MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somali troops ended a 16-hour siege at a hotel in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, on Saturday, during which gunmen killed 15 people, officials said.
Al-Shabab, a militant Islamist group that routinely strikes government and business sites in the capital, claimed responsibility for the attack, which also left at least 13 people wounded, Somali officials said.
An elite U.S.-trained counterterrorism unit rescued 50 hostages being held by the gunmen at the Maka al-Mukarama Hotel, said Mohamed Abdi Hayir, the minister of information, tourism and culture.
Blogger’s whipping
BERLIN — Jailed Saudi blogger Raif Badawi has described in his first public remarks from prison how he “miraculously survived 50 lashes” as part of a conviction that sparked an international outcry, the German weekly Der Spiegel reported on Saturday.
Badawi was arrested in 2012 for offenses including insulting Islam, cybercrime and disobeying his father, which is a crime in Saudi Arabia. He was sentenced last year to 10 years in jail, a fine of $266,000 and 1,000 lashes.
In his remarks, Badawi recalled how he received the first round of lashes in January while surrounded by a cheering crowd that chanted “Allahu akbar” (God is greatest), Der Spiegel said.
Museum raid victim
PARIS — A fourth French national has died of her wounds following the March 18 attack on Tunisia’s national museum, raising the death toll to 22, the French president’s office said in a statement Saturday.
The statement named the deceased as Mrs. Dupeu but gave no further details.
French President Francois Hollande will take part in a march in memory of the victims today in Tunis. The militant group Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Greece’s funding woes
ATHENS, Greece — Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said on Saturday that he sought no rift with Europe after his cash-strapped country submitted a list of overhauls to its lenders in a bid to secure much-needed funds.
Mr. Tsipras’ leftist government agreed an extension to its 240 million euro bailout funding in February, albeit with aid frozen, and now must agree on a set of overhauls that it sent to its European creditors Friday in order to stave off bankruptcy.
Ebola lockdown defied
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — Police fired tear gas at an angry crowd fighting over food supplies in Sierra Leone on Saturday, while other residents defied a three-day national lockdown that the government hopes will accelerate the end of the Ebola epidemic.
Sierra Leone has reported nearly 12,000 cases and more than 3,000 deaths since the worst Ebola epidemic in history was detected in neighboring Guinea a year ago.
World Duty Free deal
MILAN — Switzerland’s Dufry has agreed to buy a majority stake in World Duty Free in a deal that values the Italian firm at $3.8 billion and will make the combined group the world's biggest travel retailer.
Edizione, the holding company owned by the Benetton family and controlling World Duty Free, said on Saturday it was selling its 50.1 percent stake in the group to Dufry for 10.25 euros per share.