Israel votes in first national election since October 7, 2023
Israelis head to the polls on October 27, their first national election since the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, which led to wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. Polling stations close at 10 p.m. Israel time.
The election could determine whether Netanyahu remains in power after one of the most consequential periods in Israel’s history or is defeated by centrist rivals promising to usher in a new era.
Netanyahu, who leads the veteran right-wing Likud party, faces a front of centrist, left and right-wing parties led by Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar, Naftali Bennett’s Together, Avigdor Lieberman’s Israel Our Home and Yair Golan’s Democrats. But both Netanyahu and his rival camp may be short of a decisive majority in the 120-seat Knesset, with smaller parties that are not clearly affiliated with either side running in the race.
Christian persecution worsens in much of the world, according to new ACN report
The report Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians oppressed for their Faith 2024–26 has found that conditions for Christians worsened in 55 percent of the 18 countries examined. None of the countries assessed recorded an overall improvement.
Over the past two years persecution and oppression of Christians worsened due to extremist violence, authoritarian governments and religious nationalism, all of which are placing increasing pressure on Christian communities, according to the new report published by the international pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
The study, which covers the period from August 2024 to June 2026, examines countries where religious freedom violations affecting Christians are considered particularly concerning. In many cases, the report found that persecution had intensified in specific regions, rather than at a national level.
Jordan strikes Syria after church attack
The Royal Jordanian Air Force launched a series of strikes on Syrian territory overnight, the military announced, in response to a deadly shooting attack on a church in the western city of Karak over the weekend.
Jordan’s military said the air operation targeted what it described as terror infrastructure across the border in Syria, though it did not specify the exact locations or the scale of the strikes.
The strike marks a significant escalation in Jordan’s military posture along its northern border, where Amman has long accused militant groups of using Syrian territory as a staging ground for cross-border operations.
$1 billion for peace? Saudi Arabia makes an offer to Houthis, says report
Saudi Arabia has reportedly offered Yemen’s Houthi rebels a $1 billion financial package in exchange for an end to attacks on Saudi infrastructure, according to a report by Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom, citing Gulf diplomatic sources. The proposal is said to have been conveyed through Iran, which has been involved in diplomatic efforts to ease tensions between Riyadh and the Iran-aligned group.
The reported offer is aimed at securing a ceasefire and addressing issues such as unpaid public-sector salaries and the reconstruction of civilian infrastructure in areas controlled by the Houthis. In return, the proposal would require the rebels to stop attacks on Saudi oil facilities, airports and military installations.
According to Israel Hayom, Saudi Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman travelled to Tehran on Monday for talks with Iranian officials as part of wider diplomatic efforts to contain the conflict. One source cited by the newspaper claimed that the minister had brought the money aboard a C-130 military transport aircraft. However, a Saudi official did not confirm that any money had been transferred.
Brazil’s Lula Signals More Internet Restrictions After Election Victory
Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has been declared the winner of the runoff election, and in his victory speech on October 25 promised to “regulate” the tech giants, and make sure that “crime on the digital network should be treated as a crime in real life.”
Lula’s speech was full of hints at what his promised regulation would look like – and his own government has been very active over the past year building the framework for that. In recent times, it has been pushes for age verification ID checks, curbs on VPNs, and speech rules.
New UFO files detail eerie sightings near California island linked to underwater alien base theory
An Air Intelligence Information Report dated August 28, 1952, places the Scouts’ encounter during a mountain hike around noon on June 25, under clear skies.
The object appeared to make a climbing turn immediately before its ‘disappearance by disintegration,’ according to the report.
Another file contains a handwritten letter dated May 1, 1949, describing six objects passing individually over Avalon on the evening of April 28, followed minutes later by four more traveling in the same direction.
The military’s summary recorded six objects and concluded there was insufficient information to evaluate the sighting.
The waters off Southern California have also become the focus of speculation about hidden underwater UFO bases.
Some UFO enthusiasts have suggested Sycamore Knoll, a vast, flat-topped underwater formation off Malibu roughly 44 miles northwest of Catalina Island’s western end, could conceal such a base.
Air Force Flu Vaccine Memorandum Sparks Fears of Another “Purge” Among Religious Objectors
A newly circulated Air Force memorandum has quietly expanded the criteria for Seasonal Influenza Vaccine Exceptions to Policy (ETP), effectively creating a system where few, if any, can avoid compromising their religious convictions during their service.
As previously reported over a year ago by The Gateway Pundit, a major Cleveland Clinic study of its workforce during the 2024–2025 respiratory viral season raised significant questions about the influenza vaccine’s effectiveness. The research, which tracked more than 53,000 employees, found that vaccinated working-age adults were statistically more likely to contract influenza compared to their unvaccinated colleagues.
Even after adjusting for variables including age, sex, occupational role, and worksite location, the data indicated a 27 percent higher risk of influenza infection among those who received the vaccine.
Ohio pastor reveals he’s had 2 wives for 3 years: Having only 1 wife is ‘unbiblical’
Even though polygyny, the practice of having more than one wife, is illegal in the United States, Pastor Israel Ford, who co-founded LifeWorks Church in Cleveland, Ohio, with his wife, Lydia Ford, in 2009, told his congregation on Sunday that he has been living with two wives for the past three years and that God endorses it.
Ford introduced his “second wife,” Shakayla Ford, to the world on Facebook, with a video clip of the announcement to his church. He promised in the post that he would explain why the teaching that “a man should have one wife only” is “unbiblical.”
Zurich will extend assisted suicide to private care homes and hospitals
The canton of Zurich is set to become the first German-speaking Swiss canton to extend access to assisted suicide to all care homes – both public and private – as well as to hospitals and rehabilitation clinics. On Sunday, voters overwhelmingly approved a legislative amendment to this effect.