By Ece Toksabay and Daren Butler

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turks vote on Sunday in a presidential runoff that could see Tayyip Erdogan extend his rule into a third decade and intensify Turkey's increasingly authoritarian path, muscular foreign policy and unorthodox economic governance.

Erdogan, 69, defied opinion polls and came out comfortably ahead with an almost five-point lead over his rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu in the first round on May 14. But he fell just short of the 50% needed to avoid a runoff, in a race with profound consequences for Turkey itself and global geopolitics.

His unexpectedly strong showing amid a deep cost of living crisis, and a win in parliamentary elections for a coalition of his conservative Islamist-rooted AK Party (AKP), the nationalist MHP and others, buoyed the veteran campaigner who says a vote for him is a vote for stability.

Kilicdaroglu, 74, is the candidate of a six-party opposition alliance, and leads the Republican People's Party (CHP) created by Turkey's founder Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. His camp has struggled to regain momentum after the shock of trailing Erdogan in the first round.

The election will decide not only who leads Turkey, a NATO-member country of 85 million, but also how it is governed, where its economy is headed after its currency plunged to one tenth of its value against the dollar in a decade, and the shape of its foreign policy, which has seen Turkey irk the West by cultivating ties with Russia and Gulf states.

The initial election showed larger-than-expected support for nationalism - a powerful force in Turkish politics which has been hardened by years of hostilities with Kurdish militants, an attempted coup in 2016 and the influx of millions of refugees from Syria since war began there in 2011.

Turkey is the world's largest host of refugees, with some 5 million migrants, of whom 3.3 million are Syrians, according to Interior Ministry data.

Third-place presidential candidate and hardline nationalist Sinan Ogan said he endorsed Erdogan based on a principle of "non-stop struggle (against) terrorism", referring to pro-Kurdish groups. He achieved 5.17% of the vote.

Another nationalist, Umit Ozdag, leader of the anti-immigrant Victory Party (ZP), announced a deal declaring ZP's support for Kilicdaroglu, after he said he would repatriate immigrants. The ZP won 2.2% of votes in this month's parliamentary election.

A closely-watched survey by pollster Konda for the runoff put support for Erdogan on 52.7% and Kilicdaroglu on 47.3% after distributing undecided voters. The survey was carried out on May 20-21, before Ogan and Ozdag revealed their endorsements.

Another key is how Turkey's Kurds, at about a fifth of the population, will vote.

The pro-Kurdish Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) party endorsed Kilicdaroglu in the first round but, after his lurch to the right to win nationalist votes, it did not explicitly name him and urged voters rather to reject Erdogan's "one-man regime" in the runoff.

'MORE ERDOGAN'

Polls will open at 8 a.m. (0500 GMT) and close at 5 p.m. (1400 GMT). By late on Sunday there should be a clear indication of the winner.

"Turkey has a longstanding democratic tradition and a longstanding nationalist tradition, and right now it's clearly the nationalist one that's winning out. Erdogan has fused religious and national pride, offering voters an aggressive anti-elitism," said Nicholas Danforth, Turkey historian and non-resident fellow at think tank ELIAMEP.

"More Erdogan means more Erdogan. People know who he is and what his vision for the country is, and it seems a lot of them approve."

Turkey's president has pulled out all the stops on the campaign trail as he battles to survive his toughest political test. He commands fierce loyalty from pious Turks who once felt disenfranchised in secular Turkey and his political career has survived the failed coup and corruption scandals.

Erdogan has taken tight control of most of Turkey's institutions and sidelined liberals and critics. Human Rights Watch, in its World Report 2022, said Erdogan's government has set back Turkey's human rights record by decades.

However, if Turks do oust Erdogan, it will be largely because they saw their prosperity, equality and ability to meet basic needs decline, with inflation that topped 85% in October 2022.

Kilicdaroglu, a former civil servant, has pledged to roll back much of Erdogan's sweeping changes to Turkish domestic, foreign and economic policies.

He would also revert to the parliamentary system of governance, from Erdogan's executive presidential system, narrowly passed in a referendum in 2017.

(Additional reporting by Jonathan Spicer in Istanbul; Writing by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Jonathan Spicer and Nick Macfie)

(Reuters) - Russia on Saturday blamed Kosovo, the United States and European Union for escalating tensions in the Balkans and said it was watching with concern after violent clashes between Kosovan police and protesters opposed to ethnic Albanian mayors.

The United States and allies on Friday rebuked Kosovo, saying the use of force to install mayors in ethnic Serb areas undermined efforts to improve troubled relations with neighbouring Serbia. NATO on Saturday urged Kosovo to dial down tensions.

The clashes led Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Friday to place the army on full combat alert and ordered units to move closer to the border.

"We decisively condemn Pristina's provocative steps, which have brought the situation close to the hot phase and directly threaten the security of the whole Balkans region," Russia's foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement.

"The responsibility for this lies fully with the United States and the European Union," she said, adding that rebukes of Kosovo by "Western mediators" had come too late.

Serbia and its traditional ally Russia do not recognise Kosovo's independence, and Moscow has blocked the country's bid to become a member of the United Nations. Serbia still considers Kosovo part of its territory.

(Reporting by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Conor Humphries)

By Steve Scherer

OTTAWA (Reuters) -Canada and Saudi Arabia have agreed to restore full diplomatic ties and appoint new ambassadors, both countries said on Wednesday, bringing to a close a 2018 dispute that damaged relations and trade.

The decision follows discussions held between Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on the sidelines of the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum in Bangkok in November last year, according to statements from Canada and Saudi Arabia.

The decision stems from "the desire for both sides to restore diplomatic relations between the two countries on the basis of mutual respect and common interests," the statements said.

The 2018 row pre-dated the killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi later that year, which Canada and all Western countries condemned. It started when Canada's embassy in Riyadh published a tweet in Arabic urging the immediate release of women's rights activists held by Saudi Arabia.

That prompted Riyadh to recall its ambassador and bar the envoy from returning, and to institute a ban on new trade.

"Punitive trade measures will be lifted," said a Canadian government source familiar with the agreement who was not authorized to speak on the record. It is unclear what effect the dispute had on trade.

Saudi Arabia was the biggest export market for Canada in the region in 2021, according to official data, when they totaled C$2.2 billion ($1.65 billion). Imports were $2.4 billion. Almost all Canada's imports were oil and petrochemicals. More than 80% of exports to Saudi Arabia were transportation equipment.

"Empty chairs at the end of the day don't push our interests forward, and they don't push things like human rights forward," the source added.

The normalization comes as the Saudi prince, known as MbS, seeks to reassert Saudi Arabia as a regional power by using his place atop an energy giant in an oil-dependent world consumed by the war in Ukraine.

"Saudi Arabia is pivotal within its region. It's an important player," said Roland Paris, Trudeau's former foreign policy adviser and professor of international affairs at University of Ottawa. "It only makes sense to have ambassadors back in place in order to keep channels of communication open."

Canada will appoint Jean-Philippe Linteau as its new ambassador in Riyadh.

Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly has said "we need to have conversations with people we don't always agree with on everything in order to find global solutions to global problems," the source added.

($1 = 1.3372 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Steve Scherer; Editing by Kirsten Donovan and Nick Zieminski)

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called on Tibet to build a prosperous, harmonious and "new socialist Tibet" underpinned by unity and civility, days after Group of Seven (G7) nations expressed concern over human rights in the region.

In rare comments on Tibet, Xi said the region should step up efforts to promote high-quality development after overcoming "centuries" of extreme poverty, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.

Tibet's economy expanded to 216.5 billion yuan ($31 billion) by value last year, matching China's national growth rate of 3%. Despite Tibet's rapid economic development in recent years, China is often accused of stifling religious and cultural freedoms in a predominantly Buddhist region, an accusation which Beijing rejects.

In a communique released after a gathering of G7 leaders in Hiroshima over the weekend, the group said it will keep voicing its concerns about the human rights situation in China, including in Tibet, angering Beijing, which regards affairs related to the region as purely internal.

"People's happiness is the ultimate human right, while development holds the key to delivering better lives to the people," Xinhua cited Xi as saying in a congratulatory letter to a forum in Beijing on Tibet's development.

In 2021, Xi made a visit to Tibet - the first by a national leader in three decades. At the time, Xi called for respect for the religious beliefs of the people.

He also stressed governing religious affairs in accordance with the law and guiding Tibetan Buddhism to adapt to a socialist society.

Beijing says it "peacefully liberated" Tibet in 1951 after sending Chinese troops into the region. China says its intervention ended a "backward feudal serfdom", and denied wrongdoing.

In 1959, Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, fled the region after a failed uprising against Chinese rule, with Beijing labelling him a dangerous separatist since.

($1 = 6.9121 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Ryan Woo; Editing by Sharon Singleton)

Warner Bros Discovery Chief Executive David Zaslav was booed by students after taking the stage at Boston University to accept his honorary degree and give the 2023 commencement speech, amid an ongoing strike by film and television writers over pay, videos that surfaced on social media show.

The Hollywood Reporter first reported the incident on Sunday. Boston University did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

Thousands of members of the Writers Guild of America went on strike on earlier in May after the union failed to reach a deal with Walt Disney Co, Netflix Inc and other media companies for higher pay and safeguards around the use of artificial intelligence in the streaming TV era.

Zaslav, who is an alumnus of the school, was repeatedly disrupted by angry chants and boos from Boston University students, including cries of “we don’t want you here” and “pay your writers”, the report said.

"I am grateful to my alma mater, Boston University, for inviting me to be part of today's commencement and for giving me an honorary degree, and, as I have often said, I am immensely supportive of writers and hope the strike is resolved soon and in a way that they feel recognizes their value," Zaslav said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

The Writers Guild of America had earlier said they would be picketing the ceremony when Boston University announced Zaslav would be giving the commencement speech at the graduation, the report added.

The writers' strike has disrupted production of late-night shows and some TV series, but some filming is continuing.

The last WGA strike in 2007 and 2008 lasted 100 days. The action cost the California economy an estimated $2.1 billion as productions shut down and out-of-work writers, actors and producers cut back spending.

(Reporting by Jyoti Narayan in Bengaluru; Editing by Aurora Ellis and Stephen Coates)

By Jeff Mason and Trevor Hunnicutt

HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Sunday said he had received a "flat assurance" from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy that he would not use Western-provided F-16 fighter jets to go into Russian territory.

Biden told reporters in Hiroshima, Japan, at the conclusion of a meeting of world leaders that F-16 warplanes could be used "wherever Russian troops are within Ukraine and the area".

He said it was "highly unlikely" the planes would be used in any Ukrainian offensive in the coming weeks, but that Ukrainian troops could need such weapons to defend themselves against Russian forces beyond their current reach.

Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) richest democracies on Sunday said they would not back down from supporting Ukraine, in a warning to Russian President Vladimir Putin as he claimed to have taken the eastern city of Bakhmut, something Kyiv denied.

Biden announced a $375 million package of military aid, including artillery and armoured vehicles, for Ukraine during the final day of a three-day G7 summit.

Biden told G7 leaders during the summit Washington supports joint allied training programs for Ukrainian pilots on F-16s warplanes, although Kyiv has not won specific, public commitments for delivery of the fighter jets.

Zelenskiy said on Sunday he was confident Kyiv would receive F-16 fighter jets from the West after months of lobbying for the planes.

Biden told reporters he discussed the issue with Zelenskiy during their private meeting. He said F-16s would not have helped Ukrainian forces with regard to Bakhmut, for instance, but could "make a big difference in terms of being able to deal with what is coming down the road".

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt and Jeff Mason in Japan and Andrea Shalal in Washignton; Editing by Barbara Lewis)

(Reuters) - Russia and Ukraine gave conflicting accounts of the situation in Bakhmut with Kyiv saying its forces still controlled part of the besieged eastern city, while Moscow congratulated the Wagner mercenary force and Russian troops for "liberating" it.

FIGHTING

* Ukrainian forces have partly encircled Bakhmut along the flanks and still control a part of the city, Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said on Sunday.

* Russia claimed on Saturday to have fully captured the destroyed city, which would mark an end to the longest and bloodiest battle of the 15-month war and Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated troops.

* U.S. President Joe Biden said the Russians had suffered over 100,000 casualties in Bakhmut.

* A Russian-installed official in Ukraine's southern Zaporizhzhia region said on Sunday that Kyiv had struck the Russian-held port city of Berdyansk with British-supplied Storm Shadow cruise missiles.

* Reuters could not verify the battlefield reports.

DIPLOMACY AND ECONOMY

* Leaders of the world's richest democracies at the Group of Seven (G7) summit in Hiroshima, Japan said on Sunday they would not back down from supporting Ukraine.

* Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said he was confident that Kyiv would receive supplies of F-16 fighter jets from the West and Biden said he had received a "flat assurance" from Zelenskiy that Ukraine would not use them to go into Russian territory.

* Zelenskiy played down the fact he did not meet Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on the sidelines of the G7 summit and said it was likely because of scheduling.

IN-DEPTH STORIES

* INSIGHT-Communities torn as Ukraine turns its back on Moscow-linked church.

* INSIGHT-How Russians end up in a far-right militia fighting in Ukraine.

* INSIGHT-Ukraine farms lose workers to war, complicating a tough harvest

* EXPLAINER-Why the EU is restricting grain imports from Ukraine

(Compiled by Reuters editors; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

By Sybille de La Hamaide

PARIS (Reuters) - Governments should consider vaccinating birds against bird flu to avoid the virus - which has already killed hundreds of millions of birds and infected mammals worldwide - turning into a new pandemic, the head of the World Animal Health Organisation (WOAH) said.

The severity of the current outbreak of avian influenza, commonly called bird flu, and the economic and personal damage it has caused, has led governments to reconsider vaccinating poultry. However, some, like the United States, remain reluctant mainly because of the trade curbs this would entail.

"We are coming out of a COVID crisis where every country realised the hypothesis of a pandemic was real," WOAH Director General Monique Eloit told Reuters in an interview.

"Since almost every country that does international trade has now been infected, maybe it's time to discuss vaccination, in addition to systematic culling which remains the main tool (to control the disease)," she said.

The WOAH is holding a five-day general session from Sunday, and will be focus on global control of highly pathogenic avian influenza, or HPAI.

A WOAH survey showed only 25% of its member states would accept imports of products from poultry vaccinated against HPAI.

The European Union's 27 member states agreed last year to implement a bird flu vaccine strategy. France is set to be the first one, starting with ducks in the autumn.

"If a bloc like the EU, which is a large exporter, starts moving in that direction, it will have a ricochet impact," Eloit said.

The U.S. department of Agriculture (USDA) told Reuters on Friday that "in the interest of leaving no stone unturned in the fight against HPAI, USDA continues to research vaccine options that can protect poultry from this persistent threat".

However, it still considers biosecurity measures to be the most effective tool for mitigating the virus in commercial flocks, it said in emailed answers.

The risk to humans from bird flu remains low but countries must prepare for any change in the status quo, the World Health Organization has said.

Eloit said vaccination should focus on free-range poultry, mainly ducks, since bird flu is transmitted by infected migrating wild birds. Vaccinating broilers, which account for about 60% of global poultry output, makes less sense, she said.

The H5N1 strain that has been prevalent in the current HPAI outbreak has been detected in a larger number of mammals and killed thousands of them, including sea lions, foxes, otters and cats.

(Reporting by Sybille de La Hamaide; Editing by Hugh Lawson)

By Trevor Hunnicutt

HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden and top congressional Republican Kevin McCarthy could speak as soon as Sunday in talks over raising the federal $31.4 trillion debt ceiling.

Biden, who is traveling in Japan for the Group of Seven (G7) summit, sought the call after his negotiating team briefed him on the status of talks that broke up on Friday with no signs of progress, according to a White House official.

There are less than two weeks before June 1, when the U.S. Treasury Department has warned that the federal government could be unable to pay all its debts. That would trigger a default that could cause chaos in financial markets and spike interest rates.

Officials did not meet on Saturday, and they announced no progress from their prior meetings on Friday or any plan to talk again. Instead, both sides cast the other's proposals as too extreme.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre noted in a statement that Biden and McCarthy, the speaker of the House of Representatives, had agreed that any budget agreement would need to be bipartisan and accused Republicans of offering proposals too far to the right to pass Congress.

Late Saturday afternoon, McCarthy told reporters at the Capitol that he did not think talks could move forward until Biden was back in the country from the G7 meeting. He accused Democrats of taking a position that was too extreme toward the left.

White House officials said they were expecting the call between Biden and McCarthy would take place on Sunday morning, Washington time, after the president is scheduled to hold a press conference following the G7 meetings in Japan.

Biden will be headed back to Washington on Sunday after cutting his trip to Asia short to focus on the debt limit talks.

McCarthy's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Republican-led House last month passed legislation would cut a wide swath of government spending by 8% next year. Democrats say that would force average cuts of at least 22% on programs like education and law enforcement, a figure top Republicans have not disputed.

Republicans hold a slim majority of seats in the House and Biden's fellow Democrats have narrow control of the Senate, so no deal can pass without bipartisan support.

A source familiar with the negotiations said Republicans had proposed an increase in defense spending, while cutting overall spending. The source also said House Republicans want to extend tax cuts passed under former President Donald Trump, which would add $3.5 trillion to the federal debt.

The source said the Biden administration had proposed keeping non-defense discretionary spending flat for the next year, which would cut spending when adjustments are made for inflation.

U.S. Representative Patrick McHenry, a Republican negotiator, had said Republicans leaders were "going to huddle as a team and assess" where things stood.

Republicans are pushing for sharp spending cuts in many domestic programs in exchange for the increase in the government's self-imposed borrowing limit, which is needed regularly to cover costs of spending and tax cuts previously approved by lawmakers.

Congressional Republicans voted to raise the debt ceiling three times, with no budget cut pre-conditions, when Republican President Donald Trump was in the White House.

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Christian Schmollinger)

By Rory Carroll

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Brittney Griner returned to the WNBA hardwood on Friday night in Los Angeles to cheers from a raucous crowd that included U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris.

The mood was celebratory as Griner, who was released from a Russian penal colony in a high profile prisoner exchange with the U.S. late last year, was embraced by Harris on the court before the game.

Griner looked emotional when she was introduced and despite her Phoenix Mercury being the visiting team, saw the crowd erupt when she hit a 17-foot jumper on her first attempt of the contest.

"It felt good, it felt real good," Griner said of making the shot after missing all of last season while detained in Russia.

"If felt like the last time I played."

Outside the arena, Nike billboards displayed a photo of Griner with the caption "Basketball is Home."

Griner was taken into custody at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport and subsequently convicted of narcotics possession and trafficking after she was found to have been carrying vape cartridges containing hashish oil in her luggage.

She said she was prescribed medical cannabis in the United States for a chronic injury and never intended to break the law. U.S. officials said she was wrongly detained and was being used as a political pawn amid increasingly strained relations with Moscow.

Griner, 32, kicked off her 10th season with the Mercury on Friday after playing in a pre-season game one week ago.

Tennis Hall of Famer Billie Jean King and Lakers legend Magic Johnson were among others on hand for the game, which the Sparks won 94-71.

(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)