Bomb attack rocks Damascus during Macron visit

Two bombs exploded on Tuesday near a hotel in Damascus where French President Emmanuel Macron spent the night, wounding 18 people and overshadowing the first visit to Syria by a European Union head of state since Bashar al-Assad was toppled.Macron, whose motorcade left the hotel shortly before the blasts, pressed ahead with his visit, meeting President Ahmed al-Sharaa at the presidential palace. His office said he had not heard the blasts.The attack underlined lingering security challenges facing Sharaa, a former al Qaeda commander who has built close ties with Western states as he has sought to stabilise and rebuild a country shattered by 13 years of civil war.