Palestinian citizens of Israel turned out in large numbers in the parliamentary election, giving the Arab-led Ra’am and Joint List a combined 19 seats in the 120-seat parliament. Although the parties could influence government formation, several prominent Jewish-led opposition figures ruled out joining them, while Likud called for an investigation into possible foreign interference in the turnout.
Key Facts
An estimated 80 percent of eligible Palestinian voters in Israel voted in the election.
Palestinian citizens make up about 21 percent of Israel’s population.
Ra’am and the Joint List won a combined 19 of the parliament’s 120 seats.
Likud called on the Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security service, to investigate possible foreign interference in the Palestinian turnout.
Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid ruled out sitting in a government with Palestinian parties.
Avigdor Lieberman also ruled out forming a coalition with Palestinian parties.
The article says Likud appeared to be the largest party, but its bloc lacked enough seats to form a government.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth fired Lieutenant General Brett Sylvia, who led the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s Strategy, Plans and Policy Directorate. The Pentagon says Sylvia is under investigation for allegedly leaking classified information about the Iran war and the Russia-Ukraine war; the investigation is ongoing and has been referred to the Justice Department.
Key Facts
A Defense Department official said Sylvia met journalists outside the Pentagon to leak classified information.
The official said Sylvia failed three polygraph tests related to allegations of leaking.
The Pentagon said Sylvia was the Defense Department’s chief military planner but was not a central planner for the Iran war.
The Pentagon said Central Command and its commander, Admiral Brad Cooper, are responsible for planning the Iran war.
The article said there was no immediate replacement for Sylvia.
Sylvia previously commanded the 101st Airborne Division until May 2025.
The article says Sylvia is the second person Hegseth has removed from the J5 post.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren urged the Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation into Bank of America over violations of anti-money-laundering laws. In a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche, she criticized the Treasury Department’s recent $1.21 billion fine against the bank as inadequate.
Key Facts
Elizabeth Warren is a Democratic senator from Massachusetts.
Warren asked the Department of Justice to launch a criminal investigation into Bank of America.
The request concerns violations of anti-money-laundering laws.
Warren sent her request in a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche.
The Treasury Department recently fined Bank of America $1.21 billion.
Warren described the fine as a “slap on…”; the article text provided ends before the quote is complete.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
The UK intelligence watchdog said MI5’s false evidence about a violent neo-Nazi informant was a grave failure that undermined oversight. Its investigation found that MI5 misled three courts, while the watchdog’s annual report also detailed a rise in MI5 agent-management errors and failings by the National Crime Agency in its handling of a child informant.
Key Facts
Investigatory Powers Commissioner Lord Leveson called the case of informant X among the most serious he has handled.
The watchdog found that MI5 gave false evidence to three courts about following its policy of neither confirming nor denying an informant’s status.
The investigation found that one senior MI5 officer repeatedly lied and another misled colleagues; the first officer later resigned.
MI5 said it accepted the watchdog’s findings without reservation.
The High Court is expected to decide whether to take action against MI5 or its staff.
MI5 agent-related errors rose from four in 2017 to 21 in 2025, while MI6 errors fell from 10 to three.
The watchdog found that the National Crime Agency failed to report a child informant within the required time and that a senior officer extended the authorisation beyond what was legal.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
The National Republican Congressional Committee defended an AI-generated ad attacking North Carolina congressional candidate Jamie Ager. The ad showed a likeness of drag performer Nova at an event, but Nova said she had never met Ager or visited his farm and that her likeness was used without permission.
Key Facts
The NRCC paid for the ad, and Republican candidate Jennifer Balkcom approved it, according to Newsweek.
Ager and Balkcom are running in the November 3 election for North Carolina’s 11th Congressional District.
The ad depicts an AI-generated scene of Ager dancing with a likeness of Nova at a barn dance attended by adults and children.
The NRCC said it stood by the ad and accused Ager of exposing children to sexualized performers.
The ad appears to refer to a 2019 fantasy-themed festival at Ager’s family business, Hickory Nut Gap Farm.
The News & Observer reported that the NRCC provided no evidence that the performers named in its claims attended the 2019 event.
Ager called the ad fake and said he was running a campaign focused on his community and its future.
Nova said she had never met Ager or visited his property and reportedly sent the Balkcom campaign a cease-and-desist letter.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
A Toronto jury found Aiden Pleterski guilty of fraud after prosecutors said he took more than C$36 million from investors and spent some of it on luxury goods and travel. Pleterski represented himself, pleaded not guilty and did not testify; he returns to court on 13 November for sentencing.
Key Facts
The jury convicted Pleterski of one count of fraud involving more than C$5,000 after several hours of deliberation.
Authorities charged Pleterski in May 2024 after a 16-month investigation by Durham Regional Police and the Ontario Securities Commission.
The money-laundering charge against Pleterski was later dropped.
Prosecutors said Pleterski took more than C$36 million from investors and spent about half of it.
Prosecutors said he spent about C$5.6 million on luxury vehicles and took multiple private-jet trips using investor funds.
Prosecutors said Pleterski spent C$45,000 a month on a lakefront mansion and accumulated C$4.9 million in credit card bills.
Pleterski was kidnapped in Toronto in December 2022 and released three days later after being tortured.
Pleterski's sentencing hearing is scheduled for 13 November.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
A man suspected of a shooting in the Paris suburb of Trappes admitted targeting people he believed were Muslim, African, or North African, prosecutors said. The attack last week killed one person and wounded seven others, including a child.
Key Facts
Prosecutors said the suspect admitted deliberately selecting victims based on their perceived religion or background.
The shooting took place in Trappes, a Paris suburb.
The attack happened the week before the report was issued on October 29, 2026.
One person was killed.
Seven people were wounded, including a child.
The report said the attack occurred amid political tensions ahead of France’s presidential election, expected next spring.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
The Potter County Republican Party and its chairman sued in federal court to stop Texas from certifying results in the upcoming election. They cite possible hacking involving AI or foreign actors and seek a hand count of every ballot statewide, but the filing identifies no compromised machines and says no earlier county election was altered by a third party.
Key Facts
The lawsuit was filed on Tuesday by the Potter County Republican Party and chairman Daniel Rogers.
The plaintiffs seek a hand count of all ballots from every Texas precinct before certification.
The complaint alleges that voting-machine components made in China could be vulnerable to tampering.
The filing does not identify any compromised voting machines in Potter County or elsewhere in Texas.
Texas law already requires hand-count audits when electronic tabulators are used; the plaintiffs say those audits are insufficient.
The complaint says no previous election in Potter County was altered by a third party.
Texas Secretary of State spokesperson Alicia Pierce said the office did not plan to comment on the lawsuit.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
A Gallup poll found that voters rank the economy, healthcare and the war in Iran among their leading concerns ahead of this year’s midterm elections. Half of respondents said the economy and healthcare would be extremely important to their vote.
Key Facts
Gallup released the poll on Thursday.
The poll asked about voters’ priorities for this year’s elections.
Half of respondents said the economy would be extremely important to their vote.
Half of respondents said healthcare would be extremely important to their vote.
The war in Iran was also among voters’ leading concerns.
About 47 percent of registered voters [the article excerpt ends before giving the rest of this result].
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Nvidia said allegations that Alice Huang passed information to Beijing were investigated and debunked last year. The New York Times reported that U.S. intelligence agencies had found that Huang, an executive at Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed, funneled information to China.
Key Facts
Nvidia rejected the report’s allegations.
The company said the allegations were investigated and debunked last year.
The New York Times published the report on Thursday.
The report said U.S. intelligence agencies found that Alice Huang passed information to Beijing.
Alice Huang is an executive at Singapore-based data center company Megaspeed.
The article’s headline says the report alleged that Huang was tied to Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Muslim and Arab American leaders in Michigan say anti-Mus Muslim rhetoric and threats have increased during the close Senate race between Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul El-Sayed. They describe the attacks as worrying but say they are responding through civic engagement and support for El-Sayed.
Key Facts
Far-right provocateur Jake Lang shouted anti-Muslim slurs outside a Detroit rally that featured Barack Obama.
Lang and his associates held signs supporting Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers.
Pastor Lorenzo Sewell, a Rogers campaign faith adviser, helped Lang organise an anti-Muslim march in Dearborn in August.
Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud said the city has received more threats in recent months, including through social media and calls to emergency and city services.
Rogers said his focus on El-Sayed’s background concerned national security, not religion.
The article reports that President Donald Trump has mocked El-Sayed’s name and called him a “jihadist.”
Activist Suehaila Amen said attacks from the president can make bigotry and racism seem legitimate.
Local leaders said Muslim and Arab Americans are pushing back through civic engagement and support for El-Sayed’s campaign.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
The New York Times, citing anonymous people briefed on U.S. intelligence, reported that President Donald Trump was told about allegations that Alice Huang, a Chinese citizen and former Megaspeed executive, passed information about Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang to Beijing. The sources said Trump took no action, in part over concerns about Nvidia sales and U.S.-China trade; the allegations remain unclear, and China’s embassy called them baseless.
Key Facts
U.S. intelligence reportedly briefed Trump about a suspected Chinese effort to obtain information from someone with direct access to Jensen Huang.
The person identified in the report was Alice Huang, a former executive at Singapore-based cloud company Megaspeed; she is not related to Jensen Huang.
U.S. investigators reportedly suspected Alice Huang helped China evade export controls to obtain advanced Nvidia chips through Megaspeed.
The report said Trump chose not to act partly because of possible effects on Nvidia sales and U.S.-China trade relations.
The article said it is unclear what information Alice Huang may have shared with Beijing or how closely she remains connected to Megaspeed.
Nvidia said Alice Huang would not have had access to its trade secrets, according to the report.
The Chinese Embassy in Washington called the accusations against Alice Huang baseless.
The report said Jensen Huang did not receive a defensive briefing about the alleged spying.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Finnish police are investigating whether Google’s planned data centre site near Muhos breached environmental law. Authorities say forest clearing and drainage began before required environmental impact assessments were completed; Google says it will cooperate.
Key Facts
The investigation concerns possible breaches of Finland’s Water Act and environmental damage.
Tuike Finland, a local Google subsidiary, carried out forest clearing and drainage at the planned site.
Finnish authorities ordered Google to stop work at the site in early October.
Police Detective Superintendent Kari Pakanen said a guilty finding could lead to a corporate fine.
Google said it would cooperate with police and continue working to comply with rules at its sites.
The data centre project is part of Google’s announced $15 billion investment in AI infrastructure in Finland.
Finland’s cool climate and low-carbon electricity have helped attract data centre projects.
Grid operator Fingrid has projected that Finland’s electricity use could rise by up to 40 percent if all agreed grid connection projects proceed.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer opened an investigation into allegations that Mary Peltola’s campaign sought to recruit candidates to draw votes away from Sen. Dan Sullivan in Alaska’s Senate race. The article says a New York Times report found that Peltola’s campaign worked with national Democrats on recruitment efforts.
Key Facts
James Comer, a Republican from Kentucky, chairs the House Oversight Committee.
Comer launched the investigation on Thursday.
The allegations concern Democrat Mary Peltola’s campaign and Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan’s Alaska Senate race.
The allegation is that Peltola’s campaign sought to recruit candidates to peel votes away from Sullivan.
The article attributes findings about the campaign’s work with national Democrats to a New York Times report.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Al Jazeera is marking 30 years since its 1996 launch with a restructuring of its Arabic-language news services. The network is dividing coverage among three channels and plans to introduce 33 programmes focused on news, analysis and investigative reporting.
Key Facts
Al Jazeera launched on November 1, 1996.
The restructuring covers the network’s Arabic-language news services.
Al Jazeera Mubasher will continue uninterrupted live coverage of events without presenter or correspondent commentary.
The new Al Jazeera Now service will cover breaking developments without scheduled bulletins or a fixed programme grid.
The flagship Al Jazeera Arabic channel will retain news bulletins and put more emphasis on analysis, investigations and other programmes.
The network plans to introduce 33 programmes under the slogan “Your questions are our questions”.
Asef Hamidi became managing director of Al Jazeera Arabic in September 2025.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Mohamed Soliman pleaded guilty in federal court to 12 charges tied to the June 2025 firebomb attack on a demonstration in Boulder, Colorado. Prosecutors said he targeted the group because he believed its members were Jewish and Israeli; one person died and more than a dozen were injured. His federal sentencing is scheduled for January 7, 2027.
Key Facts
Soliman threw two Molotov cocktails at a Run for Their Lives gathering on the Pearl Street Mall in June 2025, according to prosecutors.
The attack killed Karen Diamond and injured more than a dozen other people.
Soliman pleaded guilty to 12 federal charges, including hate crimes and charges involving fire or explosives.
A judge found Soliman competent to plead guilty to all federal counts.
Soliman had already pleaded guilty to more than 100 state charges, including first-degree murder.
In May 2025, a state judge sentenced him to life in prison without parole for murder and 2,128 additional years for other state charges.
Federal sentencing is scheduled for January 7, 2027; the judge said sentencing guidelines are advisory and may not be followed.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is requesting life in prison plus 50 years.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
After riots and looting on the fringes of mostly peaceful demonstrations in France on October 17, the government proposed a law that could make protesters pay up to €10,000 for damage, even if they did not cause it themselves. The Senate passed the bill on Wednesday, and the National Assembly is due to debate it; critics say it could undermine the right to peaceful protest, while legal experts note that existing law already allows people to pay for damage they caused.
Key Facts
France’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry said nearly 2,500 businesses were damaged during the unrest, with more than 1,000 ransacked, looted or set on fire.
The IFRAP Foundation estimated the nationwide damage at nearly €1 billion.
The proposed law could require protesters to pay up to €10,000 for damage linked to public unrest, even if they were not directly responsible.
The Senate passed the bill on Wednesday, and it will now be debated in the National Assembly.
Human rights groups, unions and left-wing parties have criticized the bill as a threat to the right to peaceful protest.
Criminal defence lawyer Laurent Caruso said existing criminal laws already allow courts to require people to pay for damage they caused.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee apologized after an independent report found government failures contributed to a residential fire that killed 168 people last November. The report blamed private contractors as the main culprits but said four government departments bore part of the responsibility; Lee announced a further investigation and promised reforms.
Key Facts
The fire spread through seven of the eight towers at Wang Fuk Court, a housing complex undergoing renovations.
The report cited decades of government failure and lax enforcement of safety rules.
It said better action by four departments could have helped address fire hazards before the blaze.
Housing Secretary Winnie Ho resigned, and Lee said she should bear political responsibility.
Authorities have charged seven people and two companies, including with manslaughter, and have arrested at least 35 people.
Some victims’ families said the apology and acceptance of responsibility were inadequate.
Lee said a three-month investigation into the government’s role would begin and outlined proposed reforms, including criminalizing bid-rigging.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Albanian opposition leader Sali Berisha and other lawmakers disrupted parliament in Tirana with flares and smoke bombs as they protested Prime Minister Edi Rama’s government. The unrest is part of protests that began in May over a proposed resort linked to Jared Kushner and have expanded to include complaints about corruption, economic stagnation and education costs.
Key Facts
Berisha and opposition lawmakers tried to stop a vote on a new law governing Albania’s central bank but failed.
The protests began after preliminary approval of a luxury resort linked to Jared Kushner, the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Demonstrators have also cited alleged corruption, economic stagnation, poor education standards and high tuition fees.
The article reports that the protests have injured hundreds of people, including police officers, and that some buildings have been attacked and set on fire.
Rama has refused to resign after winning a fourth term last year, following 13 years in office.
Rama introduced fines exceeding $6,000 for people who attend protests that turn violent, even if they did not take part in violence.
Rama announced increased student scholarships, expanded eligibility for master’s students and subsidized rent for students.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
Retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges told FRANCE 24 that the reported dismissal of Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia may reflect a troubling pattern at the Pentagon under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Hodges said he was disappointed and surprised that few retired four-star generals had publicly challenged policies they view as damaging.
Key Facts
Hodges is a retired lieutenant general and former commander of U.S. Army Europe.
Hodges also formerly led NATO Allied Land Command.
The interview focused on the reported firing of Lt. Gen. Brett Sylvia.
The article says no public explanation was given for the reported dismissal of senior military officers.
Hodges said the reported firing could point to a troubling pattern under Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
Hodges criticized what he described as limited public resistance from retired senior commanders.
Read the Original
Want the full story? Tap a source to open the original
article.
