International News Bulletin — October 28, 2026

Politics

• Israel’s election leaves Netanyahu and Eisenkot without a majority – Neither bloc reached the 61 Knesset seats needed to govern after Tuesday’s vote, and two of the three main TV networks put both camps at 51 seats early on Wednesday, AFP reported via RTÉ. Turnout was 77.7 percent, the highest since 1999, according to the Central Elections Committee cited by Al Jazeera. Benjamin Netanyahu called for a “strong government of the right” while Gadi Eisenkot said “The public has voted for change,” and Al Jazeera said the final tally is expected by Friday.
• Flávio Bolsonaro leaves Brazil as Washington promises his family visas – The defeated presidential candidate left for the United States after missing a Supreme Court deadline to surrender his passports in a money-laundering probe he denies, according to sources cited by Reuters in France 24 and RTÉ. A senior State Department official said “The State Department will issue visas to Flavio Bolsonaro and his family,” while a senior Federal Police official said he had not left through any regular migration point. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, speaking at his 81st birthday celebration, said “The act of leaving Brazil is shameful.”
• Finnish and Norwegian leaders hold a rare call with Putin – Finnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre spoke with Vladimir Putin for 90 minutes on Tuesday about ending the war in Ukraine, AFP reported via Dawn, and Al Jazeera said Kyiv had coordinated the call. “Ending the war requires direct discussions,” Stubb said in a joint statement with Støre. The Kremlin’s readout said lasting peace is possible “only if the legitimate interests of the Russian Federation are fully and unconditionally taken into account,” according to Al Jazeera.
• Jordan and Syria agree to a joint probe of deadly strikes – Foreign ministers Ayman Safadi and Asaad al-Shaibani agreed late on Tuesday to form a joint security committee to examine Monday’s Jordanian air strikes in southern Syria, Anadolu and Al Jazeera reported. Safadi expressed “deep regret” over the civilian deaths, while Damascus says the operation took place without prior coordination. The Nassib crossing, Jordan’s only border crossing with Syria, reopened on Wednesday morning, according to the state news agency SANA cited by Al Jazeera.
• Egyptian court orders closure of independent news site Mada Masr – The New Cairo Misdemeanour Court on Tuesday ordered Mada Masr shut and fined editor-in-chief Lina Attalah 3 million Egyptian pounds ($53,400) for running a website without a licence, Al Jazeera reported. The outlet’s latest licence application has been pending since June 2023. Amnesty International’s Yasmine Ahmed called the ruling “a crushing blow to press freedom in Egypt,” and there was no immediate official comment.

Economy

• Nasdaq leads Wall Street higher as investors keep betting on AI – The Nasdaq Composite rose 1.2 percent to 26,477.81 on Tuesday, the S&P 500 gained 0.6 percent to 7,722.60 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added less than 0.1 percent to 52,377.57, according to AP figures carried by La Nación. Al Jazeera reported gains of 5.45 percent for Advanced Micro Devices and 4.04 percent for Tesla, while Meta fell 1.64 percent.
• SK Hynix operating profit rises sevenfold on memory chip demand – SK Hynix reported third-quarter operating profit of 83.3 trillion won, about $63 billion, more than seven times its level a year earlier, Nikkei Asia and Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday. Al Jazeera said the shares rose more than 8 percent in Seoul after the results. The KOSPI was up more than 5 percent during Wednesday’s session, according to Al Jazeera and Yahoo Finance.
• New Zealand’s central bank holds rates in a split vote – The Reserve Bank of New Zealand kept the official cash rate at 2.75 percent on Wednesday in a 4-3 vote, with three committee members favouring a hike, Reuters reported via Nikkei Asia. Twenty-two of 27 economists in a Reuters poll had expected a 25-basis-point increase, and the New Zealand dollar fell to $0.5590 from $0.5676. The bank forecasts annual inflation rising to 4.4 percent in the December quarter, above its 1 to 3 percent target range.
• Woodside to sell its Greater Sunrise gas stake to Timor-Leste – Australian energy company Woodside said on Tuesday it will sell its interest in the long-stalled Greater Sunrise gas project in the Timor Sea to Timor-Leste’s state-owned Timor Gap for up to $200 million, Nikkei Asia and Offshore Energy reported. Completion is targeted for the first half of 2027, subject to government, regulatory and joint venture approvals. Chief executive Liz Westcott said the transaction “further simplifies Woodside’s portfolio.”

World News

• Ebola cases in DR Congo pass 10,000 in record outbreak – Congolese health authorities reported 10,060 cases and 4,887 deaths on Tuesday since the outbreak was declared in May, Al Jazeera and France 24 reported. It is the country’s deadliest Ebola outbreak on record, and no vaccine or treatment has been approved for the Bundibugyo species behind it, France 24 said. Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria have also recorded cases, Nigeria’s through a Swiss woman who was evacuated to Switzerland on Monday.
• Saudi Arabia intercepts Houthi missiles aimed at Riyadh and Ras Tanura – Saudi air defences shot down two ballistic missiles aimed at Riyadh late on Tuesday, and debris damaged a building, a construction project and a vehicle with no casualties reported, Anadolu said, citing the civil defence. The Houthis said they had targeted the defence ministry and the Ras Tanura refinery, and maritime security firm Vanguard reported a fire in the Ras Tanura area that “has reportedly been contained,” AFP reported via Dawn. The Saudi-led coalition said early on Wednesday it had intercepted another missile fired towards Taif, according to Anadolu.
• India sends extra forces to Arunachal after protests over mega-dam – Authorities said on Tuesday that hundreds of additional security personnel had been deployed in Arunachal Pradesh after protests against the planned 11,200-megawatt Siang Upper Multipurpose Project, Reuters reported via Dawn. Protesters clashed with police the previous week and set fire to a police station, and at least 21 people were arrested. “We will keep opposing this dam till they cancel it,” said Gegong Jijong of the Siang Indigenous Farmers’ Forum.

Bulletin automatically generated on October 28, 2026.