this is bbc news. the headlines: ballots are being counted in the run—off for the turkish presidency. the incumbent president recep tayyip erdogan is hoping to hang on to power after securing 49% of the vote in the first round but it remains too close to call. mr erdogan�*s main rival is the secular opposition leader kemal kilicdaroglu. he's urged voters to get rid of the authoritarian regime in the country. the white house and us republicans have reached an agreement "in principle", to raise the government debt limit and avoid a default. the president called the deal "an important step forward", while the house speaker, kevin mccarthy, said there would be historic reductions in spending and no new taxes. the british government

is discussing plans for supermarkets to introduce a cap on the price of basic food items to help tackle the rising cost of living. i want to just stick with turkey for a few moments and i will bring you live pictures that we can show you now and these are outside the presidential palace, we have these pictures here at the moment of the two candidates casting their ballots earlier in the day and we will shortly be able to show you outside the presidential palace in turkey. you can see on the right—hand side of your screen that here in ankara, thatis of your screen that here in ankara, that is president recep tayyip erdogan and he has, according to the afp news agency, declared victory in

the run—off election. you can see him speaking there. we are seeing also that the main opposition party says it will hold the candidate put forward, set, for what it says is a bad performance. —— kemal kilicdaroglu. this is the first time that there has been a run—off in the residential election in turkey. there was, on the 14th of may, the first round of ballots and that was when both candidates, including third party candidate as well had to get a minimum of 15% of the vote to secure victory. neither of them did and that was why the two front runners were whittled down and we had kemal kilicdaroglu, the contenderfor had kemal kilicdaroglu, the contender for the opposition, had kemal kilicdaroglu, the contenderfor the opposition, and contender for the opposition, and president contenderfor the opposition, and president erdogan going head—to—head in this final ballot. it took place today. it also took place around the world, people were able to vote in their embassies, they could also vote at border posts on the turkish

border. embassy voting was open for four days and we have seen people around the country flock to the polls, slightly less numbers than the first round, to cast their ballots in the second round of voting. as you can see on the side of your screen, president erdogan giving a speech to people he is still on top of that bus and there are people chanting, people saluting the president and he has brought around large changes when it comes to the role of the presidency and what that means, to let's see what else is coming into us. you can follow this on our live page on the bbc news website or on the bbc news app, y°u bbc news website or on the bbc news app, you can download that on your tablet or smartphone. let's show you some of these pictures, you can see some of these pictures, you can see some of these pictures, you can see some of these. we have also seen already some foreign leaders are congratulating president erdogan,

from qatar we have congratulations, also the leader of hungary. president erdogan says he has thanked voters, claimed this win and it says he will rule turkey for another five years in that position as president. let's take a look now at more of these images. you can see them, they are a historic moment for turkey, president erdogan waving to his supporters and people are celebrating near the presidential palace and that is from our report on the ground in ankara who says she is on the road in the capital, people are celebrating their cars, they are chanting in his support, meanwhile people are handing out turkish flags for free and the taxi driver who was an opposition supporter said he was avoiding the area. a lot going on in turkey at the moment. we will keep across it when we can. anna isjoining us live

in turkey. what is happening around you? it is a busy atmosphere, you can hear the background noise, but it seems one ofjubilation in ankara with president erdogan claiming the win. , , ., . . with president erdogan claiming the win. , i. ., with president erdogan claiming the win. , ., , ., win. yes, you can hear exactly how nois it win. yes, you can hear exactly how noisy it is — win. yes, you can hear exactly how noisy it is here _ win. yes, you can hear exactly how noisy it is here in _ win. yes, you can hear exactly how noisy it is here in istanbul, - noisy it is here in istanbul, turkey's largest city. what you can see in the back ground right now is the headquarters and that is why president erdogan supporters have converged here. they havejust watched that speech in istanbul on the big screen. to all intents and purposes a victory speech affair president erdogan, even though the final results have not been confirmed. everything we are seeing from different agencies that suggest president erdogan has reached the 50% margin and has reached that majority in order to become president but we still do not have an official announcement. people here though as you can see, they do

not need an official announcement. you can see the smoke that is being raised into the air, you can see flyers, flags waving, and that red glow that is coming up from this crowd. there are people arriving here all the time, waving their flags, they are chanting, people getting hit by any means of transport possible arriving on bikes. i watched ten or 15 people arriving in a digger that lowers the box down and they all climbed out and ran towards this area. there is and ran towards this area. there is an expectation president erdogan will come here to make a further speech, but the speech that he made that people were listening to, he talked about a bright future for turkey, about receiving congratulatory calls around the world, but he talked about the opposition, the kurdish opposition, and he talked about the chp, the opposition party that kemal

kilicdaroglu is from, and something that had been said during the campaign, that support is here, are they lgbt supporters? and they all shouted yes back at the screen. the atmosphere is noisy, chaotic, celebratory. people will be arriving through the night, even though that final result is yet to be announced. president erdogan is a veteran of turkish politics, he was the mayor of istanbul from 94 to 98, then prime ministerfrom 2003 of istanbul from 94 to 98, then prime minister from 2003 to 2014, then he has been president since 2014. this though in recent years is by far the biggest challenge to him. to think there is any sense that he may change his style, the way he is as the president, as a result are being pushed so close to the wire? i think it will depend on if and when that victory comes to how competitive those numbers are. iffy

edges over 50%, then maybe, maybe he will see that as a call for change in direction and style of policy, but if he wins this competitively, i imagine he will see this as a band—aid for the temporal he has fought for turkey, an executive presidency that to many here, the opposition supporters they would say is authoritarian leading towards dictatorship. if he gets more than 50% uncomfortably more than 50%, he will see that as an endorsement of those policies. he will see that as an endorsement of the strong man image he has protected notjust here in turkey but around the world and one would imagine, you cannot know for sure, one would imagine, you cannot know forsure, but one would imagine, you cannot know for sure, but one would imagine that will embolden him to continue things like the clampdown on press freedom for example, the price here in turkey is very much controlled and dominated by president erdogan. that has been one of the problems during

the campaign that the opposition have not received the same coverage in the media. they said that has made it an unfair, not a level playing field, as the weeks have gone on in the campaign and the campaign has become more and more intense. we will see, it is an interesting question, but i think in the next few days, particularly when we listen to speeches you will hear in the next 24 hours, we will get a flavour of where he plans to take turkey if indeed he has clinched this presidential election. we can see the celebration _ this presidential election. we can see the celebration around - this presidential election. we can see the celebration around you, i this presidential election. we can | see the celebration around you, it is a busy night for supporters of president erdogan but of course there is the other half of the country roughly who have not voted for him, how divided is turkish society and how big is the challenge to try and bring people together? interestingly, just in the last couple of days, president erdogan has talked about being a president

for all turkish voters, the ones who voted for him and the ones he did not, whether or not that happens in reality we will wait and see, but you are right, it has been a divisive campaign and there have been issues in the last few days that have brought this to the fore, especially early dilemma can issue of immigration, the turkish economy which is going through a crisis and in response to the earthquake in february. there have been complaints about that response being late and being inadequate for some people. but really, immigration the last few days has been bringing out the divide between these two countries will stop if you are a syrian refugee in at the moment, all you have seen is two candidates talking about sending syrian refugees back on the television, posters dotted around towns and villages and major cities. that would be sowing the

seeds of division here in turkey if president erdogan has won, and i which might seem strange when you see these celebrations behind me, it seems strange to say if he has won because he has made a speech where he has all but claimed victory, but until the official agency confirms, the last we heard from them was 75% of the votes are counted here in turkey. they did purchase president erdogan had but they will want to count all of those votes and check and both parties urge those votes to be checked, to make sure there was no impropriety and that is really important. president erdogan himself, if he has won, will want this to be a clear and definite and understated victory, but we will

wait for that result, but as i say, president erdogan says he has had calls from other world leaders congratulating him on this victory was that we wait for those final results, but people here, you can see they have already decided who the next president is and it seems thatis the next president is and it seems that is president erdogan himself. it is a vibrant atmosphere to say the least and just to remind viewers as well that you can follow all of this on the live page and on our website as our. there is anna's reporting and reporting from some of our colleagues will stop you mentioned world leaders have already started to send their congratulations to president erdogan. if he does remain in power, how will that affect the role that turkey plays in the world going forward? because we have seen turkey tried to take an increasingly proactive role, we saw them as one of the coordinators of that first green deal that got grown out of ukraine and through the black sea

and how if president erdogan stays in power will turkey play a role going forwards in the wider sphere? —— that first grain deal. going forwards in the wider sphere? -- that first grain deal.— -- that first grain deal. turkey is in a geopolitically _ -- that first grain deal. turkey is in a geopolitically important - in a geopolitically important position right now, partly because of its geography. we are in istanbul, city party in europe, partly asia, and you can stand and see the other continent and that shows you how turkey has most to be so important because of the position it holds, notjust in this region but globally. you talked about grain there, grain from but globally. you talked about grain there, grainfrom ukraine but globally. you talked about grain there, grain from ukraine which came through the black sea, through the phosphorus and outs towards people needed it. that would not have happened if it was not her president erdogan, he was the one who managed to get his people to negotiate between the two sides and you know there has been very little negotiation between russia and ukraine it since the invasion at all but they managed to arrange the movement of those grain shifts and

they managed to get it posted through when it russia threatened to stop it for a while, so it shows you the relationship turkey has as an international political broker and i think that is why so many countries try to take good relationships with turkey. you see the us presidentjoe biden, the uk prime minister rishi sunak, talking to him, meeting him, having phone conversations but you are just as likely to see him talking to president putin of russia, xijinping of china, and those relationships have been useful, but they have also been very strained at times. if you take for example defence, turkey a few years ago took on russia's air defence systems and as a result of that meant that america removed them from the m 35 fighterjet programme and they said that was not compatible to have russian defence systems and american fighterjets and that

really caused tension in the turkish american relationship as well. so while president erdogan has had all of these links, strategically important links, take nato for example, he brings the second biggest army to nato but after the russian invasion of ukraine, sweden wanted tojoin the russian invasion of ukraine, sweden wanted to join the nato alliance, they have not managed to get because turkey is dead on the way. turkey said that sweden does not provide a safe haven to the kurdistan workers party, so it's dead in the way of sweden has micro—joining of nato. —— it stood in the way. president erdogan victory would put a stop to that even longer. it is fair to say the results of this election, it is notjust important domestically here in turkey, it will really reverberate globally as well. anna foster in istanbul— reverberate globally as well. anna foster in istanbul was _ reverberate globally as well. anna foster in istanbul was very - reverberate globally as well. anna foster in istanbul was veryjubilant erdogan supporters, we will leave

you there for the moment. i want to cross to ankara where 0rla joins us. we are seeing these events play out, president erdogan standing on top of that bus, claiming victory. as yet we have not seen that officially announced by the election council. what is your take on what is happening in turkey at the moment? the counting is continuing, but with about 75% of the ballot open, it is clear that president recep tayyip erdogan has a comfortable lead based on the figures we have so far, that is about 6%. here in ankara we have been hearing the sound of celebrations getting louder and louder. in the last half an hour or so. i can hear drums being banged, people cheering, supporters of the president are already converging on his palace here in ankara where they expect to see him late at night give a victory speech. so far, he has

said he believes he will be leading the country. he has thanked his supporters and said hopefully we will be worthy of your trust. we have not heard yet from the opposition, they had strained everything you to try to catch up with the lead to the president had in the first round. they did gain a few percentage points and supports, did not turn out to be enough, but officially they have not yet conceded defeat, but it seems pretty clear now, based on the information that we have, that turkey's longest serving leader will now be heading into a third term in office. for his supporters of course that is a cause for celebration will stop for his critics here, and there are many, if they cause for fear, concern about state of the economy which he has blamed for causing for example rampant inflation and there are concerns about a further erosion of

freedoms on free speech and civil liberties, but tonight it looks like the night belonged to the ruling party and their supporters and to recep tayyip erdogan. it is worth notin: recep tayyip erdogan. it is worth noting that _ recep tayyip erdogan. it is worth noting that kemal— recep tayyip erdogan. it is worth noting that kemal kilicdaroglu i noting that kemal kilicdaroglu managed to do something fairly impressive himself, he managed to bring together six opposition parties who did not really have any major connections with each other but managed to get them to coalesce around him as a candidate. he managed to get the selection to go to a second round, that has never happened before. he has had, despite potentially not managing to win the election, significant success none the less? i election, significant success none the less? ~ ., ,, ., , the less? i think so. it appears uuite the less? i think so. it appears quite clear— the less? i think so. it appears quite clear at _ the less? i think so. it appears quite clear at this _ the less? i think so. it appears quite clear at this stage - the less? i think so. it appears quite clear at this stage that i the less? i think so. it appears| quite clear at this stage that he has not win but he pushed it into a second round and you have to look at the playing field here which is far from level. we have had an opposition candidate who has been denied airtime on state tv, he has basically been invisible on state tv, which is the means by which most

people here get their news and information. president erdogan on the other hand has had multiple favourable coverage on multiple tv channels. he and his allies control about 90% of the turkish media, so consider how difficult it has been for the opposition to try to get their message out there. they had to do it almost byte guerrilla tactics and rely on social media and they were effective in doing that, so president erdogan�*s share of the vote and his party's share of the vote and his party's share of the vote has come down. this is not a ringing endorsement for a leader who has had control of all of the levers of power here now for more than 20 years, who controls the institutions, who controls the police, who critics would... 0ne he was waiting for the opposition, he was waiting for the opposition, he was 90, a retired lawyer, said i've come out to vote because there is a dictatorial regime here, there is no

freedom and justice, and when people go to court the result is decided on the basis of instructions from on high, so although this is a night of celebration for the president and his supporters, let's remember this is a deeply polarised, deeply divided country and there will be many tonight who are bitterly disappointed because this was seen very much as the best chance of the opposition. as you say, kemal kilicdaroglu has rallied this very disparate coalition, bringing together nationalists and islamist. he had managed to hold those parties together and without the fair access together and without the fair access to national media he might get as far as he did. we understand based on current figures he is on about 47% of the vote, the president is on about 53%. that number might come up and down as the night goes on, but he certainly gave president erdogan a run for his money. i think the president and his supporters will take a message away from this. i think they were damaged by criticism

of the handling of the economy, but in the end there is a very strong bond between the president and his supporters. it is almost a family —type relationship, many people see him as a father figure, as a grandfather figure, him as a father figure, as a grandfatherfigure, and him as a father figure, as a grandfather figure, and they are bonded to him and they have entrenched loyalty to him come what may, even with rampant inflation here. ., ., ., ~ ,, may, even with rampant inflation here. ., ., ., ~ here. for the moment, thank you so much. i here. for the moment, thank you so much- ijust — here. for the moment, thank you so much. i just want _ here. for the moment, thank you so much. i just want to _ here. for the moment, thank you so much. i just want to bring _ here. for the moment, thank you so much. i just want to bring in - here. for the moment, thank you so much. i just want to bring in a - much. ijust want to bring in a colleague from our bbc verified team. we are seeing these images protected out of istanbul, we are showing these waving flags, president erdogan claiming victory. what you sing online? what is the narrative at the moment? at what you sing online? what is the narrative at the moment?- narrative at the moment? at the moment it _ narrative at the moment? at the moment it reminds _ narrative at the moment? at the moment it reminds me - narrative at the moment? at the moment it reminds me some - narrative at the moment? at the moment it reminds me some of| narrative at the moment? at the - moment it reminds me some of what we covered on polling day where one candidate basically claimed victory before all the counting had been

done. in this case, obviously president erdogan seems to be very happy, as you can see in the pictures on the streets. 0nline it's pretty much the same thing, they are pretty much the same thing, they are pretty much the same thing, they are pretty much saying it is a done deal at the moment and that it has been won by the president. 0pposition supporters on social media obviously as you might expect the other way round, they are claiming that president erdogan has done something untoward by basically claiming victory before the official council has announced the final results. they think that their candidate still stands with a chance and they are also claiming there has been some suspicious activities during polling day, some online claims, some online videos, but that is the situation right now as we speak. find

situation right now as we speak. and the challenges, isn't it, that once some of these claims, posts, videos get traction, it is very hard then to cut through the noise with the accurate information or the official line? and that then creates a crowded environment that may well then cause greater polarisation and grated division?— grated division? indeed, it is something — grated division? indeed, it is something that _ grated division? indeed, it is something that has - grated division? indeed, it is| something that has happened grated division? indeed, it is- something that has happened before. to give you two example, if you look at the presidential election in brazil which was a very polarised country and very tight election. if you remember president lula and former president bolsonaro, the claims of fraud that basically started trending online by supporters of bolsonaro storming the legislative chamber and presidential office injanuary, similar to what

happened in 2020 when president trump claimed to have win the election on election night when votes had not been counted and then for two months there were rallies across the country and the siege at the capitol on the 6th of january 2021, so you see when a candidate claims have won the election before an official statement is made and thenif an official statement is made and then if something changes later on, then if something changes later on, thenit then if something changes later on, then it is going to be really difficult for supporters of both sides to basely move on. thank you. i 'ust want sides to basely move on. thank you. i just want to — sides to basely move on. thank you. i just want to remind _ sides to basely move on. thank you. i just want to remind viewers - sides to basely move on. thank you. i just want to remind viewers what . i just want to remind viewers what we are seeing. this is istanbul. president erdogan has addressed a crowd and claimed victory in the presidential election following that second run off. that has not yet officially been announced by the

country's election authority. he began his address singing to the crowd and we will follow the developers closely here on bbc news and on the bbc news app as well. thanks for watching. hello. the south—west of the uk has seen some of the highest temperatures today. further north, many spots have been a little bit cooler and for some there's been a bit of cloud around. that was how it looked earlier on for a weather watcher in whitby. through the week ahead, it will be largely dry, but while there will be some spells of warm sunshine, there will also be quite a brisk and chilly wind in places. now, it is going to be quite breezy across southern and southeastern parts as we go through the night, also in the far north of scotland. but in between, the winds will be lighter. there'll be some clear spells, the odd mist patches likely, some more low cloud rolling in from the north sea into parts of eastern england. it is possible that some sheltered spots in scotland might get all the way down to freezing. certainly quite a chilly night across the northern half of the country. into monday, high pressure firmly

in charge, but the isobars really squeezing together in the north and in the south. so that shows that we are going to have some quite brisk winds, those winds blowing in off the chilly waters of the sea, making it feel a little bit cooler. certainly quite a lot of cloud across the eastern half of england first thing. much of that will tend to retreat back towards the coast far north of scotland, staying quite cloudy, but elsewhere, lots of sunshine. and where we have the lightest of the winds, parts of northwest england, northern ireland, south west scotland, that's where we will have some of the highest of the temperatures up to around 20—21 degrees. compare that with just 14 degrees in norwich, 17 in london, and certainly a cooler feel in the far north of scotland. wherever you are, though, regardless of the feel of the weather, if you have sunshine overhead, that sun is strong at this time of year. so uv levels are likely to be high. now, as we look ahead to tuesday, we see another area of cloud rolling in from the north sea that could plague eastern parts

of england for a time in far north of scotland, likely to stay quite cloudy, particularly for the northern isles. but elsewhere, lots of sunshine, western parts seeing the highest of the temperatures. in fact, glasgow could be the warmest spot around 24 degrees. as we head deeper into the week, high pressure still with us. the centre of the high may slip a little bit further north westwards, still allowing this quite chilly breeze into some eastern and southern parts. highest temperatures likely to be across the west of the uk, getting up to around 25—26 degrees in the best of any sunshine. that's all for me. bye for now.

live from london. this is bbc news recep erdogan to address a crowd in istanbul as counting continues in the turkish presidential run off. the white house and us republicans have reached an agreement �*in principle', to raise the government debt ceiling and avoid a default britain's government is discussing plans for supermarkets to cap the price of basic food items to help tackle the rising cost of living.