KAMPALA, Uganda - Simultaneous explosions tore through crowds watching the World Cup final at a rugby club and an Ethiopian restaurant. 64 people were killed including one American. Police feared an Al Qaeda-linked Somali militant group was behind the attacks.

Blood and pieces of flesh littered the floor among overturned chairs at the scenes of the blasts, which went off as people watched the game between Spain and the Netherlands late Sunday. The attack on the rugby club, where crowds sat outside watching a large-screen TV, left 49 dead. Fifteen others were killed in the restaurant explosion.One American was killed in the blasts, said Joann Lockard, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Kampala. Several Americans from a Pennsylvania church group were wounded in the restaurant attack including Kris Sledge, 18, of Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.

“I remember blacking out, hearing people screaming and running,” Sledge said from the hospital. His right leg was wrapped and he had burns on his face. “I love the place here but I’m wondering why this happened and who did this … At this point we’re just glad to be alive.”

Kampala’s police chief said he believed Somalia’s most feared militant group, al-Shabab, could be responsible for the attack. Al-Shabab is known to have links with Al Qaeda, and it counts militant veterans from the Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan conflicts among its ranks. Simultaneous attacks are also one of Al Qaeda’s hallmarks.The explosions came just two days after an al-Shabab commander, Sheik Muktar Robow, called for militants to attack sites in Uganda and Burundi — two nations that contribute troops to the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia. A senior police official at the scene who said he could not be identified said that 64 people had been killed — 49 from the rugby club and 15 at the Ethiopian restaurant.

A head and legs were found at the rugby club, suggesting a suicide bomber may have been to blame, an AP reporter at the scene said.,Police Chief Kale Kaihura said he suspected al-Shabab had carried out the attack. The group’s fighters, including two recruited from the Somali communities in the United States, have carried out multiple suicide bombings in Somalia. In Mogadishu, Somalia, Sheik Yusuf Sheik Issa, an al-Shabab commander, told The Associated Press early Monday that he was happy with the attacks in Uganda. Issa refused to confirm or deny that al-Shabab was responsible for the bombings.

“Uganda is one of our enemies. Whatever makes them cry, makes us happy. May Allah’s anger be upon those who are against us,” Sheik said.In addition to Uganda’s troops in Mogadishu, Uganda also hosts Somali soldiers trained in U.S. and European-backed programs White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said the U.S. was prepared to provide any necessary assistance to the Ugandan government.

“The president is deeply saddened by the loss of life resulting from these deplorable and cowardly attacks, and sends his condolences to the people of Uganda and the loved ones of those who have been killed or injured,” Vietor said.
Kenya’s foreign minister, Moses M. Wetangula, told The Associated Press last week that enough veteran militants from the Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan conflicts have relocated to Somalia to spark worry inside the international community.International militants have flocked to Somalia because the country’s government controls only a few square miles of the capital, Mogadishu, leaving most of the rest of the country as lawless territory where insurgents can train and plan attacks unimpeded.

Oakland, California — A former police officer convicted of involuntary manslaughter for killing an unarmed man in Oakland, California, apologized to the public and described his memories of the moments after the shooting in a handwritten letter. In the letter, Johannes Mehserle said he was “truly sorry” for killing Oscar Grant.

“For now, and forever, I will live, breathe, sleep, and not sleep with the memory of Mr. Grant screaming ‘you shot me’ and me putting my hands on the bullet wound thinking the pressure would help while I kept telling him ‘you’ll be okay,” Mehserle says in the letter. “I tried to tell myself that maybe this shot would not be so serious, but I recall how sick I felt when Mr. Grant stopped talking, closed his eyes and seemed to change his breathing.”

Mehserle’s letter was dated July 4, four days before a jury found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter for shooting 22-year-old Grant on an Oakland train platform on January 1, 2009.Mehserle, who was on duty as a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer at the time of the incident, said at the trial that he intended to draw and fire his Taser rather than his gun.

“I have and will continue to live everyday of my life knowing that Mr. Grant should not have been shot,” his letter said. “No words can express how truly sorry I am.

“The involuntary manslaughter conviction usually carries a maximum four-year sentence, but some in Oakland expected a tougher penalty for the former police officer, and took to the streets in protest Thursday.Crowds broke the glass of a Foot Locker and other stores. Others threw sneakers out of the store as police wearing gas masks stormed the area.Outside the courtroom, Grant family members expressed outrage at the verdict.

“My son was murdered. He was murdered. He was murdered. My son was murdered,” said Grant’s mother, Wanda Johnson. “The system has let us down, but God will never ever let us down.”Johnson and other speakers said African-Americans have been the victims of police abuse and a biased judicial system. She said Mehserle wasn’t found accountable.”We couldn’t get even six hours of deliberations,” said Johnson, who accused jurors of being unfair. Oakland police said there were 78 arrests during Thursday night’s protests on charges including failure to disperse, resisting arrest, burglary, vandalism and assaulting a police officer.Mehserle’s trial was moved from Alameda County to Los Angeles because of pre-trial publicity. Members of the jury, which included no African-Americans, said they were unanimous in their decision. Their finding indicates that Mehserle was criminally negligent.

The shooting was captured on a bystander’s cell-phone video camera. The video, which showed Mehserle pulling his gun and fatally shooting Grant in the back as another officer knelt on the unarmed man, was widely circulated on the Internet and on news broadcasts, and it spurred several protests in and around Oakland. Mehserle resigned his position a few days after the incident and was later arrested in Nevada. His sentencing is set for August 6. Involuntary manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of up to four years in prison under California law. But the judge could add an “enhancement” that could provide a longer sentence because a firearm was used.

Heavy rains caused flash flooding across the Boston metro area Saturday, stranding cars and causing damage, the National Weather Service reported. No injuries were immediately reported. Flash flood warnings were issued for four counties in eastern Massachusetts, and 2 to 4 inches of rain fell in the region, according to the weather service.

There were several reports of cars getting stuck in floodwaters, particularly in the Somerville area, northwest of Boston, where the weather service said at least five vehicles were stranded underneath the Assembly Square Underpass. Video from CNN affiliates WHDH and WCVB showed the vehicles fully submerged beneath the underpass. Drivers had to be rescued from their cars when the tunnel filled with up to 18 feet of water, according to an off-duty police officer involved with the rescue efforts. The officer told WCVB that the water was heavily mixed with sewage. The flooding also forced the closures of at least two bridges. Witnesses told WHDH that cars were also submerged around the bridges and residents waded through water up to their knees. Some locals said they helped direct traffic since lights were knocked out by the storms. The bad weather also disrupted travel for the Boston area transit system. Joe Pesaturo, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, told CNN affiliate WCVB that there were weather-related delays during the afternoon, including the suspension of rail service in one area due to water on the tracks.

Five Afghan soldiers have accidentally been killed in a Nato airstrike, officials in Afghanistan have said. A spokesman for the Afghan defence ministry condemned the incident, saying it was not the first time Afghan soldiers had died in “friendly fire”. Gen Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the soldiers had been launching an attack against insurgents in Ghazni province in eastern Afghanistan.Nato confirmed the airstrike had gone wrong and said it regretted the deaths.

Spokesman Brig-Gen Josef Blotz said a joint investigation had been launched. A statement released by the the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said that the inquiry would determine the facts and circumstances surrounding the deaths, which occurred when “an Isaf aircrew engaged the individuals with precision-guided munitions”.
“This loss of life is tragic, and we offer condolences to all those who lost loved ones,” said Isaf spokesperson Jane Campbell.
“We work extremely hard to co-ordinate and synchronize our operations, and we deeply regret the loss of lives from our Afghan partners.”

Maoist rebels have carried out a wave of attacks in India, killing seven people including five policemen. The rebels attacked railway stations, police stations and other targets in the states of Orissa, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand, police said. They say officers killed six rebels. The violence came as the rebels held a strike in protest against the killing of a top leader last week.

Cherukuri Rajkumar, commonly known as Azad, died in Andhra Pradesh state. He was number two in the rebel hierarchy in the state and a spokesman for the Maoists. Security forces say Azad died in a gunfight, but the rebels say he was killed by police in a “staged encounter”. Wave of violence Police said the rebels had triggered off an explosion in the Kaunkonda area in the restive Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh, killing two policemen. Maoist guerrillas also attacked the house of a local Congress party politician and killed four people, including two policemen.

BAGHDAD — A suicide bomber drove an explosives-laden car into an Iraqi army check point in western Baghdad, killing six people and injuring 20 on Friday morning, officials said. Although violence in Iraq has subsided significantly in the past years, members of the security forces are still frequently targeted by insurgents seeking to stoke sectarian tensions. There are also concerns such attacks could increase amid a political deadlock four months after an inconclusive election and just weeks before U.S. troops begin heading home.

Police and hospital officials said three Iraqi soldiers and three civilians were killed in the early morning attack that occurred when the bomber detonated a car bomb in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Ghazaliyah. Officials said 20 people were also wounded in the blast and taken to Baghdad’s Yarmouk hospital. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

Five US soldiers have been killed in separate incidents of violence in Afghanistan, Nato has said. Three died in east Afghanistan and two were killed in separate roadside bombings in the south. A sixth American died in an accidental explosion. More than 350 Nato soldiers have been killed this year. In other violence, gunmen killed 11 Pakistani Shia tribesmen in the east and one person was killed by a motorbike bomb in Kandahar. Also on Saturday, hundreds of Afghans took to the streets of the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif in protest at increasing civilian deaths.

BP has begun an operation to fit a tighter cap over its blown-out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. An underwater robot has taken off the existing dome to make room for the new sealing cap. But the operation may last between four and seven days – meaning oil will flow unimpeded into the sea. Another system is also being linked up and may start collecting crude on Sunday, BP says. It is drilling two wells to intercept and block the leak. It estimates the first of these wells will be finished in the first half of August, enabling the company to intercept the damaged well “and kill operations performed”. The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig in April killed 11 people. President Barack Obama has called the leak the biggest environmental disaster in US history.

INCREASED POTENTIAL

BP’s submersible robots are preparing to remove the current containment cap from the ocean floor. The new sealing cap – similar to a smaller version of the damaged blow-out preventer – has three devices that are designed to shut the flow, the closing rams, and multiple ports for connecting pipes to collect crude. According to BP, the new cap “creates the potential to increase oil and gas containment capacity to greater than 50,000 barrels per day and should improve containment efficiency during hurricane season by allowing shorter disconnect and reconnect times”.

The company said that “there can be no assurance that the sealing cap will be successfully installed or installed within the anticipated timeframe”, given it has never been attempted at this depth before. It added that contingency caps like the existing one are at the ready on the seabed, should the replacement operation fail.The company also said that favourable weather conditions had made it possible to begin another operation in tandem – connecting a new ship to the blow-out preventer. Known as the Helix Producer, it will begin collecting oil and sending it to a third ship being used for the purpose. BP says this could begin “ramping up containment operations as early as Sunday”. The containment dome currently collects about half the amount of oil gushing out of the damaged well. On Friday, the Coast Guard commander overseeing the response, Adm Thad Allen, said the flow of leaking oil could be shut off by Monday. But in that time hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil could flow unabated into the ocean.

 
“We have a significant chance to dramatically reduce the oil that’s being released into the environment and maybe shut the well in altogether in the next week,” he said.
“I use the word ‘contained’,” said Adm Allen. “‘Stop’ is when we put the plug in down below.”

At the moment it is believed that BP is siphoning off only around half the leaking oil. Current US government estimates of the spill range from between 35,000 to 60,000 barrels a day. On Thursday BP said its operation to drill a new relief well to stop the Deepwater Horizon leak was ahead of schedule. BP’s bill so far has been more than $3.1bn – and it has agreed to set up a $20bn fund to deal with compensation claims and clean-up costs.