Italian, French and Bulgarian fighter jets scrambled Thursday as about 20 commercial flights were hit by a third day of hoax bomb alerts across Europe.

Prominent activist Yenny Wahid on Wednesday took on the presidency of ASEAN Confederation of Women’s Organizations (ACWO), a network of women’s groups across Southeast Asia, for the 2027-2028 term.

French regional bank Credit Mutuel Arkea said Wednesday it had been the victim of a cyberattack that allowed fraudulent transactions amounting to around 100 million euros (US$112 million).

President Donald Trump attempted Wednesday to brush off a stunning rebuke from voters in the US midterm elections, delivering his first public remarks since the Democrats swept Congress in a bizarre appearance at his new White House ballroom.

Jakarta will push for the ratification of the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Transboundary Haze Pollution Control (ACC-THPC) at the mid-November summit in Manila.

"Michigan, we did it!" El-Sayed said in a speech at his election headquarters in Detroit. "I am so proud and honored to stand here as your senator-elect from the great state of Michigan."

The size and breadth of the Democratic wave were still coming into focus, but the party prevailed in states long thought to be out of reach, including conservative bastions like South Carolina, Texas and Iowa.

US President Donald Trump said he had made a deal with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that Washington would stop US$4 billion in annual funding to Israel after this year, but will still sell weapons to its close Middle East ally.

Republicans losing the House would give Democrats the power to stall Trump's legislative agenda and launch sweeping investigations of his administration. A Senate defeat would also threaten his ability to appoint Supreme Court justices and senior officials.

Indonesia said it was keeping a close eye on the UN secretary-general selection process, describing Emirati official Lana Nusseibeh’s entry into the race, which has drawn international controversy, as part of the ongoing selection process.

Budi told AFP the UN's health agency should focus on reprioritising its spending rather than chasing replacement funding -- allocating bigger amounts for fewer projects.

If adopted, defence buildup spending for the five years from April 2027 would be set at 70 trillion to 80 trillion yen ($457 billion to $508 billion), up about 1.8 times from the roughly 43 trillion yen allocated under the current five-year plan, which began in fiscal 2023.

Several unverified clips posted to social media depicting the deadly crash showed an aircraft nearly vertical slamming at high speed into the ground, creating a large fireball and leaving a flaming crater near a busy roadside.

Singapore, in particular has been the target of sharpened rhetoric from Jakarta, with Indonesian officials warning pilgrims to avoid transiting through the city-state.

On Saturday, clashes erupted in Paris and other cities after hundreds of thousands of people staged a third weekend of protests against soaring living costs.

Analysts call for the government to suspend job offers from Russia as the Indonesian Embassy in Moscow and researchers underline rising trend of recruitment of Indonesian citizens by a third party to serve with the Russian military in the Ukraine war.

More than 500 people were arrested as police fired water cannon and tear gas to disperse rioters on the sidelines of the demonstrations, where regular protesters marched in Halloween costumes.

Tensions peaked in the evening as some groups of young people refused to disperse, with violence breaking out in major cities including Berlin, Cologne and Hamburg.

The joint statement by the foreign ministers of the Indo-Pacific "Quad" came at a time when Japan has been extremely critical of Beijing over its restrictions on critical mineral exports, and the US has been assembling a coalition aimed at uniting G20 countries concerned about China's dominance in rare earths and other critical minerals.

The German protests, organised by campaign group Gen Z regelt (Gen Z takes charge), are planned in 34 cities including Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich, focusing on the opposition against compulsory military service and wants greater investment in education as many young Germans struggle with rising costs.

US officials said they skipped a traditional G20 family photo after European officials refused to be photographed with Lavrov.

Netanyahu's coalition of right-wing and far-right parties won 53 of the Knesset's 120 seats, with his Likud party remaining the largest faction with 27 seats.

With Israel's election yielding no clear winner, President Donald Trump could face prolonged uncertainty over who will lead Washington's closest Middle East ally as he confronts challenges from Iran and Gaza across the region.

Senator Flavio Bolsonaro declared himself Brazil's rightful leader on Wednesday after arriving in the United States, alleging he was the victim of an electoral coup by the country's Supreme Court and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who won the vote by over 4 million votes.

Spain's high-speed rail network has received huge investment in recent years, growing to become the second-largest in the world after China's and a source of national pride. The second such accident to strike Spain this year will raise fresh questions about the country's rail safety.

A meeting between Singapore's top diplomat Vivian Balakrishnan and President Prabowo Subianto may help ease recent tensions between the two countries and strengthen Indonesia’s position ahead of transboundary haze talks at the ASEAN summit, according to an expert.

Senior Minister K. Shanmugam said that Singapore will be proposing changes to its Transboundary Haze Pollution Act to give the authorities in Singapore greater powers to investigate the fires in Indonesia and their links to entities in Singapore.