Israel taps Eisenkot over Netanyahu, Krakow shooting, New Zealand election limbo
Israel's president picks Gadi Eisenkot to try to form a government, a gunman kills at least five in Krakow, New Zealand's election stays too close to call, Pope Leo's first Mass in South America, and Paraguay's new president.
President Isaac Herzog said Saturday he will task Gadi Eisenkot, a former military chief who leads the Yashar party, with forming Israel's next government after the October 27 election left no side with a majority. In consultations, 67 lawmakers recommended Eisenkot and 46 recommended Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The mandate is to be handed over Sunday; Eisenkot gets 28 days, with a possible 14-day extension, to build a coalition of at least 61 of the Knesset's 120 seats.
Eisenkot saysIt is time for a national emergency government. He has ruled out a government with Arab-led parties, and his Yashar party says Likud could join a coalition 'without extremists.'
Netanyahu saysIn a video he said a government 'dependent on Islamists' would dismantle Israel from within, and he has called for a national unity government. Likud is preparing an appeal of the election results.
Police in Poland say a man drove into Krakow's Main Market Square area around 3 p.m. Saturday and fired at people from his car, killing at least five and injuring more than a dozen, including police officers. The gunman was shot and wounded by police and taken into custody. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said police are investigating the background and all the circumstances of the attack.
Preliminary results give Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's governing coalition of National, ACT and NZ First 67 seats, a narrow majority, but Luxon says the race is too close to call. Labour leader Chris Hipkins has not conceded. The new Opportunity party crossed the 5% threshold to enter Parliament for the first time. Special votes are still to be counted, and final official results are due November 27.
Luxon saysNational is again the largest party and has a pathway to forming the next government, but it is too close to call.
Hipkins saysEvery vote matters and every vote must be counted.
Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first Mass in South America on Saturday in Paysandú, Uruguay, where more than 30,000 people had registered to attend. He urged the faithful to be 'bridge builders' and said mate, the shared regional tea, 'teaches us to share and be together.' The 12-day trip, which had been in doubt after his lung cancer surgery in October, continues to Argentina and Peru.
Vice President Pedro Alliana was sworn in as Paraguay's president on Friday after the Senate removed Santiago Peña over the collapse of Ueno bank. Prosecutors placed Peña under house arrest and ordered him to appear Saturday morning; he denies wrongdoing. Reuters reports Ueno provided accounts for nearly half of Paraguay's population. Alliana, 52, will serve until 2028 and promised to compensate affected savers.
Lawmakers who removed him sayPeña had conflicts of interest, manipulated regulatory oversight, diverted pension funds and took part in a cover-up involving the central bank.
Peña saysHe denies wrongdoing; his advisers called the Senate's refusal to give him more time to prepare a 'violation of due process.'
