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Former Israeli PMs Bennett, Lapid unite to challenge Netanyahu in elections

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The two politicians’ alliance is aimed at uniting a fragmented opposition against current PM Benjamin Netanyahu.

Two ⁠of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin ⁠Netanyahu’s biggest political rivals say they are joining forces in a bid to oust his coalition government in the upcoming election expected later this year.

The former prime ministers – right-wing Naftali Bennett and centrist Yair ⁠Lapid – issued statements on Sunday announcing the merger of their parties, Bennett 2026 and There is a Future.

Their alliance is aimed at uniting a fragmented opposition that appears to have little in common beyond their shared hostility toward Netanyahu.

Bennett’s office said the new party will be called Together, and that he will be its leader.

“I am pleased to announce that tonight, together with my friend Yair Lapid, I am taking the most Zionist and patriotic step we have ever taken for our country,” Bennett said in a joint televised statement with Lapid.

During the televised statement, Lapid said: “Bennett is a right-wing politician, but an honest one, and there is trust between us.”

“This move is intended to unite the bloc, put an end to internal divisions, and focus all efforts on winning the critical upcoming elections – and leading Israel ⁠forward into the future,” Lapid also said.

Bennett said that if elected, he would establish a national commission of inquiry into what he calls failures leading up to the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack – something the current Netanyahu government has rejected.

Lapid and Bennett have been outspoken critics of Netanyahu’s handling of the country’s wars since that attack, with Lapid labeling the two-week ceasefire agreed with Iran a “political disaster”.

Bennett and Lapid have joined forces before, putting an end to Netanyahu’s successive 12-year tenure in a 2021 election, only to form a coalition government that survived barely 18 months.

Before that, they muscled their way into his 2013 coalition government in a ‌move that left Netanyahu’s traditional ultra-Orthodox allies out.

Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, made a comeback when he won the November 2022 election and formed the most right-wing government in Israel’s history.

But Hamas’s October 2023 attack on southern Israel, which saw Israel respond with a genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza and attack several of its neighbours in recent years, left Netanyahu’s security credentials in tatters. Polls since then have successively predicted that he will lose the next election, due by the end of October.

Bennett, 54, a former army commando turned tech millionaire, has been trailing Netanyahu ⁠in election polls. An April 23 survey by Israel’s N12 News found Bennett securing 21 of the Knesset’s 120 seats, against 25 seats for Netanyahu’s Likud.

It found Lapid’s party securing only seven seats, down from the 24 it currently holds.

The survey was on par with previous polls by academic institutions and other Israeli media, which ⁠have put Bennett as the top contender against Netanyahu.

Lapid, 62, a former TV news anchor, claims to represent Israel’s secular middle class, which has become increasingly incensed by what it sees as an unfair tax and military service burden.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/26/former-israeli-pms-bennett-lapid-unite-to-challenge-netanyahu-in-elections?traffic_source=rss

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First trial of Assad-era Syrian official starts in Damascus

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Syria begun its first public trial of former Assad-era officials, with ex-security chief Atef Najib appearing in court.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/4/26/first-trial-of-assad-era-syrian-official-starts-in-damascus?traffic_source=rss

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Accused shooter was targeting Trump and US officials, authorities say

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President Donald Trump says suspect wrote an anti-Christian declaration and is ‘sick guy’.

United States authorities believe a gunman who is accused of trying to storm the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner was targeting US President Donald Trump and members of his administration, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche says.

Blanche said on Sunday that authorities believe the suspect travelled from California to Washington, DC, by train via Chicago.

Shots were fired on Saturday evening near the ballroom where the dinner was being held as Secret Service agents subdued the gunman and as Trump, top government officials and hundreds of journalists attended the event.

Investigators have not publicly named the suspect, but multiple US media outlets have identified him as Cole Tomas Allen, 31, of Torrance, California.

Trump told Fox News that the family of the suspect raised concerns about him to local police before the event. The president also told the TV news channel that the accused man had written an anti-Christian declaration.

“The guy is a sick guy,” he told Fox News. “When you read his manifesto, he hates Christians.”

Law enforcement officials who made initial examinations of the suspect’s electronic devices and his writings believe he intended to target Trump administration members in attendance at the dinner.

“It does appear that he did in fact set out to target folks who work in the administration, likely including the president,” Blanche told the NBC TV network.

The suspect is believed to have bought the two firearms he carried with him on Saturday night in the past couple of years, the attorney general said. He is not being cooperative with law enforcement and is expected to face multiple charges on Monday, Blanche said.

Social media posts that appear to match the suspect show he is a highly educated tutor and amateur video game developer with multiple degrees in computer science and mechanical engineering.

Video posted by Trump showed the suspect running past security barricades as Secret Service agents ran towards him. One officer in a bullet-resistant vest was shot but was recovering, officials said. The gunman was taken into custody and was not injured but was taken to hospital to be evaluated, police said.

Outside the hotel, members of the National Guard and other authorities flooded the area as helicopters circled overhead.

Trump used the incident to push his plans to construct a large ballroom next to the White House, a plan that has faced legal challenges and that polls indicate most Americans oppose.

“What happened last night is exactly the reason that our great Military, Secret Service, Law Enforcement and, for different reasons, every President for the last 150 years, have been DEMANDING that a large, safe, and secure Ballroom be built ON THE GROUNDS OF THE WHITE HOUSE,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Sunday.

The $400m ballroom has become a passion project for Trump during his second term.

Trump was unusually conciliatory after what he saw as a third attempt on his life in less than two years, calling for unity and bipartisan healing.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/4/26/trump-his-administration-likely-targets-at-media-dinner-us-official?traffic_source=rss

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Kenya’s Sawe shatters two-hour marathon barrier

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Sabastian Sawe of Kenya shattered a world record at the London Marathon, becoming the first person to finish a competitive marathon in less than two hours. He crossed the line with 30 seconds to spare.

📰 மூல செய்தி (Source): https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/4/26/kenyas-sawe-shatters-two-hour-marathon-barrier?traffic_source=rss

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