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ISTANBUL: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was on Sunday leading a tightly-contested presidential election in a partial count as he seeks a new mandate in the face of a revitalised opposition and weakening economy. Turkish voters had for the first time cast ballots for both president and parliament in the snap polls, with Erdogan looking for a first round knockout and an overall majority for his ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) to extend his 15-year grip on power. In the presidential poll, Erdogan has…

LONDON: Asad Shafiq made a hundred as several Pakistan batsmen spent valuable time in the middle on Saturday ahead of Test matches against Ireland and England. At stumps on the second day of four, Pakistan were 357 for seven in reply to Northamptonshire's first innings 259 in their warm-up match at Wantage Road. Shafiq was 135 not out, with Haris Sohail having made 79 and Babar Azam 57. Pakistan provide the opposition when Ireland make their Test debut in a match starting in Malahide, near Dublin, on Friday and they…

COLOMBO: Mushfiqur Rahim hit a blazing half-century to help Bangladesh chase down a record 215 and beat Sri Lanka by five wickets in a thrilling Twenty20 international of the tri-series in Colombo on Saturday. Rahim smashed an unbeaten 72 off 35 balls as the visitors achieved their target with two balls to spare at the R Premadasa Stadium. Rahim, who hit 5 fours and 4 sixes, broke into a dance after giving Bangladesh their highest-ever run chase in the shortest format, and the fourth biggest overall in international…

"The Shape of Water," Guillermo del Toro's fairy tale romance, led the Golden Globe nominations on Monday with seven nods, including for best motion picture drama and actress Sally Hawkins. "The Post" and "Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri" followed with six nods and coming-of-age film "Lady Bird" got four nominations. The announcements will give the nominees a welcome boost going into the race for March's Oscars, with the influential Screen Actors Guild nominations to come later this week. Read More: ‘La…

NEW YORK: Jay-Z led Grammy nominations Tuesday with eight nods, followed closely by fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar with seven, in a striking embrace of hip-hop for the music industry's top prizes. Jay-Z, who had never before been nominated in a major category as a solo artist, is up for Album of the Year for his "4:44" as well as for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. "4:44" marked a return to music by the 47-year-old Jay-Z after years focused on business ventures. The album put on display an unusually…

LONDON: Usain Bolt, running the penultimate race of his career, led Jamaica safely through their semi-final in the 4x100 meters relay at the World Athletics Championships on Saturday while United States ran the fastest time of the year. Bolt, who announced on Monday that he would also run in the heats, will race for the last time in the final on Saturday when he hopes to bow out with his 20th global championship title. Running the last leg, Bolt eased home, looking over his shoulder, as Jamaica won the second of the two…

LOS ANGELES: Sony's sci-fi production "The Dark Tower" led ticket sales in North American theaters this weekend, but its estimated three-day take of a modest $19.5 million fell on a notably sluggish August weekend. "Tower," co-produced by independent film studio MRC, had the lowest box-office-leading weekend take of the year, HollywoodReporter.com noted. The film, based on a series of best-selling novels by horror and fantasy master Stephen King, stars Tom Taylor as a boy who finds himself in another dimension where a…

NOTTINGHAM: Vernon Philander led a fine all-round bowling effort as South Africa thrashed England by 340 runs in the second Test at Trent Bridge on Monday. Victory saw the Proteas level the four-match series at 1-1 after they themselves had been well beaten by 211 runs in the first Test at Lord’s. England, set a mammoth 474 runs for victory, collapsed to 133 all out 40 minutes before tea on the fourth day. Man-of-the-match Philander took three wickets for 24 runs in 10 overs, including an early double strike.…

RAMALLAH: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party was ahead in most of the West Bank's main cities after municipal elections that highlighted persistent divisions with its rival Hamas, results showed Sunday. Voting took place on Saturday only in the occupied West Bank, controlled by Fatah, and not in the Gaza Strip, which is run by the Islamist movement Hamas. Attempts to hold the first joint elections in the West Bank and Gaza since 2006 failed after the two movements were not able to reach an agreement.…

COLOMBO: Nuwan Kulasekara claimed four wickets as Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh by 71 runs in the third one-day international, securing a 1-1 draw in the three-match series in Colombo on Saturday. Suranga Lakmal, Dilruwan Perera, Seekkuge Prasanna all chipped in with two wickets each helping the home side to successfully defend 280-9 at Sinhalese Sports Club ground. Kulasekara claimed 4-37 as the visitors were bowled out for 215 runs in 44.3 overs, avoiding their first series loss to Bangladesh. Shakib Al Hasan remained…