Crucial polls today in Turkiye, Thailand

ISTANBUL: As President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkiye approaches the toughest election of his career on Sunday, he has marshalled many of the resources of the state to tilt the playing field to his advantage. Erdogan, who has come to increasingly dominate the country over the past two decades, tapped the treasury for populist spending programmes and has raised the minimum wage three times in the last year and a half. His challenger barely appears on the state broadcaster, while Erdogan’s…