Israel's president launched a consultation with political parties with the largest vote shares from a hung election in an effort to form a government.

The announcement means an early end to a 2016 pact, set to expire in 2028, in which the U.S. agreed to provide Israel billions, mostly for American weaponry.

World shares were mostly higher Wednesday after the U.S. midterm election yielded majorities for the Democrats in both houses of Congress. U.S. futures edged higher and oil prices retreated. The future for the S&P 500 was up 0.

The French Blood Establishment, or EFS, said “temperature and defrosting thresholds were raised to extremely high levels” on Monday at three of its cold-storage sites for plasma.

Indian officials were cautious on the US midterm election results, saying it eases some of the pressure over trade tensions but creates a new layer of uncertainty in an already fragile relationship.

Russian attacks on critical infrastructure have caused power and water outages in Kyiv and surrounding areas that lasted hours. Rescuers are still searching for survivors in southern Ukraine after

North Korea launched several missiles toward the sea separating Korea and Japan on Wednesday morning, South Korea's military said, as Pyongyang rejected dialogue with Washington.

A US Marine has died following a training incident in Okinawa, officials have said, as an investigation gets underway.