Mohammed Omer Mulla

Security forces ended a deadly attack at a hotel in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Tuesday after a seven-hour battle that left at least three civilians and two soldiers dead. The attack began when five heavily armed gunmen overpowered security guards and stormed the upscale SYL hotel, according to police and government officials. Eleven people were injured, including two members of the country's security forces, police said. The attackers, claimed by terrorist group Al-Shabaab, began shooting at responding Somali security forces, said police officer Ali Abdi. All five attackers were killed in the firefight, officials said. "The security forces have finally accomplished the operation they have been conducting in SYL hotel, the entire of the 5 attackers have been killed, (and) 5 people have been killed in the attack," government spokesman Ismail Mukhtar tweeted early Wednesday. Dozens of people were evacuated from the hotel, he also said. T...

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced he is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, offering his own mix of moderate policy stances and experience in business, government and philanthropy as the way to beat President Donald Trump. Bloomberg, 77, called Trump “an existential threat to our country and our values” as he joined a crowded field of candidates, with fewer than three months before the Iowa caucuses. His late entry will create added difficulties as he seeks to build a campaign infrastructure and support in key states. “I’m running for president to defeat Donald Trump and rebuild America. We cannot afford four more years of President Trump’s reckless and unethical actions,” Bloomberg said in a statement announcing his candidacy. “If he wins another term in office, we may never recover from the damage.” He reconsidered his earlier decision not to run in 2020 as he saw the Democratic field struggling to produce a front-runner to take ...