Former Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday he will campaign for mayor of New York City as an independent candidate, staying in a crowded field running against surging left-wing Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani.

In a video, Cuomo, who last month suffered a bruising loss to Mamdani in the Democratic primary, announced he was making another run to combat the progressive Mamdani, who he said “offers slick slogans but no real solutions.”

“The fight to save our city isn’t over,” Cuomo said. “Only 13 percent of New Yorkers voted in the June primary. The general election is in November and I am in it to win it.”

Incumbent Mayor Eric Adams, also a Democrat, is instead running as an independent in the general election and Curtis Sliwa — founder of the 1970s-era Guardian Angels anti-crime patrol — is again on the Republican line.

People opposed to Mamdani’s progressive agenda, which includes higher taxes on the wealthy, have called on donors and voters to unite behind a single candidate for the November election. They fear multiple candidates will splinter the anti-Mamdani vote, increasing the Democrat’s chances to win.

Mamdani’s campaign responded to Cuomo’s announcement by saying the ex-governor and mayor are cozying up to “billionaires and Republicans” while the Democratic nominee remains focused on affordability issues.

“That’s the choice this November,” campaign spokesperson Jeffrey Lerner said in a statement.

9 killed in assisted-living home fire in Mass.

Nine people were killed and one person was in critical condition after a fire tore through an assisted living facility in Fall River, Mass., on Sunday night, officials said.

Witnesses described a desperate scene as firefighters and nurses scrambled to help residents in wheelchairs, some with oxygen tanks, out of the building through thick smoke and flames. Other residents who were trapped in upstairs apartments smashed windows and screamed for help.

More than 30 residents of the facility were taken to hospitals in the area. Five firefighters were treated at hospitals and released.

The cause of the fire was under investigation Monday by local fire and police departments, the office of the state fire marshal, and the office of the Bristol County district attorney.

“This is an unfathomable tragedy for the families involved and for the Fall River community,” said Jeffrey Bacon, the city’s fire chief.

Firefighters responded shortly after 9:30 p.m. to reports of a fire at the assisted living facility, Gabriel House, which has about 70 residents, Bacon said at a news conference Monday.

Grand Canyon fire response criticized

A wildfire that tore through a historic Grand Canyon lodge and raged out of control Monday had been allowed to burn for days before erupting over the weekend, raising scrutiny over the National Park Service’s decision to not aggressively attack the fire right away.

The fire along the canyon’s more isolated North Rim where most visitors don’t venture was burning quickly with no containment, fire officials said. No injuries had been reported, but more than 70 structures were lost, including a visitors center and several cabins.

Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs called for a federal investigation into the Park Service’s handling of the fire that began with a lightning strike July 4.

Church gunman faced domestic hearing

The man accused of killing two women in a shooting rampage at a Kentucky church after wounding a state trooper had been expected in court for a domestic violence hearing on Monday, a local official said.

Officers confronted Guy House, 47, in a rear parking lot after the shootings. At least three Lexington police officers fired, striking House and resulting in his death, authorities said.

In an account of Sunday’s attack, Star Rutherford, a relative of the two slain women, said House went to the Lexington-area church looking for one of her sisters but was told she wasn’t there.

He declared: “Well I guess someone’s going to have to die then,” and shot her mother, 72-year-old Beverly Gumm, in the chest. House later killed Christina Combs, who media reports said was another of Rutherford’s sisters. Two men were also critically wounded, police said Monday.

House went to Richmond Road Baptist Church seeking the mother of his children but his domestic violence hearing did not involve her, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported, citing Rachael Barnes. She identified Gumm and Combs, 34, as her mother and sister.

Matt Ball, a deputy clerk for family court in Fayette County, confirmed to The Associated Press that House had been scheduled for the domestic violence hearing on Monday.

Authorities have offered no motive and the investigation was ongoing.

50 killed in Syrian sectarian violence

More than 50 people have been killed in a second day of sectarian violence in Syria between Bedouin groups and militias from the Druse religious minority, according to a local health official and a monitoring group.

The clashes in the southern province of Sweida underscore the difficulty the new government led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa has had in asserting control over the country since ousting the regime of Bashar Assad in December. The Druse militias have resisted efforts by the government to unify all armed groups under its authority.

In the clashes that began Sunday, more than 150 people were injured, said a local health official who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the situation.

More than two children were among the dead, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group.

The Syrian government called for restraint and sent military forces to “quickly and decisively” resolve the conflict, the Defense Ministry said in a statement released on social media. It added that its forces were providing safe passage for civilians trying to flee the area.

Tarantulas smuggled into Germany

Customs officials at an airport in Germany discovered about 1,500 young tarantulas stuffed inside boxes of chocolate biscuits.

The package, which arrived at the Cologne Bonn Airport from Vietnam, gave off a noticeable smell, inconsistent with what one would expect from chocolate treats, according to a Monday news release from the Cologne customs office.

Officials said many of the tarantulas did not survive, which violated animal welfare laws. Those that did survive were placed in the care of wildlife professionals, according to the release.

Customs spokesperson Jens Ahland said officials were saddened to see what people will do to animals for profit. Though officials regularly see smuggled items from all over the world, this particular case left them speechless, Ahland said in the release. The tarantulas were packed in plastic tubes inside the boxes, photos showed.

Criminal proceedings are underway against the intended recipient in the Sauerland region, east of the airport, in part for alleged violations of failure to pay the proper import duties and make the proper customs declarations, the office said.

— From news services