Syria, Sudan, Libya
Today's three stories you should know
Syria
Two explosions have rocked Syria’s capital Damascus during a visit from French President Emmanuel Macron in what some security experts told Al Jazeera may have been an attempt on Macron’s life. Syria’s interior ministry said 18 people were wounded, including four police officers. Reuters and AFP reported that the first blast went off in a rubbish bin shortly after Macron’s motorcade had left the Four Seasons hotel for the presidential palace. The second was reported to have exploded outside the hotel. Macron is the first world leader to visit Syria since President Bashar al-Assad was overthrown after 14 years of civil war in 2024.
More from Al Jazeera here.
Episode 6 of The Proximities Podcast, a conversation with British-Palestinian commentator and political economist Kieran Andrieu, is now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and YouTube.
Sudan
More than 5,500 children have been forced out of their homes as Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group continues to surround the city of el-Obeid, a children’s charity has said, amid fears of a potential massacre. Save the Children said thousands more children are at risk. The RSF, which has been at war with Sudan’s military-led government for more than three years, unleashed slaughter on civilians when it captured the city of el-Fasher in October 2025.
More from Save the Children here.
Libya
Pakistan is mediating talks between Libya’s rival eastern and western authorities, according to an exclusive Reuters report that cites two Pakistani sources. Libya fell into chaos after longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed in 2011. Reaching agreement would involve balancing competing interests, with elections, government posts and oil revenues as potential sticking points. A host of foreign countries are also involved in the conflict, some backing the eastern authorities and others supporting the western authorities. A successful outcome would further boost Pakistan’s diplomatic profile after its separate mediation efforts between the U.S. and Iran this year.
More from Reuters here.