Israel election results: Netanyahu bloc wins 53 seats, opposition holds 48, Arab parties skyrocket
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc is currently expected to enter the Knesset with 53 seats, the Central Elections Committee (CEC) announced on Wednesday morning after almost five million votes were counted.
Netanyahu’s Likud is projected to enter with 26 seats, while United Torah Judaism, Shas, and Otzma Yehudit are expected to enter with seven seats, and the Religious Zionist Party is expected to enter with six seats, respectively.
The opposition bloc, comprising Yashar, B’Yachad, Yisrael Beytenu, and the Democrats, is expected to enter the Knesset with 48 seats, according to data from the CEC.
The latest results by the CEC put 19 seats in the Arab parties, with the Joint List having 12 seats and Ra’am having seven seats in the next Knesset.
US warns Gulf states to brace for ‘intense’ Iran war after midterms
The US has warned several Gulf Arab countries to prepare for a possible short but intense military campaign against Iran following next week’s US midterm elections, according to a report published by The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.
The warnings, delivered through diplomatic and military channels, come as the US and Israel make preparations for renewed strikes against Iran, potentially targeting the country’s nuclear facilities and other critical infrastructure.
US President Donald Trump has not made a final decision on launching another military operation, but is leaning towards a major attack after the 3 November elections, the newspaper reported, citing people familiar with his thinking.
Suspected terrorist killed outside Israeli embassy in Serbia
Serbian police neutralized a terrorist who had attempted to stage an attack on Tuesday night near the Israeli Embassy in Belgrade, Serbia, the Foreign Ministry in Jerusalem said on Wednesday.
“Local police neutralized the attacker and there were no casualties among the employees of the mission, which was closed at that time of night. The matter is under investigation by the relevant authorities,” a spokesperson for Israel’s Foreign Ministry told JNS.
Local media in Serbia quoted the country’s interior minister, Ivica Dačić, as saying that police had killed a suspected Islamic State terrorist after he stabbed and lightly wounded a local officer who was guarding the Israeli embassy in Belgrade.
60 or more Christians killed in diverse region of Ethiopia marked by violence
At least 60 Ethiopian Orthodox Christians were killed and 20 others injured Oct. 20-24 in attacks that also destroyed 20 homes, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church (EOTC) Synod confirmed Oct. 26 in a public statement.
The attacks centered on the Sherka and Merti local districts in the Arsi Zone of Oromia, Ethiopia’s largest regional state, comprising a diversity of Muslim, Protestant and Orthodox Christians and suffering increasing violence. In at least two separate attacks, which witnesses described as surprise ambushes from militants surrounding the areas, 14 Orthodox Christians were killed in Merti and 46 others were killed in Sherka.
Canada Wants to Legalize MAID Without Consent for Mentally Ill Patients
The federal government introduced Bill C-41, making changes to Canada’s criminal law around Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID).
Bill C-41, if passed, will legalize advance requests for MAID, meaning persons diagnosed with a serious capacity-limiting illness may outline in writing the circumstances under which a doctor may euthanize them after they lose the mental capacity to consent.
“Bill C-41 will remove the existing requirement for present consent, leaving it to provinces to determine whether to legalize advance euthanasia requests,” said Daniel Zekveld, Policy Analyst for ARPA Canada. “Advance consent is not informed consent. It is based only on fear of a future condition that the person has never experienced.”
Dozens killed in Spanish high-speed train crash, as prime minister says ‘whole country is grieving’
At least 68 people have been killed after a Spanish high-speed train collided with another train south of the capital Madrid.
The updated death toll makes this crash the country's worst rail disaster since 2013.
Ontario Begins Phased Rollout of Digital Provincial ID
The Canadian province of Ontario announced that it is starting a phased rollout of its digital provincial ID, starting with a digital version of the Ontario Photo Card, with other documents, such as driver’s licenses and health cards, to follow at a later date.
The Ontario Photo Card is a government-issued photo ID for residents 16 and older who do not have a driver’s license, and is used for “day-to-day business transactions” and as proof of identity for travel within Canada. The digital version is to be tested first, and the physical one is not going away – at least, not yet.
“Digital credentials will provide a trusted and seamless way to present identification, helping protect personal information while retaining every Ontario resident’s right to use physical I.D.,” said Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement Stephen Crawford.
Crawford also said that the digital ID will be “more secure, convenient and cost-effective” as the province modernizes its services.
Vietnam proposes digital ID law to tackle fraud, expand national framework
Vietnam’s government has submitted a draft Law on Electronic Identification and Authentication to the National Assembly to strengthen digital identity security and combat online fraud.
Presented by Minister of Public Security Lương Tam Quang, the draft legislation would establish rules for the creation, management and use of electronic identities and authentication services, according to Vietnam News.
The legislation would establish a national electronic identification and authentication system incorporating Vietnam’s VNeID platform, which has been expanding its use cases. Rules for authentication providers, cybersecurity requirements and liability frameworks would be established.
It also proposes mechanisms for the cross-border recognition of electronic identities, which the government says could help Vietnamese businesses meet international requirements and participate more effectively in global digital trade. Vietnam is currently in the process of piloting the connection of its VNeID with Singapore’s Singpass and Laos’ LAeID.
A first for CRISPR: powerful prime editing alters DNA directly in the human body
A powerful gene-editing technique has been used to edit DNA directly in a person’s body — the first known instance of such a treatment.
The milestone treatment is part of a clinical trial of prime editing, a technique that can alter DNA with more precision than standard CRISPR–Cas9 methods can. In this case, prime editing was used to treat a condition called Wilson’s disease by rewriting DNA in liver cells, to erase a mutation that prevents them from eliminating excess copper.
Prime Medicine, a biotechnology company in Cambridge, Massachusetts, announced that it had treated the first person in its trial earlier this month. It expects to announce the first results from the study next year.
In launching the trial, Prime Medicine joins a host of companies aiming to engineer cells directly in the body, rather than using the standard method of extracting a person’s cells, editing their DNA in a laboratory and then reinjecting the altered cells. Rewriting DNA in the body, or in vivo, is appealing because manufacturing and administering the treatment might be much cheaper and faster than making a bespoke therapy for each person from their own cells.
But in vivo approaches have their own challenges, says Krishanu Saha, a biomedical engineer at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “It depends on what types of risks you’re willing to accept,” he says.