Author: Prima News

 A suspect crashed his truck into the hallway of a Detroit-area synagogue where children were attending preschool on ​Thursday and was shot dead in a confrontation with security personnel, with no one else seriously injured, authorities said. The attack unfolded during a recent surge in U.S. antisemitic ‌incidents and in a period of heightened security concerns around Jewish and Muslim places of worship since U.S. and Israeli forces launched airstrikes on Iran on February 28, sparking an intensifying war across the Middle East. Separately, the FBI opened a terrorism investigation into an earlier Thursday shooting at Old Dominion University in…

A three-year-old party won Nepal’s general elections by a landslide, authorities said, positioning its candidate Balendra Shah to become the next prime minister, with a ​mandate for the rapper-turned-politician to restore political stability. The March 5 election was the ‌Himalayan nation’s first vote since demonstrations against corruption last September led by Gen Z protesters that killed 77 people and toppled the government. “If everything goes well, we can expect that it can give a stable ​government for five years,” said constitutional expert Purna Man Shakya, referring to splits over ​dividing up the spoils of office that doomed prior majority governments.…

A major U.S. arms package for Taiwan that includes advanced interceptor missiles is ready for ​President Donald Trump’s approval and could be signed after his trip to China this month, sources briefed on the discussions said. With a price tag of about $14 billion, ‌the arms deal would be the largest ever for the democratically governed island, which faces steadily rising military pressure from China. Sources familiar with the administration’s thinking told Reuters the deal was under wraps ahead of Trump’s planned trip to Beijing from March 31 to April 2 to meet President Xi Jinping, but could be announced after his return.…

Taiwan’s parliament authorised the government on Friday to sign U.S. agreements for four arms sales ‌packages worth some $9 billion, after officials warned that Taipei would go to the back of the queue if it missed the deadline, sending the wrong message to Washington. The back and forth on Taiwan’s defence spending has provoked concern in the United States, as it is the most important international backer ​and arms supplier of the Chinese-claimed island, despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties. “This body upholds the principle ​of placing national security first and firmly defending territorial integrity,” parliament speaker Han Kuo-yu said, reading…

Kazakhstan holds a referendum on Sunday on a new constitution that some ‌critics say could allow President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to remain in charge of Central Asia’s largest economy beyond his current term limit of 2029. Tokayev, a former diplomat who has maintained good relations with Russia, the U.S. and China, has called the referendum “a ​truly historic moment” that moves Kazakhstan, an energy and minerals giant, away from a “super-presidential” system towards ​a greater separation of powers. But some analysts say the draft retains an excessively powerful ⁠presidency. “[It] significantly increases the powers of the head of state and does…

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the U.S. wants to “divide ​Europe” and doesn’t “like the European Union” in an interview ‌published by the Financial Times on Friday, after more than a year of turmoil in transatlantic relations. “What I think is actually important for everybody ​to understand is that the U.S. has been very clear ​that they want to divide Europe. They don’t like ⁠the European Union,” Kallas told the FT. U.S. President Donald Trump has ​repeatedly targeted the European Union in his second term, imposing tariffs on ​member countries and others and talking about annexing Greenland – a move that…

Canadian and Mexican officials on Thursday reaffirmed the importance of ​maintaining the trilateral free trade agreement between their ‌countries and the U.S., amid signals from Washington it could be interested in bilateral deals. Canada’s ambassador to Mexico Cameron MacKay ​and Mexican deputy trade secretary Luis Rosendo Gutierrez ​both told a conference in Mexico City that ⁠maintaining the trilateral U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement was a priority for ​their nations. The meetings follow an announcement by U.S. President Donald ​Trump’s administration on Wednesday of two new trade investigations into alleged forced labor and industrial overcapacity among 16 major trade partners. The move ​seeks to restore tariff…

 Israeli airstrikes hit two buildings in the heart of Beirut near ​the Lebanese government’s headquarters on Thursday, ramping up Israel’s offensive against Iran-backed Hezbollah and dragging Lebanon deeper into the Middle East war. A day after Iran-backed Hezbollah launched ‌its biggest rocket salvo of the conflict, Israel’s defence minister said the military had orders to expand the campaign and Israel’s military chief said the operation in Lebanon would not be short. Israel has pounded Lebanon’s south and east and the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs of Beirut, killing nearly 700 people, according to Lebanese authorities. It has also ordered mass evacuations in those…

 Venezuela and Colombia cancelled a meeting of their presidents slated for Friday without explanation, an encounter that would have been the Venezuelan ​leader’s first with a foreign counterpart since she replaced ousted ​predecessor Nicolas Maduro in January. In a joint statement on ⁠Thursday, Venezuela and Colombia attributed cancellation of the meeting between ​Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodriguez and Colombian President Gustavo Petro ​to “force majeure,” a term meaning extraordinary or unforeseeable circumstances. But they gave no details, saying they intended to reschedule soon. News of the cancellation followed a ​phone call on Thursday between Petro and U.S. President Donald ​Trump,…

One-fifth of Australian teenagers ​under 16 were still using social media two months after the country banned platforms from allowing minors, ‌industry data showed, raising questions about the effectiveness of their age-gating methods. The number of 13-to-15-year-olds using TikTok and Snapchat, among the most popular social media apps with Australian teenagers, fell from before the ban took effect in December to February, but still more than 20% used the apps, ​according to a report by parental control software maker Qustodio provided to Reuters. The data is among the first to ​show the effects on youth online behaviour since Australia rolled…