Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan took an early lead yesterday in a historic runoff election that could extend two decades of his dominant but divisive Islamic style of rule until 2028.

Egypt unearthed human and animal mummification workshops as well as two tombs in the ancient burial ground of Saqqara, officials said on Saturday, marking the latest in a string of discoveries that the country hopes can help revive its vital tourism industry.

Saudi Arabia and the United States yesterday called for the extension of a ceasefire deal that has brought some let-up in a six-week war between military factions but little humanitarian relief for civilians.

Polling stations opened Sunday in Turkey's first-ever runoff election, where conservative President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is the firm favourite to extend his two decades of Islamic-rooted rule to 2028

Iran’s defence ministry yesterday unveiled a new ballistic missile with a range of 2,000 kilometres (1,242 miles) and a capacity to carry warheads weighing over a tonne.

Sudan’s warring sides yesterday accused each other of being behind breaches of the latest ceasefire that was negotiated by the US and Saudi Arabia, now in its third day.

A private rocket carrying the first Arab woman astronaut has blasted off on a mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Israeli forces killed three Palestinian fighters overnight in the occupied West Bank

Five Iranian border guards were killed yesterday during clashes with an armed group in the restive southeastern province of Sistan-Baluchistan, state media reported.

Iranian authorities yesterday executed three men convicted of violence against the Islamic republic's security forces during protests triggered by Mahsa Amini's death in custody last year, the judiciary said.

More than a million people have been displaced by fighting in Sudan so far, including a quarter of a million refugees, a UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesperson said yesterday.

Turkey’s opposition leader yesterday vowed to send back millions of migrants in a strident message aimed at winning the backing of an ultra-nationalist who helped push last weekend’s presidential vote to a runoff.

Air strikes and artillery fire intensified sharply across Sudan’s capital early yesterday, residents said, as the army sought to defend key bases from paramilitary rivals it has been fighting for more than a month.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday emerged from his toughest election test unbowed and in a strong position to extend two decades of his Islamic-rooted rule by another five years in a historic May 28 runoff.

Turkey appeared headed for a runoff presidential election, with the parties of both Tayyip Erdogan and opposition rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu claiming the lead but sources in both camps admit they may not clear the 50 percent threshold to win outright.

Calm returned to Gaza yesterday as a fragile ceasefire ending five days of fighting held, leaving Palestinians and Israelis to count the cost of cross-border fire which has killed dozens.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday led prayers at Istanbul’s iconic Hagia Sophia mosque before entering the election battle of his political life against a powerful secular rival.

Israel yesterday ruled out an immediate truce in Gaza, saying the onus was on Palestinian militants to stop launching rockets from an arsenal it suggested could be depleted within days, while its aircraft kept up strikes in the enclave.

Israel and Gaza militants traded heavy fire yesterday as hopes faded of securing a truce to end days of fighting that have killed dozens, all but one of them Palestinian.

Israel killed the head of Islamic Jihad's rocket force and his deputy, pressing an operation that has cost 30 lives in Gaza including women and children, while Palestinian cross-border rocket salvoes have inflicted the first fatality in Israel.