Two bombs exploded near the hotel in Damascus where Emmanuel Macron held meetings on Tuesday, Syrian state media said, but the French president’s office said he did not hear the explosions and he met Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa soon afterwards. The blasts underscore the major security challenges in Syria, where Macron is the first head of state of a European Union country to visit since rebels led by Sharaa toppled Bashar al-Assad in 2024. The explosions struck a busy area between the Syrian tourism ministry and the national museum across the street from the Four Seasons, where Macron was meeting civil society groups.