Israelis are turning out at a record pace Tuesday in the country’s first national election since the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attacks. With two hours until polls close at 10 p.m. local, voter turnout had reached 74.3%, according to the Central Elections Committee. The vote is a major test of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wartime leadership, including the security failures surrounding October 7 and his refusal to take responsibility. Netanyahu voted in Jerusalem, urging support for his right-wing Likud party. His leading challenger, centrist Gadi Eisenkot, appeared with former Hamas hostage Gadi Mozes in Nir Oz, a kibbutz devastated during the attacks. The turnout surge includes Arab communities, including from Bedouin tribes, where some voters arrived on camels and donkeys (see video). Many cited opposition to far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir. By 4 p.m., Bedouin turnout had already surpassed its final level in 2022. Israeli-Arab citizens, many of whom identify as Palestinian, make up about one-fifth of Israel’s population. Arab parties are projected to win as many as 16 seats in the 120-seat parliament depending on turnout. That could potentially making them kingmakers in deciding who can form a government. Meanwhile, turnout in predominantly ultra-Orthodox communities Netanyahu is depending on was relatively low Tuesday afternoon. Security remains voters’ biggest concern, alongside the economy and whether ultra-Orthodox men must serve in the military. Videos: @storyful, @reuters Sources: @cnn, @timesofisrael, @reuters, @gallup

Paper straws may actually be worse for the environment than traditional plastic straws, according to a new study out of South Korea. Researchers compared four types of straws across 16 environmental categories, tracking each from production to disposal. Conventional plastic straws had the lowest impact in 10 of them, including climate change, human toxicity, and particulate matter. Paper straws’ emissions had more than six times the cancer-causing potential of plastic and about twice the impact on soil and water acidity. Those scores reflect each straw’s full life cycle, not any risk from using it. The study was commissioned by South Korea’s Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment. Because they’re so small, straws of every material, including paper, often slip through the sorting machines and end up not getting recycled. Additionally, water-resistant coatings and bonding glues prevent them from breaking down easily, requiring more energy during processing and leaving the possibility that microplastics could end up in the recycled pulp anyway. Kim Wi-sang, an opposition lawmaker who released the study, blamed the government for chasing substitute materials instead of cutting single-use items. The European Union, Taiwan, and Hong Kong have banned plastic straws, and Japan has passed legislation to cut plastic consumption. South Korea has delayed its own ban since 2021. President Trump pushed for plastic straws in a 2025 executive order, reversing Biden-era policy. Source: @nypost @scmpnews

A sliding glass door suddenly shattered as a new employee at a Texas salon was closing it, leaving her client and coworkers stunned. Fortunately, the salon said no one was hurt. The Modern Halo Head Spa & Dry Bar in Katy said the employee was gently closing the door while preparing to bring products to a client seated behind the glass. “What makes the video so surprising is that our employee wasn’t doing anything unusual or applying excessive force,” owner Christina Batson told Storyful. “She was simply going about her normal duties when the glass suddenly shattered.” Spontaneous glass breakage can occur in tempered glass without an obvious cause. Tempered glass is designed to break into small pieces rather than large, jagged shards, reducing the risk of serious injury. Tempered glass is required for doors but not tabletops, which often use untreated glass that can break into dangerous, sharp shards. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission updated the mandatory standard in 2016. That year, glass tables were linked to an estimated 20,700 U.S. emergency room visits. From 2012 to 2016, shattered glass shower doors caused an estimated 2,300 emergency room visits, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The Modern Halo Head Spa & Dry Bar via Storyful

Ready to watch an hour-and-a-half-long video on Instagram? Meta unveiled several new video features Monday as it looks to compete with YouTube and even streaming services like Netflix. With Meta's new tool, Features, creators on Instagram can produce horizontal videos that can be up to 90 minutes long. The product is currently being tested among select creators, namely podcasters and comedians. Creators can refer viewers to the full Features video from the short-form Reels currently on the platform, which are typically around three minutes or less. For example, a user may watch a short-form clip from a podcast in an Instagram Reel before being directed to the full episode on Features. Instagram is also rolling out a tool called Series that lets creators organize Reels in a specific order, making it easier to create episodic content like micro-dramas. Finally, starting Monday, U.S. users can watch Instagram Reels through the Instagram app on Apple TV. Meta says Features and Series will eventually be added, with phones doubling as remotes. Instagram, launched in 2010 as a photo-sharing app, is betting on video content as a form of growth. The company has been rolling out apps for smart TVs, first beginning with an app for Amazon's Fire TV last year. Meta’s third-quarter earnings reveal that engagement is at an all-time high, driven largely by video content, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. Sources: @bloomberg, @hollywoodreporter, @latimes, @theverge, @techcrunch

American adults are doing nearly all IRL (in real life) social activities less often in 2026 than thirty years ago, according to a recent analysis from @dataforprogress. The progressive think tank surveyed more than 1,000 American adults and asked them if they participated in a number of social activities at least once in the past year. The group then compared the results to data from the DDB Needham Life Style survey from 1995. Americans reported double-digit declines in social activities, such as entertaining people in their own home (down 21%), attending church or another place of worship (down 19%), or attending a class or a seminar (down 22%). The only in-person social activities that have seen increased engagement since 1995 have been attending an exercise class (up 14%), going to a pop or rock concert (up 13%), and taking an airline trip for personal reasons (up 5%). Meanwhile, virtual forms of social activities have skyrocketed. The percentage of Americans who reported using the internet jumped from 8% in 1995 to 98% this year, while there has been a 22% increase in the rate of Americans who reported playing a home video game in the past year. The report comes as data from the American Time Use Survey shows that Americans are spending more time alone and less time with friends than they were two decades ago. The American Psychiatric Association’s 2026 annual poll found that 42% of U.S. adults reported feeling loneliness at least once a week. That is an increase from 2025, when 33% of adults reported experiencing loneliness at least once a week. A growing body of scientific evidence shows that increased social isolation can harm long-term health. Sources: @dataforprogress, @foxnews, @washingtonpost

Boston’s Logan International Airport (@flylogan) is searching for a new announcer who can pull off a wicked good local accent. More than 5,000 people auditioned — either in-person at Terminal A or online — for the coveted job. The airport is looking for a “voice that feels like home” to greet the roughly 130,000 people who fly in and out of the airport every day. Aspiring announcers read from a script that includes lines like, “Whether you’re grabbing a lobster roll by the harbor (pronounced LOB-STAH and HA-BAH)” and “heading out to Gloucester (pronounced GLOS-TAH) for a little salt air.” The airport has narrowed the competition down to eight finalists. Voting is open at voiceoflogan.com until Wednesday, and the winner will be announced on Nov. 5. Sources: @boston25, @wsj

President Trump touted oil industry windfalls from the Iran war as Americans face rising gasoline prices, declaring at a Georgia rally on Saturday: “We’re making a frickin fortune.” Trump said disruptions to Middle Eastern oil shipments had driven buyers to American producers. He called prices “temporarily high” and predicted they would fall dramatically once the war ends. He acknowledged advisers had urged him not to highlight the windfall because Americans were paying more at the pump. “My people said, please don’t mention that, sir, because people are paying a little higher,” Trump said. He later added: “I don’t give a damn. I’m going to say it.” Trump also claimed Americans were “still paying lower than Biden.” But gasoline has averaged $3.472 a gallon during Trump’s second term, narrowly surpassing Biden’s $3.471 average, according to the latest Bloomberg News analysis of AAA data. Sunday’s national average was roughly $4.29, up more than $1 over the past eight months as the Iran war disrupted shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Biden still holds the single-day record of $5.02, set in June 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Trump had pledged to bring gasoline below $2 a gallon.

Jewish communities are spending so much time sounding the alarm about antisemitism that they risk neglecting the next generation’s connection to Jewish life, Dan Senor said in an interview on the Mo News podcast. Senor (@dansenor) says the concern about rising hate is justified, but warned that too little attention is going toward the schools, traditions and communities that help young Jews embrace their identity. “I’m not worried about Jews leaving America. I’m worried about Jews leaving Judaism,” he said. His prescription goes beyond security: Invest in summer camps, family traditions and community experiences that associate being Jewish with belonging, joy and pride. He also acknowledged why greater isolation makes some Jews in Canada and Europe feel more urgency about leaving. 🎧 Our full conversation covers Israeli elections, U.S.-Israel relations and Jewish life outside Israel. Available now in the Mo News podcast feed.

Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won reelection Sunday with roughly 52% of the vote, defeating Flávio Bolsonaro and resisting the rightward political wave sweeping Latin America. Lula, who turns 81 Tuesday, becomes the first Brazilian elected president four times. After serving two terms beginning in 2003, he survived throat cancer and spent 580 days in prison on corruption convictions later annulled. He returned to power in 2023 after defeating Jair Bolsonaro. Now he’s beaten Bolsonaro’s eldest son. Flávio, 45, led the first round but fell short of the majority needed to avoid a runoff. He campaigned on fighting crime and freeing his father, Jair, who is serving a 27-year sentence, currently under house arrest, for a coup plot that included plans to assassinate Lula. The Bolsonaro family has close ties to President Trump, who celebrated Flávio’s first-round performance without formally endorsing him. The result keeps Latin America’s largest economy a major leftist counterweight to the region’s conservative governments. It also extends presidential backing for Amazon protections: annual deforestation has roughly halved since Lula returned, though his support for offshore oil exploration has drawn environmental criticism. But governing will be difficult. Lula faces a conservative Congress and voters frustrated by living costs and household debt.

President Trump praised Nicki Minaj’s body at a campaign rally in Detroit on Sunday, pivoting from another round of compliments about Republican Ohio Sen. Jon Husted’s rear end. “By the way, I’ve looked at one hell of a beautiful ass before, Nicki Minaj,” Trump said to cheers. “That’s hard to miss. Stand up, that’s hard to miss.” Minaj stood and waved to the crowd. Trump has repeatedly praised Husted’s backside for roughly two weeks, dating back to a rally with him in Ohio earlier this month. Minaj later took the stage to campaign for Michigan’s Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers and gubernatorial candidate John James. Trump introduced her as the “Queen of Rap,” and she led the crowd in chants supporting both candidates before discussing her work with the administration over the past year.

A fire devastated Adolf Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest retreat in Germany’s Bavarian Alps Friday night, and police arrested a 33-year-old German man on suspicion of arson. Prosecutors said the suspect showed signs of mental illness and was being sent to a psychiatric facility. No injuries were reported. Completed in 1938, the mountaintop building is widely described as a gift for Hitler’s 50th birthday. Hitler, reportedly afraid of heights, visited only a handful of times. The retreat primarily hosted Nazi officials and foreign guests. The Eagle’s Nest survived World War II and became a tourist attraction with a restaurant and beer garden. Bavarian officials intend to restore the damaged landmark to preserve its role in historical remembrance for future generations to come.

Former President Barack Obama mocked President Trump’s gold-heavy White House decor Saturday while campaigning in Ohio and Michigan to help Democrats win control of Congress. “He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory!” Obama told an Ohio crowd, arguing Trump was more focused on renovations than lowering Americans’ costs. “He should be on HGTV,” Obama added. His remarks followed Bill Clinton’s jab this week that Trump had turned the Rose Garden into “the entrance to Liberace’s bathroom.” ⁠ Trump’s changes, including demolishing the East Wing for a ballroom, are among the most significant White House alterations in a century. Obama made his own small White House addition during his presidency, adapting an outdoor tennis court for basketball. Obama additionally accused Trump of enriching himself and his allies while congressional Republicans enabled him.

Eager customers lined up across the world, some camping overnight, to get their hands on Apple’s first foldable phone when it was released Friday. Video from New York City, Miami, London, Berlin, and Shanghai show lines snaking around blocks, starting as early as Thursday. Demand for the iPhone Duo appears to be much higher than supply. Preorders sold out completely almost immediately after becoming available last week, and new orders for the Duo on Apple’s website are now offering delivery in January 2027. Apple said it planned to have some Duos available in stores on Friday, but said it predicts they will sell out quickly. Apple’s latest gadget costs nearly $2,000, the highest starting price for an iPhone yet. The phone arrives more than seven years after the first Samsung Galaxy Fold phone hit the market. Foldable phones from Motorola and Google have also been on the market for several years. iPhone sales account for about half of all of Apple’s revenue, and the Duo is the largest change to the product since the original iPhone debuted in 2007. “With an entirely new design and intuitive experiences, it shows what’s possible when hardware and software are engineered together and redefines what it means to use a foldable phone,” Apple CEO John Ternus said. Videos: @reuters, @storyfulvideo Sources: @reuters, @bloomberg

The heroic father who shot and killed a gunman at a Bend, Oregon elementary school last week is opening up about his split-second decision to go after the suspect. Kaylub Giamanco relived the traumatic experience in an interview with Oregon Public Broadcasting (@OPB). He says he saw a “man in black” holding a long gun fire at a red pickup truck last Thursday before walking into Silver Rail Elementary. “I started hearing children pleading for their lives and then I started hearing gunfire and I just started army crawling faster and faster and I told myself, this is probably the last thing that I'm ever gonna do,” Giamanco said. Giamanco crawled through a broken window and toward a special education classroom where the suspect was shooting. He opened fire, killing the 16-year-old gunman, and potentially prevented more lost lives. The attack killed three children, ages 5, 8, and 11, and a 25-year-old teacher. Another teacher and a 7-year-old girl were seriously injured, but are expected to recover. Giamanco, a father of two girls, said he fired at the shooter multiple times “to make sure that he couldn’t move” because he “was afraid of him shooting anybody else.” The 36-year-old said he called his mom afterward to tell her what happened: “I was like, Mom, I just had to take the life of what I think might be a child because he went into my daughter's school with a gun,” Giamanco said. Despite being hailed as a hero, Giamanco says he lies awake at night reliving what happened, saying, “I see faces, I hear voices, I hear screams.” Sources: @opb @cbsnews Video: @opb

The Trump administration has filed a lawsuit asking Alaska to delay certifying its Senate election results if Republican Sen. Dan S. Sullivan loses, arguing that an independent candidate on the ballot, Dan J. Sullivan, could confuse voters. The administration alleges Dan J. Sullivan’s candidacy is a Democratic-backed effort to divert votes from the incumbent Republican. The candidate denies coordinating with Democrats, and the Alaska Supreme Court has previously ruled that he has the right to run. If the race between Sullivan and Democratic candidate Mary Peltola is close, votes cast for the second Dan Sullivan could become a focal point in the fight over the outcome. The lawsuit raises questions about the federal government’s role in elections, which are run by the states.

President Trump is defending an attack ad featuring Ohio Democratic gubernatorial nominee Amy Acton’s estranged mother, even after reporters explained the family’s history of sexual abuse and estrangement. Trump said he hadn’t known the background and questioned what was true, but continued to defend the ad on Friday. “A mother is saying don't put my daughter there because she's a terrible person and she's a liar,” Trump told reporters outside the White House Friday. “Why shouldn't somebody use that?” The ad, produced by Republican opponent Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign, features Acton’s mother calling her daughter a liar and urging Ohioans not to vote for her. Acton was removed from her mother’s home at age 12 after her stepfather was charged with raping Acton. Her mother, who hasn’t spoken to Acton since 1978, then left the state with the stepfather. He remained a fugitive on the child rape charges until his death in 2004. When NBC’s @albamonica asked Trump about the sexual abuse, he called her a “horrible little reporter” and continued defending the ad. “If my mother said bad things about me, do you think the Democrats would put it up? I think so,” Trump said, adding that he watched the ad and thought Acton’s mother was a “smart woman.” Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and other Republicans have criticized the ad this week. Ramaswamy, who trails Acton in recent polls, is standing by it. Trump and VP JD Vance have criticized Republicans who have called out the ad.

Newly released videos show the moments leading up to the fatal police shooting of a 1-year-old boy in Mississippi in June. Kohen Wiley was killed in June when Senatobia police officer Sgt. Hunter Foster fired his gun into a moving vehicle while responding to a call about the boy's mother and another woman allegedly shoplifting diapers. The Mississippi Department of Public Safety on Thursday released footage showing the shooting from the body-worn cameras of multiple law enforcement officers and surveillance footage from Walmart. Darkhorse Press, a local Mississippi news outlet, posted some of that footage on its website a day earlier. The videos show Kohen’s mother, Vellesiya Wiley, holding Kohen as she and her friend run across the parking lot and enter their vehicle. Five officers approach the parked car with guns drawn. The car reverses and crashes into a parked vehicle as officers yell for it to stop. In the video, the vehicle is seen accelerating forward as Foster steps toward it with his gun drawn. Foster fired his gun, shattering the window of the front passenger side, where Kohen was seated on his mother’s lap. Kohen Wiley and the driver were shot by an officer, and the baby died from resulting injuries. Two use-of-force experts reviewed the footage at the request of The Associated Press but provided conflicting assessments. One said the shooting was "objectively reasonable," and another said Foster used "really bad tactics." In body-camera footage, officers are heard saying they didn't see the baby in the car. Wiley has previously said she held up her son to show officers he was there. The footage contradicts parts of her June account, where she said her friend drove away from officers. The shooting sparked protests in Senatobia where there have been longstanding complaints about discriminatory policing. Prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who represented the families of George Floyd and Trayvon Martin, is representing the Wiley family. He has called for the release of additional footage, and questioned the state's decision not to charge the officer.

A Trump impersonator is dancing in a mock jail cell above a busy Tehran square, part of Iran’s latest propaganda campaign against the U.S. president. The masked actor rattles bars, naps and performs Trump’s signature Y.M.C.A. dance while a billboard behind him displays images of a deadly strike on an Iranian wedding they blame on the U.S.. Unveiled Tuesday in the capital's Tajrish Square, the installation has drawn crowds filming, laughing and honking.

President Donald Trump, who has already renamed two bodies of water after America, said he would like to redub the Atlantic Ocean as well — but that the CEO of Google pushed back on the idea. Trump said Wednesday at a campaign rally that because Google Maps had been “really great” about previous name changes, he asked Sundar Pichai, CEO of Alphabet and Google, if the company would consider renaming the Atlantic. According to the president, Pichai said, “No, no, no. This time, I’m not doing it,” adding, “Oceans are different, sir,” because they border “a lot of countries.” Google Maps changed the name of the Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America last year and Lake Ontario to Lake America this past August, following executive orders. “Lake America” remains on display for Google Maps users in the United States, but Canadian users still see “Lake Ontario.” Users outside the two countries can see both names. Trump did not say what he would call the Atlantic Ocean but noted that he would probably pass on renaming the second-largest of the world’s five oceans. Sources: @thehill @washingtonpost

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine urged Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign Thursday to pull an attack ad featuring Democratic gubernatorial nominee Amy Acton’s estranged mother, but said he still endorses Ramaswamy to succeed him. DeWine, a Republican who prosecuted sexual assault cases earlier in his career, called the ad “deeply, deeply troubling.” Pressed by reporters, DeWine reaffirmed his support for the Republican ticket but said the ad needs to come down and voters will make up their own minds. The ad, backed by a $4 million statewide TV buy, features Acton’s estranged mother calling her daughter a liar and urging Ohioans not to vote for her. Acton was removed from her mother’s home at age 12 after her stepfather was charged with raping her. Her mother, who hasn’t spoken to Acton since 1978, then left the state with the stepfather. He remained a fugitive on the child rape charges until his death in 2004. Trump responded by calling DeWine disloyal to the Republican Party and suggesting he wanted a Democrat to win. “I suggested, on the other hand, that Vivek should keep it up,” Trump wrote. He praised Acton’s mother for participating and described the ad as “hitting pay dirt.” DeWine joins other Republicans criticizing the ad, including Sen. Jon Husted, who said he would not have run it. But President Trump and Vice President JD Vance have defended it. Vance told Republicans Wednesday to “stop whining” and focus on winning the race. Acton led Ramaswamy 51% to 43% among likely voters in a Marist poll released Tuesday prior to the ad release. Source: @nbcnews @politico @wbnstv10