Damascus rocked by suicide blast that kills 8; 2 others foiled; NEWS BRIEFING; Tribune Newspapers and news services; Doctor: No idea why he would be hospital shooter’s target ; Abu Dhabi airport exempt from U.S. laptop ban on some flights; Pope reverses Vatican’s position on issue of seriously ill baby ; Extremists in Mali release video showing hostages; U.S. warship sails near disputed isle in S. China Sea

DAMASCUS, Syria - Security forces chased three explosive-laden vehicles through Damascus on Sunday, intercepting two of them at checkpoints but failing to stop the third before it exploded in the city center, killing at least eight people, state media and others reported.

The rare attack in the heart of Syria's capital unfolded ahead of the morning commute on the first work day after a major Muslim holiday.

The Interior Ministry said security forces tracked all three cars and intercepted two of them at checkpoints on the airport road. The third made it into the city center, where the driver blew himself up near Tahreer Square.

The Syrian Minister of Local Administration, Hussein Makhlouf, said the response marked a "major success in foiling a plot" to cause mass casualties.

There were conflicting casualty reports.

Syrian state TV reported eight killed and another 12 people wounded in the explosion. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which tracks the fighting with on-the-ground monitors, reported at least 12 killed. Meanwhile, the Hezbollah-linked Lebanon's al-Manar TV, which is close to the Syrian government, said 19 people were killed.

Such attacks have been relatively rare in Damascus, the seat of power for President Bashar Assad, who made a series of public appearances last week in a show of increased confidence after more than six years of battling a rebellion.

The attacks come days before Russian-sponsored talks are to resume in the Kazakh capital, Astana, where the two sides agreed earlier this year to a cease-fire that has been repeatedly violated. Russian officials said the talks are expected to discuss the formation of a national reconciliation committee.

Doctor: No idea why he would be hospital shooter's target

NEW YORK - A doctor who appears to have been the intended target of a former physician who started shooting at a New York hospital, killing one person and injuring six, said he has no idea why he was singled out.

Dr. Kamran Ahmed told the New York Post he wasn't the only one Dr. Henry Bello had a problem with.

However, "he never argued with me," Ahmed said. "I don't know why he put my name."

Officials said Bello arrived at Bronx Lebanon Hospital in the Bronx on Friday with a concealed assault rifle and asked for a specific doctor whom he blamed for his having to resign. The physician wasn't there at the time.

Authorities said Bello went to the 16th and 17th floors and started shooting anyway, killing Dr. Tracy Sin-Yee Tam, 32. Bello died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Abu Dhabi airport exempt from U.S. laptop ban on some flights

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - The capital of the United Arab Emirates became the first city to be exempt from a U.S. ban on laptop computers being in the cabins of airplanes coming from the Mideast, the country's flag carrier said Sunday.

Long-haul airline Etihad said it welcomed the decision by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which comes "subject to enhanced security measures" at Abu Dhabi International Airport. That airport already has a U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility that allows passengers to clear screening they'd otherwise have to go through when landing in America.

A Homeland Security spokesman said U.S. officials have seen that "the measures have been implemented correctly and to the full extent required" in Abu Dhabi.

Pope reverses Vatican's position on issue of seriously ill baby

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis is calling for the parents of a terminally ill British baby to be allowed to do everything possible to treat their child, amending the Vatican's position after conservatives complained.

A Vatican statement Sunday shifted the Holy See's position from last week, when the Vatican's bioethics advisory panel noted the need to do whatever helps a patient but also to sometimes accept medicine's limits.

Charlie Gard suffers from a rare genetic condition and is unable to breathe unaided. Last week, his parents lost a legal battle to take him to the U.S. for trial therapy.

The Vatican said Francis was following Charlie's case "with affection and sadness" and "prays that their wish to accompany and treat their child until the end isn't neglected."

Extremists in Mali release video showing hostages

An al-Qaida-linked group in Mali has released a video showing six foreign hostages, a group says, shortly before the French president arrived in the West African country for an anti-terror summit.

The group issued the video Saturday, the SITE Intelligence Group said. The video shows Stephen McGowan of South Africa, Elliot Kenneth Arthur of Australia, Iulian Ghergut of Romania, Beatrice Stockly of Switzerland, Gloria Cecilia Narvaez of Colombia and Sophie Petronin of France.

The narrator mentions French President Emmanuel Macron, saying that Petronin "is hoping that the new French president will come to her rescue."

"These people are nothing," Macron said of the extremists. "They are terrorists, thugs and assassins. And we will put all of our energies into eradicating them."

U.S. warship sails near disputed isle in S. China Sea

WASHINGTON - An American guided-missile destroyer sailed near a disputed island in the South China Sea on Sunday, a U.S. defense official said, marking the second such operation since President Donald Trump took office.

The Japan-based USS Stethem, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, sailed within 12 miles of Triton Island, a small landmass in the Paracel Island chain. Fox News first reported on the incident, known as a freedom-of-navigation operation.

Triton Island is claimed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan. In May, a U.S. destroyer sailed well within 12 miles of Mischief Reef, a man-made island in the Spratly Islands to the south of the Paracels. During Sunday's operation, a Chinese warship tailed the USS Stethem, Fox News reported.

Brazilian police say they have captured a major drug lord who used plastic surgeries to help him evade authorities for nearly three decades. Police say Luiz Carlos da Rocha was arrested Saturday in the state of Mato Grosso. Brazilian courts had sentenced him to more than 50 years for drug trafficking.

Samsung Electronics said Sunday its recalled Galaxy Note 7 phones will be recycled and sold starting this week in South Korea.

The supply of the Galaxy Note FE phone

will be limited to 400,000 units. Overseas sales plans will be determined later, the company said in a statement.

Caption: Syrians inspect the damage Sunday after a suicide car bomb exploded in Damascus.

LOUAI BESHARA/Getty-AFP