First Thing: Both blocs claim upper hand in crucial Israeli election

Good morning. Israel could be in for weeks of political haggling after exit polls and partial official results showed neither Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition nor the opposition bloc led by the former general Gadi Eisenkot had won enough seats to form a government.

With 70% of the vote, or 4m ballots, counted so far, the Netanyahu bloc had 54 seats, the Eisenkot-led Change bloc 47 seats, and the Palestinian parties 19 seats. Sixty-one seats are needed for a majority.

What have the two leaders said so far? Israel's longest-serving prime minister vowed to assemble a coalition through agreements between his Likud party, far-right factions and Jewish religious parties. Eisenkot had said earlier in the evening that "people decided in favour of change" and Netanyahu should have "announced today his retirement from politics".

What does the increase in the Palestinian bloc mean? The election was marked by a record participation by Israeli citizens of Palestinian origin, a discriminated minority that makes up about 20% of the country's population. Julian Borger explains from Nazareth that Eisenkot will have to work with Arab-Israeli leaders to have a hope of governing. Millions of other Palestinians living under Israeli rule in the occupied West Bank and Gaza cannot vote.

Here is what we know about the declared results so far. Our live coverage continues on the website.

Donald Trump has announced his administration is "terminating" Biden-era regulations holding oil and gas companies accountable for large leaks of planet-warming methane. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the proposal is expected to save $45bn in costs to consumers and businesses. Last year, the US emitted more methane from its oil and gas sector than any other country in the world. Methane is responsible for at least a quarter of today's warming.

What else has Trump been saying about fossil fuels? Trump suggested on Tuesday that Venezuela would become the 51st US state as the president showed off a tanker he claimed had "1m barrels of oil on it" from the country, nine months after deposing its president.

The far-right senator Flávio Bolsonaro has reportedly fled Brazil and is on his way to the US after losing Sunday's presidential election to the leftwing incumbent, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro allies told the news website Metrópoles that he would land in Florida and planned to request political asylum. "The Trump administration has been informed," the website added. Brazilian federal police are investigating him for possible involvement in a money-laundering scheme worth about £680m ($905m) involving betting companies.

What has re-elected president Lula had to say about Bolsonaro's exit? He condemned Bolsonaro's apparent decision to flee. "This is what the family Bolsonaro are like. Brazil is their second homeland. Their first homeland is licking the boots of the US, as he's become accustomed to doing. The act of leaving Brazil is shameful."

A high-speed train collision south of Madrid killed has killed at least 30 people, according to regional authorities, as Spain reels from its second such disaster this year. A collision between two high-speed trains in southern Spain in January resulted in the deaths of 46 people.

Read the full report here and live blog here.

A local ceasefire in a southern Ukrainian city under Russian occupation appeared to be holding, with both sides ceasing drone attacks ahead of an apparent evacuation of about 2,000 trapped and desperate civilians. Witnesses reported that the deadly frontline across the river was quiet for the first time in four years.

Finland's president, Alexander Stubb, and Norway's prime minister, Jonas Gahr Støre, held what they described as a "frank and substantive" phone call with Vladimir Putin. Writing on social media, Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said Russia "must stop dragging out this war" and said he welcomed European attempts to end it.

A Florida surgeon has performed the first telerobotic operation between two US hospitals, removing the prostate of a man with cancer from 35 miles away, according to officials. Telesurgery allows surgeons to control robotic instruments remotely but researchers are still evaluating its safety, reliability and cybersecurity.

Gulf states are working on a multipart peace deal to avert a renewal of US-Iran war after the midterms. The talks are aimed at reopening the strait of Hormuz, lifting sanctions on Iran, and for Houthis to withdraw in Yemen.

The US Federal Reserve is expected to leave interest rates unchanged, keeping rates at one of the highest pre-election levels seen in over 20 years.

An Illinois man accused of sending letters containing suspicious white powder to four members of Congress has been arrested after he allegedly wrote his own name and return address on the envelopes.

Three Florida brothers, Oren, Alon and Tal Alexander, have each been sentenced to 30 years for drugging and raping dozens of women by exploiting the wealth and influence of their family's luxury real estate business.

Trump-appointed CDC deputy director Jennifer Shuford is to resign after six months on the job. She was appointed in April as part of a four-person senior leadership team meant to stabilize the agency after the previous CDC director left less than a month into the job.

The US ⁠military ⁠said ⁠it killed ⁠five ​people ‌after ‌an airstrike on a ‌suspected drug-trafficking vessel in ​the ⁠eastern Pacific.

The skeleton, named "Jodi", is now one of the world's most expensive fossils, but the sale and cost of the fossil has prompted criticism. "A person really interested in paleontology could do vastly more good by supporting the ongoing operations of multiple museums than the sale of one specimen," said one academic.

A Trump administration doctor says neon-yellow urine is normal because of diets consisting entirely of meat and fermented foods. Keren Landman has found out what experts actually say.

Possibly not for the squeamish, but Emma Russell investigates the growing popularity of a practice that involves fracturing three ribs on each side and binding them in a corset for three months to set them in a new position to give a wasplike waist.

Hit London plays 2:22, Paranormal Activity and A Ghost in Your Ear are now spooking audiences on and off Broadway amid high demand for communal experiences. But if you'd rather get your frights in the comfort of your own home, Keith Stuart lists eight great new indie horror games for Halloween.

The US president has taken an axe to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, stalling climate research and hampering the response to extreme weather events.

Peter Bradshaw is on scathing form in this one-star review of what he says is the dullest, most pointless riposte possible to Christopher Nolan's brilliant epic The Odyssey. Elon Musk's AI version has, he says, all the meaning of "a laptop screensaver".

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