Explosion heard in Damascus, Syrian state TV reports

The state news agency SANA said authorities were working on determining the source of the blast. An explosion was heard at a cafe in central Damascus on Thursday, near the Palace of Justice, a Syrian security source said after state TV reported the blast in the capital. A correspondent with the AFP news agency saw ambulances weaving through traffic with their sirens sounding as they headed to the area. The state news agency SANA said authorities were working on determining the source of the blast. The explosion comes a day after the first parliament since the fall of long-time leader Bashar al-Assad began to take shape. Interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa announced 70 legislators on Wednesday who will join the 140 chosen in elections over the past eight months. The 210-member Parliament will hold its first meeting on Monday when the members will be sworn in, the head of Syria’s electoral committee, Mohammed Taha al-Ahmad, told reporters. The launch of the Parliament indicates that the country is moving ahead with drafting new laws as it recovers from decades of autocratic rule under the al-Assad family and a deadly civil war that killed about half a million people. The 70 legislators picked by al-Sharaa included 15 women, which raised the number of female members in the legislature to 22. This is a developing story and our journalists are working on further updates.