Oct 27, 2026
5 mind read
In today's Bilig Daily Brief, Israelis are voting in a closely fought general election seen as a test of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's long rule. Anthropic filed to list on Nasdaq, lifting technology stocks, while regional powers pressed Iran to avoid a new war and Egypt cleared the way to support Saudi Arabia against Houthi attacks.
Israelis vote in tight election
Israelis began voting on Tuesday to elect the 120-seat Knesset, with polls open from 7am to 10pm local time. About 7.3 million citizens are eligible to vote. The last poll published before a pre-election ban, by the public broadcaster Kan, gave the opposition bloc 52 seats and Netanyahu's bloc 50, short of the 61 needed for a majority, Al Jazeera reported. Former military chief Gadi Eisenkot leads the main opposition alliance. Coalition talks could take weeks, the Associated Press (AP) said.
Anthropic files for Nasdaq listing
Artificial intelligence (AI) developer Anthropic filed its initial public offering (IPO) prospectus on Monday and plans to list on Nasdaq under the ticker "ANT". The filing showed revenue of $16.3 billion in the first half of 2026, against $4.6 billion for all of 2025, and a net loss of $80.7 billion, mostly from accounting charges tied to convertible notes. "We expect our costs will increase over time and our losses will continue," the company said. The filing did not give a valuation or offering size.
Iran and regional powers agree further talks
Iran, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan agreed on Monday to continue dialogue on regional peace and security after talks in Tehran, Iranian state media said. A Pakistani official told Reuters the talks covered a non-aggression network, United States (US)-Iran negotiations and Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia. Iran's foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Washington was "not serious about negotiations". CNN reported that Netanyahu had pushed for a strike on Iran before the election and President Donald Trump declined. Netanyahu's office denied the report.
Egypt approves military support for Saudi Arabia
Egypt's parliament on Monday authorised President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to "take the necessary measures to support the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia" against attacks by Yemen's Houthis, Agence France-Presse (AFP) and Reuters reported. The vote passed with a two-thirds majority after two postponements. Sisi said any support would "defend Saudi territory, and does not include an attack on Yemen". The Houthis have recently struck Riyadh's main airport and oil facilities. Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty said Cairo still favoured a diplomatic settlement.
Meta and SpaceX raise billions for AI
Meta Platforms launched a $35 billion share sale on Monday to fund AI spending, with chipmakers Nvidia, AMD and Broadcom indicating interest in buying up to $5 billion of the stock. The company also plans to sell about $60 billion of non-voting shares from early 2027. Meta expects capital spending of $135 billion to $145 billion this year. Separately, SpaceX signed a lease worth about $40 billion with an entity managed by Apollo Global Management to finance AI chips, Bloomberg reported.
Wall Street rises, Asian chip stocks rally
US stocks rose on Monday as the Anthropic filing revived the AI trade ahead of results from Alphabet, Microsoft and Amazon this week. The S&P 500 gained 0.7% to 7,676.77, the Nasdaq Composite added 0.8% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.3%. In Asia on Tuesday, South Korea's Kospi closed up 3.1% at 5,638.34 and Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 1.7%. Europe's STOXX 600 closed 0.8% higher on Monday after Germany's Ifo business sentiment index beat forecasts.
Oil eases, Fed decision awaited
Oil prices fell on Monday as diplomacy with Iran raised hopes of easing tensions. Brent crude settled down 0.8% at $115.81 a barrel and US West Texas Intermediate fell 1.5% to $101.76, Reuters reported. Continued Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure limited losses. The 10-year US Treasury yield eased to 4.98% in Asian trade on Tuesday. The Federal Reserve announces its rate decision on Wednesday and is expected to hold, while the European Central Bank meets on Thursday.
Russia strikes Kyiv, damaging major bridge
Russia fired 16 ballistic missiles and more than 280 drones at Ukraine overnight into Tuesday, mainly targeting Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. Strikes damaged the capital's Pivdennyi Bridge, which was closed to traffic, and disrupted a metro line. A strike on a Kyiv university campus on Monday evening killed one person and injured more than a dozen, officials said. A local ceasefire in occupied Oleshky, which the White House said First Lady Melania Trump secured, was due to start on Tuesday.
Bolsonaro drops bid to annul Brazil vote
Brazilian Senator Flávio Bolsonaro dropped his plan to seek the annulment of Sunday's presidential run-off, Brazilian media reported on Monday, and will instead pursue a case accusing President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's campaign of abuse of power. His Liberal Party said it recognised the result. Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes ordered Bolsonaro to surrender his passports and barred him from leaving the country, Xinhua and Bloomberg reported, citing a police investigation that Bolsonaro called intimidation.
France offers concessions to protesting students
France's government pledged on Monday to replace Parcoursup, its national university admissions platform, by 2028 and to create 15,000 higher-education places, in a bid to end weeks of student-led protests, AP reported. It also cancelled planned cuts to secondary teaching posts. "I have asked the government to address the legitimate demands at the root of this protest movement," President Emmanuel Macron said in Marseille. Student groups welcomed some measures but called for protests to continue. About 2,400 people have been arrested.
US early vote passes 30 million
More than 30 million Americans had cast early ballots by Monday afternoon, eight days before the 3 November midterm elections, according to a University of Florida tracker. Early voting is running ahead of the 2022 pace in most states analysed. Trump rallied in Mississippi on Monday for Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. The Justice Department joined a lawsuit seeking to block certification of Alaska's Senate race if Republican Senator Dan Sullivan loses, arguing a similarly named candidate could confuse voters.
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