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MOGADISHU, Somalia — The president of Somalia’s interim government narrowly escaped a suicide bomber Monday — a new tactic in a troubled land where an Islamic militia is vying for power. The leader’s brother and 10 others died in the blast and a subsequent gunbattle.

The foreign minister said the attack, along with the slaying of an Italian nun in the capital Sunday, had "the hallmarks of al-Qaida.”

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing in Baidoa, the only town controlled by the virtually powerless government, which was formed in 2004 with U.N. help in hopes of restoring order after years of lawlessness in this Horn of Africa nation.

An increasingly powerful hard-line Islamic movement — accused by the U.S. of having links with al-Qaida — seized the capital, Mogadishu, in June and now controls much of the country’s south.

"This is the first suicide bomber in Somalia,” Foreign Minister Ismail Mohamed Hurre told The Associated Press in neighboring Kenya. "This has the fingerprints of al-Qaida all over it.”

Hurre said investigators determined the blast was a suicide attack because of "the way the body was dismembered — it was cut in two pieces.”

While raising the specter of al-Qaida, Hurre said he could not "rule out or rule in” any links to the Islamic militia based in Mogadishu.

Bermuda, Azores could see tropical weather as Hurricanes Helene, Gordon churn

MIAMI — Hurricane Helene continued to gain strength as a Category 3 storm Monday, potentially threatening Bermuda at the end of the week, while a tropical storm watch was issued in the Azores as Hurricane Gordon churned in the Atlantic.

It was too soon to tell whether Helene would hit Bermuda, but the storm, with top sustained winds of 115 mph, was expected to be near the island Thursday night or Friday, said Hugh Cobb, a forecaster with the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Line to gobble beef bowls signals American beef’s return to Asia

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Thomas Schieffer was among the eager diners thronging a major Japanese fast-food chain Monday to savor the first servings in more than two years of a popular rice dish topped with American beef.

"It was great. It was well worth the wait,” Schieffer said after eating Yoshinoya D&C Co.’s "beef bowl” with chopsticks. "It’s a day of celebration. Beef has returned to Japan.”<