American military advisers in Uganda are drawing on lessons learned from Iraq and Afghanistan to help train African Union soldiers to fight Somalia’s most powerful insurgent group, al Shabab.

At least two Somali lawmakers and three civilians have been killed in bombings in the war-ravaged Horn of Africa nation, officials said.

Two teenage girls have been executed by firing squad in Somalia.

The confessed mastermind of bomb attacks in Uganda against World Cup football fans said he had hoped to kill many more Americans in the explosions in which 76 people, including one American, died last month.

African leaders are pledging thousands of new troops for Somalia to fight al Qaida-linked militants responsible for the twin World Cup bombings that killed 76 people, and the US said it will help bankroll the military campaign.

The Somali government blamed al-Qaida-linked Islamic militants for a suicide bombing that killed 22 people in the capital, as government officials buried three Cabinet ministers killed in the attack.

Somalia’s new president called for a united front against violent extremists and signalled his intent to try to bring together the country’s feuding Islamic factions.

Somalia’s parliament elected a moderate Islamist leader as the country’s new president early today, handing over the elusive task of stabilising a country wracked by violence and anarchy for nearly 20 years.

Iraqi midfielder Nashat Akram has received an invitation for a trial with Manchester City, according to a statement on the player’s own official website.