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URUMQI: China said on Monday at least 140 people were killed in rioting by Muslim Uighurs in its restive Xinjiang region in the deadliest ethnic unrest reported in the country for decades. The violence in the regional capital Urumqi on Sunday involved thousands of people, and the official Xinhua news agency said the death toll was likely to rise. More than 800 other people were injured in the rampage, it added. 'Death toll in Xinjiang riot rises to 140, still climbing,' Xinhua reported in its latest dispatch, after initially saying only three had died. The news agency, citing local government officials, said 'several hundred' people had already been arrested for involvement in the violence. Dramatic footage broadcast by the state-run CCTV network showed men turning over a police car and smashing its windows, a woman being kicked as she lay on the ground, and buses and other vehicles aflame. 'All shop owners in the street are very scared,' one Han Chinese bar own...

It's day five ... I think . Things have been moving so fast and so much is happening that I've lost sense of time! Today is the first day of Eid, one of two Islamic celebrations and holidays in the Muslim world. Growing up I would always look forward to this day, when I would wear my new clothes, go to the mosque and visit friends and families. In the evening the family would sit to a delicious meal prepared by my mother. Today's Eid is a little different. Although I don't have any new clothes, I no longer have to wear the Ihram (two plain white cloths), so I almost get that same feeling . In the morning we greet each other with the Eid greeting of "May God accept your good deeds and may each year bring you peace and good health". Smooth operation Aside from the sense of joy that comes with Eid, there is a noticeable sense of relief amongst us all . The hardest parts of Hajj have come and gone and we are all grateful that we have managed to perform them. To...

By B. Raman 1.The Intelligence Bureau (IB) and the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW) have mounted a damage-control exercise by sharing with senior journalists details of technical intelligence (TECHINT) collected by them, which clearly indicated that the terrorists are planning to carry out sea-borne terrorist strikes against hotels on Mumbai's coast, one of the hotels being the Taj Mahal hotel, which was actually attacked and occupied by some terrorists on the night of November 26, 2008. This intelligence was disseminated by them to those responsible for physical security. It seems to be the contention of the IB and the R&AW that what happened in Mumbai was a serious instance of physical security failure and failure to act on available intelligence and not an instance of intelligence failure. 2. Other independent reports indicate that the reports were acted upon by the Mumbai Police and the security authorities of the Taj Mahal Hotel. It was not as if they ignored them. ...

The British are believed to be looking for an "acceptable dictator" in Afghanistan since the Taliban insurgency is only growing. They are believed to be privy to a set of "reconciliation" talks with the Taliban in Saudi Arabia, fuelling speculation that UK and other European countries are looking for a way out of Afghanistan, as it sinks into a security more. In the eye of the storm, the British ambassador to Afghanistan , Sherard Cowper-Coles tells Indrani Bagchi in an exclusive interview that there is no "non-military option" in Afghanistan. Are you looking for a "dictator" in Afghanistan? We are not looking for a dictator in Afghanistan. What is of concern among our ministers in London and here, is the political and security situation. Some of the talk is, in our view excessively gloomy. This is winnable; we have a strategy for success, a long term strategy for success. I said when I arrived there 18 months ago that this was a marathon, not a...

PARIS — A day after the terror attacks in Mumbai that killed over 100 people, one question remained as impenetrable as the smoke that still billowed from two of the city's landmark hotels: who carried out the attacks? The Indian authorities say they captured some of the attackers, so some answers may emerge soon. But for now, their identities remain a mystery. Surviving witnesses recalled the gunmen as masked young men in unremarkable T-shirts and jeans, some heavily armed, wearing backpacks filled with weapons. The only claim of responsibility came from a group that may not even exist. The assaults represented a marked departure in scope and ambition from other recent terrorist attacks in India, which have singled out local people rather than foreigners and hit single rather than multiple targets. The Mumbai assault, by contrast, was seemed directed at foreigners, involved hostage taking and was aimed at multiple and highly symbolic targets. Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh o...