Vance talks Trump tightrope with scathing election critique blaming Iran war

Vice-President JD Vance sent shockwaves through Washington on Wednesday by blaming his party's midterm defeat squarely on the Iran war, in what was widely interpreted as an effort to distance himself from President Donald Trump ahead of a potential 2028 White House run.

In a carefully calibrated, 600-word statement on X, the vice-president acknowledged that Trump's 2024 voters had deserted Republicans in the midterm election.

"The reason we lost is the war," he wrote. "The president himself said so last night."

In interviews late Tuesday night and Wednesday, Trump had defended the war but acknowledged that it played a factor in Democrats flipping control of the US House of Representatives and the Senate.

Vance's view on the war in Iran is an open secret in Washington. While he has repeatedly backed the conflict since the US and Israel attacked Tehran in February, he has reportedly expressed opposition in private meetings with administration officials.

But those disagreements had been kept out of the public eye - until now.

FULL REPORT AT: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crz98zqkz7z0o

Israel's president begins consultations with parties after election deadlock

Israel's President Isaac Herzog has begun consultations with political parties on whom to task with forming a new coalition government, after he received the official results of a general election last week he said had no clear winner.

Herzog told party leaders that "not every commitment and promise can be fulfilled" if they want to avoid a new election.

Neither the bloc of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu nor his rival Gadi Eisenkot secured a majority in parliament.

Earlier, electoral officials said there was no evidence of irregularities and that unsubstantiated claims by Netanyahu's camp of Arab-led parties "stealing" the election did not justify delaying the results' certification.

The Shin Bet security service is investigating allegations of foreign interference in the election, but the head of the Central Elections Committee stressed that they would not fundamentally change the outcome.

FULL REPORT AT: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c6z98z5z91ppo