The camp of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was ahead of the opposition on Wednesday after 50 percent of votes were counted in Israel's pivotal general election, figures from the Central Elections Committee showed.

After 50.1 percent of ballots were counted, Netanyahu's bloc was projected to win 56 of the 120 seats in the parliament, compared with 49 for the opposition bloc and 15 for the Arab parties. The partial results are likely to change, and several exit polls showed the camps neck-and-neck without a majority.

Israeli voters on Tuesday gave a narrow edge to opposition parties over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, initial projections showed, after decades-high turnout in the country's first election since the trauma of the October 7, 2023 attacks.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party asked election authorities on Tuesday to extend polling hours as it sought to mobilize voters.

The Netherlands will not participate in next year's Eurovision Song Contest, its public broadcaster NPO said Tuesday, citing "sensitivities" over Israel's participation.

An oil slick in the Gulf has reached a beach in the United Arab Emirates, AFP video showed on Tuesday, with experts warning it could threaten desalination plants as it spreads.

Harry Kane said Tuesday that his Ballon d'Or triumph "feels like a dream" as tributes poured in for the first English winner of the award in a generation.

A tariff truce between the European Union and United States is potentially at risk due to a multibillion-dollar loan approved by the bloc's investment bank for Airbus this summer, President Donald Trump's top trade official said Monday.

The leaders of Norway and Finland held a "frank and substantive" phone conversation with Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, the first call between pro-Ukrainian European leaders and the Russian president in more than a year.

President Donald Trump's strategy for the U.S. midterm elections has one main ingredient -- more Donald Trump. But his historic unpopularity may hinder Republicans instead of helping them.

Flavio Bolsonaro's Liberal Party has recognized the outcome of Brazil's presidential runoff, despite the candidate's objections to the poll won by leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.