The Brief

With nearly 90% of votes counted, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing bloc leads but is falling short of the votes needed to form a government, Al Jazeera reports. PBS says Netanyahu and his allies emerged as the largest bloc but lost seats; at 85% counted, BBC had Likud and its allies set to win 53 of the 120 Knesset seats. Both Netanyahu and challenger Gadi Eisenkot have claimed victory, according to Al Jazeera.

Parties representing Israel's Arab citizens made gains, and Al Jazeera reports Israelis rallied for a Jewish-Arab government, though it says Eisenkot's opposition bloc refuses to ally with those parties. Turnout was the highest in more than two decades, and this was Israel's first election since the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks and the war in Gaza. BBC says the most likely outcome may be new elections, and PBS says the results leave Israel facing political gridlock.

At least 68 people were killed and more than 100 injured when a high-speed train collided with a stopped train south of Madrid, Al Jazeera and PBS report. CBS News cites a local official saying the toll is expected to rise. BBC says more than 500 passengers were on board the trains, and NPR says two cars derailed.

Al Jazeera describes it as Spain's deadliest train disaster in over a decade, and BBC says it is the country's worst since 2013. PBS and NPR note it is the second major rail accident in Spain this year, and Spanish football postponed 24 Copa del Rey games, Al Jazeera reported. Al Jazeera says Spain is demanding answers.

BBC reports the crash, between a moving train and another stopped further up the track, was caused by an "inexplicable" error, according to the transport minister. BBC and CBS News have also carried accounts from passengers on the trains.

Flávio Bolsonaro, who lost Brazil's presidential election to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, landed in Miami with his family, Al Jazeera and CBS News report. BBC says he arrived by private jet with his wife and two daughters, ending speculation about his whereabouts after he failed to comply with an order to surrender his passports. A State Department official told CBS the family would receive U.S. visas.

PBS reports Bolsonaro refused to concede for 48 hours and threatened to try to annul the result before leaving. He is under investigation by Brazil's Supreme Court for alleged corruption, money laundering and tax evasion in two cases. NPR reports President Trump has called the vote "rigged" without offering evidence.

BBC reports Bolsonaro denies fleeing Brazil and claims to be the victim of a coup d'état and political persecution, repeating unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud. BBC Verify traced his route through Brazil, Argentina and Ecuador to Miami.

Qatari mediators have given Iran a new proposal to end the war, CBS News reports. Iran's foreign minister said on social media Wednesday that the country is in contact with mediators to review proposals.

CBS separately reports the war has weighed heavily on Israel's election. Al Jazeera reports observers say diverging views among Gulf Cooperation Council countries are unlikely to turn current diplomatic efforts into a lasting security arrangement.

More than 200 passengers, mostly Americans, are stranded in Cambodia after the operator of the luxury cruise ship MV Odyssey said it ran out of money because of skyrocketing fuel costs, CBS News reports. The ship had suspended its around-the-world voyage, forcing hundreds of passengers to disembark, according to CBS News.

CBS reports the CEO says the plan is to file for bankruptcy. BBC says the operator is working with passengers on "temporary living arrangements," and NPR reports passengers lost their homes, as the voyage was marketed as combining long-term living at sea with global travel.

The current Ebola outbreak, first identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo, has now counted 10,000 patients, NPR reports. NPR says more than 10,000 people have been infected since the outbreak was declared in May.

NPR says the outbreak is breaking records and has spread with great speed.