PoliticsSince returning to power, US President Donald Trump has sought to reshape Washington and leave his name and imprint on the capital. After involvement with the Kennedy Center, the White House ballroom and the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, he is now pushing for a 250-foot (79-metre) “Triumphal Arch,” which he says would mark the United States’ 250th anniversary.
EconomyChina’s trade surplus is set to surpass last year’s record $1.2 trillion. In the first 10 months of this year, exports grew 6.7%, well ahead of the 3.7% increase in imports.
WorldAir travel across Europe has been disrupted by bomb threats against passenger flights, the second such episode this week. Authorities say at least 12 flights were targeted; several made unplanned or escorted landings at airports around Europe. No explosives have been found.
WorldA series of bomb threats targeting European flights has prompted diversions, fighter jet escorts and emergency security responses.
Fox News
ScienceNASA astronaut Anil Menon and Canadian Space Agency astronaut Joshua Kutryk are performing a spacewalk to install and deploy the International Space Station’s final Roll-Out Solar Array.
Reuters
PoliticsArgentine President Javier Milei and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez briefly exchanged a frosty greeting at Wednesday’s Ibero-American Summit in Madrid. The encounter came two weeks after Milei called Sánchez an “unpresentable dictator”.
WorldStrikes swept across France ahead of expected nationwide protests. Students blockading a high school in Paris were involved in minor scuffles, while burning trash cans blocked a road elsewhere in the city.
Reuters
SocietyWorkers across France are striking and marching to demand a “dignified wage”. The mobilisation follows lawmakers’ cross-party rejection of the first part of the 2027 budget bill a day earlier.
CultureBermuda is celebrated for its pink-sand beaches and turquoise waters, but Liem Vu explores more of the island, sampling its signature fish sandwich, visiting the National Museum of Bermuda to trace centuries of history, and seeing the limestone caves at Grotto Bay Beach Resort.
Global News
PoliticsHong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong has received an additional 10-year sentence for collusion. He came to prominence during the 2014 protests known as the Umbrella Movement and has been jailed on and off since 2017.
TechGoogle announced that students using its software in classrooms will be unable to access the company’s search engine unless their school system opts in to using artificial intelligence.
ABC News
PoliticsFlorida Republican governor-elect Byron Donalds discussed his goals and reflected on how he won the race on “Hannity.”
Fox News
WorldLive from Prague’s Vaclav Havel Airport, where four planes that received bomb threats are expected to land.
The Associated Press
PoliticsAs Republicans assign blame for Tuesday’s blowout losses, Vice President JD Vance points to the Trump administration’s war effort. House Speaker Mike Johnson plans to step away from party leadership, while voters weigh in on a broad range of ballot measures.
ABC News
WorldBomb threats forced airliners to make unplanned landings across Europe on Thursday morning, the latest in a series targeting flights there. No country has assigned blame. European officials have been accusing Russia and Iran of what they call “hybrid attacks” and sabotage, charges both Moscow and Tehran deny.
EconomyOil prices have plunged this week following Republicans’ defeat in the US midterms. Vice President JD Vance has blamed the loss on the Iran War.
Reuters
PoliticsThe 2026 midterm campaigns cost nearly $12 billion, a record. Tech tycoon Elon Musk, the largest individual donor ever, put more than $440 million of his own money behind the GOP. Tuesday’s sweeping Democratic victory showed the limits of his money, power and influence.
PoliticsHong Kong democracy activist Joshua Wong received an additional 10-year prison sentence on Thursday for colluding with foreign powers. It is his second punishment under the city’s national security law; he has already spent almost six years in prison and is not expected to be released until late 2036.
SportsSince Sunday’s start in Saint-Malo, the 2026 Route du Rhum has seen repeated setbacks. Boats have capsized and sailors have been forced to withdraw, with favourites dropping out one after another.
PoliticsAfter a midterm election rout gave Democrats control of Congress, President Donald Trump is under pressure from Republicans to change course. The clock is also ticking for the US Supreme Court’s oldest conservatives. Bob Dylan had a private audience with the Pope.
Reuters
WorldA Finnair flight from Helsinki to Rome landed after a bomb threat, and passengers arrived at Rome Fiumicino Airport. Airlines across Europe have faced a new series of threats this week, prompting unplanned or escorted landings, though none had immediately proved genuine.
Reuters
EconomyBloomberg Television’s “Insight with Haslinda Amin” discusses Democrats’ major wins, attributed to anger over inflation and fatigue with Trump, and the impact of the US election on markets. The headline says Chinese shares surged while South Korea’s heavyweight stocks fell.
Bloomberg Television
PoliticsUS Democrats say they will use their landslide election win to lower living costs and hold Donald Trump’s administration to account. They are set to control both chambers of Congress in January, but advancing their agenda may require deals with the president they have vowed to rein in.
PoliticsThe Republican Party’s generational defeat in this week’s midterms triggered finger-pointing, mostly aimed at the White House, revealing deep party divisions and giving 2028 hopefuls an opening to sharpen their message. Goldman Sachs called the results a “blue tsunami” and said they could have major implications for AI and data-center regulation.
Bloomberg Television