UPI NewsTrack TopNews July 26, 2008

2nd series of bombings hits Gujarat

AHMEDABAD, India, July 26 (UPI) -- Bombs concealed in tea boxes rocked an Indian city Saturday, killing at least 29 people in the second deadly attack in two days.

The bombings in Ahmedabad were similar to those Friday in Bangalore, The Times of India reported. In both cities, the bombs used explosive ammonium nitrate and were equipped with quartz timers.

Police in Ahmedabad said late Saturday at least 17 bombs had exploded, including several at hospitals. Investigators put the toll at 29 dead and 88 wounded.

Both Ahmedabad and Bangalore are in Gujarat, a state ruled by the Hindu Nationalist BJP. A group using the name Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility for the Ahmedabad bombs in e-mails sent to television stations.

The nine bombings in Bangalore, the center of India's IT business, were less deadly, claiming two lives and injuring 29.

Ahmedabad was in the center of the 2002 anti-Muslim riots in Gujarat state in which more than 1,000 died. At least four of the bombs Saturday went off in the district represented by Narendra Modi, the chief minister of the state, who was accused in 2002 of doing too little to stop the riots.

Ahmadinejad outlines nuclear expansion

TEHRAN, July 26 (UPI) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says his country has nearly doubled the number of centrifuges it uses for enriching uranium to 6,000.

Ahmadinejad contends the production capacity growth of the past few months was accepted by the international community despite Iran facing United Nations sanctions regarding its nuclear program, the BBC reported Saturday.

The Iranian president's comments come as his government is said to be considering a halt in its nuclear enrichment program in return for the lifting of sanctions by the international community, the British broadcaster said.

Ahmadinejad has previously exaggerated his country's nuclear efforts in an apparent act of defiance, the BBC said.

Obama, Brown take walk in park

LONDON, July 26 (UPI) -- Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Barack Obama, the expected Democratic nominee for U.S. president, ended a Saturday meeting with a walk in a London park.

Passers-by did double takes as the two politicians strolled along Horse Guards Parade, an open stretch behind 10 Downing St., official residence and office of the British prime minister, the Daily Mail reported. Obama's Secret Service detail kept a wary eye on the pair as they chatted.

Obama also held a news conference in front of No. 10, which Brown did not attend. He had some words of comfort for the prime minister, whose poll numbers are even lower than those of U.S. President George Bush.

"Everyone is always more popular before they take charge and once you become responsible you are going to make people unhappy -- it's the nature of politics," he said.

Before breakfast with Brown, Obama spent an hour with former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who came to the Hyatt Regency Churchill. Afterward, Brown went to Westminster to talk to Conservative leader David Cameron in his parliamentary office.

London was the last stop on Obama's tour of the Middle East and Europe, and he headed back to the United States Saturday evening.

Oxygen canisters focus of Qantas probe

MANILA, Philippines, July 26 (UPI) -- Australian investigators Saturday were looking at whether an exploding oxygen canister or metal fatigue were to blame for blowing a hole in a Qantas 747.

The plane was flying from Hong Kong to Melbourne, the last leg of a trip from London, and was at 29,000 feet at the time of the incident Friday. The pilot got the plane to 10,000 feet, where passengers could breathe without emergency oxygen, and then made an emergency landing in Manila in the Philippines.

The incident is being investigated by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau, The Times of London reported. The newspaper cited a source close to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

"It is looking extremely likely that one or more of the oxygen tanks exploded," the source said. "It's never happened before so nobody knows what caused it. It could be as simple as some cargo shifting and smashing into it, which shouldn't be able to happen."

The newspaper said investigators found debris from two oxygen tanks that provide an emergency supply for the pilots scattered in the cargo hold.

No one was injured in the incident, in which passengers heard a loud bang followed by the opening of a gaping hole in the side of the Boeing 747 jet carrying 346 passengers.

An investigative team from Boeing Co., manufacturer of the 747-400 jumbo jet, also was in the Philippines to inspect the aircraft, the newspaper said.

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