In-person early voting for the U.S. midterm elections began on Monday in Washington D.C., while more than 23 million people across the country had already cast ballots by October 25, far surpassing the 15 million recorded in 2022.

Early voting opened on October 26 across Washington D.C. and will run through every district until Sunday, November 1.

Residents who missed the online or mail registration deadline can still register directly at the polling center. That same-day registration requires a valid, recent proof of address, such as an official identification, a utility bill or a bank statement issued within the past ninety days.

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District law also lets non-citizen residents who meet age and local residency requirements vote in municipal elections. They receive a separate ballot limited to district offices, including the Council, the Board of Education and the Advisory Neighborhood Commissions.

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Maryland Ballots Advance

In neighboring Maryland, the early voting period runs through Thursday, October 29, with centers open daily from 7 A.M. to 8 P.M. local time. Voters there can also register the same day by showing a document that proves their current address.

Election authorities detailed the rules for those who prefer mail ballots or official drop boxes before the November 3 general vote. In Washington D.C., ballots must carry that date’s postmark or be deposited before 8 P.M.

Maryland set Tuesday, October 27, as the cutoff for requesting printed ballots at each county’s local offices.

Voters who miss the October 27 request deadline in Maryland can still cast a ballot in person during the early window or on November 3. The mail route, however, closes at that point for printed ballots.

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The midterm cycle has produced a sharp rise in early participation. As of October 25, more than 23 million people had voted early nationwide, up from the 15 million recorded in 2022.

After two years marked by unilateral decisions, a hardline stance on immigration, rising living costs and involvement in the war against Iran, Donald Trump’s administration now faces a ballot test that could strip Republicans of their absolute control of Congress.

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are being contested. Republicans hold 218 seats against 214 for the Democrats, along with two vacancies and one independent seat occupied by Kevin Kiley after his departure from the Republican Party. That narrow margin leaves the chamber within reach for the opposition, and the surge in early ballots is being read as a measure of how much ground the ruling party could lose.

The early vote will keep building through the final weekend before November 3, when the full contours of the midterm electorate will emerge.

O índice de aprovação pública do presidente Donald Trump subiu ligeiramente para 32%, um aumento de um ponto percentual em relação à sua mínima histórica registrada na semana passada, às vésperas das eleições de meio de mandato nos Estados Unidos, que vão definir qual partido controlará o Congresso.

Os dados são de uma pesquisa Reuters/Ipsos concluída nesta segunda-feira (26).

Os colegas de partido de Trump, os republicanos, lutam para manter as maiorias da legenda na Câmara dos Representantes e no Senado.

A pesquisa, realizada ao longo de cinco dias em todo o país, também revelou que, entre os eleitores registrados, a preferência pelos democratas supera os republicanos — 47% contra 36% —, ao serem questionados sobre em qual partido votariam (em uma pergunta de intenção de voto genérica).

Cerca de 11% afirmaram não saber em quem votariam caso a eleição fosse realizada hoje.

Essa diferença de 11 pontos percentuais entre democratas e republicanos foi 1 ponto percentual menor do que a registrada em uma pesquisa Reuters/Ipsos encerrada em 19 de outubro.

A pesquisa também perguntou aos eleitores indecisos para qual partido eles tendiam a pender. Ao levar em conta essas respostas, a disputa nacional pareceu um pouco mais acirrada, com os democratas à frente por 9 pontos percentuais — 50% contra 41%.

Para os republicanos, perder o controle de qualquer uma das casas legislativas poderia complicar a agenda de Trump nos dois anos finais de seu segundo mandato como presidente.

As pesquisas de intenção de voto genéricas (*generic ballot polls*) são levantamentos nacionais que oferecem uma visão geral de qual partido os entrevistados gostariam de ver no comando do Congresso. Embora essas pesquisas revelem o sentimento público em nível nacional, elas não captam as nuances das disputas estado a estado e distrito a distrito — as quais definem o controle do Senado e da Câmara dos Representantes, e nas quais os republicanos detêm certas vantagens estruturais.

A pesquisa Reuters/Ipsos, realizada online, coletou respostas de 1.679 adultos norte-americanos, incluindo 1.280 eleitores registrados, e apresentou uma margem de erro de 2 pontos percentuais para o total de adultos e de 3 pontos percentuais para os eleitores registrados.

O que são as Eleições de Meio de Mandato dos Estados Unidos?

U.S. President Donald Trump urged Israeli voters to reelect Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and to press the military campaign against Iran until it is complete.

Donald Trump framed Benjamin Netanyahu’s return to power as a condition for finishing the offensive against Iran. “We have to finish the job we started,” he wrote on his social media, aiming the appeal squarely at Israeli voters three days before the legislative elections.

The U.S. President returned to an October 18 letter in which he called Netanyahu an “exceptional Prime Minister warrior” and praised their joint record in military operations.

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As everyone knows, including the enemy, Bibi and I have had a great relationship to win together,” Trump stated, holding up Operation Epic Fury as proof of their cooperation.

Trump asserted that Iran had lost its navy and its air force and that its economy had fallen into a “state of chaos.” He placed inflation at 301% and claimed a naval blockade had stopped oil exports. Two tiers of Iranian leadership, military and civilian, had been eliminated, he added.

In the October 18 letter, Trump described the Israeli leader as a “Great Warrior Prime Minister” and an “even greater partner for peace.” His latest post closed with an open call for Netanyahu’s reelection in the middle of the Iran offensive.

The appeal marks another attempt by the White House to steer another nation’s vote. It also arrives as Washington and Tel Aviv face sustained protests over the war on the Gaza Strip, where Israel’s conduct has been denounced as a policy of extermination.

Netanyahu and Trump met in Washington amid protests against the genocide in Gaza, and Trump has framed their alliance as a shared military project. Trump’s latest intervention draws Washington deeper into a vote that will decide not only Israel’s leadership but also the regional balance.

Israel Votes Tuesday

The endorsement lands days before more than seven million voters renew the 120 seats of the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Surveys project a fragmented legislature in which no bloc secures the 61 seats required to form a government. The threshold has rarely yielded a stable majority in recent cycles, and this campaign has only deepened the fragmentation.

That arithmetic has lifted the leverage of Israel’s Arab parties and pulled tens of thousands of expatriates back home to cast ballots. It has also sharpened a parallel demand for accountability.

On Saturday, tens of thousands of people marched in Tel Aviv to demand an independent state commission of inquiry into the October 7, 2023 Israeli attack. Organizers stressed that the gathering was civic in nature and did not endorse any party or candidacy.

The opposition bloc led by former army chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot is pressing for that independent commission. Netanyahu opposes the measure, while his supporters highlight his record on national security and regional operations. Neither camp has stopped to examine Israel’s conduct and its policy of extermination against the Gaza Strip.

Tuesday’s vote will determine whether Netanyahu secures the mandate Trump is urging. With no bloc near a majority, coalition negotiations are expected to follow, and the outcome will shape both Israel’s next government and the course of the Iran campaign.

O presidente dos Estados Unidos, Donald Trump, afirmou nesta segunda-feira (26), sem apresentar provas, que a votação para a Presidência do Brasil “pareceu mais uma eleição fraudada”, mas destacou que gosta de Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) e que se dá bem com o petista.

Questionado por repórteres sobre sua avaliação do pleito, realizado no domingo (25), Trump disse que achou “terrível”. Flávio Bolsonaro (PL), que foi derrotado por Lula, anunciou que não reconhecerá o resultado da votação e que pedirá anulação.

“Não tomei partido, mas a imagem que passou para o mundo foi péssima; é mais uma eleição — e você sabe, eleições precisam ser inquestionáveis ​​—, por isso, para mim, a situação pareceu muito ruim”, adicionou.

“Não apoiei ninguém nem nada, mas acompanhei a eleição e ela pareceu tão corrupta”, acrescentou.

Em outro momento, o presidente dos Estados Unidos foi questionado se faria algo a respeito da eleição brasileira, respondendo que não comanda o Brasil e que tem bom relacionamento com Lula.

“Eu gosto do Lula, me dou muito bem com ele. Só acho que a forma como a apuração foi feita passou uma impressão muito ruim”, disse.

No domingo (25), dia do segundo turno, Donald Trump Jr., filho do presidente, criticou a extensão do horário de votação no Brasil, que teve fim adiado das 17h para as 19h.

“Se um governo conservador no Brasil fizesse isso, todo mundo na imprensa mainstream americana perderia a cabeça, mas acho que eles estão apenas escolhendo ficar em silêncio porque é tudo pela causa”, alegou.

Até agora, os Estados Unidos não reconheceram oficialmente o resultado da eleição presidencial brasileira. Outros países, como China, França, Espanha, Portugal e Alemanha, reconheceram a votação e parabenizaram Lula.

Outras autoridades dos EUA também se pronunciaram e saudaram o petista, como Gavin Newsom, governador da Califórnia, o senador Bernie Sanders e Zohran Mamdani, prefeito de Nova York.

Nações da América do Sul, como Chile, Peru e Colômbia, que são comandadas por líderes de direita, também reconheceram o resultado. A Argentina, de Javier Milei, não se pronunciou.

Campanhas de Flávio e Lula pediram extensão do horário de votação

A solicitação de extensão do horário da votação foi feita tanto pela campanha de Lula quanto pela campanha de Flávio Bolsonaro (PL) ao TSE (Tribunal Superior Eleitoral).

O pedido do grupo de Lula usou como base relatos de problemas envolvendo o transporte de eleitores em todo o país.

Já a campanha de Fávio havia pedido o alongamento da votação ao TSE para os estados do Paraná, Santa Catarina e São Paulo por causa das fortes chuvas.

O PT (Partido dos Trabalhadores) também protocolou um pedido ao Supremo Tribunal Federal para prorrogação da votação por mais duas horas em todo o território nacional. Cristiano Zanin foi sorteado relator do caso às 16h30, no horário de Brasília.

O magistrado acatou a solicitação às 16h57, mas a decisão só entrou nos sistemas da Corte às 17h01. A apuração foi paralisada por volta das 17h06, com o TSE já tendo divulgado os números de algumas urnas.

Kassio Nunes Marques, presidente do TSE, referendou a medida às 18h.

Autoridades do Brasil confirmam lisura da votação para presidente

O presidente do TSE também assegurou, ainda no domingo, que não houve irregularidades na eleição presidencial e que a prorrogação do horário de votação não comprometeu sua lisura.

“Volto a dizer: não houve nenhuma alteração advinda da decisão judicial. Temos absoluta confiança em todo o processo eleitoral”, declarou Nunes Marques.

Partidos que haviam declarado apoio a Flávio Bolsonaro também parabenizaram a reeleição do presidente Lula. Foi o caso de União Brasil, Republicanos e Podemos.

Os presidentes do Senado e da Câmara dos Deputados, Davi Alcolumbre (União) e Hugo Motta (Republicanos), respectivamente, também se pronunciaram.

Alcolumbre disse que o resultado foi uma “vitória da democracia” e pediu respeito à “vontade soberana do povo”. Hugo também elogiou o sistema eleitoral brasileiro e afirmou que a data se trata de “um dia de alegria para nós, democratas”.

Votos após as 17h representaram 0,027% do total

Apenas 34.330 votos foram computados depois das 17h de domingo (25), horário previsto para o encerramento do segundo turno das eleições.

O número representa 0,027% dos 127,8 milhões de votos registrados no país e não teria peso suficiente para alterar o resultado da disputa presidencial.

O presidente Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva foi reeleito com vantagem de cerca de 4,4 milhões de votos sobre Flávio Bolsonaro. O petista recebeu 64,2 milhões de votos, contra 59,8 milhões do adversário.

It has been a wild few weeks for the US-Ukraine relationship as Trump, more and more, has been able to be what he always wanted to be: a friend and supporter of Vladimir Putin. It started openly with the diesel deal, which drove a coach and horses through the sanctions regime leveled on Russia, a […]

The post In the Starlink case Trump reacted to pressure, not flattery appeared first on Asia Times.

Brazilian progressive leader and incumbent president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva made history last night, defeating far-right Flávio Bolsonaro of the Liberal Party in the second round after coming in second in the first round.

The results were awaited with bated breath after a judge ordered polls to be open for two more hours following complaints from voters who claimed they had been unable to reach polling places due to transportation problems. First the Workers’ Party (PT), and then the Liberal Party (PL), requested the extension, which paused the vote count until 7:00 pm in Brasília, the capital.

With 51.79% of the valid votes, the former union leader, metalworker, and head of the Workers’ Party staged a historic comeback against Bolsonaro, who lost the initial momentum he had in the first round and barely reached 48.21%. This is the first time a candidate who finished second in Brazil’s first round has staged a comeback and won the election in the runoff.

Bolsonaro entered the runoff with a relative – though significant – lead following his victory in the first round of voting on October 4, where he received 47.03% (approximately 56,104,503 votes), while Lula, to the surprise of many, came in second with 45.16% (53,879,538 votes).

In other words, there was a gap of nearly 3 million votes between the two candidates that seemed very difficult for Lula to overcome, especially considering that the remaining votes were split among candidates who were mostly from the right and center-right – a fact that led many to believe that Bolsonaro, the son of former president and currently imprisoned Jair Bolsonaro, would win the runoff.

But Lula, a true legend of Brazilian politics (a labor leader during the dictatorship who won the presidency three times), achieved the unthinkable. Between the first and second rounds of voting, he managed to gain more than 10 million votes compared to the first round – an astronomical figure, considering that Bolsonaro barely managed to gain some 3.7 million votes.

Lula’s victory

After it was clear that Lula’s victory was irreversible, the Brazilian streets were filled with people wearing the traditional red of the Workers’ Party. However, the victory was celebrated by a sort of broad coalition that had formed to overturn the result – one that spanned the political spectrum from classical left-wing parties and movements, to progressive liberals, and even some center-right groups that saw Bolsonaro as a threat to democracy.

In his speech marking his fourth presidential victory, Lula said: “I want to thank the Brazilian people – those who have stood by me for so long – and express my gratitude for the generosity of Brazil’s young people … We are going to change the way this country is governed … we are going to involve the people more. Digital communication will play a very significant role in this administration. I will deliver the best presidential term this country has ever seen.”

“Following our victory, we will have to discuss a new way of governing this country. The people’s participation in this campaign – the students, women, and workers who took to the streets – will compel us to find a new way of governing. This country will never be the same again,” said the reelected president.

Lula also stated that the debates against Bolsonaro and the PL campaign were riddled with lies and “denialism”: “I never thought a person could lie so much in this country, with such brazenness, as if there were not a single shred of humanity within him.”

Finally, he also addressed the problems his campaign faced regarding the dissemination of its messages on social media. The PT repeatedly denounced that the major social media platforms hindered or outright prevented the spread of its political messages, while Bolsonaro’s messages faced no such issues.

Hence, he suggested placing limits on the power of the major corporations behind social media platforms – a stance he has taken on other occasions and which has caused friction with tech giants: “We cannot fail to recognize that a crime in the digital world must be treated the same as a crime in real life. We cannot have monstrous companies of this size – which make billions without paying taxes to our country – trying to alter election results,” Lula said in his victory speech.

Bolsonaro’s reaction

For his part, far-right politician Flávio Bolsonaro said he “rejects” the election results and announced that he will seek to have the election annulled: “We are going to consult with our legal team; we are going to request that these elections be annulled. I will not accept that the rules of the game have been changed in the middle of the game – once again – by Lula’s friends on the Federal Supreme Court.”

Bolsonaro, who delivered his speech to his supporters, was referring to the extension of voting hours. According to his team, the extension was ordered after the polling stations had closed, which, they claimed, violates Brazilian electoral rules – even though the PL itself had also requested the extension.

This is not the first time that Bolsonaro’s supporters have rejected Lula’s victory. In 2022, it was Jair Bolsonaro who refused to acknowledge his defeat. Months later, during Lula’s inauguration, hundreds of Bolsonaro supporters violently stormed several government buildings, after which investigations were launched into an alleged attempted coup d’état. One of those found guilty in the case was Jair Bolsonaro himself, who is currently serving a sentence for that crime.

However, it will be difficult for Bolsonaro’s allegations to gain traction in Brazil’s immediate future. With the exception of Argentina’s far-right politician Milei, South American countries – through their heads of state and foreign ministries – have publicly congratulated Lula on his victory, which amounts to a de facto recognition of his win.

However, the Bolsonaros still have the Trump administration as a last resort, as it has publicly supported the PL candidate, just as it did with his father in the past. This is the first time since Trump began his second term that a candidate he supported in a Latin American country has failed to win, which still raises questions about what Washington’s stance will be regarding Lula’s historic victory – a victory in which, against all odds, he managed to defeat Washington’s candidate and thus halted a wave of far-right victories in Latin America.

The week before October 25 in Brazil was frenetic. It appeared that every one of the over 200 million Brazilians had a political opinion about the presidential election. The country was fundamentally polarized. Polls showed that the vote was going to be tight, with most polls favoring the challenger Flávio Bolsonaro, son of the former president Jair Bolsonaro, and the standard bearer of the far right of a special type. But the incumbent Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, known as Lula and president of Brazil from 2003 to 2011 and then since 2023, would not allow the polls to stop him. He traveled the length and breadth of the country, holding massive and energetic rallies to mobilize people to vote. In the first round, 21% of the voters did not turn out in a process that is otherwise compulsory (and a large section who did vote left the presidential section either unmarked or spoiled). Only 2.2 million ballots separated Bolsonaro (who won 47% in the first round) from Lula of the 158.7 million registered voters. To win between October 4 (first round) and October 25 (second round), Lula had to either attract people who had voted for Bolsonaro or those who had not voted or spoiled their ballots. No other candidate had turned around such a deficit in Brazil’s modern history. But Lula did it.

Streets

In the three weeks between the first and second rounds, Lula and his team motivated millions of people onto the streets in the large cities of Brazil, but also in several smaller, but significant towns. These enormous mobilizations created a sense that Lula would overcome the mathematical disadvantage presented by the voting numbers after the first round. All psephological analyses showed that Bolsonaro would cruise through in the second round, which would have indicated the impossibility for Lula. But the left did not rest on this handicap but went on the offensive.

In the first round, Bolsonaro finished 2.22 million votes ahead, but in the runoff, Lula finished with 4.43 million votes ahead. The margin moved by 6.66 million votes. These votes came from the large cities: the 319 cities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, home to 57% of Brazil’s population, delivered 3.89 of the 6.66 million of the turnaround. Lula’s vote grew more in municipalities that are more evangelical, richer, whiter, more schooled, and more urban. This meant that he ate substantially into Bolsonaro’s base, which was something that surprised even the Lula team. The key to the turnaround was the mass mobilizations driven by the social movements, with the Landless Rural Workers’ Movement (MST) in the lead.

Advances

Across his three terms, Lula has presided over an extraordinary advance in the social conditions of the Brazilian people. Bolsa Família, increases in the minimum wage, the expansion of public universities, and support for family farming brought food, income, and opportunity into households that the ruling class had long treated as disposable. These achievements changed millions of lives and established that poverty could be confronted through public action. Yet the political formula that made these advances possible has reached its limits. Lula sought to improve the lives of the poor while accommodating the power of finance, agribusiness, and the dominant sections of Brazilian capital. During his first two terms, favorable international conditions created room for this accommodation. But redistribution without a corresponding transformation of economic power left the foundations of inequality intact, allowing the beneficiaries of the old order to retain the means to obstruct change and reverse its gains.

In his third term, fiscal restrictions, expensive credit, and dependence on conservative parliamentary forces have narrowed the space for reform. Social programs remain indispensable, but they cannot by themselves overcome insecure employment, household indebtedness, inadequate public services, or the concentration of land and wealth. The exhaustion lies in a governing strategy whose compromises increasingly obstruct the fulfilment of its promises. Lula’s personal authority cannot indefinitely bridge the distance between popular expectations and the concessions demanded by the powerful. A renewed project will require the organized strength of workers, peasants, and residents of the urban peripheries, the very people who form Lula’s base, with an agenda of agrarian reform, public investment, industrial development, and democratic control over finance. The movements that filled the streets must acquire greater power to shape the government’s direction. Defeating the far right opens that possibility, but securing the social gains of the Lula years will require confronting the structures that continually threaten them.

Defeat of Trump

US President Donald Trump, his vice president JD Vance, and members of the Brazilian diaspora in Miami put an immense amount of effort into defeating Lula. Brazil, which makes up half the landmass of South America, and is the largest economy in Latin America, stands out against the wave of far-right governments that now dominate the Americas. Interference in the Brazilian elections is now an acknowledged fact, with Meta cutting off Lula’s accounts at a crucial stage of the contest and other reports of funding and social media intervention.

Trump had hoped that Bolsonaro would win in Brazil so that he can then strengthen his Shield of the Americas process that began in Miami in March 2026. This process was presented by Trump as an institutional form to coordinate security but also for the suffocation of the popular movements and the left. Lula’s victory has blocked Trump’s path to exercise the Monroe Doctrine. It has also meant that Trump will not be able to so easily access the critical minerals in Brazil or to dominate the new oil find in the basin of the Amazon delta.

Despite the obstacles faced by Lula, his victory has been able to show that the far right is not invincible.

Vijay Prashad is an Indian historian and journalist. He is the author of forty books, including Washington Bullets, Red Star Over the Third World, The Darker Nations: A People’s History of the Third World, The Poorer Nations: A Possible History of the Global South, and How the International Monetary Fund Suffocates Africa, written with Grieve Chelwa. He is the executive director of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research, the chief correspondent for Globetrotter, and the chief editor of LeftWord Books (New Delhi). He also appeared in the films Shadow World (2016) and Two Meetings (2017).

This article was produced by Globetrotter.

Ahead of Israel’s Oct. 27 national vote, President Donald Trump issued a sweeping endorsement of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election bid, calling him a "great warrior," an "even greater partner for peace" and an ally in the confrontation with Iran.

The backing could give Israel’s longest-serving prime minister a boost ahead of the country’s first national vote since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre. The election is widely viewed in Israel as a referendum on whether to grant Netanyahu another term to pursue his war objectives, including disarming Hamas and Hezbollah and countering the nuclear threat from the Islamic Republic.

In response, Netanyahu thanked Trump for his "extraordinary endorsement." "Together we will never let Iran’s regime get nuclear weapons," he said.

TRUMP SAYS NETANYAHU NEEDS TO BE RE-ELECTED, OR ELSE US WILL HAVE TO 'FINISH THE JOB’ AGAINST IRAN ALONE

Addressing the endorsement, Doron Spielman, international spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office, told Fox News Digital that no personal or professional bond in the history of U.S.-Israel relations compares with the current partnership.

"Israel and the U.S. have stood together as the two countries bearing the torch for the West, and that is a direct result of the incredible relationship between President Trump and Netanyahu," he said.

He reiterated Netanyahu’s long-standing foreign-policy priority and central campaign promise: ensuring that Iran does not acquire atomic bombs under his watch.

"Israel prefers to do this with the U.S., which has been our greatest ally and friend, and who has already entered the front with us twice. But already at the time of Operation Rising Lion, Israel showed that it was willing to act alone. Israel acted for over a week before the U.S. joined," he said, in reference to the June 2025 military mission against Iran.

Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, with roughly 20 years in office, Netanyahu began his diplomatic career in 1982 as deputy chief of mission at Israel’s embassy in Washington, D.C. He served as Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations from 1984 to 1988 before entering politics with Likud. He became the party’s chairman in 1993 and was first elected premier in 1996.

After losing the 1999 election, Netanyahu returned to government in 2002 as foreign minister and later served as finance minister. He returned to the premiership in 2009, serving until 2021 and again from late 2022. He is widely credited with liberalizing Israel’s economy and helping transform the country into a global high-tech hub.

FORMER ISRAELI ARMY CHIEF GADI EISENKOT EMERGES AS NETANYAHU’S LEADING ELECTION CHALLENGER

Netanyahu’s current political allies include Itamar Ben-Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit, Bezalel Smotrich’s Religious Zionism-Zehut, and the ultra-Orthodox parties Shas and United Torah Judaism. The newcomer Amcha Yisrael, led by Ofer Winter, could also join the bloc, although Winter is currently feuding with Likud over concerns that his party, which is hovering near the electoral threshold, could split the right-wing vote and potentially "waste" tens of thousands of ballots.

According to most Hebrew-language media polls, neither Netanyahu’s bloc nor the opposition led by Gadi Eisenkot currently has a clear path to securing the 61 Knesset seats needed to form a government.

If no candidate can assemble a governing coalition, Israel could head to another election, repeating the cycle of political instability that saw the country hold four national votes between April 2019 and March 2021.

Dan Diker, president of the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs, told Fox News Digital that any incoming government will face the same formidable security challenges as the current one, with few prospects for quick victories.

"The major challenge in this election will be what Netanyahu discussed in terms of adjusting the national security concept to prioritize prevention. That means taking very serious, assertive and aggressive military counterterrorism and nonmilitary actions against our enemies," Diker said.

The Israeli left, center and even far-right believe Netanyahu has failed to meet the expectations associated with his image as "Mr. Security," according to professor Tamar Hermann, a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute.

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"He promised to topple the Iranian regime, he promised to dismantle Hamas, he promised to crush Hezbollah. None of it was achieved," Hermann told Fox News Digital. "He gave a green light to not punishing vigilantes in the settlements who act against Palestinians. He also gave too much to the ultra-Orthodox parties, giving up on the idea of universal conscription."

Hermann said that Netanyahu’s current term has been his least successful, beginning with the judicial reform push, which triggered mass protests in 2023, and followed by the Palestinian terror attacks on Oct. 7. Netanyahu subsequently faced public anger over his handling of the hostage crisis, although, in coordination with Trump and his envoys, he ultimately secured the return of all the captives.

"In the eyes of some, his legacy will be that he inflicted a huge disaster upon Israel in terms of what happened to civilians on Oct. 7 and the deterioration of Israel’s international image," she said.

Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States, framed the upcoming election in terms of legacy and how Netanyahu will be remembered 50 years from now.

"There are two types of leaders: leaders in history and leaders of history," he told Fox News Digital. "There are leaders who go into office and perform as best they can, and there are leaders who go into office and see themselves as transformative, as having a historical role like Abraham Lincoln, Roosevelt or Churchill. Benjamin Netanyahu belongs to this category."

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Oren said Netanyahu sees his mission as saving Israel from existential threats, foremost among them Iran, a goal he has yet to achieve.

"He is willing to endure virtually limitless criticism and condemnation around the world, as well as mass demonstrations against him, to fulfill this one role," he said. "To understand that is to understand Benjamin Netanyahu: He is a leader of history."

A House Judiciary Committee report alleges Donald Trump was actively involved in Epstein’s abuse of young women.

On Monday, Democratic lawmakers released a report calling for a special counsel to investigate possible ties between U.S. President Donald Trump and the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, just over a week before the midterm elections.

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The more than 50-page report by Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee alleges that Trump was an “active participant in Jeffrey Epstein’s abuse of young women in the mid-to-late 1990s.”

The document, titled “The Case Against Donald Trump Emerging From the Epstein Files and the Justice Department’s Desperate Efforts to Cover It Up,” includes the names of five women who have accused Trump of “raping or sexually assaulting them” in the company of Epstein.

Among the women’s accounts is one being made public for the first time. It describes an alleged rape by Trump during a pageant held in November 1993 at the Plaza Hotel in New York City, although the account provides no evidence beyond the woman’s statements.

“The women who survived Epstein deserve to be heard, Congress must have the full files that the law requires, and an independent special counsel must investigate Epstein’s accomplices and the Justice Department’s cover-up, and ensure that state and foreign prosecutors have the evidence they need to pursue justice,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin, the committee’s top-ranking Democrat.

Trump, for his part, has repeatedly denied committing any wrongdoing related to Epstein’s actions. He has also repeatedly said that he had a falling-out with Epstein years ago and barred him from Mar-a-Lago, his Florida residence, “for being a creep.”

The Democratic lawmakers’ report also calls for greater federal cooperation in legal proceedings against Epstein’s accomplices and increased congressional action to uncover all possible connections within his sex trafficking network.

With the document’s release, Democrats are signaling that they have no intention of backing down from their efforts to continue investigating the connections between Trump and Epstein’s sex trafficking network. They are doing so at a time when they could win a majority in the House of Representatives and even challenge Republican control of the Senate on Nov. 3.

The midterm elections will determine all seats in the House of Representatives and one-third of the seats in the Senate, as well as numerous state and local offices.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: EFE

• President Donald Trump flew on his new Air Force One for the first time on July 1.
• The VC-25B, a luxury jet valued at around $400 million, was gifted to the US by Qatar.
• The new Air Force One is bigger, faster, more fuel-efficient, and more luxurious than the old one.

Since his first term in the White House, President Donald Trump has displayed a model of a new Air Force One plane on his desk.

On July 1, his long-held vision became a reality when the aircraft the US accepted as a gift from Qatar, designated the VC-25B Bridge, flew as Air Force One for the first time.

Speaking to reporters before boarding the aircraft at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, Trump called it the "best plane ever built."

He later landed in Medora, North Dakota, for the dedication of the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library.

Retrofitted with state-of-the-art protective measures and painted in his favored colors of red, white, and blue, the new presidential plane is bigger, faster, more fuel-efficient, and more luxurious than the outgoing VC-25A fleet, which has served presidents since the 1990s.

It has also been brought in and out of service amid operational mishaps and security concerns, such as when Trump secretly switched to a C-32A to fly back from Turkey in July due to threats from Iran, and when the VC-25B Bridge's emergency slide was accidentally deployed in September.

A senior administration official previously told Business Insider that the VC-25B Bridge is "the greatest presidential plane ever built," and added, "We maintain a consistent posture that ensures a safe, secure, and reliable capability for the President of the United States and routinely evolve the capability as required to maintain that posture."

An Air Force spokesperson told Business Insider, "We do not provide specific details on capabilities or provide comparisons between aircraft."

Here's how Trump's new VC-25B Bridge compares to the old VC-25A.

The old Air Force One was a customized Boeing 747-200B, designated VC-25A, that entered service under President George H.W. Bush.

The first VC-25A, known as SAM 28000, began serving as Air Force One in 1990, and is flying alongside the Qatari-donated plane.

The outgoing Air Force One, a second, identical VC-25A known as SAM 29000, entered service in 1991. It completed its final presidential flight in June 2026.

The VC-25A measures 231 feet and 10 inches long with a wingspan of 195 feet and 8 inches.

The new Air Force One is a customized Boeing 747-8i built in 2012 and previously used as a luxury transport by the Qatari royal family.

The VC-25B Bridge — so called because it is serving as an interim presidential aircraft before Boeing's customized VC-25Bs are delivered starting in 2028 — is larger than the VC-25A at about 250 feet long, with a wingspan of 224 feet and 5 inches.

The old Air Force One featured a light blue and white paint job resembling the design originally chosen by first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.

Jacqueline Kennedy chose the shades of blue and white for SAM 26000, a Boeing VC-137C that entered service in 1962 under President John F. Kennedy.

The first lady was also responsible for adding the words "United States of America" to the presidential plane.

An American flag was featured on the tail, with the stars facing forward per the US Flag Code.

Trump selected a red, white, and navy blue livery for the new Air Force One and a new waving American flag design on the tail.

The Air Force initially rejected the navy paint color Trump proposed during his first term for the forthcoming VC-25Bs, saying a thermal study found that the darker shade would require additional testing to avoid overheating issues. However, Trump got his preferred colors in his second term. He also reimagined the tail's flag design.

"As you know, we've always gone with a straight little noodle and I never loved that," Trump said of the tail's new waving flag design after touring the plane at Joint Base Andrews on June 19. "Now we have a wavy, beautiful flag. We're waving it proudly because our country is doing so well."

The old Air Force One jet had four General Electric CF6-80C2B1 jet engines, each with 56,700 pounds of thrust.

While traveling at 630 miles per hour, the VC-25A had a range of 7,800 miles without refueling.

The VC-25A is also capable of midair refueling.

The four GEnx-2B engines on the new Air Force One each feature 66,500 pounds of thrust and emit 16 tons less carbon dioxide per trip, the White House said.

The VC-25B Bridge can fly faster and farther than its predecessor, with a range of 8,900 miles at 660 miles per hour.

The VC-25B Bridge is not equipped for in-flight refueling. The forthcoming VC-25B planes that Boeing is building will also not be capable of aerial refueling to cut costs, Air and Space Forces Magazine reported.

The interiors of the old Air Force One largely remained the same through several administrations, with a few cosmetic changes.

Some furniture and decor had been updated under various presidents — for example, President Bill Clinton's Air Force One conference room featured tan leather chairs, while President Barack Obama opted for a darker chocolate brown. However, the plane's beige walls and wood paneling didn't change much throughout its 36 years of service.

Trump's new luxury jet is outfitted with gold light fixtures, reclining massage chairs, and gleaming surfaces throughout.

Trump called the new Air Force One "the world's most luxurious plane." It features a primary bedroom with an en-suite bathroom that includes a walk-in shower, as well as a common area with couches and private office spaces.

The press section is also outfitted with luxurious touches, including reclining massage chairs.

The old VC-25A planes cost $325 million each.

Boeing is building new, customized VC-25Bs to serve as Air Force One, but the $3.9 billion project — which has since increased to more than $5 billion — is behind schedule. The planes were initially scheduled for delivery in 2024, but the timeframe has been pushed to 2028, prompting Trump to seek his own means of acquiring a new presidential jet.

The original contract was fixed-price, so any additional costs must be absorbed by Boeing.

The new presidential jet was a gift from Qatar valued at around $400 million, but the cost of retrofitting it to serve as Air Force One remains classified.

Secretary of the Air Force Troy E. Meink told Congress in June 2025 that retrofitting the new Air Force One would cost less than $400 million, while some lawmakers expressed concerns that it could cost up to $1 billion in taxpayer funds.

In July 2025, The New York Times flagged a $934 million transfer of funds from a nuclear modernization budget to update aging ground-based weapons systems to a classified project, which it reported could be the new Air Force One, since the presidential plane is equipped to order nuclear strikes. The Air Force declined to comment.

"We should (have) some sympathy for the poor Russian conscripts too. Those kids have no choice but to fight and die in drone strikes."

For anyone watching and understanding Ukraine's years-long struggle for survival, the words of SpaceX founder and world's richest man Elon