Good morning. Israelis were told this was the most consequential election in their country's history, and the final tally has indeed delivered a result that presents the nation with a significant dilemma - or, depending on your appetite for political theater, a deliciously messy one.

Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right coalition has lost its mandate, while the opposition has a clear majority - but only if the Jewish Israeli opposition bloc, led by retired general Gadi Eisenkot, is prepared to make a governing pact with Palestinian Israeli parties, which have secured a historic result. In other words, the numbers add up, but the politics might not.

In other news, UK politics has provided its own act of contortion: John Healey has backed away from cutting the cost of welfare this parliament, amid dire warnings that his first budget could lead to brutal spending cuts because of a £28bn shortfall in public finances. Nothing says "new approach" like a quiet retreat from a promise.

Patrick Stewart, the acclaimed British stage and screen actor renowned for both Shakespeare and sci-fi, died at his home in Los Angeles after "a brief and poignant journey with Alzheimer's disease and Lewy body dementia," his longtime spokesperson said. The man who made it so to boldly go where no one has gone before has left the stage - and the final frontier feels a little emptier.

Environment: One of the most ambitious nature recovery projects ever undertaken in England can go ahead after campaigners announced they had raised £30m to buy an estate in Northumberland. Proof that sometimes, crowdfunding can achieve what decades of strongly worded letters could not.

Europe: Spain began three days of mourning on Thursday for at least 69 people who died in a high-speed rail collision, as hospitals continued to treat dozens of injured passengers and train drivers went on strike to urge more investment in railway safety. A tragic reminder that infrastructure investment is not just a line item - it's a matter of life and death.

US news: The Trump administration has opened a criminal investigation in California over claims that thousands of noncitizens are registered to vote in the state, and has begun subpoenaing election officials. Because nothing says "free and fair elections" like a preemptive criminal probe into the other party's voter rolls.