Israel vote deadlock confirmed by near-complete official results
Jerusalem: Near-complete official results Friday confirmed a deadlock in Israel's general election this week, putting Benny Gantz's party as the largest but without an obvious path to form a majority coalition.
The results from Israel's election committee showed Gantz's centrist Blue and White with 33 seats out of 120 and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing Likud with 31.
Final results will be published on Wednesday, it said, and there could be changes before then. The committee said the results did not include 14 polling stations where verifications were still ongoing. Israeli media said that meant 99.8 percent of the votes had been counted. The third-largest total was the mainly Arab Joint List alliance, which won 13 seats, followed by the Jewish ultra-Orthodox party Shas with nine.
Another ultra-Orthodox party, United Torah Judaism, won eight seats, as did ex-defence minister Avigdor Lieberman's nationalist Yisrael Beitenu. The results have put Netanyahu's long tenure in office at risk.
On Thursday, he acknowledged the results did not allow him to form a right-wing coalition as he hoped and instead called on Gantz to form a unity government with him. Gantz responded by saying he would have to be prime minister in a unity government since Blue and White was the largest party.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin plans to begin consultations with all parties voted into parliament on Sunday to decide who to choose to try to form a government.
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Delay in land acquisation of 3341 hectares halting railway development in Karnataka: Vaishnaw
Mangaluru: Several major railway projects in Karnataka have come to a halt due to delays in land acquisition by the state government, even as the Centre has sharply increased funds for railway development in the state.
According to a report published by The New Indian Express on Friday, in a written reply to the Lok Sabha, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said Karnataka needs 9,020 hectares of land for various railway projects, of which 63% (5,679 ha) has been acquired, while 3,341 ha is still pending.
Dharwad–Belagavi via Kittur new line (73 km), taken up under a 50:50 cost-sharing agreement with the state. The project has made no progress reportedly, because the required land has not been handed over. As per the agreement, land is to be provided free of cost by the state.
The other projects facing significant delays due to land acquisition include 333 ha pending for Shimoga–Rannebennur new line (96 km), as per the report, 581 ha pending for Belgaum–Dharwad new line (73 km), 488 ha pending for Shimoga–Harihar new line (79 km), 337 ha pending for Whitefield–Kolar new line (53 km), and 206 ha pending for Hassan–Belur new line (32 km).
Vaishnaw allegedly said that timelines depend on factors such as land acquisition, statutory clearances, forest permissions, utility shifting, topographical challenges and law and order conditions, all of which can affect both cost and time.
The minister pointed out that added that while the Centre is prepared to move fast, progress depends heavily on the support and cooperation of the state government.
The minister pointed out that annual outlay for Karnataka has risen from Rs 835 crore per year during 2009–14 to Rs 7,564 crore in 2025–26, an increase of more than nine times.
According to the report, as of April 1, 2025, Karnataka has 25 sanctioned projects including 15 new lines and 10 doubling works covering 3,264 km and costing Rs 42,517 crore, fall completely or partly within Karnataka. Of these, 1,394 km have been commissioned so far, with an expenditure of Rs 21,310 crore.
Recently completed works include the Kottur–Harihar, Hassan–Bengaluru, Bidar–Gulbarga lines and several doubling projects in Shivamogga, Bengaluru, Mangaluru, Arsikere and Hubballi regions.
As per the report, major ongoing projects such as the Hospet–Hubli–Londa–Vasco doubling, Hotgi–Gadag doubling and new lines like Gadag–Wadi, Bagalkot–Kudachi, Tumkur-Rayadurga and Tumkur–Davangere continue to progress, the minister said.
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