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Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday defeated opposition candidate Kemal Kilicdaroglu in a runoff with 52.1 percent of the vote, according to Turkey’s Supreme Electoral Council, keeping the Mercurial leader in power for another five years.

Erdogan, who has vexed his Western allies in NATO while tightening his grip on the Turkish state, could stay in power for at least a quarter of a century. His victory deepens his conservative imprint on Turkish society as he pursues his vision of a country of increasing economic and geopolitical power.

His supporters shrugged off Turkey’s challenges, including a looming economic crisis, and praised him for cementing the country’s status as a Muslim power with a population of 85 million and critical ties between continents. Thousands gathered outside the presidential palace in Ankara waving red and white Turkish flags.

Victory Speech: “It’s not just us that won, it’s Turkey,” Erdogan said to loud applause. “It is our nation that has won with all its elements. It’s our democracy.”

Opposition: Kilicdaroglu told his supporters that he did not dispute the vote count, but that the election had been unfair overall. In the run-up to the vote, Erdogan tapped state resources to tilt the playing field in his favor.

Andrei Medvedev, a Russian who claims to have deserted from Wagner’s Russian mercenaries during the battle for the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, seeks asylum in Norway while providing authorities with information about Wagner.

His improbable journey has made Medvedev one of the few publicly known Russian fighters to seek protection in Europe after taking part in the invasion. His asylum request now forces Norway to make a decision on a case that pits the country’s humanitarian stance against an increasingly assertive national security policy and solidarity with Ukraine.

Since arriving in the country in January, Medvedev has attended interviews with Norwegian police officers investigating war crimes in Ukraine. He has described killing Ukrainians in combat and witnessing the executions of comrades accused of cowardice, but claims he did not participate in or witness war crimes such as the killing of prisoners of war and civilians.

push back: Activists in Ukraine and Western Europe say giving a safe haven in Europe to Russian fighters, especially mercenaries like Medvedev, does not hold the Russians responsible for the invasion. He may have also complicated his own request with bar fights and detentions in Norway, and by briefly posting a video on YouTube suggesting he wanted to return to Russia.

Citable: “It touches the core of who we are in Europe,” said Cecilie Hellestveit, a former member of the Norwegian Asylum Commission. “It forces us to reevaluate our approach to human rights in a way we have been unwilling to do until now.”

Other news from the war:

A day after striking a deal in principle with President Biden to raise the US debt limit, Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his leadership team began rallying Republicans behind a compromise that is drawing harsh criticism from the wings of both political parties. Proponents hope to pass the legislation in time to avoid a default, now projected for June 5.

House Republicans distributed a one-page memo with 10 talking points about the deal’s conservative benefits, including a cap on government spending, stricter job requirements for Americans receiving government benefits, and cuts in global health funding.

Analysis: The deal supports Biden’s argument that he is bipartisan, but comes at the expense of many in his own party, writes Peter Baker, our chief White House correspondent.

Eight years ago, Ryyan Alshebl, a Syrian refugee, crossed the Mediterranean by rubber dinghy and crossed Europe on foot, eventually seeking asylum in Germany.

Now he is the mayor of Ostelsheim, a small, close-knit village in southwest Germany that is believed to be the first German city to elect a mayor from the nearly one million Syrian refugees who reached the country in 2015. This is how it happened.

Football has a time-consuming problem. How does the sport solve it? Several high-profile examples of painful periods of slow play have forced football’s governing body to do so search for solutions.

The inside story of Germany’s day of glorious chaos: Great goals, missed penalties, a video review controversy, ill-advised T-shirts…the last day of Germany’s title race had it all.

Why the Women’s Super League is more competitive than ever: Chelsea are champions for the fourth season in a row, but the strength of the league is helping to achieve this new heights.

From the time: On the first day of the French Open, a rare expression of resistance to the war in Ukraine by an athlete from Belarus or Russia.

The finale of HBO’s “Succession” has aired, putting to bed the question of who inherits (or doesn’t) the media empire of the late tyrant Logan Roy, writes James Poniewozik, chief television critic for the Times. (Don’t worry, we won’t spoil it for you.)

“Like ‘Mad Men’ before it, ‘Succession’ is a drama that also happens to be the funniest thing on TV every week,” writes James. And like “Dallas,” it’s a primetime saga that uses delightful dialogue and sibling rivalry to explore the specific nature of wealth in its time. One difference: Today, the very rich are very, very, very richer.

There is another important distinction, writes James. “I once wrote that viewers of ‘Succession’ can enjoy it knowing that we have no interest other than the small fact that people like the Roys run the world.” This last season has highlighted that that’s a very big ‘except’.”

More about “Succession”:

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