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Today's Brief: Ballots, Rails, and a Wider Truce

The Homebrew · · Posted · AI-drafted daily brief, synthesized from Left, Center, and Right coverage. Facts may be inaccurate — verify with the cited sources below.

With most votes counted Wednesday morning, Israel's election had no clear winner: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led his main rival, Gadi Eisenkot, but the opposition groups together, including two Arab-led parties, had more votes than Netanyahu's right-wing bloc, NPR reported. In central Spain, two high-speed trains collided, killing at least 64 people and injuring 80, NBC News reported. And the Melania Trump-brokered ceasefire around the Ukrainian city of Oleshky has been extended across the wider Kherson region, according to sources cited by the BBC.

Israel counts. With 70% of votes counted, Netanyahu's Likud had 20.6% and Eisenkot's Yashar party had 15.9%, according to official election data, CBS News reported. A party needs a coalition of 61 lawmakers in the 120-seat Knesset to form a government, and the tight race means there could be weeks of political gridlock, NPR reported. Turnout was more than 77%, the highest in more than two decades, according to election officials, and officials told NPR they expect to finish counting, including hundreds of thousands of soldiers' ballots, by Thursday afternoon.

Israel's two Arab parties won more seats than in any previous election, CBS News reported. Yair Golan, head of Israel's main left-wing party, called on his allies to work with them: "We have an opportunity to form a government of change in partnership with Israel's Arab citizens," he said on X, according to CBS. Netanyahu rejected that, saying, "We must not endanger Israel and establish a government that relies on anti-Zionist Arab parties," CBS reported.

From the right, Fox News reported that with about 70% counted, Netanyahu's right-wing and religious bloc stood at 54 seats to 47 for the main opposition and 19 for Arab parties, citing partial results reported by Israeli media, a shift from Tuesday night's initial exit polls. The parties outside his bloc collectively held 66 seats, according to Fox.

Spain train crash. The crash happened Wednesday morning in Toledo province, between the towns of Urda and Los Yébenes, when one high-speed train ran into the tail of another that had stopped, knocking two cars off the track, the Associated Press reported in a story published by Fox News. The Castilla-La Mancha regional government said 64 people had been killed, NBC News reported. Both trains were heading from Madrid to Seville; a regional spokeswoman said the RENFE train carried 397 passengers and the IRYO train 147, and that the cause was not known, according to the AP. Rail service between Madrid, Ciudad Real and Andalusia was suspended, the AP reported. The crash comes 10 months after a January collision between trains from the same two operators on the same line that killed 45 people, NBC News reported.

Ukraine. The truce that began early Tuesday has seen no reported breaches, the BBC reported. Melania Trump, who helped broker it with Pope Leo XIV, said the area had been expanded to provide "safe passage" for humanitarian convoys, according to the BBC. Aid deliveries are to come first, possibly Thursday, followed by evacuations planned for Friday; an estimated 1,700 to 2,000 people remain in Oleshky, the BBC reported. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said everything was proceeding "according to plan," and David Arakhamia, a key official in President Volodymyr Zelensky's party, said the truce would last until 22:59 Ukrainian time on Sunday, Nov. 1, the BBC reported.

Iran, Brazil, and the Pacific. Qatari mediators on Sunday handed Iran a new draft deal to end the war, Reuters reported, but a senior Iranian official denied a new proposal had been presented and called Qatar's ideas "unacceptable," the news agency reported, according to CBS News. The war has cost the U.S. military at least $47.1 billion as of mid-October, according to a Central Command estimate obtained by CBS.

Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flávio Bolsonaro and his family left Brazil, crossed into Argentina and boarded a private plane for Guayaquil, Ecuador, Argentina's migration directorate said, the Associated Press reported in a story published by CBS News. A senior State Department official told CBS the family would receive U.S. visas. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called the departure "shameful," according to AFP, the Associated Press reported in a story published by CBS News. The BBC reported confusion about his whereabouts after Brazil cancelled his passports.

The U.S. military said it struck a boat it accused of smuggling drugs in the eastern Pacific on Tuesday, killing five people, bringing the toll from the campaign to at least 240 people in more than 70 strikes, the Associated Press reported in a story published by CBS News. The military did not provide evidence that the vessel was carrying drugs, according to the AP.

Markets and money. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% to 7,722.60 on Tuesday, the Nasdaq gained 1.18% to 26,477.81 and the Dow added 15.99 points to 52,377.57, CNBC reported. Technology led the gains in an AI-fueled rally, Boeing fell 10.7% after a bigger-than-expected third-quarter loss and UPS rose 5.8% after raising its forecasts, Reuters reported in a story published by Yahoo Finance; 83% of S&P 500 companies that have reported beat expectations, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters. U.S. crude settled down 1.83% at $99.90 a barrel and Brent at $113.88, CNBC reported.

The Federal Reserve announces its rate decision at 2 p.m. ET Wednesday and is widely expected to hold its target range at 3.75% to 4%, CNBC reported. It would be the Fed's last decision before the midterms, after it raised rates last month for the first time since 2023, the Guardian reported; inflation rose to 3.7% in September from 3.4% in August, according to the Guardian.

A U.S. cruise ship marketed as a floating home suspended its around-the-world voyage in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, over fuel costs, forcing hundreds of passengers off, the Associated Press reported in a story published by CBS News. Operator Villa Vie Residences said monthly fuel expenses per cabin that averaged $1,800 have reached an estimated $6,000 to $8,000 in parts of Asia because of the war in Iran, according to the AP.

Justice. At least three documents in the Epstein files indicate classified information was included in files collected by the Justice Department, including one showing the Office of the Deputy Attorney General received classified material related to Epstein in March 2025, CBS News reported. Attorney General Todd Blanche has long maintained that the files contain no secret information related to national security; what was classified and why remains unclear, according to CBS.

Tal Alexander, 40, and twins Oren and Alon Alexander, 39, were each sentenced to 30 years in prison in New York after being found guilty in March of drugging and raping dozens of women over decades, the BBC reported. "Your conduct was monstrous," Judge Valerie Caproni said before sentencing them; 12 victims addressed the court, according to the BBC.

Sports and culture. The Tampa Bay Rays rallied in the 12th inning to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 and avoid a World Series sweep, with pinch-hitter Ben Williamson's single winning it after Cooper Pratt's home run had put Milwaukee ahead, news agencies reported in a story published by the Guardian. The Brewers lead the series 3-1, with Game 5 Wednesday night in Tampa Bay, according to the same story.

A Nanotyrannus skeleton nicknamed Jodi sold for $47.3 million at Sotheby's in New York on Tuesday, against an expected price of at least $9 million, the BBC reported. It is the second-most valuable dinosaur fossil ever sold, behind the T. rex Gus, and the buyer has not been disclosed, according to the BBC. Palaeontologist Steve Brusatte called it "harrowing" that the skeleton could disappear into a collector's vaults, the BBC reported.

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