1 dead, 44 injured in blast in Tanzania church

ZANZIBAR, Tanzania (AP) — A woman died and 44 people were seriously wounded when a bomb exploded in a Roman Catholic church in northern Tanzania, a Tanzanian police official said Sunday

The woman died in hospital as a result of the bombing in the Arusha church just before Mass, which was attended by the papal envoy to Tanzania, said Magesa Mulogo, the regional police commissioner of Arusha.

Mulogo said eyewitnesses report that the bomb was thrown from a motorcycle into the church. Mulogo said the driver of the motorcycle has been arrested.

The Vatican's ambassador to Tanzania, Archbishop Francisco Montecillo Padilla, was attending the official opening of the church when the explosion occurred. He escaped unhurt.

Mulogo said the motive of attack is not known but Tanzania has in the recent past experienced sectarian violence between Christians and Muslims.

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Tanzanian church blast kills one, wounds 57

DAR ES SALAAM (Reuters) - A suspected bomb blast struck a Catholic church in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha on Sunday, police said, wounding a number of people.

Sectarian tensions have been simmering in east Africa's second biggest economy after two Christian leaders were killed in the predominantly Muslim islands of Zanzibar earlier this year and there have been attacks on Muslim leaders and mosques.

"Some kind of explosion went off at the church. It is believed to have been a bomb but we don't know what type of bomb it was," Tanzania police spokesperson Advera Senso said.

Senso could not confirm if anyone had been killed in the attack or how many had been wounded.

Tanzania's foreign affairs minister Bernard Membe said in a message on Twitter he was "deeply shocked" by the explosion.

President Jakaya Kikwete has warned about rising religious tensions in several televised addresses.

(Reporting by Fumbuka Ng'wanakilala; Editing by Richard Lough and Mike Collett-White)

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Obama honors firefighters killed in Texas fertilizer plant blast

By Steve Holland

WACO, Texas (Reuters) - President Barack Obama, standing before a line of flag-draped coffins, consoled family and friends on Thursday at a memorial service for firefighters killed in a massive explosion last week at a Texas fertilizer plant.

The deaths of 14 people, nearly all of them emergency responders, ripped a hole in the heart of the town of West, where farming is a way of life and where many people volunteer for the fire department in their spare time.

"To the families, the neighbors grappling with unbearable loss, we are here to say you are not alone. You are not forgotten. We may not all live here in Texas, but we're neighbors, too," Obama told more than 9,000 mourners who packed a basketball arena at Baylor University in Waco.

The April 17 explosion at the West Fertilizer Co plant obliterated a residential section of West, about 20 miles north of Waco.

Investigators have not determined the cause of the blast, which also injured some 200 people.

A video testimonial for each victim were read by a relative or friend and broadcast on a large screen behind the podium.

In one video, Carmen Bridges, wife of Morris Wayne Bridges Jr., 40, fought back tears as she told of the last time she had seen her husband. As he rushed out the door to respond to the fire in West, he stopped to hug his 2-year-old son.

"'Daddy loves you and he'll be right back,'" Bridges recalled her husband telling the boy. "And he didn't come back."

As the name of each victim was read aloud, a bell rang, echoing through the vast arena, where a dozen coffins - most covered with U.S. flags, and a couple covered with Texas flags - were lined up in front of the stage.

Obama and his wife, Michelle, both wiped tears from their eyes as bagpipers played "Amazing Grace" and the song filled the arena.

The April 15 Boston Marathon bombings and the search for the suspects last week often overshadowed the Texas tragedy in the national news media.

But Obama sought to assure Texans they were in his thoughts. He vowed that federal and state authorities would help to rebuild the town of 2,800 residents.

"Know this, for the eyes of the world may have been fixed on places far away, our hearts have also been here through times of tribulation," Obama said.

'ULTIMATE SACRIFICE'

Before the ceremony, red and white lights twinkled along Baylor's University Parks Drive as fire trucks and ambulances from across Texas approached. Along the road, people took pictures, but many watched in silence.

Bagpipe players and a color guard led a procession of members of fire departments that lost personnel in the blast. West emergency medical technicians cried as they walked hand in hand with members of the emergency medical technicians from nearby Abbott, Texas.

"Coming to memorials, when you're part of this brotherhood, one of the biggest brotherhoods in the world created for the purpose of protecting others, that's just what you do," said Tito Rodriguez, an assistant fire chief with the Clute Fire Department near Houston.

James Bruno waited until he parked to don the freshly ironed blue Irving, Texas, fire department shirt for the service. Walking with his wife, he said he felt a certain kinship with those who lost their lives in the explosion.

"They made the ultimate sacrifice trying to help everyone in their own town out," he said.

The town had 33 volunteer firefighters. Five were killed, as were four paramedics from nearby towns who rushed to the scene. Among the others killed was an off-duty Dallas firefighter who lived in West and a local welder who went to the plant to help.

Obama praised the courage of people "who so love their neighbors as themselves that they are willing to lay down their lives for each other.

"America needs towns like West. That's what makes this country great, it's towns like West," he said.

Other speakers included Texas Governor Rick Perry and Baylor University President Kenneth Starr, best known for his investigation of the sex scandal involving then-President Bill Clinton and White House intern Monica Lewinsky during the 1990s.

"These are volunteers, ordinary individuals blessed with extraordinary courage," Perry said of the fallen first responders.

(Additional reporting by Laura Heinauer. Editing by David Lindsey, Corrie MacLaggan and Peter Cooney)

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Hundreds attend funeral for Texas firefighter killed in blast

By Tim Gaynor

WEST, Texas (Reuters) - Hundreds of firefighters and a drum and pipe band joined residents of a Texas town on Wednesday to honor a firefighter who died one week ago in an explosion at a fertilizer plant that killed 13 others and injured some 200.

Authorities said on Wednesday they have not determined the cause of the blast at the West Fertilizer Co in the town of West, a Czech-American community between Austin and Dallas.

A fire initially broke out at the plant followed by the fiery explosion approximately 22 minutes later, officials said. The focus of the investigation is on learning where the fire started in order to determine what caused the larger blast.

"The main focus in the investigation is the fire," said Robert Champion, special agent in charge of the federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), from the Dallas field office.

The plant stored and mixed fertilizer for local farmers, including dangerous anhydrous ammonia and ammonium nitrate.

Most of those killed were first responders who were battling the blaze, so investigators are looking where charred fire trucks are located, as well as a large crater, for clues.

Kenneth "Luckey" Harris, Jr., 52, a Dallas firefighter who lived in West, was among 11 first responders and three others killed when the plant exploded, injuring about 200 people. He was off-duty at the time.

Firefighters from departments across Texas - most in formal dress uniforms - packed into the St. Mary's Catholic Church of the Assumption and an overflow area outside, where mourners included horseback riders in chaps toting U.S. and Texas flags and leather-clad members of several motorcycle clubs.

In his eulogy, Dallas Fire Chief Louie Bright paid tribute to Harris' leadership, dedication and courage, noting that in the course of their careers, firefighters face situations that test whether the "job is just a paycheck or ... a passion."

"On April 17, Captain Kenneth Harris demonstrated a passion not only for his profession but also for his community ... every single time the call for service rang out he was right there to give maximum effort," he said.

The toll on first responders in the West blast is the highest in one single incident in the state since a disaster in Texas City in 1947, the Texas Line of Duty Death Task Force has said. In that incident, a cargo ship packed with fertilizer exploded, killing more than 500 people, among them more than two dozen local volunteer firefighters.

President Barack Obama plans to attend a memorial service on Thursday for victims of the West explosion, the White House said. The service will be held at Baylor University in Waco, Texas.

The government of the Czech Republic said on Wednesday it would send approximately $200,000 in aid to the town founded by Czech immigrants in the 19th century and known for its bakeries selling Czech pastries.

Czech-Americans also have organized a fundraising campaign to offer disaster relief to the town of about 2,700 people, the Czech Embassy in Washington said.

(Reporting by Tim Gaynor and Corrie MacLaggan; Writing by Greg McCune; Editing by Eric Beech)

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Massachusetts Democrats blast billionaire's bid to stir Senate race

By Scott Malone

BOSTON (Reuters) - Both Democratic contenders in Massachusetts' April Senate primary are pushing back against a former hedge fund manager turned environmental activist who is trying to make the proposed Keystone XL pipeline an issue in the race.

While the pipeline, which would carry crude from Canada's tar sands to Texas refineries, is not due to come anywhere near the New England state, California billionaire Tom Steyer is threatening a campaign to make it a wedge issue ahead of the April 30 primary.

Steyer, who last year stepped down from the Farrallon Capital Management hedge fund he founded, has threatened to campaign against one of the contenders for the seat, Representative Stephen Lynch, if he does not drop his support for the $5.3 billion pipeline.

Both Lynch and his rival and fellow Congressman Edward Markey, who is leading in early polls, pushed back against Steyer, saying that his plans would run afoul of a "People's Pledge" the two agreed to in an effort to keep outside money out of the campaign.

Lynch, a former ironworker, has dismissed Steyer's threat.

"I think most Americans are tired of being shoved," Lynch, a former ironworker, wrote in an op-ed published in the Boston Globe on Friday.

Markey on Friday called on Steyer to stay out of the race.

"These kinds of tactics have no place in our political discourse and should be repudiated," Markey said. "Steyer should immediately withdraw his threats and ultimatum, and stay out of this Senate race."

Under the "People's Pledge," both Markey and Lynch agreed to donate money from their campaign funds to a charity of his rival's choice if an outsider buys attack ads against a rival.

Steyer said through a spokesman that the pledge leaves room for other campaign operations, such as phone banks, research and rallies.

"While we have great respect for Ed Markey and know he is a real Democrat, the issue in this race is whether Steve Lynch is running to be the Senator from Canada fighting for increasing the wealth of a foreign oil company or a Senator from Massachusetts who will stand for the common good of the Commonwealth," said Chris Lehane, a spokesman for Steyer.

The campaign against Lynch was due to kick off on Friday with trucks driving the streets with mounted video screens showing ads questioning his stance on the pipeline, health care reform and abortion.

Late last year, Steyer stepped down from the hedge fund he founded, Farallon Capital, to focus his time on promoting alternative energy sources and expand his efforts in Democratic politics.

He went on to spend more than $30 million in California to support a ballot initiative, Proposition 30, that closed a tax loophole and funnels money to projects that create clean energy jobs.

The three Republican candidates in the Massachusetts race, which will end with the June 25 special election to fill the Senate seat that came available when John Kerry was named secretary of state, did not sign the "People's Pledge."

The trio -- former Attorney Michael Sullivan, state Representative Daniel Winslow and former Navy SEAL Gabriel Gomez -- argued that as relative political newcomers, they do not have the established campaign operations and political war chests that their Democratic rivals have.

(Reporting by Scott Malone; Editing by Paul Thomasch and Leslie Gevirtz)

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Marines identify seven who died in Nevada mortar blast

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - The U.S. military identified on Wednesday the seven Marines killed in an explosion at a Nevada munitions depot when a mortar round detonated prematurely in its launching tube during a live-fire training exercise.

The Monday night blast killed seven from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, including six Marines who served in Afghanistan, the Marines said in a statement. It injured eight other servicemembers at the Hawthorne Army Depot in western Nevada. The cause was under investigation.

The Marine Corps identified the victims as Lance Corporals David P. Fenn II, 20, Roger W. Muchnick Jr., 23, Joshua C. Taylor, 21, Mason J. Vanderwork, 21, and William T. Wild IV, 21, all of whom were mortarmen who had served in Afghanistan.

Corporal Aaron J. Ripperda, 26, was an anti-tank missileman who served in Afghanistan. Private First Class Joshua M. Martino, 19, served as a mortarman. All those killed were members of the 9th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division.

"We send our prayers and condolences to the families of the Marines and sailors who have been killed and injured in this tragic accident," Brigadier General Jim Lukeman, the division's commanding general, said in a statement.

"Our first priority is to provide them with the support they need during this very difficult time, and we're doing that right now," he added.

The blast was among the deadliest military training accidents on U.S. soil in recent years. In February 2012, seven Marines were killed when two helicopters collided during an exercise along the California-Arizona border.

The Marines killed on Monday had been undergoing training for the past month at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center in Bridgeport, California, and at Hawthorne, about 92 miles southeast of Reno, Nevada.

"Although this is a very difficult time for the entire depot and our small town, we will continue to work closely with the Marine Corps during this tragic incident," Hawthorne Army Depot Commander Lieutenant Colonel Craig M. Short said in a statement.

Seven Marines and a Navy sailor were also wounded. Of those, six were in serious or very serious condition, while two were treated and released, the Marines said in a statement.

The Marines ordered a blanket suspension of the use of 60mm mortars, the type involved in the explosion, on Tuesday pending a review after the blast, Marine Corps spokeswoman Captain Kendra Motz said in a statement.

The Marines described the mortar involved as lightweight, and said it was typically fired from a stationary position.

Hawthorne Army Depot is a 147,000-acre (60,000-hectacre) site used for the storage and destruction of demilitarized ammunition. Its location in Nevada's isolated high desert is also considered an ideal training environment for Special Operations forces preparing for deployments to Southwest Asia, according to a U.S. military website.

The facility was established as a naval staging area for bombs, rockets and ammunition, and was used by the Navy during most of World War Two. It was transferred to the Army in 1977.

The accident came a week after a U.S. military plane assigned to a Washington state Naval Air Station crashed during a routine training flight, killing all three crew members on board.

(Reporting by Cynthia Johnston and Tim Gaynor; Editing by Scott Malone and Nick Zieminski)

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Marines to identify seven who died in Nevada mortar blast

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - The U.S. military plans to identify on Wednesday the seven Marines who died in an explosion at a Nevada munitions depot when a mortar round detonated prematurely in its launching tube during a live-fire training exercise, a military spokesman said in a statement.

The Monday night blast killed seven Marines from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and injured eight other service members at the Hawthorne Army Depot in western Nevada. The cause was under investigation.

The blast was among the deadliest such military training accidents on U.S. soil in recent years. In February 2012, seven Marines were killed when two helicopters collided during an exercise along the California-Arizona border.

"Although this is a very difficult time for the entire depot and our small town, we will continue to work closely with the Marine Corps during this tragic incident," Hawthorne Army Depot Commander Lieutenant Colonel Craig M. Short said in a statement.

The Marines killed on Monday had been undergoing training for the past month at the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center in Bridgeport, California, and at Hawthorne, about 92 miles southeast of Reno, Nevada.

Those killed have been identified only as members of the 2nd Marine Division, but have not been further identified pending the notification of their families.

Seven Marines and a Navy sailor were also wounded. Of those, six were in serious or very serious condition, including the sailor, while two were treated and released, the Marines said in a statement.

The Marines ordered a blanket suspension of the use of 60mm mortars, the type involved in the explosion, on Tuesday pending a review after the blast, Marine Corps spokeswoman Captain Kendra Motz said in a statement.

The Marines described the mortar involved as lightweight, and said it was typically fired from a stationary position.

Hawthorne Army Depot is a 147,000-acre (60,000-hectacre) site used for the storage and destruction of demilitarized ammunition. Its location in Nevada's isolated high desert is also considered an ideal training environment for Special Operations forces preparing for deployments to Southwest Asia, according to a U.S. military website.

The facility was established as a naval staging area for bombs, rockets and ammunition, and was used by the Navy during most of World War Two. It was transferred to the Army in 1977.

The accident came a week after a U.S. military plane assigned to a Washington state Naval Air Station crashed during a routine training flight, killing all three crew members on board.

(Reporting by Cynthia Johnston; Editing by Scott Malone and Nick Zieminski)

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Fireworks blast kills at least 11 Catholic pilgrims in Mexico

TLAXCALA (Reuters) - At least 11 people were killed and 36 others injured on Friday when a truck containing fireworks exploded in a freak accident in the central Mexican state of Tlaxcala, casting a pall over a Catholic procession in honor of a local patron saint.

The explosion was ignited when a stray firework fell into a truck carrying more fireworks, said Jose Mateo Morales, director of emergency services for Tlaxcala state.

The fireworks were set to be used in a ceremony honoring Jesus Tepactepec, patron saint of a village named after him in the municipality of Nativitas. The blast happened on the highway just outside the village.

(Reporting by Imelda Medina, Lizbeth Diaz and Adriana Barrera; Writing by David Alire Garcia; Editing by David Brunnstrom)

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