BBC News with Jerry Smit.

Militants belonging to the Islamist group al-Shabab have carried out the most serious assault in the Somali capital Mogadishu since they were forced out the city in August 2011. Nine militants blasted and shot their way into the city's busy main court complex, killing

numerous

people. Running battles ensured with security forces, and the government minister later said all the gunmen have been killed. Elsewhere in the city, there was a suicide bomb attack on a Turkish aid

agency

convey, in which five people were killed. Correspondents say the attacks demonstrated that al-Shabab, though territorially weaker, can still mount well-planned and audacious assaults. The BBC's Mohammed Moalimuu in Mogadishu says the city feels less secure.

Recently, the situation of Mogadishu was improving and many people were coming back from outside Somalia, some were coming back from Europe, some were coming back from the United States and elsewhere. So there has been rehabilitation and rebuilding of Mogadishu, and people were so happy and just were feeling some sort of relative calm, but these attacks are causing some worries to the people who have been trying to build Somalia after two decades of civil wars.

Voting is underway in Venezuela to choose a successor to the late President Hugo Chavez. Security has been stepped up significantly as people choose between the acting president, Nicolas Maduro, who has promised to continue the policies of Mr Chavez, and the opposition candidate Henrique Capriles. Irene Caselli is our reporter in Caracas.