Author: Prima News

U.S. President Donald ​Trump said he would again extend a deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of its energy plants, after Tehran earlier rejected a 15-point ‌U.S. proposal to end the fighting. The war has spread across the Middle East, killing thousands of people and hitting the global economy with soaring energy and fertiliser prices that have fuelled inflation fears. The United States and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28 during talks with Tehran about its nuclear programme that had not yet yielded a deal. On Thursday, Trump threatened during a cabinet meeting at the White House…

Rapper-turned-politician Balendra Shah was sworn in as ​prime minister of Nepal on Friday, tasked with restoring political stability and creating jobs in the poor Himalayan nation long ‌troubled by fragile governments and weak growth prospects. Shah, who wore skin-tight trousers, a matching jacket, his signature black Nepali cloth cap and sunglasses at the ceremony, is Nepal’s youngest prime minister in decades and the first Madhesi – people of the southern plains bordering India – to lead the Himalayan nation that is wedged between Asian giants India ​and China. A former mayor of the capital, Kathmandu, Shah, 35, became prime minister after his…

Armed with a smartphone, Anza Zafran Utama, a 9-year-old boy in the Indonesian city of Bogor, is either a dinosaur or a shooter, depending on ​his mood. Zafran and his friends regularly hang out on Roblox (RBLX.N), opens new tab, the U.S. platform where children can build immersive 3-D worlds and communities, but from ‌Saturday under-16s are set to be restricted from using the platform under new government rules, after officials designated it high risk. “I like to joke around with my friends there,” Zafran said of Roblox. His mother, Andina Dwi, said he spends as long as four hours on…

Cuban officials ​have petitioned the Vatican ‌to help persuade the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to ​ease its oil embargo ​in senior-level meetings with Vatican ⁠officials including Pope Leo, the ​Washington Post reported on Friday, ​citing people familiar with the matter. Medias could not immediately verify the report. ​The Vatican press office, ​the White House and the Cuban government ‌did ⁠not immediately respond to a request for comment. Havana and Washington entered talks earlier this ​month as ​an ⁠oil blockade imposed by Trump pushes the Communist-run ​nation deeper into economic crisis. ​Reports ⁠had suggested the Trump administration was seeking to remove…

Zhang Chengzhong was ​named party chief ‌of China’s Ministry of ​Emergency Management ​on Friday, the ministry ⁠said in ​a statement issued ​on its website. The former minister of ​emergency management, ​Wang Xiangxi, had been ‌placed ⁠under investigation for suspected “serious violations of discipline ​and ​law,” ⁠and was removed ​from the ​post ⁠of minister in February.

Austria’s conservative-led, three-party government plans to introduce a ban on social media ​use for children under 14, it said on Friday. Cabinet ‌members from the three ruling parties announced a deal between them on the principle of a ban, aimed at protecting children from “algorithms ​that are addictive” and content including sexual abuse, but ​could not say when it would begin, and ⁠they have yet to agree on how it will ​be implemented. “We will decisively protect children and young people in ​future from the negative effects of social media,” Vice Chancellor Andreas Babler of the Social Democrats said. “We will no…

Canada and South America’s Mercosur bloc are advancing toward a free‑trade agreement that ​could be signed by the end of the year, with another round of negotiations scheduled for next month ‌in Brasilia, according to three sources familiar with the talks. The government officials, from Canada, Argentina and Brazil, told Reuters they expect the deal to be concluded in 2026, with one noting that talks were progressing well and could be wrapped up before September. The Argentine government official said that the agreement ​is expected to be signed in September or October, marking roughly a year since negotiations formally restarted. Another diplomat,…

War between Israel and Hezbollah is pushing Lebanon’s fragile state and society towards breaking point, straining sectarian and political faultlines as Shi’ite Muslims are displaced and enmity deepens between the Iran-backed group and its opponents. Of all Lebanon’s many crises since a 1975-90 civil ​war, the renewed conflict ignited by the Iran war could be its most destabilising, Lebanese analysts and figures from across the political spectrum say. Israel has threatened Gaza-like destruction and an occupation of the south and there are acrid splits in Lebanon over ‌Hezbollah’s weapons, which the group has refused to give up despite a year-long effort by the state to disarm…

 Mongolian ​Prime ‌Minister Zandanshatar ​Gombojav ​has submitted a ⁠letter ​of ​resignation to the ​ruling ​Mongolian People’s Party, ‌Chinese ⁠state broadcaster CCTV ​reported ​on ⁠Friday.

The families of dozens of jailed opposition figures in Tunisia are among the few remaining voices demanding democratic freedoms, as they seek the release of loved ones held in what rights groups have called ​a crackdown on dissent by President Kais Saied. The leaders of the main opposition parties in Tunisia have been jailed within the last three years, along with dozens of politicians, journalists, businessmen and others on ‌charges of conspiring against state security, money laundering, and corruption – charges they say are fabricated. Among the family members to protest is Youssef Chaouachi, a 35-year-old engineer who became an activist after his father,…