Israelis are voting in the country’s first parliamentary election since the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023 and the conflicts that followed across the region. BBC correspondent Yolande Knell explains why forming a new government may take time after the polls close.
Key Facts
Israel is holding a parliamentary election.
This is the first parliamentary election since the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks.
The attacks were followed by conflicts in Gaza, Iran, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen.
The article focuses on why government formation may take time after voting ends.
The report is by BBC Middle East correspondent Yolande Knell.
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A drone strike hit a market in Nyala, Darfur, killing at least 21 people and injuring more than 40, according to a medic and witnesses cited by AFP. The strike took place around 8 p.m. on Monday in a city that serves as the de facto capital of Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF).
Key Facts
A medic at Nyala Hospital reported 21 people killed and more than 40 injured.
The strike hit a market in northern Nyala around 8 p.m. on Monday.
A resident said armed men, especially RSF fighters, often visited the market.
Sudan’s military regularly strikes Nyala, where the RSF has declared a rival administration.
Sudan’s military and the RSF have been at war since April 2023.
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A Civiqs tracker of registered voters, based on 138,839 responses collected from January 20, 2025, to October 26, 2026, shows President Donald Trump with a net approval rating below zero in 39 states, according to a Newsweek analysis. Nationally, 34 percent approve of his job performance and 60 percent disapprove; the article notes that approval ratings do not predict individual election results.
Key Facts
Trump has positive net approval ratings in 10 states, while Montana is evenly split at 46 percent approval and 46 percent disapproval.
North Dakota has Trump’s highest net approval rating at +17, followed by Wyoming at +15.
Among the battleground states listed, Michigan has the lowest net approval at -25, followed by Georgia at -24 and Nevada and Wisconsin at -23.
Kentucky had the largest reported drop in net approval since January 2025, falling 34 points from +23 to -11.
Trump’s net approval was lower in every state than it was on January 20, 2025, according to the article.
Voters aged 18 to 34 disapprove of Trump by 71 percent to 21 percent, a 50-point gap.
Independents disapprove of Trump by 66 percent to 26 percent; Republicans approve by 78 percent to 11 percent.
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Federal Judge Ana Reyes extended an order blocking parts of the Trump administration’s renovation plans for East Potomac Golf Links, including a ban on removing or damaging more trees and a requirement for 10 days’ written notice before certain changes. President Donald Trump criticized the order, said the course would close for renovations on November 15, and said his administration would appeal.
Key Facts
The golf course is located in Washington, D.C.
Reyes’s order bars the government from removing or damaging additional trees while the lawsuit is active.
The order requires 10 days’ written notice before the administration makes certain changes to the course.
Trump said the renovation project is permitted and called the notice requirement unconstitutional.
The administration is pursuing a Tom Fazio-designed championship course, replacing a long-planned historic rehabilitation of an affordable public golf facility.
Trump said the course is dangerous because its fairways are close together and golfers are hit by wayward shots.
Trump said the course would close as scheduled on November 15 for renovations.
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A student-led movement reportedly won Serbia’s snap election, ending 14 years of political dominance by Aleksandar Vučić. Analyst Helena Ivanov said the result showed how sustained civic organizing can become an electoral challenge and could encourage anti-corruption movements in other countries.
Key Facts
The article reports an electoral victory for a student-led movement in Serbia.
Aleksandar Vučić had held political dominance for 14 years, according to the article.
Ivanov described the result as a historic turning point in Serbian politics.
She said the movement operated outside conventional party structures and sustained its campaign for two years.
Ivanov rejected Vučić’s claims that foreign powers orchestrated the protests.
She said the victory could inspire anti-corruption protests in Albania and elsewhere.
Ivanov emphasized that elections can give voters a way to hold leaders accountable.
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Israeli polls opened on October 27, 2026, in the first national election since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack. Voters are choosing among parties, and the next government will depend on coalition talks in the Knesset.
Key Facts
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government’s record are central issues in the election.
More than three dozen parties are competing, and about a dozen are expected to win seats in parliament.
Israeli voters elect parties, not individual lawmakers; parties then seek a majority coalition in the Knesset.
Netanyahu’s coalitions have relied on ultra-Orthodox parties that seek exemptions from military service for religious students.
Opposition leader Gadi Eisenkot has pledged to end those exemptions.
Other prominent candidates include former prime minister Naftali Bennett, national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and Yair Golan, leader of the center-left Democrats.
The opposition’s ability to unite after the election could determine whether it can form a government.
Coalition negotiations could take weeks or months before a new prime minister is named.
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President Donald Trump urged the Senate to make daylight saving time permanent before clocks change on November 1. The Sunshine Protection Act passed the House earlier this year but has not advanced in the Senate, so the scheduled clock change remains in place.
Key Facts
Trump spoke about the issue at a rally in Mississippi on Monday.
He called the twice-yearly clock change “ridiculous” and said it drives people crazy.
Trump said many Americans prefer more daylight in the evening.
The Sunshine Protection Act passed the House earlier this year.
The bill remains stalled in the Senate.
Clocks are scheduled to go back across most of the United States on November 1.
Trump also urged the Senate to act in a Truth Social post.
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Authorities are searching for Jacob Morley, a 28-year-old serving a life sentence for murder, after he escaped from Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, Tennessee. Officials said security footage showed him leaving through a prison fence in his uniform; he later stole a truck, according to the report.
Key Facts
Prison staff discovered Morley missing at about 11:30 p.m. Sunday.
The prison is in Tiptonville, about 90 miles north of Memphis.
Authorities have not said how Morley got through the fence.
Officials are searching nearby buildings and other structures.
The prison is offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to Morley’s arrest.
Morley was sentenced to life for killing co-worker Cody Birchfield in 2022.
Birchfield’s body was found in a box beneath Morley’s home after he had been missing for several weeks.
Morley was also convicted of aggravated burglary, tampering with evidence, vandalism, and evading arrest.
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India is moving tens of thousands of people from its eastern coast as Cyclone Arnab strengthens over the Bay of Bengal. The storm is expected to reach the coast by Wednesday morning, bringing sustained winds of 115–125 km/h and gusts up to 140 km/h.
Key Facts
India’s Meteorological Department warned the coastal states of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha about the very severe cyclone.
Arnab was centred about 260 km southeast of Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh’s most populous city.
More than 12 million people live along the cyclone’s projected path, according to Andhra Pradesh’s disaster management authority.
Nearly 50,000 people had been moved to shelters in Andhra Pradesh by Monday night; the authority estimated that 400,000 people needed evacuation.
Odisha authorities planned to evacuate 48,000 people, according to The Hindu.
Railway authorities said at least 12 trains were cancelled and services on 53 southern coastal routes were suspended for Tuesday and Wednesday.
Nepal advised tourists to avoid high-altitude areas because the cyclone could bring heavy rain, snowstorms and avalanches from Thursday night to Saturday.
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The article argues that Qatar should build greater defence autonomy over the next five years while keeping alliances, rather than trying to fight a major regional power alone. It proposes strengthening Qatar’s ability to detect threats, withstand initial attacks, protect essential services and keep the country functioning during a crisis, with integrated air defence identified as the leading gap.
Key Facts
The article says Qatar’s security remains heavily dependent on the United States during a major crisis.
It says reliance on the Gulf Cooperation Council’s collective capabilities may not provide sufficient assurance for Qatar’s defence.
The proposed strategy rests on six pillars, including air and missile defence, early warning, critical infrastructure protection, air and naval power, cybersecurity, and multiple security guarantees.
The article defines defence autonomy as the ability to handle essential defence tasks without waiting for outside assistance.
Those tasks include detecting threats, protecting leadership and strategic centres, and maintaining energy, water, electricity, communications, ports and airports.
The article says Qatar should aim to impose costs on an aggressor and endure a prolonged crisis, rather than prepare to fight a major regional power alone.
The article identifies an integrated Qatari air defence shield as the most important capability gap to address.
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Jean-Rémi Girard, head of the French teachers’ union SNALC, said past government choices helped create the problems behind France’s education crisis. He called the latest reform proposals a tentative step but said they lack concrete guarantees and funding, and warned that measures will not take effect without an approved parliamentary budget.
Key Facts
Girard said the government eliminated 8,000 secondary teaching positions during Emmanuel Macron’s first presidential term while student enrolment was rising.
He said schools still face teacher shortages, including difficulty replacing absent teachers.
Girard argued that Parcoursup, France’s university admissions platform launched in 2018, is not the main source of student frustration.
He said limited university capacity cannot meet growing demand for higher education.
Girard said student protests have drawn attention to serious problems shared by students, teachers and unions.
He said the government’s latest education proposals are a tentative step forward but lack concrete guarantees and secure funding.
Girard warned that promised measures will not become real without an approved parliamentary budget.
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Several Chinese brands have ended or suspended commercial ties with Kylian Mbappé amid online backlash over unverified clips that appear to show him joking about a meme depicting him as a Chinese dictator. Mbappé and the French talk show have not commented, and the brands cited hurt national feelings without explicitly naming the clip.
Key Facts
The clips reportedly show Mbappé calling a meme that places his face on an image resembling Mao Zedong his favorite.
The original interview video is no longer on the show’s YouTube channel, and Mbappé does not name Mao in the reported remarks.
Chinese football forum Dongqiudi drew attention to the remarks on Monday night and called them inappropriate.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said words and actions that hurt Chinese people’s feelings would face opposition.
Dairy company Mengniu and drinks company Dongpeng issued statements opposing actions that hurt or offend Chinese people’s feelings.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV is reportedly suspending La Liga matches, according to the outlet The Paper.
The article says Mbappé is popular in China and has had major commercial endorsements there.
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Wales First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth says the UK’s relationship with Wales is unequal and is seeking a new agreement that gives Wales more powers. He says the effort is intended to let Wales shape its future, not to dismantle the UK, and he will not seek an independence referendum during the current parliamentary term.
Key Facts
Ap Iorwerth formally asked the British prime minister to transfer powers over policing, justice, rail and natural resources to Wales.
He says the proposed changes would address what he calls historic unfairness.
Plaid Cymru, the centre-left Welsh nationalist party, took power in Wales in May, ending more than a century of Labour Party dominance there.
Four months into his term, ap Iorwerth signed a pact with Scotland and Northern Ireland affirming their right to self-determination.
The pact warned the British Parliament that its time was coming to an end.
Ap Iorwerth says Wales is on a path toward independence but will not hold an independence referendum during this parliament.
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Polls opened in Israel on Tuesday, October 27, in a national election widely viewed as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies. After the vote, a key question is whether the divided opposition, which includes an Arab-Israeli majority bloc, can unite to form a government.
Key Facts
Polls opened in Israel on Tuesday, October 27, 2026.
The election is a national vote.
The vote is viewed as a referendum on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies.
FRANCE 24 reporter Noga Tarnopolsky reported from Jerusalem.
The opposition is described as divided.
The opposition includes an Arab-Israeli majority bloc.
A key post-election question is whether opposition groups can join together to form a government.
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Retreating glaciers in Italy’s Dolomites exposed World War I munitions, which the Italian army says it recovered and defused. Experts say the ice loss is linked to global heating and warn that newly exposed explosives can be dangerous to hikers and climbers.
Key Facts
The Italian army’s Julia Alpine brigade recovered and neutralised 250 explosives in the Trentino-Alto Adige region.
The munitions included 18 Italian 75mm artillery shells and 37 French-made Thevetot mortar shells.
Hikers reported several sightings during the summer, mostly near Canal San Bovo in the Primiero Valley.
The weapons date to the White War, fought between Austro-Hungarian and Italian forces from 1915 to 1918.
A University of Bergamo professor said dangerous relics emerge from the ice at the end of each summer, with more found in recent years.
Authorities advise hikers not to touch suspected explosive devices and to report discoveries to police.
A White War museum is scheduled to open in Bormio in June 2027.
Eleven people died when part of the Marmolada glacier broke off in 2022.
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A Spotlight on Corruption investigation found that UK officials involved in developing AI datacentre policy met 137 businesses from July 2024 to June 2026, but no environmental groups and only two community groups. The investigation also identified 38 ministers, senior civil servants and advisers who left government for jobs at AI companies between July 2024 and September 2026.
Key Facts
Spotlight on Corruption filed 40 freedom of information requests to 18 government agencies.
The meetings concerned the government’s AI growth zones and datacentre policy.
Nine of the 38 people who left government had worked at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology.
The AI growth zone policy aimed to support large datacentre projects across five UK regions.
The article reports growing local opposition to planned datacentres, including campaigns in Scotland and east London.
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James Daniel says he has faced anti-social behaviour from successive neighbours for seven years despite reporting it to agencies and sharing evidence. Housing Ombudsman data show it upheld 609 complaints about social landlords’ handling of anti-social behaviour in 2025–26, up from 159 in 2021–22.
Key Facts
Daniel said he reported incidents to police and housing provider North Devon Homes and gave them video evidence.
The footage he shared with the BBC showed knives being thrown from a window, an argument outside his home, and a neighbour appearing to make gun gestures at a camera.
North Devon Homes said it takes reports seriously and works with residents and partner agencies to investigate concerns and provide support.
The Housing Ombudsman upheld 159 complaints about landlords’ handling of anti-social behaviour in 2021–22 and 609 in 2025–26.
The Ombudsman cited poor communication, poor record keeping, and failures to use tools such as risk assessments and action plans as common failings.
The Ombudsman can require a landlord to take action, apologize, or pay compensation when it finds a failure.
Daniel has referred his case to the Housing Ombudsman and is awaiting a decision.
Devon and Cornwall Police has increased its use of closure orders on residential properties to address anti-social behaviour.
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The United States, the European Union and 30 countries warned that food security in Sudan is worsening and called for urgent steps to prevent famine. They urged the army and the Rapid Support Forces to allow humanitarian aid, protect aid workers and avoid attacks on civilian infrastructure.
Key Facts
The joint statement was released by the U.S. State Department on Monday.
The signatories called on the parties fighting Sudan’s civil war to remove barriers to humanitarian assistance.
Sudan’s army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces have fought since clashes began in April 2023.
The war has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced more than 13 million, according to the article.
In June, the U.N.-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification said 5.1 million people in Sudan faced severe hunger.
The statement warned that without immediate action, the number of children suffering severe acute malnutrition could exceed 825,000.
The signatories called for aid access across front lines and borders, including air access to Darfur.
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South Korea’s GDP grew 1 percent in the July–September quarter from the previous quarter, beating the Bank of Korea’s 0.3 percent forecast. Strong exports of semiconductors and other goods, amid demand for AI-related chips, drove growth while private consumption declined.
Key Facts
GDP grew 3.4 percent year-on-year in the July–September quarter, according to advance estimates from the Bank of Korea.
Exports rose 2.3 percent from the previous quarter, led by semiconductors, machinery and electrical equipment.
Investment in facilities rose 4.1 percent, and investment in intellectual property increased 2.3 percent.
Construction investment grew 0.7 percent, while private consumption fell 0.2 percent.
South Korea’s finance minister projected 2026 growth of 3.4 to 3.6 percent, which would be the strongest expansion since 2011, excluding the pandemic period.
SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics together hold about 80 percent of the global high-bandwidth memory market and 60 percent of the dynamic random-access memory market.
South Korean exports in September rose 83.5 percent year-on-year to $120.9 billion, with chips accounting for nearly half of shipments.
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At least 60 Orthodox Christians were killed in two attacks on October 20 and 24 in Ethiopia’s Oromia region, according to the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. The church said more than 20 people were seriously injured and 20 homes were burned; no group has claimed responsibility.
Key Facts
Fourteen people were killed in Gora Silingo, in Merti district, on October 20.
Forty-six people were killed in Tereta, Chole and Birbo villages, in Shirka district, on October 24.
Both districts are in the Arsi Zone of central Oromia.
The church called for stronger civilian protection and for those responsible to be brought to justice.
Oromia’s regional government pledged to pursue those responsible.
A local official reportedly accused a rebel alliance that includes the Oromo Liberation Army, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility; the OLA has previously denied attacking civilians.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Council reported that at least 432 civilians and four local militia members were killed in targeted attacks across East Arsi between 2021–22 and June 1 of this year.
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