World, in brief

Israelis began voting at 7am (05:00 GMT) on Tuesday, and polls close at 10pm (20:00 GMT), when TV exit polls give the first signs of the result. [1][2]

It is Israel's first election since the Hamas-led attack of 7 October 2023, which killed about 1,200 people in Israel. [1]

About 7.3 million people can vote for the Knesset, Israel's 120-seat parliament, and a government needs the support of 61 members. [3][4]

No single party has ever won a majority in Israel, so every government is a coalition of several parties. [2]

The last polls, reported by The National, a UAE newspaper, put the opposition on 56 seats, Netanyahu's Likud on 50 and the Arab parties on 14. [5]

Benjamin Netanyahu, 77, has been prime minister for more than 19 years and campaigned on his wars and his alliance with Donald Trump. [3]

Netanyahu said on Sunday that Trump was ready to act again against Iran, but only if Netanyahu stayed in power. [1]

His main rival is Gadi Eisenkot, a former head of Israel's army, who leads the Yashar party and promises a state inquiry into the failures of 7 October. [6][7]

Netanyahu is on trial for corruption in three cases, and the International Criminal Court, which tries war crimes, issued a warrant for his arrest in 2024. [6][4]

On the eve of the vote, The Age reported that James Packer, an Australian billionaire and a witness in that trial, paid at least $1.25m to the law firm of Netanyahu's lawyer. [8]

Israel's Channel 12 reported that Netanyahu clashed with his army chief, Eyal Zamir, over an order that could have set off fighting with Iran, which Netanyahu denied. [9]

Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, reported that Likud set up paid teams to film Arab voters outside polling stations, and that some party officials plan a 'rigged election' campaign if it loses. [10]

Arab citizens are about a fifth of Israel's people, and opposition sources expect their turnout to rise from about 50% to 70%. [5]

If nobody can form a government, Netanyahu could stay on as caretaker prime minister until another election next year. [1]

Palestinians in Gaza told The National they want Netanyahu gone but expect no real change, since both main blocs support Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. [11][12]

Why it matters. The first sign is the TV exit polls at 20:00 GMT tonight, and the final count is due on 30 October. [2] If nobody can put together 61 seats, Netanyahu could stay on as caretaker until another election next year. [1]

Saudi Arabia's defence minister, Prince Khalid bin Salman, flew to Iran's capital on Monday with Pakistan's army chief, Asim Munir, and Turkey's intelligence chief, Ibrahim Kalin. [15] Their three countries signed the Mecca pact, a promise to defend each other, in August. [14] It was their first joint visit to Iran since the war that began with US and Israeli strikes in February. [14][15] The talks ended with no deal, only an agreement to keep talking. [14]

Why it matters. Dawn, a Pakistani newspaper, said the pact countries moved from defence to diplomacy. [27] Oman's foreign minister, Badr Albusaidi, called the same day for a no-attack pact between the six Gulf states, Iran and Iraq, with the US no longer the main protector. [28]

Egypt's parliament on Monday gave President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi the power to send troops to defend Saudi Arabia. [16] Egypt's constitution needs two-thirds of the house, 398 of 596 members, to approve a combat mission abroad. [16] Sisi says he will act only if Saudi Arabia asks, and no request has been made public. [16] The Houthis, an armed group backed by Iran that holds Yemen's capital, have hit Riyadh's airport and the state oil company Saudi Aramco. [29]

Why it matters. Egypt has not sent a large ground force abroad since the 1991 Gulf War. [29] Saudi Arabia gives Egypt billions of dollars in aid, deposits and fuel, and the Houthis also threaten the sea route to Egypt's Suez Canal. [29]

The Saudi-led coalition, which fights the Houthis for Yemen's recognised government, said it destroyed two Houthi missile launchers in Sanaa, Yemen's capital. [30][29] A Houthi strike on Riyadh's King Khalid airport on 10 October killed 13 people. [30] The EU's ambassador to Yemen asked for concrete steps in the coming days to stop the fighting. [31] More than 250,000 people have been forced from their homes since June. [31]

Why it matters. Hundreds of families from Taiz and Lahj now live in about 850 tents in camps near Aden. [32] Pakistan, a Mecca pact member, condemned Houthi missiles fired toward Mecca and Medina, Islam's two holiest cities. [33]

Jordan's air force struck what it called terrorist hideouts in southern Syria on Monday, in reply to Friday's shooting at a church funeral in Karak that killed nine people. [18] Syria's civil defence said the strikes killed seven people, five of them from one family in a tent, including three children. [34] Jordan said it acted together with Syria's government. [18] Syria said it was not told, and it shut Nassib, the only crossing for people and goods between the two countries. [18]

Why it matters. Jordan's police said the three men arrested for the church attack were Jordanians who were not tied to any organised group. [35] Until Nassib reopens, trade and travel between the two neighbours stop in both directions. [34]

Russia and Ukraine stopped firing around Oleshky at 01:00 GMT on Tuesday, and both sides said they were keeping to it. [36] Oleshky is a Russian-held town in southern Ukraine, across the Dnipro river from the city of Kherson. [37] About 2,000 people, up to 50 of them children, are trapped there with little food or medicine, by Ukrainian and US estimates. [36] Melania Trump, the US first lady, brokered the pause so aid can get in and people can leave later this week. [37]

Why it matters. Russia's government said it would agree more short truces for aid, but would not slow its attacks elsewhere. [38] Ukraine's military said ballistic missiles were fired toward Kyiv the same morning. [39]

Ukrainian drones hit Voronezh, a city in western Russia, overnight into Monday. [23] Its governor said air defences brought down 113 drones over the region, and he confirmed three people killed. [23] In Ukraine, Russian forces struck a burning factory in Odesa twice more while firefighters were working there. [22] Ukraine's air force said Russia sent 140 attack drones and decoys overnight, and 112 were stopped. [22]

Why it matters. Zelensky said Russia fired 48 missiles and nearly 2,300 attack drones at Ukraine in the past week. [40] The strikes go on while the two sides prepare for US-led talks next month. [38]

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday he had waited nearly a month for Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, to approve missiles for Ukraine. [40] They are for Patriot and NASAMS, systems that shoot down missiles and drones in the air. [40] The same day his adviser said a planned trip to Brussels for talks with the US, the EU and NATO could not be confirmed, because the US side had changed its plans. [41]

Why it matters. The Brussels meeting was meant to follow talks in Oslo last week with Steve Witkoff, the US envoy. [41] Ukraine is also asking European countries that hold Patriot missiles for supplies. [40]

Defence ministers from France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Britain met in Paris on Monday. [42] They said Europe must take greater responsibility for its own security, while calling the US an indispensable ally. [42] Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, said she expected a brutal winter for Ukraine and no hope of peace soon. [43]

Why it matters. The meeting came as the US pushes Ukraine toward talks with Russia, and as doubts grow in Europe about US support. [43] Germany's defence minister, Boris Pistorius, said talking to Putin had brought no results. [43]

Romania's intelligence service said on Monday that a fire on 14 September in Brasov, near a state-owned weapons factory, was part of a sabotage campaign run by Russia. [44] Prosecutors said three people set it: two Belarusians and a Ukrainian living in the EU. [44] Two were caught in Germany while preparing similar attacks, and the third is still free in Poland. [44] Russia did not comment, and it has denied such claims before. [44]

Why it matters. The service said the campaign aims at arms makers, to frighten the countries that build them and weaken what they give to Europe's defence. [44]

Drones from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group at war with Sudan's army since April 2023, hit five power stations on Monday. [21] Two were in Al-Jazira state, two in Gedaref and one in White Nile, all held by the army, a government official said. [21] Large parts of the three states lost electricity. [21] A man in Gedaref said his diabetic son's insulin needs a fridge. [21]

Why it matters. The UN says such attacks threaten services for millions of people already in the world's largest hunger crisis. [21] In Blue Nile state, officials now let bakeries charge 1,000 Sudanese pounds for two loaves as flour prices climb. [45]

Britain banned 15 commanders from both sides of Sudan's war from travelling and froze their money on Monday, a year after the city of El Fasher fell. [46] It accused them of sexual violence, including during the siege of the city. [46] The RSF took El Fasher after an 18-month siege, and up to 10,000 people are believed to have been killed over two days. [46] Britain also pledged 5 million pounds for survivors and 10 million in aid. [47]

Why it matters. Another 40,000 people from El Fasher are still missing. [46] Ed Miliband, Britain's foreign secretary, said rape and starvation are still used as weapons in Sudan. [47]

Lana Nusseibeh, a minister of the United Arab Emirates, entered the race last week to become the next UN secretary-general. [48] Sudan's UN mission asked countries to reject her and accused her of whitewashing the UAE's role in Sudan's war. [48] The UAE denies backing the RSF. [48] Middle East Eye reported that Britain, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, is leaning toward backing her. [49] The Wall Street Journal reported that Trump officials back Viktor Orban, Hungary's former prime minister. [50]

Why it matters. Antonio Guterres's second and last term ends this year, and the Security Council's 15 members have not agreed on who follows him. [48][51] Orban lost power in April and keeps close ties with Trump, Putin and China's Xi Jinping. [50]

Armed men attacked villages in the Shirka district of Oromia, Ethiopia's largest region, from Saturday evening into Sunday. [52][53] The Ethiopian Orthodox Church said more than 60 people were killed and 20 houses burnt down. [54] ACLED, a group that counts violence in conflicts, recorded at least 43 dead and called the attack religiously motivated. [53] A local official blamed a new rebel alliance that includes the Oromo Liberation Army, which did not comment. [54]

Why it matters. Residents told the Addis Standard newspaper that gunmen went door to door, and that at least six children under 15 were killed. [52] Ethiopia limits what reporters can reach, so the death tolls are hard to check. [53]

Algeria's parliament voted on Sunday to send troops to Niger, its neighbour to the south. [17] In the upper house, 148 of 174 senators voted yes. [17] It is Algeria's first deployment abroad since it sent soldiers to Egypt in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. [17] The troops are to guard oil and gas sites in northern Niger run by Sonatrach, Algeria's state energy company. [55] Niger's military government is seeking help against armed groups, some linked to al-Qaeda or Islamic State. [17]

Why it matters. Niger also lies on the route of a planned pipeline to carry Nigerian gas through Niger and Algeria to Europe. [55] The size of the force and when it leaves have not been announced. [17]

Russia holds its third summit with African countries on 28 and 29 October, and 48 have confirmed they will come, a Kremlin aide said. [56] President Vladimir Putin will chair it with Burundi's president, Evariste Ndayishimiye, who now leads the African Union. [56] The Mail & Guardian, a South African paper, expects at least 23 heads of state, against 40 at the first summit in 2019. [57]

Why it matters. Ukraine's foreign ministry says at least 2,982 people from 37 African countries were fighting for Russia in August, most of them lured by false promises. [57] Several leaders face pressure at home to raise it with Putin. [57]

Flavio Bolsonaro's Liberal Party said on Monday that it accepts the result of Sunday's run-off in Brazil. [20] President Lula won by about 4.4 million votes, 51.8% to 48.2%. [20][58] Bolsonaro himself has not conceded, and he said he would ask for the vote to be annulled. [20] Hours after the loss, Supreme Court justice Alexandre de Moraes barred him from leaving Brazil and took his passports, citing a police inquiry into possible money laundering. [25]

Why it matters. His own party distanced itself from his call to annul the vote. [59] Donald Trump said the vote looked rigged, without giving evidence. [60]

Serbia's Student List, which won Sunday's election, began preparing talks on forming a government. [61] Projected results gave it 53% of the vote and 141 of 250 seats, against 39% for the party of Aleksandar Vucic. [61] The movement grew out of protests after a railway station canopy in Novi Sad collapsed in 2024 and killed 16 people. [61] It has no leader, so it is not yet clear who will become prime minister. [61]

Why it matters. EU lawmakers hope the new government will restart Serbia's bid to join the EU. [62] Whether it will actually change Serbia's foreign policy is still unclear. [62]

A UN-commissioned inquiry said on Monday that Israel is still committing genocide in Gaza, a year into a ceasefire. [63] Since the ceasefire, Israeli forces have widened their control from 53% of Gaza to at least 60%, it said. [64] Israeli fire along that line has killed at least 196 Palestinians, including 43 children. [64] The inquiry also accused Israel, for the first time, of crimes against humanity in the West Bank, including rape and torture of detainees. [65] Israel denies both claims. [63]

Why it matters. The Commission of Inquiry was set up by the UN Human Rights Council. [65] Two weeks ago it accused Hamas of murdering 108 civilians in Gaza. [65]

Hebron's city council said 3,189 people have now been forced from their homes by Israel's operation in the West Bank city. [66] Israel began it after two Palestinian gunmen killed two Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint on Friday. [66] Volker Turk, the UN's human rights chief, said the operation raises serious concerns of ethnic cleansing and must end. [66] UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said evictions are unrelenting. [67]

Why it matters. Turk called it collective punishment, which international law forbids. [66] Netanyahu also ordered the West Bank closed before Tuesday's vote. [67]

Israeli fire and air strikes killed 13 people in Gaza in 24 hours, Gaza's civil defence said on Monday. [68] One strike hit a camp for displaced people at Al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, and killed three people, including a girl, Nasser hospital said. [68] Israel's military said it was not aware of any activity in that area. [68]

Why it matters. A year into the ceasefire, deadly attacks in Gaza go on almost every day. [69] About 74,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, Gaza's health authorities say. [1]

Israeli forces held a 23-person delegation for nine hours at the Allenby Bridge crossing from Jordan and then turned it back. [70] It included the British MPs Clive Lewis and Lara Bird, and was going to meet Palestinian farmers during the olive harvest. [70] Lewis said the group was shouted at and questioned. [70]

Why it matters. The UN counted at least 160 attacks by Israeli settlers linked to the olive harvest in the first two weeks of October. [70] Israeli media reported that Israel's defence minister told officials to bar activists from olive-picking areas. [70]

Pakistan's foreign office on Monday rejected claims by Afghanistan's Taliban government that Pakistani strikes inside Afghanistan have killed civilians. [71] An Afghan foreign ministry spokesman told CNN that 1,119 Afghan civilians had been killed or hurt by Pakistani strikes since late 2021, Afghan media said. [71] Pakistan says attacks launched from Afghan soil caused more than 3,500 casualties in Pakistan this year. [71]

Why it matters. Pakistan calls its strikes self-defence against groups such as the Pakistani Taliban, known as the TTP, which it says the Taliban shelter. [71] It said it keeps the right to take all necessary measures. [71]

Officials in Pakistan's Punjab province have extended the detention of Imran Khan's three sisters by 30 days, a court was told on Monday. [26] Aleema Khan, Noreen Niazi and Uzma Khan have been held in Lahore's Kot Lakhpat jail for more than a month under a 1960 public order law. [26] They were detained on 20 and 21 September, during a crackdown on efforts to rally support for Khan. [26]

Why it matters. Khan, a former prime minister, founded the PTI party and is himself in jail. [26]

Abdul Waheed Kakar, who led Pakistan's army from January 1993 to January 1996, died in Rawalpindi on Monday, the army said. [72] In 1993 he pushed both Pakistan's president, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, and the prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, to resign. [72] That led to the 1993 election in which Benazir Bhutto became prime minister. [72]

Why it matters. He retired at the end of his term. [72] Pakistan's president and prime minister, and Imran Khan's PTI party, all paid tribute to him. [72]

A court in Baghdad on Monday ordered an investigation into the head of the provincial council in Maysan, in southern Iraq, after Prime Minister Ali Al Zaidi asked for it. [73] Iraq closed the Al Sheeb crossing with Iran in Maysan last week, for security reasons. [73] The council head, Mustafa Duair Abdulhassan, had threatened civil disobedience if it stayed shut. [73] He belongs to the political wing of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, an armed group close to Iran. [73]

Why it matters. The closure has raised tension with Iran and with Iraqi politicians close to it. [73] Iraq is also planning its biggest budget, $144.8 billion, while its oil exports have fallen from 3.36 million barrels a day to 131,000 since the Strait of Hormuz closed. [74]