US Ambassador to the UN Mike Waltz says Marco Rubio ordered a Cuban official sent back to Havana after the official allegedly pushed and slapped a U.S. staffer filming a confrontation between Waltz and the Cuban Foreign Minister at the UN.

The robot dog-pocalypse: San Francisco start-up is paying gig workers $20 an hour to walk robot canines for 'training.’

With 96% of votes counted, Netanyahu’s bloc leads with 53 seats, compared with 48 for the opposition and 19 for Arab parties, leaving no bloc with a 61-seat majority. The remaining 450,000 double-envelope ballots, including soldiers’ votes, are expected to be counted by tomorrow evening and could still shift the final results.

WSJ: JD Vance sent a letter to Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei at Trump’s direction to revive peace talks and avert a possible US attack after next week’s midterms, with Washington demanding nuclear concessions and Tehran seeking economic relief.

Bombshell Report: A NYT report alleges Democrats in Alaska secretly recruited a candidate named Dan Sullivan to run against Alaska’s Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan to confuse voters and siphon votes from him.

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady at 3.75%–4%, with officials voting 10-2 to maintain rates despite a lack of recent progress in bringing inflation down to its 2% target.

BDE: Longtime Manhattan federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein, an Orthodox Jew appointed by President Clinton in 1998, has died at 92, according to a court spokesperson. He was overseeing the prosecution of deposed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

Flávio Bolsonaro, the defeated candidate in Brazil's presidential election, has arrived in Miami with his family after they were granted U.S. visas. People close to him say he feared arrest, like his father, former president Jair Bolsonaro, who is serving a 27-year sentence for plotting a coup. He left after defying a Supreme Court order to surrender his passports in a money laundering investigation.

Security video from Mexico shows a car speeding down a residential street after its driver lost control. It crashes through a home's garage and plunges over the edge in a cloud of debris.

🚢 “Never-Ending” World Cruise Comes to an End: Passengers who sold their homes to live aboard the Villa Vie Odyssey, which began its around-the-world voyage in 2024, are now being forced to disembark in Cambodia due to soaring fuel prices.

WAPO: A Brazilian Supreme Court justice ordered a police investigation into alleged ties between a donor network co-founded by VP JD Vance and the presidential campaign of Flávio Bolsonaro in the run-up to Sunday’s election.

The NYPD is scrapping a planned $750,000 no-bid contract with Israeli firm Cognyte for FalcoNet, an AI surveillance system that tracks nearby cellphones, following backlash against Mayor Mamdani and allegations that the company’s technology enables human rights abuses.

Flávio Bolsonaro lands in the US after fleeing Brazil following the former senator's defeat in the country's presidential election.

NY Governor Hochul leads Republican Bruce Blakeman 53%-42% among likely voters statewide, with 4% undecided, in the latest Marist poll. Her lead among registered voters has grown to 14 points from 11 earlier this month, while 71% expect her to win re-election.

Trump says he would approve of Flávio Bolsonaro coming to the United States, calling Brazil's election "really strange" and "terrible."

In his first public comments since the election, Israeli President Isaac Herzog said, "We must do everything possible, especially after yesterday, to avoid another election. I expect everyone who comes here to come with an open mind." Herzog will decide who gets the first shot at forming a government coalition.

Dramatic footage of the two high-speed trains carrying about 500 passengers that collided in Spain's Toledo province, killing at least 50 people.

The Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates steady today even after inflation data for September came in hotter than expected.

Trump claims his endorsement turned Bibi Netanyahu's expected decisive defeat into a possible stalemate or win.

"ARE THEY CRAZY?": Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Haredi radio host Itche Dzlovsky get into a heated phone call over whether Chareidim will turn out to vote, with an hour and a half left before the polls close.

With 84.5% of votes counted, partial Israeli election results show PM Netanyahu’s bloc leading with 54 seats to Gadi Eisenkot’s Yashar-led bloc’s 49, while Arab-led parties hold 17 seats.

With 31.3% of polling stations reporting election results (representing approximately 1.5 million votes) Netanyahu's bloc is at 59 seats, the opposition at 46 and Arab parties at 15, with no bloc reaching the 61-seat majority. These results will likely change as more votes are counted.

WSJ: US tells Gulf Arab allies to prepare for a renewed Iran military campaign after the midterms, while President Trump leans toward a large post-election strike on Iranian nuclear and infrastructure targets.

Channel 14’s updated exit poll projects 62 seats for Netanyahu’s bloc, including 31 for Likud, with Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu falling below the electoral threshold. The projection remains a major outlier, as other exit polls give Netanyahu’s bloc just 50–55 seats and Likud around 25.

What a finish: A massive multi-car wreck broke out at the finish line of a NASCAR race, with the No. 22 car flipping and sliding on its roof before landing back on its wheels. Debris flew across the track as several drivers were caught up in the crash.

"If you do not prevail in this election, despite having worked as hard as you have, how do you intend to work with Democrats?" President Trump: "We'll figure a way. I have a strong veto. I hope that that won't be the case, but if it is, that's happened before."

REUTERS: The US Federal Election Commission's website has been targeted by a hacker or hackers, disrupting the agency's electronic filings ‌system a week before the elections, according to an email seen by Reuters.

One week until Election Day, the Decision Desk HQ forecast favors Democrats to win both chambers: an 80% chance in the House and 57% in the Senate. Overall, Democrats have a 55% chance of full control of Congress, Republicans 19%, and a split Congress 25%. Sent from WhatsApp wa.me/17182070713

Genius: Cheerios announces the first-ever resealable cereal bag, partnering with Ziploc to keep cereal fresh longer.

Asked whether he would respect the election results whatever happens, Trump replies: "I will if they're honest elections, yeah."

Key Takeaways from election night and what to expect next. Join the Kol Haolam WhatsApp community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DUTMsiyVBxBGdEOK7s1Sxw

Here are the major exit polls showing how each party did. Some polls were revised after their initial release. Official vote counting results will begin tonight and continue into the following days.

ISRAEL ELECTIONS: WHAT HAPPENS NEXT: Join the Kol Haolam WhatsApp community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DUTMsiyVBxBGdEOK7s1Sxw

ELECTION RESULTS: Israel’s election exit polls show Likud leading as the largest party, but neither Netanyahu’s coalition nor the opposition appears to have enough seats to form a government. The opposition bloc is projected to win around 53 seats, Netanyahu’s bloc 50, and Arab parties approximately 17. Official results are still pending.

Shlomo Filber, the most accurate pollster in the last election, hints that "a party that we never dreamed of could find itself out of the Knesset" due to the high turnout. Pollsters already know the results of the exit polls but aren't allowed by law to release them until 10 pm (4pm ET)

Voter turnout in Israel’s election reached 74.3% by 8 pm, eight percentage points higher than at the same hour in 2022 and the highest recorded since 1988.

The Central Election Committee (CEC) denied a request by Likud for voting hours to be extended, citing congested polling stations nationwide. Other parties, including Otzma Yehudit and Shas joined Likud's request for an hour-long extension. This means exit polling will be released at 10pm (4 pm ET).

A look at the betting prediction markets.

Shas chairmanAryeh Deri, urging voters to turn out to the polls, says he hasn't seen turnout on the left and among Arab voters like he's seeing today in 50 years.

VIDEO REPORT: What will the outcome be in Israel's election: - Israel's election could be one of the most consequential in the country's history. But it will likely take weeks for a government to be formed, if one is formed at all. Join the Kol Haolam WhatsApp community: https://chat.whatsapp.com/DUTMsiyVBxBGdEOK7s1Sxw

The right wing parties in Israel are reportedly very concerned about the numbers and data they're seeing with just hours remaining until polls close. Arab parties appear to be performing strongly.

RFK Jr. called the disappearance of Jewish communities across Arab countries "the real genocide in the Middle East."

Microsoft is offering voluntary buyouts to about 60,000 employees worldwide, roughly a quarter of its workforce, including staff in its Windows, Copilot and Xbox divisions. The cuts come as the company restructures around massive spending on chips and AI data centers.

Voter turnout among IDF personnel in Israel's 26th Knesset elections reached 48% as of 1 p.m, representing an increase of 3.6% in participation among military personnel compared with the same time in the elections for the 25th Knesset in 2022.

Someone made a site that tracks what people are talking about at public city council meetings across the US. The only thing discussed more than data centers? Pickleball courts. And people want them, unlike data centers.

Voter turnout across Israel has reached 66.7% at 6:00 p.m. (Israel time) according to the Central Elections Committee (CEC), above the 57.7% recorded at the same time in the 2022 election.

This guy became the first person to cross the arch of Africa's highest bridge on monkey bars, swinging across 600 bars more than 700 feet up in South Africa. He finished the 900-foot crossing in just over 47 minutes.

Convicted murderer Jacob Allen Morley escaped a Tennessee prison and was filmed stealing a truck. Authorities are offering up to $2,500 for information leading to his arrest.

A viral video shows a Tesla Cybercab rolling past a railroad crossing gate, which comes down behind it, leaving the driverless car stopped between the gate and the tracks. The clip is fueling concerns about how Tesla's robotaxi handles train crossings.

Instagram has announced it is experimenting with long-form entertainment and will be testing out allowing video lengths of up to 90 minutes.

United Airlines CEO says Starlink Wi-Fi is already on 48% of United's flights and will reach 50% within about a week and a half, with roughly 3 planes being equipped every day.

Israeli police say a man who was stopped with a knife near Democratic Party leader Yair Golan in Tel Aviv was not trying to carry out a stabbing attack. He has been detained for questioning.

RECORD TURNOUT: Voter turnout across Israel has reached 44.9% by 2:00 p.m. (local time) according to the Central Elections Committee, the highest voter turnout at this hour since at least 1973 and since CEC began recording polling data. This is nearly 6% higher then it was in 2022.

Three Bedouins from the Negev, activists of the Arab Ra’am party, were arrested on suspicion of attempted elections bribery by distributing money to voters, according to the Israeli Police. The suspects were apprehended in their homes in possession of envelopes containing tens of thousands of shekels.

PM Netanyahu casts his ballot in Yerushulayim this morning.

HOW ISRAEL’S ELECTION WORKS: Unlike America, Israelis don’t vote directly for prime minister. Instead, they vote for political parties competing for 120 seats in the Knesset. Parties must receive at least 3.25% of the vote to win seats. To form a government, a leader must assemble a coalition controlling at least 61 seats. This means even the party winning the most seats isn’t guaranteed to lead the country, as smaller parties, including Shas and UTJ, can hold the balance of power.

Rabbonim and Roshei Yeshiva vote in Israel’s elections.

Voter turnout in Israel’s election as of noon, 5 hours into voting, hits 31.5%, the highest in more than 50 years, since 1973 which was the first election held after the Yom Kippur war.

👈 Today’s election is crucial for the Torah world, with the draft of yeshiva bochurim taking center stage. Opposition leaders made Chareidi enlistment a major campaign issue, while Shas and UTJ are each polling at 7–8 seats. New Chareidi parties are also competing for votes, as internal tensions within Agudas Yisroel add uncertainty.

ELECTION DAY IN ISRAEL: Israelis head to the polls in a tight election that could determine Netanyahu’s future. Neither his right-wing and Charedi bloc nor the opposition is assured the 61 seats needed to form a government, raising the possibility of another election.

Tonight’s Full Moon rising above Midtown Manhattan. Shot from 14 miles away in Elizabeth NJ. Via Dan Martland

Venezuela’s acting President Delcy Rodríguez criticized opposition leader María Corina Machado’s return to the country, saying it was a “show that could have been avoided.” Asked how Machado entered Venezuela, Rodríguez replied, “I don’t care.”

Jordan's air ‌force struck what it described ​as militant ​hideouts in southern Syria ⁠after determining ​that the ​attackers behind last week's deadly church ​attack were ​linked to "terrorist groups" operating ‌there. Syria accused Jordan of killing civilians in the strikes.

North Korea has positioned howitzers in plain view near the South Korean border, with barrels pointed south. South Korean analysts see the unusual deployment as a show of force amidst heightened tensions. North Korea normally hides its artillery on reverse slopes or in bunkers.

Straight from the Trump playbook: Rep. Mike Lawler works a McDonald's drive-through, chatting with voters. Trump pulled a similar stunt during the 2024 elections.

Trump denies Netanyahu pressed him for a second endorsement, saying he never spoke to him about it and praising his performance under "very trying conditions."

An investigative resource published on the UK watchdog GnasherJew website has exposed approximately 40 medical professionals across the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) who have used their public social media platforms to disseminate antisemitic rhetoric, propagate conspiracy theories, and celebrate violence against civilians.

Federal prosecutors have charged former FBI Director James Comey with two counts related to transmitting national defense information, marking the third federal case against him amid his long-running feud with the Trump administration.

US intelligence warns of possible Iranian plots to kill Americans overseas, with some reportedly reaching "advanced stages." The reported threats extend beyond the Middle East, raising concerns about how widespread the targeting could be.

Flávio Bolsonaro, who lost Brazil's presidential runoff to Lula, says he has been ordered to surrender his passports and is barred from leaving the country after he met with his father, Jair Bolsonaro, who was the former president of Brazil and is now under house arrest.

Trump on Brazil elections: "It looked like another rigged election, frankly. I didn't take sides, but it was a terrible look for the world. Elections have to be indisputable, and it looked very bad to me."

Bolsonaro contests Brazil result: Flávio Bolsonaro says he cannot recognize the runoff result that gave President Lula a fourth term. He says his legal team will ask for the election to be annulled, citing a last-minute two-hour extension of voting hours.

WAPO: The Trump admin is reportedly exploring a unity deal between Netanyahu and rival Gadi Eisenkot to keep Netanyahu in power if he loses Tuesday’s election. Netanyahu reportedly offered to drop far-right ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich in exchange for US backing for renewed strikes on Iran.

iPhone duo issues

Cool feature in Amazon delivery vans: A scanner that highlights the right packages in green, making them easier to find.

Opposition Leader Avigdor Liberman demands the attorney general open a treason investigation into Netanyahu, accusing him of pushing Israel toward war with Iran ahead of the elections.

Boro Park Kehillas unanimously endorse NY Governor Kathy Hochul for re-election.

President Trump confirms a $1 million reward for anyone who reports voter fraud that leads to the arrest and conviction of the fraudsters, covering past elections or the 2026 midterm elections. “I'm also going to be issuing a million-dollar bonus or reward or whatever you want to call it for anybody that reports voter fraud leading to the arrest and conviction of somebody. We're giving that person a million dollars.”

WSJ: DoorDash is in advanced talks to acquire food-delivery rival Instacart. The deal could be completed as soon as this week, assuming the talks don’t fall apart.

A cow led police on a chase through an upstate New York town, dodging cars before an officer finally roped her. Little Cabin’s Farm confirmed she’s safely back home.

Three major chipmakers — Nvidia, AMD, and Broadcom — are reportedly considering a combined investment of up to $5 billion in Meta. The move comes as Meta works with Broadcom on developing chips that could reduce its dependence on Nvidia's GPUs.

Saudi Arabia reportedly offered Yemen’s Houthis $1 billion in an Iran-brokered deal to halt attacks, with Defense Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman traveling to Tehran for ceasefire talks.

$89K humanoid robot mingles with New Yorkers as it learns to become a babysitter.

Iran hosted the first four-way regional security meeting with Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and Türkiye in Tehran today, and the four countries agreed to keep talking about cooperation on regional peace and security.

Samsung released a video cutting an Apple in half, positioning itself as the leader in foldable phone technology with six years of development since 2019.

A rockslide near Bridal Veil Falls in Utah buried a hiking trail beneath massive boulders. No injuries were reported in the incident.

Trump’s Board of Peace has appointed former Biden White House aide Shelley Greenspan to lead congressional outreach and build bipartisan support for his Gaza peace plan, which is stalled pending Israel’s upcoming elections and formation of a new government.

Anthropic said its Claude AI bypassed a paywall without authorization to access Georgia’s publicly available voter-count data, but did not access voter registration systems or alter voting records. The company says it has since added safeguards to prevent similar incidents.

Anthropic, the maker of Claude AI, has filed for its highly anticipated IPO, reportedly weighing a potential $100 billion raise at a $2 trillion valuation, as AI companies seek massive funding to keep pace with soaring costs.

New footage shows the moment the cruise ship Mein Schiff 3 collided with a docked container ship MSC Victorine in Bremerhaven, Germany. Strong winds pushed the cruise ship sideways despite tugboats working to hold it back.

CNN: Israel has delayed strikes on Iran due to strained missile-defense supplies and reliance on US support. Netanyahu wants to strike, but Trump is withholding approval until after the midterms. IDF chief Eyal Zamir warned an attack could force Israel to postpone its elections.

Israeli health ministry announces psychedelic clinical trial.

A United flight from Las Vegas to Newark returned Saturday night after a crew member reportedly spotted a passenger’s phone message suggesting a hijacking. A security sweep found nothing suspicious, and the flight later departed after a lengthy delay.

WSJ: The Trump administration has encouraged former Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán to seek the position of UN Secretary-General, even proposing a joint US-Russia-China candidacy.

A Jet2 flight from Venice, Italy veered onto the grass while landing at Birmingham Airport, UK, then returned to the runway and taxied to its stand. The airline blamed exceptional weather and said everyone disembarked normally.

German Jews warned of Halloween violence: A confidential paper from the Central Council of Jews in Germany warns of an "elevated threat level" for Jews on October 30-31, tied to protests planned in 21 German cities around Halloween.

NYC BUILDING FIRE: A fire broke out on the 20th floor of a 37-story building at East 74th Street and Second Ave on Manhattan's Upper East Side.

How do you measure success in the groundbreaking Lakefront project?

Lakefront interview: Did anyone close on their house yet?

How many families live there? Following his visit to the new groundbreaking Lakefront development in Ockechobee, Florida, Boro Park resident and mortgage broker Tzvi Balsam posts an interview with project manager Yiddy Perlstein with questions people submitted.