TURKEY: The authorities detained the mayor of an Istanbul district along with 47 other officials on Saturday over allegations of corruption, part of a widening crackdown on the country’s main opposition party, the CHP.

The state-run Anadolu Agency said that the Istanbul chief prosecutor’s office ordered the detentions in connection with an investigation into alleged extortion, bribery, fraud and bid rigging by the Istanbul’s Bayrampasa municipality.

More than a dozen mayors from the CHP and hundreds of municipal officials have been arrested in recent months, including Istanbul Mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.

SERBIA: Anti-government protesters and supporters of President Aleksandar Vucic held parallel rallies across the country on Saturday, following more than 10 months of protests against the government.

Mr Vucic’s Serbian Progressive Party recently started organising its own demonstrations to counter persistent student-led protests against the president’s firm grip on power.

No major incidents were reported at the rallies held in a number of cities and towns with police separating the two camps.

AFGHANISTAN: The Taliban said it reached agreement with US envoys on Saturday over an exchange of prisoners as part of an effort to normalise relations.

They gave no details of a detainee swap and the White House did not comment on the meeting in Kabul, nor the results described in a Taliban statement.

The Taliban released photographs from their talks, showing Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi with US President Donald Trump’s special envoy for hostage response, Adam Boehler.

INDIA: A 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck Assam state today sending tremors throughout the region, officials said. There were no immediate reports of any damage.

The quake had a depth of 3.1 miles and its epicentere was in the town of Udalguri, according to India’s National Centre for Seismology. Terrified residents rushed outside their homes in Guwahati, the state’s capital.

Northern India lies on a major geological fault line where the Indian tectonic plate pushes up into the Eurasian plate, forming the Himalayas.