From an election that could decide Benjamin Netanyahu's political future to strikes, attacks and accidents across four continents, the last 48 hours have been crowded with major global developments. Here are the biggest stories, and what to watch next.
Israel votes in a crucial election
Israelis went to the polls on Tuesday in a keenly contested election that will determine whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains in power. Former general Gadi Eisenkot is his strongest challenger, according to The National, with Arab voter turnout expected to play an important role in the result. The vote comes as Israel faces ongoing regional tensions, and coalition arithmetic after the count will decide who can form the next government. Results and coalition talks will dominate the coming days.
Jordan strikes Syria after church attack
Jordan carried out strikes on southern Syria in retaliation for a deadly church attack in Karak that killed nine people. Syrian authorities said at least seven people were killed in the strikes, while Damascus disputes Jordan's claim that the operation was coordinated between the countries. The exchange has raised fears of a wider confrontation along the border, and both governments' accounts of what was hit, and what was agreed in advance, remain in dispute. The Morning Post covered the initial strikes earlier on Tuesday.
More than 60 Christians killed in Ethiopia
Church officials say more than 60 Christians were killed in Ethiopia's Oromia region, with more than 20 people injured and around 20 houses burned down. A resident whose 75-year-old father was killed described an ambush in which victims were surrounded. The BBC reported the attack, which church officials link to escalating religious tensions in the region. Authorities are still assessing casualties and responsibility, and no group has been confirmed as behind the killings.
Sudan hit by mass power outages after drone strikes
Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces launched a coordinated drone attack on five power stations, two each in Al-Jazira and Gedaref states and one in White Nile state, causing mass power outages across the army-held east. The army and the RSF have been at war since April 2023, and the outages affect large populations in a country where the United States, the European Union and 30 other countries warn of a famine risk. Restoring power, and protecting civilian infrastructure, are now urgent questions for aid agencies.
58 bodies recovered after Nigeria market attack
At least 58 bodies have been recovered after unknown gunmen attacked the Binnari community on its weekly market day in Nigeria's Taraba State, according to reports. Four security personnel were among those killed, and no group has claimed responsibility. Market-day attacks are among the deadliest patterns in Nigeria's rural violence, because crowds gather in the open. Security forces are investigating, and the search for the attackers continues.
Five missing after Gabon offshore platform sinks
A massive offshore drilling platform sank off the southern coast of Gabon, and five people are reported missing. The sinking of a drilling installation of this size is a serious industrial accident, with search operations under way for the missing workers. Officials have not yet said what caused the platform to go down, and the focus remains on the rescue effort and on whether any environmental damage follows.
What to watch next
Watch for Israel's election results and the first coalition negotiations, for whether Jordan and Syria contain their border confrontation or escalate it, for the findings on the Oleshky humanitarian mission covered in our top story, and for updates on the rescue effort off Gabon. Each of these stories could change quickly, and we will update as new confirmed details emerge.
The wider picture
Taken together, the last two days show how many crises are unfolding at once, and how often civilians pay the highest price. In Israel, the election is about who governs, but also about the direction of a country still living with regional war. In Jordan and Syria, a single attack on a church has already spilled across a border, a reminder of how quickly local violence can become a regional incident when governments disagree about what happened and why.
In Ethiopia and Nigeria, the victims were people gathered for worship or for a weekly market, ordinary routines turned into mass-casualty events. In both cases, the full picture is still emerging: who attacked, why, and whether security forces can prevent a repeat. In Sudan, the target was infrastructure itself, with power stations struck in a war where cutting electricity deepens a humanitarian crisis that aid agencies already describe as catastrophic.
The Gabon sinking is different in kind but not in human cost: five workers missing at sea, families waiting for news, and questions about safety standards on offshore installations that will only be answered by an investigation. For readers following all of these stories, the common thread is uncertainty. Elections, ceasefires, investigations and rescue operations all unfold over days, not hours, and early reports are often revised. We will keep following each thread and report confirmed developments as they arrive.
Sources: The National, BBC News via reports, Associated Press, regional reports.