By Tal Shalev, CNN

Tel Aviv (CNN) — A wave of jeers greeted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel’s parliament prepared for a blitz of controversial legislation in the government’s closing days.

“Shame, leave, go!” dozens of opposition lawmakers shouted on Tuesday.

The commotion was so loud that Netanyahu left the chamber, sitting out the vote entirely. It passed anyway.

Netanyahu’s absence didn’t slow the legislative push his coalition rushed through this week, before the Knesset dissolved Friday ahead of an October 27 election. A cluster of contentious bills were rapidly finalized – primarily designed to satisfy the demands of his ultra-Orthodox and far-right allies, analysts say.

At its core, the push is about preserving Netanyahu’s political bloc. After nearly four turbulent years, marked by mass protests, the October 7 attack, and a prolonged multi-front war, his government achieved a rare milestone: completing a full term in office, something no Israeli government has done since 1988. It’s also something Netanyahu himself, despite being the country’s longest-serving prime minister, had never previously achieved.

That durability rested on a consistent strategy: keeping his coalition partners satisfied at nearly every turn. This week’s end-of-term legislative push is a continuation of that logic.

“Netanyahu is fighting for his political survival, and the Haredi parties are essential to it,” political analyst Nadav Eyal wrote. The goal, he said, is “showing his Haredi partners that he is the only politician who will deliver for them.”

The most politically charged element of the package was legislation that enshrines the mass evasion of ultra-Orthodox, or Haredi, youth from military service. While Israeli law requires all 18-year-olds to serve, ultra-Orthodox men have long been exempted under historic arrangements the Supreme Court has repeatedly struck down.

The issue became particularly acute during wartime: the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says it’s short at least 12,000 soldiers. Meanwhile, an estimated 72,000 eligible ultra-Orthodox men are not enlisted, leaving conscript and reserve soldiers to bear the burden.

Facing fierce public opposition to a sweeping exemption law, Netanyahu advanced a workaround to satisfy his ultra-Orthodox allies. One law enshrines Torah study as a foundational state value in a Basic Law, a move that critics say lays the constitutional groundwork for exemptions to survive future Supreme Court challenges. A second bill grants temporary immunity to tens of thousands of ultra-Orthodox draft evaders until late January 2027.

Ahead of the vote, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir issued an unusual public warning, calling the legislation “inconceivable” and “inconsistent” with the army’s needs, while cautioning it could erode trust among those who do serve. The letter drew a sharp backlash from Netanyahu’s allies, with some Likud lawmakers calling for Zamir’s dismissal, and Aryeh Deri, chairman of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, accusing him of “dabbling in politics.”

The bill passed regardless but is already facing legal challenges. Within hours of the vote, opposition parties petitioned the High Court of Justice, which issued a temporary injunction freezing its implement

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By Hanna Park, Dalia Faheid, CNN

(CNN) — Disastrous flash flooding has hit southern Texas after days of torrential rain, leaving at least two people dead and hundreds of people rescued across the same region struck by last July’s catastrophic floods.

Get your forecast in the CNN Weather app

More than 230 rescues have been made so far, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday afternoon, adding more than 85 boats, 20 aircraft and 200 high-profile vehicles have been deployed to assist the response.

One of those who died was a man swept away in a recreational vehicle, Abbott said Thursday. John Mark Steward, 65, died after being carried off in his mobile home in Kerrville, his wife told The San Antonio Express-News. CNN has not been able to confirm Steward’s death with authorities.

A 74-year-old man, whose identity has not been released, also died while driving near Uvalde, police said. A Department of Public Safety crew spotted his vehicle bobbing in floodwater about four miles north of the city around 10:30 a.m. local time and later confirmed his death, the Uvalde Police Department said Thursday.

About a year’s worth of rain has fallen in parts of southern Texas this week, but the forecast is now improving in the hardest-hit areas. Isolated showers remain possible, but the threat of additional significant rainfall has, for the most part, ended.

Today’s flash flood threat will instead focus on areas farther west from San Angelo and Junction to El Paso, all of which have not seen nearly as much rain this week. Flash flood warnings were ongoing in the area Thursday morning.

‘The priority was to get out’

The National Weather Service early Thursday issued a flash flood emergency – its highest alert – for Kerrville, Ingram and Hunt, among the communities hit hardest a year ago by devastating floods that killed at least 130 people, including 25 girls and two counselors.

Authorities warned that “a large and deadly flood wave” was moving down the Guadalupe River, before it crested at 37.94 feet in Center Point Thursday morning – a height slightly below last year’s flood. A river gauge in Comfort found levels Read more

Por Hanna Park y Dalia Faheid, CNN

Tras varios días de lluvias torrenciales, inundaciones repentinas han azotado el sur de Texas y han puesto en peligro la vida de varias personas, con saldo de al menos dos muertos y cientos de rescates en la misma región afectada por las catastróficas inundaciones de julio de 2025.

Hasta el momento se han realizado más de 230 rescates, informó el jueves por la tarde el gobernador de Texas, Greg Abbott.

Agregó que se han desplegado más de 85 embarcaciones, 20 aeronaves y 200 vehículos de alta capacidad para colaborar en las labores de salvamento. “La vida humana sigue siendo la prioridad en este momento”, afirmó.

En el sur de Texas ya ha caído la cantidad de lluvia equivalente a un año, y aunque los niveles de agua han descendido en algunas zonas, las autoridades instan a los residentes a permanecer alerta mientras continúan las fuertes lluvias en áreas que ya se encuentran inundadas por aguaceros torrenciales.

Se mantiene vigente una alerta por inundaciones en las zonas más afectadas del centro-sur de Texas hasta el mediodía del viernes, abarcando el corredor de la US 90 al oeste de San Antonio, la región de Hill Country, el Valle del Río Grande y la parte sur de la Meseta de Edwards.

Otra ronda de tormentas podría traer entre 5 y 10 centímetros adicionales de lluvia, con puntos aislados que podrían alcanzar los 20 centímetros, aunque los modelos de pronóstico sugieren que las lluvias más intensas podrían caer al noroeste de las zonas más afectadas hasta el momento.

Según el gobernador, Uvalde y Johnson City son las ciudades con mayor riesgo de sufrir inundaciones en las próximas 24 horas.

En una actualización emitida el jueves por la noche, el Servicio Meteorológico Nacional indicó que la actividad de tormentas estaba comenzando a aumentar en algunas zonas de Texas, incluyendo áreas que ya han recibido más de 60 centímetros de lluvia en los últimos días, advirtiendo que “no se necesitarán muchas más precipitaciones para agravar la situación de las inundaciones”.

Una de las víctimas mortales fue un hombre que fue arrastrado por la corriente en una casa rodante, informó Abbott el jueves.

John Mark Steward, de 65 años, falleció tras ser arrastrado por la corriente en su casa rodante en Kerrville, según declaró su esposa al periódico The San Antonio Express-News. CNN no ha podido confirmar la muerte de Steward con las autoridades.

Un hombre de 74 años, cuya identidad no ha sido revelada, también perdió la vida mientras conducía cerca de Uvalde, informó la policía.

Un equipo del Departamento de Seguridad Pública avistó su vehículo flotando en las aguas de la inundación a unos seis kilómetros al norte de la ciudad alrededor de las 10:30 de la mañana, hora local, y posteriormente confirmó su muerte, informó el Departamento de Policía de Uvalde el jueves.

El Servicio Meteorológico Nacional emitió el jueves por la mañana una alerta de emergencia por inundaciones repentinas —su nivel más alto— para Kerrville, Ingram y Hunt, dos de las comunidades más afectadas hace un año por las devast

By David Wright, CNN

(CNN) — Former President Barack Obama hasn’t endorsed in the contentious Democratic Senate primary in Michigan – but voters there could be forgiven for getting that impression.

Supporters of Rep. Haley Stevens have spent $5 million airing an advertisement nearly 4,000 times that features Obama praising her work as chief of staff for the US Auto Rescue Task Force during the 2008 financial crisis.

It’s run more than any other political ad in the Wolverine State over the last year, according to data from AdImpact. The campaign is part of a determined effort to link Stevens to the former president in a state where Black voters made up around a quarter of Democrats in the 2022 midterms and remind voters of her part in the effort to save Michigan’s iconic industry.

In the final weeks of an intense race between the more moderate Stevens and Abdul El-Sayed, a former Detroit public health official hoping to build on earlier progressive victories this primary season, the ad campaign is drawing pushback from opponents who argue it could mislead voters.

“We’ve seen some examples of folks saying, ‘Oh, I thought that Obama was supporting her in this race,’ because they’ve seen these ads,” said Denzel McCampbell, a Detroit City Council member who is backing El-Sayed. “I think it is concerning for me because this may be the only time that folks are tuning into the race.”

“What are they complaining about? It’s not a lie. He did say that. So, give credit where credit is due. He’s a hot ticket,” countered Keith Williams, chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus and a Stevens supporter.

Amplifying the messaging gap, outside groups backing Stevens have plowed more than $50 million total into the contest, while El-Sayed, who has sworn off corporate PAC money, has seen less than $1 million in outside advertising support.

The source of some of the ads – funded by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, during a Democratic reckoning over US support for Israel – is another flashpoint in the latest showdown between the party’s rising progressive insurgency and its establishment wing.

Amid questions of ideology and electability in the battleground state, the stakes in Michigan stretch well beyond the August 4 primary. The winner will face former Rep. Mike Rogers, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, in a general election Democrats almost certainly must win to have any hope of retaking the Senate.

‘He’s not not endorsed her’

Obama’s political brand has proven to be a durable asset in high-stakes campaigns throughout the 2026 election cycle.

Last year, outside groups spent millions on ads featuring the former president urging support for partisan redistricting in California and Virginia, countering Republican efforts in Texas that kicked off a national fight over gerrymandering. Even GOP opponents got in on the action, replaying old clips of Obama criticizing the practice.

During the competitive Illinois Senate primary in March, supporters of both Rep. Robin Kelly and Lt. Gov. Juliana Stratton, who won the Democratic

By Susana Erazo, CNN

(CNN) — Oswadeliz Núñez remembers arguing with her son Daniel when he decided to get a tattoo when he was 24. About four years later, that tattoo helped her identify Daniel’s body after he was killed in the twin earthquakes that devastated Venezuela last month.

Daniel had arrived back in Venezuela the day of the disaster, after being deported from the United States. From La Guaira, he called his mother from the phone of a Venezuelan intelligence service (SEBIN) officer, letting her know he was in the country.

“He told me, ‘No, Mom, we’re here with SEBIN officers,’” Núñez told CNN. He told her he and other deportees had eaten, had medical examinations and were set to spend the night at a hotel in Macuto in La Guaira, while the administrative procedures for their repatriation were being completed. The following day, he would make the nearly seven-hour trip to the town of El Tigre to reunite with his mother.

That reunion never happened. About 40 minutes after what would be his last call to his mother, the earth shook and the hotel he was in crumbled to the ground – trapping many of its inhabitants beneath the rubble.

It’s not yet clear how many of Daniel’s fellow deportees were killed alongside him that day – unconfirmed reports suggest possibly as many as 12.

Nationwide, the disaster killed thousands of people and displaced thousands more.

The agonizing search

The deportation flight carrying Daniel departed from Miami and landed at 10:22 a.m. local time at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Venezuela, on the Wednesday the earthquakes hit. According to figures released by Venezuelan authorities and ICE Flight Monitor, a Human Rights First project that tracks deportation flights, there were 146 people on board: 120 men, 19 women, and seven children.

That same Wednesday, Venezuela’s Vuelta a la Patria (“Return to the Homeland”) mission announced the arrival of Flight 164, saying the passengers had been received at Simón Bolívar International Airport “with dignity” and under “all necessary protocols” to ensure “a happy reunion in our nation.”

But that reunion was short-lived.

After the earthquakes hit, Núñez tried to contact authorities – only to receive no helpful information. She then made the journey to La Guaira, where she and a team of friends and relatives took matters into their own hands – searching hospitals, clinics and morgues for Daniel.

“We slept two or three hours at a time and kept searching. We’d go into hospitals with eight, nine, 10 floors, climb every floor and check room by room,” she said.

The search lasted until Monday, when Núñez returned to the disaster site convinced that her son had not survived and that his body was still beneath the rubble.

Officials finally directed her to a port facility that had been turned into an emergency morgue after countless bodies were unearthed from the rubble in the days following the earthquake.

“When we went to retrieve my son’s body, there was complete chaos,” Núñez said. “Bodies were lying on the floor.”

Núñez finally found a body corresponding to the number she was given. It was her son – but not the face she remembered.

“Daniel’s face was completely crushed; you could see his bones,” she recounted. Núñez’s nephew went to clean Daniel’s left arm, which was still intact.

“We saw his tattoo,” Núñez said. “When he got that tattoo, I argued with him. But now I thank God he got it, because that’s practically how I was able to recognize him.”

Red tape amid the rubble

Then came the bureaucratic hurdles she had to clear, all while the grief was still fresh and excruciating.

“They told me the cremation and burial would be free, but that we’d