Ebola Cases Cross 10,000 as Israeli Vote Counts Into Tomorrow

The Ebola outbreak first declared in May has crossed 10,000 infections, according to figures released by the Democratic Republic of Congo. The outbreak has also reached nearly 5,000 deaths, ranking it second in death toll among recorded outbreaks, and it spreads faster than any previous one. About one-third of the dead have been children. Its geographic reach now runs from Nigeria to Kenya.

In Israel, the vote to decide whether Benjamin Netanyahu stays in office remains unsettled. Turnout hit record levels. Netanyahu ran against Gadi Eisenkot, a center-right former military chief of staff. NPR's Daniel Estrin reported that Israelis went to bed thinking Eisenkot led, and by morning Netanyahu had pulled back ahead, leaving the race too close to call.

Election officials told NPR they expect counting to finish by tomorrow afternoon. If no bloc wins a majority, party leaders would need days or weeks to build a coalition and name the next prime minister. The candidate who leads gets six weeks to assemble one, and both men would compete for defectors from the other's camp.

Eisenkot could pick up support from a strong showing by Arab-led parties, whose lawmakers would back him for prime minister. His side, though, has been reluctant to enter coalition with those parties, citing mistrust and the demonization of Arab political leaders after the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks. Neither candidate has a clear route to a majority coalition, Estrin said.

The vote counts toward the final two years of President Trump's second term. Ad Impact puts midterm ad spending above a record $11 billion, and an NPR analysis found that candidates in four major Senate races spent more than $15 million on fundraising ads in the 2025-26 cycle. Trump has campaigned in Texas, Mississippi and Kansas. Danielle Kurtzleben told Up First that his rally jokes entertain crowds but move off the issues median voters care about, such as the economy and gas prices, and that Trump needing to rally votes in deeply red states points to a problem for his party.

The Federal Reserve meets today as the Labor Department reports consumer prices rose 3.7% in September from a year earlier, a larger annual increase than the prior month. Policymakers raised rates in September. Investors do not expect a hike at today's meeting but do expect one in December.

Election Day is less than a week away. In Springfield, Ohio, the Trump administration has moved to deport Haitian residents who held Temporary Protected Status, which the administration revoked during Trump's second term. In Michigan, Abdul El-Sayed won the Democratic Senate nomination narrowly, and Barack Obama and Trump both campaigned for their party's Senate candidate there over the weekend.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration's plans to alter East Potomac Park, the D.C. golf course the president wants to convert into a championship-level venue.