear that the people’s faith in the country’s electoral system remains strong and that the incumbent, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is still a formidable political force, despite his failure to secure a first-round victory. A runoff is likely to be held on May 28 after preliminary results showed Mr. Erdogan with 49.4 percent of votes and his main challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, with 45 percent, according to the state-run Anadolu news agency. Mr. Erdogan, who has led Turkey for 20 years, appeared to be in a strong position to emerge with another five-year term. Before the vote, most polls suggested a slight lead for Mr. Kilicdaroglu, the joint candidate of a newly formed alliance of six opposition parties. But the preliminary results showed the enduring appeal and influence of Mr. Erdogan.

☆ Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis looks nearly ready to launch his White House bid
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Ron DeSantis speaks during an Iowa GOP reception on May 13, 2023 in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Ron DeSantis appears to be putting the final pieces in place before he announces a bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. The move, which NBC News reported Friday, is expected to essentially kick off DeSantis' final sprint before he publicly announces his presidential bid. Griffin is becoming the press secretary for the DeSantis political operation, according to Fox News, which first reported the move. Some experts expect the Florida governor's supporters to make that move around the same time DeSantis announces his White House bid.

☆ Turkey faces unprecedented election runoff after Erdogan looks unlikely to win outright
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan attend a rally ahead of the May 14 presidential and parliamentary elections, in Istanbul, Turkey, on May 12, 2023. Turkey's presidential election could be headed for an unprecedented runoff, as neither 20-year incumbent Recep Tayyip Erdogan nor challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu had secured an outright win Monday morning. A candidate must get more than 50% of the vote to win the highly-charged race. If no one passes that threshold, the vote goes to a runoff election in the coming weeks. Whereas Kilicdaroglu, who is representing a united front of six different opposition parties all seeking to unseat Erdogan, vowed to win the election in a second round of voting.

☆ Erdogan’s Grip on Power Is Dented but Not Broken, Vote Shows
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Ben Hubbard | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

His government was accused of botching its response to catastrophic earthquakes that killed more than 50,000 people just three months ago. Despite all of that, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan came out with a lead over his main challenger in Turkish elections, according to official results released on Monday. With nearly all of the ballots counted on Monday, official preliminary results gave Mr. Erdogan 49.5 percent of the vote versus 44.9 percent for his main challenger, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu. A third candidate, Sinan Ogan, received 5.2 percent, and his right-wing supporters are more likely to vote for Mr. Erdogan in the runoff, analysts say. Finally, Mr. Erdogan’s party and its allies maintained a commanding majority in the parliamentary vote, likely further increasing his ability to be re-elected.

[1/5] Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan greets supporters at the AK Party headquarters in Ankara, Turkey May 15, 2023. His six-party alliance did not attract as many nationalist voters as expected, partly due to support for Kilicdaroglu's candidacy from a large pro-Kurdish party, the officials said. Both Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu are expected to meet Ogan in person in the coming days. Given their conservative views, Erdogan and Ogan are seen as easier allies, even though the president's alliance includes a small Islamist Kurdish party that Ogan also opposes. "His motto will be: if you vote for Kilicdaroglu he will be a lame duck," said another senior opposition official who acknowledged a tough road ahead.

☆ We identified the 112 top executives at Warner Bros. Discovery under CEO David Zaslav as the year-old company takes aim at Netflix and Disney
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Claire Atkinson | Lucia Moses | Taylor Tyson | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Warner Bros. One year after Discovery acquired WarnerMedia, WBD CEO David Zaslav faces economic headwinds and an ad slump. Insider mapped out the 112 most powerful people under Zaslav leading WBD film and TV studios, HBO, CNN, and more. One year after the merger that created Warner Bros. While Kathleen Finch has joined the mix with her portfolio of Discovery channels, top TV execs from the WarnerMedia regime — HBO's Casey Bloys and Warner Bros. TV studios chief Channing Dungey — are still in place.

We are experiencing the result of this marathon with you tonight," Erdogan, 69, told thousands of flag-waving supporters from the balcony of his party's headquarters. But Erdogan, a veteran of a dozen election victories, emerged comfortably ahead of Kilicdaroglu, though just short of the majority needed to win. The outcome reflects the strong support Erdogan still commands, especially in religiously conservative regions where voters long felt marginalised by a once-dominant secular elite. Over two decades, Erdogan has redrawn Turkey's domestic, economic, security and foreign policy, rivalling historic leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk who founded modern Turkey a century ago. Erdogan's government said the purge was justified by threats from coup supporters, as well as Islamic State and the PKK.

☆ Vietnam’s Tesla debuts with wrong kind of power
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Anshuman Daga | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Vietnam’s richest man is taking his electric-vehicle company, VinFast, public at a punchy valuation through a merger with casino mogul Lawrence Ho’s special-purpose acquisition company. The tie-up with Black Spade Acquisition Co (BSAQ.N) means VinFast doesn’t have to wait for the market for initial public offerings to improve to make its debut. The SPAC deal values VinFast at 42 times its sales in 2022, a stunning seven times Tesla’s (TSLA.O) multiple and more than twice the multiple of Lucid (LCID.O). But despite the big eye-catching U.S. debut, existing investors will own 99% of the company after the deal. The merger values the Tesla challenger’s equity at $23 billion, not including the $169 million of Black Spade’s cash, and its enterprise including debt at about $27 billion.

"The winner has undoubtedly been our country," Erdogan said in a speech to cheering supporters at the headquarters of his ruling Islamist-rooted AK Party in the capital Ankara overnight. Going into the election, the opposition had sensed its best chance yet of unseating Erdogan, encouraged by polls showing him trailing his main challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu. But the results suggested Erdogan and his AK Party had been able to rally conservative voters despite a cost-of-living crisis. [1/4] Supporters of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and AK Party (AKP) gather on election night, in Istanbul, Turkey May 15, 2023. "During the campaign period ahead of the runoff, President Erdogan is likely to emphasise stability as he already retains the majority in the parliament," Dalay said.

☆ Erdogan and Challenger Appear Headed for Runoff Election in Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Jared Malsin | Elvan Kivilcim | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan will likely face opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the second round of the presidential election on May 28. Photo Composite: Diana ChanISTANBUL—Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his main challenger said they were both prepared to accept a runoff election later this month with neither candidate claiming an outright victory in a vote that marked the most severe political challenge to the Turkish leader’s two decades in power. Early results appeared to show neither Mr. Erdogan or his top challenger, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu , reached the 50% threshold required to avoid a runoff, which would take place on May 28.

☆ Voting starts in Turkey elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

ISTANBUL, May 14 (Reuters) - Turks began voting on Sunday in one of the most consequential elections in modern Turkey's 100-year history, which will decide whether President Tayyip Erdogan extends his two decades in power. Presidential and parliamentary votes are being held, deciding not only who leads Turkey, a NATO-member country of 85 million, but also how it is governed and where its economy is headed amid a deep cost of living crisis. Opinion polls give Erdogan's main challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who heads an alliance of six opposition parties, a slight lead, but if either fails to get more than 50% of the vote, there will be a runoff election on May 28. Reporting by Daren Butler; Editing by William MallardOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Nadal turns down claycourt event wildcard as French Open looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

PARIS, May 14 (Reuters) - Rafa Nadal has turned down a wildcard offer for next week's Challenger tournament in Bordeaux as the Spaniard's participation in the French Open hangs in the balance, the claycourt event director said on Sunday. Nadal has been struggling with a hip injury he suffered at the Australian Open in January, and fears the Spaniard may miss the Paris Grand Slam grew after he pulled out of this week's Italian Open. He very kindly told me that Nadal was continuing his preparation at home in Manacor, that he was not ready and was in a race against time to be ready for the French Open," Jean-Baptiste Perlant told French sports daily L'Equipe. Nadal skipped last week's Madrid Open and missed tournaments at Indian Wells, Miami, Monte Carlo and Barcelona. The French Open, which Nadal has won a record 14 times including last year, starts on May 28.

He said he came back to Antakya, the hardest hit city in the earthquake zone, with eight of his family members. They drove by car for about four hours from another southern province to vote. They cited not only the government’s response to the earthquake, but its handling of the economy in recent years, when inflation has surged. They said it was depressing to return to the earthquake zone and see that the government had only removed rubble, but taken no other discernible actions to pave the way for residents to return. That is a substantial share of the nearly nine million eligible voters in the 11 quake-affected provinces of southern Turkey.

He represents a coalition of six opposition parties that have come together to challenge Mr. Erdogan. Recent polls showed Mr. Kilicdaroglu holding a slight lead, despite Mr. Erdogan’s tapping of state resources in an effort to tilt the contest. Mr. Erdogan, 69, is viewed as a problematic and often unpredictable partner of the West. Mr. Erdogan has also vexed fellow NATO leaders by hampering the alliance’s efforts to expand, stalling Finland’s membership and still refusing to endorse Sweden’s inclusion. Mr. Kilicdaroglu, 74, has vowed to improve relations with the West if he is elected and make policy more institutional and less personal.

☆ Nail-Biter Turkish Election Goes to Round 2 as Majority Eludes Erdogan
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Ben Hubbard | Gulsin Harman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

After he became prime minister in 2003, he presided over a period of tremendous economic growth that transformed Turkish cities and lifted millions of Turks out of poverty. Internationally, he was hailed as a new model of a democratic Islamist, one who was pro-business and wanted strong ties with the West. But over the past decade, Mr. Erdogan’s critics grew both at home and abroad. Mr. Erdogan’s inability to clinch a victory in the first round of voting on Sunday confirmed a decline in his standing among voters angry with his stewardship of the economy and his consolidation of power. In his last election, in 2018, he won outright against three other candidates with 53 percent of the vote.

☆ Turks vote in crunch election as President Erdogan faces greatest threat to his 20-year rule
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-14 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Supporters wave flags as Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan holds a rally ahead of the Presidential elections in Istanbul on May 12, 2023 in Istanbul, Turkey. Erdogan will face his biggest electoral test as voters head to the polls in the country's general election. For the presidency — which is expected to be close — if no candidate wins more than 50%, the vote goes to a run-off two weeks later. In a possibly game-changing development, one of the four presidential candidates, Muharrem Ince, pulled out of the race Thursday. A former CHP member, he had been under heavy criticism for splitting the opposition vote in a way that would hurt Kilicdaroglu's chances.

The son of a sea captain, Erdogan has faced stiff political headwinds ahead of Sunday's election: he was already facing blame over an economic crisis when a devastating earthquake hit in February. Critics accused his government of a slow response and lax enforcement of building rules, failures they said could have cost lives. Two days before the vote, Erdogan said he came to office through the ballot boxes and if he had to, would leave the same way. A veteran of more than a dozen election victories, the 69-year-old Erdogan has taken aim at his critics in typically combative fashion. "I swear, Erdogan can solve it with a flick of his wrist," she said at a market in central Istanbul.

[1/6] Mehmet Ali Fakioglu arrives by bus from Istanbul to Hatay to vote during Turkish presidential and parliamentary elections, in Hatay, Turkey May 14, 2023. But as he prepared to cast his ballot, he voiced criticism of the state's slow response to the disaster in which more than 50,000 people were killed. We were forgotten, all of us, on that day, the second day even on the third day. Critics and earthquake survivors have accused Erdogan's government of both a slow response and lax enforcement of building rules - failures they said cost lives. He said around 1.5 million people had left the quake zone, only a portion of whom had registered new addresses for the purpose of voting.

☆ Meet El Hemi, the Dodge Challenger That’s Been to Venezuela and Back
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-13 | by ( A.J. Baime | Photographs Devin Christopher For The Wall Street Journal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Juan J. Escalante, 58, an international construction equipment salesman living in Miami, on his 1970 Dodge Hemi Challenger R/T, as told to A.J. In 1969, my father Jose’s best friend moved to Detroit to work for Chrysler. After six months, he called and said to my father, “Why don’t you come up here? So my father sold his 1968 Dodge Dart, quit his job, and we moved as a family to Michigan when I was 4. My father went to school and then got a gig with a Chrysler supplier in Michigan.

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