Briefly

SYRIA

Blasts hit capital during Macron visit

Explosions rocked Damascus on Tuesday as France's president met with his Syrian counterpart in a landmark visit, wounding at least 18 people, Syria's Interior Ministry said. Emmanuel Macron was inside the presidential palace when the explosions happened, and Macron's office said he was safe and that the meeting with Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa continued. Macron arrived in the country Monday night with an economic delegation, and is scheduled to sign memorandums of understanding with his counterpart as the battered country tries to rebuild after the war. He is the first major Western leader to visit Syria since the country came under new leadership. Discussions are expected to address Syria's reconstruction and investments, with French businesses still wary of returning to the country.

UNITED STATES

Microsoft cuts about 4,800 jobs worldwide

Microsoft is cutting 4,800 jobs, about 2.1 percent of its global workforce, including a large number of workers at its Xbox video game business. The layoffs included 1,600 Xbox workers, with more to come this year in a broader reorganization designed to "reset" Xbox as it faces heightened competition, the company said on Monday. The layoffs followed voluntary buyouts that Microsoft began offering to about 8,750 people in May. More than 30 percent of eligible workers accepted those voluntary retirement offers. The announcement is the latest in a string of mass layoffs by the technology giant as it spends massive amounts of money to stay in the AI race, with companies investing tens of billions of dollars in AI-ready data centers and computing power.

AGENCIES-XINHUA