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Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to start your Thursday, including Israel’s final vote count, renewed efforts to revive US-Iran talks, Spain mourning one of its deadliest train crashes, North Korea’s missile launches, and Flavio Bolsonaro declaring himself Brazil’s “leader” from the US.
More than 500,000 outstanding ballots could reshape Israel’s parliamentary seat distribution as counting continues Thursday, with neither Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc nor its main opposition projected to secure a governing majority.
Netanyahu’s bloc was projected to win 53 seats, compared with 48 for the opposition led by Gadi Eisenkot and a record combined 19 for predominantly Arab parties, according to Channel 12. A majority requires 61 seats in the 120-member Knesset.
The outstanding ballots, cast by soldiers and others voting away from their registered polling stations, were expected to be counted by Thursday evening, Israel’s public broadcaster reported.
President Donald Trump said Washington is communicating with Iran through mediators, as regional governments seek to revive peace negotiations and avert renewed US strikes.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Vice President JD Vance sent a letter to Iranian security chief Mohsen Rezaei at Trump’s direction. Asked about the contact, Trump said he had approved Vance’s request to help Iran obtain medical supplies. “Basically, it’s getting supplies in to help people that are not well,” he said.
Qatar-led mediators are urging Tehran to allow UN inspectors into bombed nuclear sites in exchange for some US sanctions relief, Axios reported. Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Türkiye are supporting the effort. Trump said he did not know whether negotiations would succeed.
Trump also had a phone call with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who told him that the Mecca Joint Defense Alliance was closely monitoring developments in the Strait of Hormuz and Yemen.
Spain is in three days of mourning after Wednesday's collision between two high-speed trains killed at least 68 people, one of the worst rail disasters in Europe's recent history.
Speaking at the crash site in Toledo, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said authorities would determine the cause of the accident and take action if wrongdoing was uncovered.
Sanchez said it was "unacceptable" for a country like Spain to experience two high-speed rail accidents in a single year, referring to January's deadly derailment that claimed the lives of 46 people.
"We will get to the bottom of this. If there has been negligence, it will be known," he said, according to Spanish news agency EFE.
North Korea launched around a dozen short-range ballistic missiles from the Wonsan area toward the East Sea, also known as the Sea of Japan, on Thursday, South Korea’s military said.
Seoul stepped up surveillance for further launches and shared information with the US and Japan as officials assessed the missiles’ flight distances and other details, Yonhap News reported.
Hours earlier, the Japanese Defense Ministry said Pyongyang had fired "what may be a ballistic missile." That prompted a warning from Japan’s Coast Guard urging ships to avoid any fallen objects, Kyodo News reported.
Defeated Brazilian presidential candidate Flavio Bolsonaro arrived in Miami from Ecuador, despite a court order requiring him to surrender his passports as part of a corruption and money-laundering investigation, according to US media reports.
He also published a letter on social media describing himself as the country’s "leader" and vowed to lead the opposition to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva from exile in the US.
The son of former President Jair Bolsonaro is under investigation over his alleged links to a banker accused of financial misconduct and a man suspected of money laundering.
Manchester City and Liverpool advanced to the Carabao Cup quarterfinals after both sides won dramatic penalty shootouts against Brighton & Hove Albion and Chelsea respectively Wednesday.
Manchester City twice came from behind before beating Brighton 4-3 on penalties following a 2-2 draw at Etihad Stadium, while Liverpool advanced after beating Chelsea on penalties following a 1-1 draw at Anfield.
China said Wednesday that it takes French football star Kylian Mbappe’s apology “seriously” following his remarks about a meme depicting him as former Chinese leader Mao Zedong.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters that China “takes seriously the apology he has made.”
Mbappe apologized on Tuesday, saying his comment was “ill-judged” and acknowledging that it had hurt people in China and Chinese communities around the world.
Japan Football Association Vice President Takeshi Okada resigned Wednesday, citing a "significant gap" between his principles and how the organization is handling "issues surrounding the upcoming FIFA World Cup."
"Throughout my career, I have valued the social significance of sports guided by my conviction that sports must be conducted with integrity," he said in a statement. "However, the series of responses to the issues surrounding the upcoming FIFA World Cup has revealed a significant gap between those responses and my own convictions. As a sportsman, I cannot accept them.”
The resignation comes one week after Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa pledged the AFC’s support for Gianni Infantino’s bid for another term as FIFA president.
Puerto Rican boxing champion Amanda Serrano will retire after defending her unified featherweight world titles against Australia's Skye Falzon on Jan. 9, her promoter Most Valuable Promotions announced.
The fight, dubbed “The Last Walk,” will take place at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan, where Serrano, 38, will defend her World Boxing Organization (WBO) and World Boxing Association (WBA) featherweight titles.
Serrano has a 50-4 record, with one draw and 32 knockouts. She is also pursuing the all-time women's knockout record, which she shares with American former boxer Christy Martin. “Boxing has been my life, and I never could have imagined the journey it would take me and my family on,” Serrano said in a statement.
British actor-comedian Russell Brand denied rape and sexual assault charges as he testified in his defense at London’s Southwark Crown Court on Wednesday, saying the allegations had had a “devastating” impact on his life.
Brand, 51, denied forcing any of the six alleged victims to do anything against their will.
He faces three counts of rape, three of sexual assault and one of attempted indecent assault. “Consent is fundamental, essential, necessary,” he told the court.
Police in South Carolina have closed their investigation into the death of US actress Hayden Panettiere, following a medical examiner’s finding that she died from an accidental drug overdose.
The Heroes and Nashville star died in August at 36 from the toxic effects of fentanyl, Xanax and other drugs. Greenville police said the medical findings and their investigation supported the accidental ruling.
The US Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a range of 3.75% to 4% as policymakers weighed elevated inflation against strong economic growth.
The Federal Open Market Committee approved the decision in a 10-2 vote to support the central bank's dual mandate of maximum employment and stable prices, the Fed said in a statement.
Policymakers Lisa Cook and Beth Hammack dissented, preferring to raise the target range for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points at the meeting.
"Inflation remains elevated," the committee said, pledging that it "will deliver price stability."
"The accumulation of more information will help the Committee determine the policy stance appropriate to ensure a timely return of inflation to the Committee's 2 percent goal," it added.
Google announced its latest artificial intelligence (AI) model, Gemini 4 Carbon, claiming significant gains in coding, autonomous agent tasks and cybersecurity defense.
Unveiled just two weeks after the launch of its Gemini 4 Argon model, the company described Carbon in a blog post as its strongest frontier model with state-of-the-art cybersecurity and long-horizon capabilities.
Google attributed the rapid release timeline to its researchers and AI models "working hand in hand to advance capabilities faster."
The company claimed that Gemini 4 Carbon ranks first on the updated version 5.0 of the Artificial Analysis Intelligence Index with a score of 59.
US technology firm Alphabet, Google's parent company, reported that its revenue rose 25% year-on-year to $127.6 billion in the July-September quarter, driven by strong growth in its cloud computing business.
The company said in its financial results for the third quarter of 2026 that revenue increased from $102.3 billion in the same period last year, marking its 13th consecutive quarter of double-digit growth.
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