The first polls close after millions of Americans voted in midterm elections that could strip US President Donald Trump’s Republicans of control of Congress, with Democrats favored in opinion polls to capture the House and a handful of Senate races set to determine whether they can seize both chambers.
The battle for the Senate is unfolding across nearly 10 closely contested statewide races, most in Republican strongholds.
Polling stations began to close in Indiana and Kentucky at 6 p.m. ET and will close in another half-dozen states at 7 p.m., but remain open for hours yet in most states.
Yemen’s top diplomat says the Houthi rebels are not willing to strike a peace deal with the internationally recognized government to end the country’s yearslong civil war.
Foreign Minister Afrah al-Zouba speaks to The Associated Press in Paris, where she met with French Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot.
“The problem is that the Houthis aren’t willing, and they will not be ready for peace,” al-Zouba tells AP.
She accuses Iran of employing the Houthis to serve their agenda. “They’re making this problem,” she says of Tehran.
Al-Zouba says that any settlement should include enabling the Yemeni government to regain control of the entire country.
Darializa Avila Chevalier, who is expected to win a US House seat in New York today, says that ending military aid to Israel is insufficient after US President Donald Trump said he plans to do so.
Chevalier, after casting her vote in New York City, says in a statement: “Ending military aid is not enough.”
“We need to end US taxpayer funding for Israel’s war crimes, a full arms embargo, and the Palestinian right of return,” she says.
The “right of return” is the call to open Israel to the millions of Palestinians claiming refugee status due to their ancestors’ displacement during Israel’s 1948 War of Independence. Allowing in those millions would end Israel’s existence as a Jewish-majority state.
Chevalier is a member of the far-left Democratic Socialists of America and the Democratic nominee for New York’s 13th Congressional District in upper Manhattan and part of the Bronx.
There is no credible challenger for the seat, meaning Chevalier is all but assured to win today’s election.
She is an anti-Zionist activist who attended a celebratory rally the day after the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led onslaught.
SOUTHFIELD, Michigan — As divisive as they’ve become in recent years, previous US elections have unfolded without impacting Shimon Levy’s relationships.
Today’s Senate race in Michigan between Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers will be different for the 38-year-old Israeli-American, who says he won’t be able to look at some of his friends the same way.
El-Sayed has come under fire from some members of the local Jewish community for his intense criticism of Israel, but also for his response to a terror attack targeting a suburban Detroit synagogue in which he said: “Hurt people hurt people.” El-Sayed later apologized for the remark.
“We’re at a stage where I do not trust people who are Abdul voters. If they come knocking on my door for me, I know who will give me away,” Levy says.
He is sitting in a small conference room of a boutique law firm in Southfield, Michigan, that has been repurposed as an election war room by Levy and half a dozen other friends who are campaigning for Rogers.
“I’ve had tremendous hardship in communicating with people who are part of my life that have been blatantly supporting Abdul online. I have a hard time talking to them. What am I going to talk to them about? The weather? My kids?” Levy asks.
The small group assembled in the conference room does not fit the typical mold of campaign volunteers. They’re in their 30s and 40s with established careers — not retirees or college students. They also all supported Haley Stevens in the Democratic primary to defeat Rogers.
Levy argues that they’re now paying a steep price for their involvement.
“Do you think everybody becomes your friend once you put your opinion out there and start advocating?” he laments.
“I’m also losing time, business and money, but this is truly one of these cases where if you’re not going to do it, nobody else will,” Levy says.
A comprehensive search of an Israeli-operated cruise ship docked at the Greek island port of Syros found no suspicious findings after it earlier received a bomb threat, Hebrew media reports.
An unknown person claimed an explosive device had been attached to its hull, according to Greek authorities, prompting the 940 passengers and 597 crew members to disembark while the search was conducted.
The Panama-flagged Crown Iris — operated by Israeli company Mano Maritime — had been due to sail back to Haifa.
The passengers and crew have been allowed back onboard, and the vessel is due to resume its voyage.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Central Elections Committee (CEC) chief Noam Sohlberg says the official results of last week’s Knesset election will be published tomorrow, rebuffing another attempt by the outgoing coalition to postpone the move.
Representatives of parties in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bloc wrote to Sohlberg earlier today, asking to discuss suspected vote-buying by several Arab suspects at the CEC plenum, where the coalition has a majority, Hebrew media has reported.
Sohlberg, who is also the Supreme Court deputy president, writes back that tomorrow’s meeting will start at 9 a.m., earlier than scheduled, to allow for a more comprehensive discussion.
However, he adds, neither the plenum nor anyone else has the legal power to delay the publication of the official election results — which, according to Israel’s quasi-constitutional Basic Laws, must be published eight days after the election — or to demand evidence regarding alleged wrongdoing. He says any such claims will be heard by the courts in the future.
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