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DAILY NEWS IN ENGLISH

Syria: ʼHuge explosionʼ rocks Damascus The Syrian capital was rocked by several major incidents on Sunday, with an explosion hitting near a military intelligence office and with Syrian state media saying forces repelled an Israeli aerial attack on Damascus International Airport. Israel has not commented on the reports it carried out an air raid, but said that it intercepted a rocket that was fired at Syriaʼs Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. What we know so far: The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) reported that a "bomb blast" hit southern Damascus and that a "terrorist" has been arrested over the incident. The independent war monitor Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that the "huge explosion" killed and wounded a number of people, although they couldnʼt immediately verify the death toll.The blast, which occured during rush hour on the first day of the working week, took place near a military intelligence office and "was not a random act," the Observatory reported.

Congoʼs Martin Fayulu declares himself president, top court sides with Felix Tshisekedi The Constitutional Court of the Democratic Republic of Congo rejecteda challengeto last monthʼs presidential election results. The high court said early Sunday that runner-up Martin Fayuluʼs challenge to Felix Tshisekediʼs win was "inadmissible." In the verdict, the court also rejected a request to carry out a recount and declared Tshisekedi "President of the Democratic Republic of Congo by simple majority." The ruling comes shortly after the African Union had asked Congo to delay announcing the final election results, casting "serious doubts" about the vote. On January 10, DR Congoʼs Electoral Commission said Tshisekedi had provisionally won with 38.57 percent of the vote against Fayuluʼs 34.8 percent.

17/2019 • 21 JANUARY, 2019

Greek police and protesters clash at rally over Macedonia name deal Greeceʼs parliament is due to vote this week on whether or not to ratify the deal

Brexit: Theresa May seeks bilateral treaty with Ireland British Prime Minister Theresa May is to pursue a bilateral treaty with the Irish government in an attempt to push her Brexit deal through Parliament, a newspaper reported on Sunday. The Sunday Times said aides to May believe a deal with Dublin would remove the huge opposition to the countryʼs withdrawal agreement setting out its divorce from the European Union. The UK leaderlost a parliamentary vote on the deal last week, having failed to win the support of pro-Brexit rebel lawmakers in her Conservative Party, and Northern Irelandʼs Democratic Unionist Party, which props up her minority government.

Northern Ireland: Suspected car bomb explodes in Londonderry Tens of thousands of people flooded the streets of Athens to voice their disapproval of a name deal with neighboring Macedonia. Clashes broke out between riot police and protesters in Athens on Sunday as thousands of people took part in a rally against the Greek governmentʼsname change deal with Macedonia, which is currently officially referred to as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. "We cannot stomach this deal, to give away our Macedonia, our history," Amalia Savrami, a 67-year-old pensioner, told Reuters news agency. "Macedonia is Greek, period," she added, waving a large blue and white Greek flag. Police fired tear gas to disperse protesters outside of parliament after a group of protesters threw rocks, paint, flares, fireworks and other objects. One man wearing a Greek flag attacked police with a large stick while others also struck officers by swinging large flags on wooden poles. Nine officers were reportedly injured, according to police. There were no immediate reports of injuries among protesters, although local media reported that po-

lice used batons and mace on the crowds. Authorities estimated that some 60,000 people took part in the rally, while the demonstrationʼs organizers claimed that 100,000 were present. Hundreds of buses brought in people to the rally from across the country, but especially from northern Greece. Controversial name change deal The protest comes ahead of a key vote on whether or not to accept a deal to change the name of Macedonia, an ex-Yugoslav republic, to the Republic of North Macedonia. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his Macedonian counterpart Zoran Zaev agreed on the deal in June to end a decades-long dispute. In exchange for changing the name, Greece is also supposed to stop blocking Macedoniaʼs bid to join NATO and the European Union. Greeceʼs parliament will start debating the accord on Monday, with lawmakers set to vote on whether or not to ratify it on Friday.

A suspected car bomb exploded in the Northern Irish city of Londonderry late on Saturday, police have said. "As far as we know no one injured," the police wrote on Facebook. A photo posted by the policeʼs Twitter account showed what appeared to be a car in flames outside of a courthouse near the city center. Officers said they were evacuating people from the location of a second suspected car bomb elsewhere in the city. "This pointless act of terror must be condemned in the strongest terms," said Arlene Foster, the head of Northern Irelandʼs Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and former first minister.

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