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Blast outside a Syrian defense ministry building kills a soldier, wounds 12 people

DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) — A bomb exploded outside a Defense Ministry building in the Syrian capital on Tuesday, killing one soldier and wounding about a dozen other people, the ministry and state media reported.

The Defense Ministry said in a terse statement that soldiers discovered a bomb that was ready to be detonated in the central Bab Sharqi district of Damascus. As they were dismantling it, a car exploded nearby, killing a member of the military and wounding the others.

The ministry said the blast occurred outside a building linked to the Defense Ministry but gave no further details.

State TV reported that the blast killed one person and wounded 12 others, including civilians.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but such attacks in the past have been blamed on the Islamic State group.

IS has claimed such attacks since the Assad family was removed from power after five decades of rule by insurgent groups that marched into Damascus in December 2024.

Beijing bans 4 New Zealand lawmakers from entering China because they visited Taiwan

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Beijing banned four New Zealand lawmakers from traveling to China for a year and demanded they apologize because they visited Taiwan on a parliamentary trip, according to a message from the Chinese embassy conveyed via parliamentary officials and shown to The Associated Press on Thursday. China has hit lawmakers from other countries with sanctions related to contact with Taiwan before, but it's the first time for New Zealand parliamentarians, the government in Wellington said. Beijing has been increasing pressure in recent years on the democratically governed island that it claims as its own territory. Two lawmakers reached by the AP on Thursday rejected the demand for an apology, while the other two could not be immediately reached. New Zealand's government said it would express concern about the travel bans to Beijing. The elected officials visited Taipei in May, as New Zealand parliamentarians have done “for decades,” a spokesperson for Foreign Minister Winston Peters said in a statement.
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