Eisenkot tapped to form Israel's government as Egypt train crash kills seven

Israel's president handed Gadi Eisenkot the task of forming a new government after no party or alliance captured the seats needed in parliament. Isaac Herzog warned that the country faces uncertainty and unpredictable shifts, and said it needs a stable government more than ever. Eisenkot, a political rival of Benjamin Netanyahu, now holds the mandate to try.

Eisenkot said he would welcome Netanyahu's Likud and the far-right Religious Zionist party into a government under his own leadership. He argued that if those parties truly believe now is the time for unity, as the president has framed it, there is no reason to refuse a government built on the principles he has laid out. He described Israel's democracy as facing one of the hardest moments in its history and stressed the need for a durable administration.

Defence Minister Israel Katz pushed politicians to close ranks against what he called the nuclear threat from Iran, saying Israel's work on Iran is not finished. Katz accused Tehran of trying again to build a nuclear weapon. Iran has repeatedly insisted its nuclear programme is peaceful and not aimed at producing arms.

In Egypt, the Health Ministry said the death toll from a train crash south of Cairo has reached seven, with 112 people injured and 45 of those hospitalised already discharged. Earlier figures put the toll at four dead, including the train driver, and 88 hurt. Some carriages left the tracks, and authorities are still investigating the cause. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said he is monitoring the crash closely, ordered that the injured get full medical care and demanded a complete probe with punishment for anyone found negligent.

Egypt's football association fired Hossam Hassan as national team coach, announcing the move on Saturday night after a full-day board meeting. The 60-year-old former star had a turbulent stretch that included a domestic ban on speaking to media earlier this month and a three-match suspension confirmed by FIFA in late October. The EFA said the dismissal was necessary to secure balance and calm inside the national team.

Nigeria's anti-narcotics agency NDLEA said it arrested a 34-year-old Ugandan woman, Farida Nansubuga, accused of trying to smuggle cocaine home. She was picked up on 3 November at Lagos's Murtala Muhammed international airport as she prepared to board a flight to Uganda, the agency said, after a search with airport security. Officials said they found 87 wraps of cocaine weighing 1.15kg hidden on her body. According to the agency, Nansubuga said she had come to Lagos for a prayer gathering at the SCOAN church and agreed to carry the package for a friend in Uganda named Joy.