Blast Lightly Damages Jewish School in Amsterdam

Police officers stand outside a Jewish school following an explosion that caused minor damages, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 14, 2026. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
Police officers stand outside a Jewish school following an explosion that caused minor damages, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 14, 2026. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
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Blast Lightly Damages Jewish School in Amsterdam

Police officers stand outside a Jewish school following an explosion that caused minor damages, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 14, 2026. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
Police officers stand outside a Jewish school following an explosion that caused minor damages, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 14, 2026. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw

An explosion lightly damaged a Jewish school in Amsterdam early on Saturday, in what the city's mayor described as "a deliberate attack against the Jewish community".

The explosion at the school in an upscale residential neighborhood on the south side of Amsterdam damaged a rainpipe and charred an outer wall, and caused no injuries.

Mayor Femke Halsema said the incident ⁠was taken very seriously, ⁠and would lead to increased security at Jewish institutions.

"This is a cowardly act of aggression against the Jewish community," Halsema said.

"Jewish people in Amsterdam are increasingly confronted with antisemitism. This is unacceptable."

The school is the ⁠only one specifically for orthodox Jews in the Netherlands, and is largely fenced off by a pointed, metal outer wall due to earlier threats.

Security at synagogues and Jewish institutions in the Dutch capital had already been heightened after an overnight arson attack at a synagogue in the center of Rotterdam on Friday.

In neighboring Belgium, an explosion caused a ⁠fire ⁠at a synagogue in Liege on Monday.

Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten called the attack in Amsterdam "horrible" and said it understandably caused "fear and anger" in the Jewish community.

"The safety of Jewish institutions has our full attention," he said in a post on X.

Concerns about possible attacks against Jewish communities around the world have risen following US and Israeli attacks on Iran and a subsequent response from Tehran.

On Thursday, a man rammed his car into a synagogue on the outskirts of Detroit, Michigan, sparking a blaze.

The suspect, identified as 41-year-old Ayman Mohamad Ghazali, died Friday from a "self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head," an FBI official told reporters.

Media reports have indicated his relatives were killed in Israeli strikes on Lebanon in recent days.



France Opens Terror Probe after Guns Found in Car Near Synagogue

People picnic in the shadow of a tree to protect from the sun during a heatwave by the Daumesnil Lake at the Bois de Vincennes park in Paris on July 11, 2026. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)
People picnic in the shadow of a tree to protect from the sun during a heatwave by the Daumesnil Lake at the Bois de Vincennes park in Paris on July 11, 2026. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)
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France Opens Terror Probe after Guns Found in Car Near Synagogue

People picnic in the shadow of a tree to protect from the sun during a heatwave by the Daumesnil Lake at the Bois de Vincennes park in Paris on July 11, 2026. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)
People picnic in the shadow of a tree to protect from the sun during a heatwave by the Daumesnil Lake at the Bois de Vincennes park in Paris on July 11, 2026. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)

French anti-terrorist prosecutors on Sunday opened an investigation after weapons were found in a car parked in a Paris suburb that is home to a large Jewish population.

Three hundred people were evacuated on Saturday evening from a neighborhood in Sarcelles, north of Paris, following reports of a suspicious vehicle, which was found to contain "a military-grade weapon", according to the interior minister.

An investigation has been launched "on charges of forming a terrorist criminal organization with a view to preparing crimes involving attacks on persons and the transport, possession and acquisition of weapons in connection with a terrorist enterprise," the prosecutors said.

Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said on BFMTV that the vehicle was found near one of the town's several synagogues.

"We do not yet know the motives," Nunez said, adding that "the individuals have not yet been identified."

A security cordon had been set up on Saturday evening around the car, which was parked in a busy neighborhood near a cinema and restaurants that were evacuated in the early evening.

Bomb disposal experts found no explosives, but according to a police source, the stolen car contained an assault-style rifle and a handgun.

Nunez stated that three attacks had been foiled since the start of the year, including a knife attack last February on a gendarme beneath the Arc de Triomphe during the ceremony to rekindle the flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.


Driver in Chile Runs Over and Kills 6 People at Festival

This aerial view shows Punta de Lobos beach in the coastal city of Pichilemu, O'Higgins Region, Chile, on July 8, 2026. (Photo by Rodrigo ARANGUA / AFP)
This aerial view shows Punta de Lobos beach in the coastal city of Pichilemu, O'Higgins Region, Chile, on July 8, 2026. (Photo by Rodrigo ARANGUA / AFP)
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Driver in Chile Runs Over and Kills 6 People at Festival

This aerial view shows Punta de Lobos beach in the coastal city of Pichilemu, O'Higgins Region, Chile, on July 8, 2026. (Photo by Rodrigo ARANGUA / AFP)
This aerial view shows Punta de Lobos beach in the coastal city of Pichilemu, O'Higgins Region, Chile, on July 8, 2026. (Photo by Rodrigo ARANGUA / AFP)

A driver plowed into people at a street festival Sunday in Chile, killing at least six, police said.

The man reportedly lost control of the vehicle at the festival in the city of Vina del Mar, Jorge Guaita, a police official, told AFP.

Another seven people were injured but their lives are not in danger, he added.

Early reports said the driver was speeding on a road running alongside the festival site.

The driver was detained and will be tested for alcohol consumption, Guaita said.


Ukraine's PM Steps Down as Zelenskyy Announces Government Reshuffle

FILED - 12 June 2024, Berlin: FILE PHOTO - Yulia Svyrydenko speaks to journalists at the Ukraine Reconstruction Conference. Photo: Britta Pedersen/dpa
FILED - 12 June 2024, Berlin: FILE PHOTO - Yulia Svyrydenko speaks to journalists at the Ukraine Reconstruction Conference. Photo: Britta Pedersen/dpa
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Ukraine's PM Steps Down as Zelenskyy Announces Government Reshuffle

FILED - 12 June 2024, Berlin: FILE PHOTO - Yulia Svyrydenko speaks to journalists at the Ukraine Reconstruction Conference. Photo: Britta Pedersen/dpa
FILED - 12 June 2024, Berlin: FILE PHOTO - Yulia Svyrydenko speaks to journalists at the Ukraine Reconstruction Conference. Photo: Britta Pedersen/dpa

Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko stepped down on Sunday as President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced fresh changes to Ukraine's government, saying he had offered a new and important position to the former premier.

Zelenskyy, who has remained in office under martial law because wartime elections are prohibited, has periodically reshuffled his government in an effort to bring fresh momentum to his administration.

Svyrydenko, who has served as Ukraine’s economy minister, was named prime minister in July 2025 at the age of 39 after playing a lead role in securing a mineral agreement between Ukraine and the United States, seen as an important way of tying US interests to Ukraine’s security.

In a statement on social media, Svyrydenko said she was “proud to have had the honor of leading the government during one of the most difficult periods in Ukraine’s modern history.”

She also said she had discussed “next steps” with Zelenskyy, but did not provide further details.

“I remain ready to serve the Ukrainian state and carry out every task aimed at strengthening Ukraine’s position, defending our national interests and bringing a just peace closer,” she said.

Zelenskyy announced her resignation in a post saying that Ukraine was “changing its political strategy.”

According to The Associated Press, he also said he had offered Svyrydenko the opportunity to lead “a new, important area” in Ukraine’s relations with a key international partner.

“Each priority area of foreign policy will be assigned to a specific person with substantial experience who is capable of implementing what we agree on at the leaders’ level and what the Ukrainian people expect,” Zelenskyy said, describing the impending reshuffle.

The Ukrainian leader also said there would be changes among the top ranks of Ukraine's law enforcement agencies.

Zelenskyy met with a series of senior officials following the announcement, including Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko and Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

The overhaul, which Zelenskyy has yet to explain in detail, would be the fourth major reorganization of his government since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.