AT LEAST 78 KILLED IN INDIA ATTACKS

BREAKING NEWS: Gunmen kill at least 78 in 7 attacks in Mumbai

Teams of heavily armed gunmen stormed luxury hotels, a popular tourist attraction and a crowded train station in at least seven attacks in India's financial capital of Mubai, India. The terrorists have killed at least 78 people and wounding at least 200, officials said Thursday.
The gunmen were specifically targeting Britons and Americans, media reports said, and may be holding hostages.

Reports say that the gunmen also attacked police headquarters in south Mumbai, the area where most of the attacks, which began late Wednesday and continued into Thursday morning, took place.

"We are under fire, there is shooting at the gate," said constable A. Shetti by phone from police headquarters.

Hours after the first attacks, A.N. Roy, a senior police officer, said police continued to battle the gunmen. "The terrorists have used automatic weapons and in some places grenades have been lobbed, the encounters are still going on and we are trying to overpower them," Roy said.

The motive for the attacks was not immediately clear but Mumbai has frequently been targeted in terror attacks, often blamed on Muslim militants, including a series of blasts in July 2007 that killed 187 people.

News from Around the World

I have not blogged on any world news lately, and there are some really interesting stories out there.

6000 Muslim Clerics Endorse Fatwa against terrorism:

Over 6,000 Islamic clerics from around India endorsed a fatwa (religious legal ruling) that condemned terrorism. Over the last few years there have been many such endorsements, but they do not get enough press in the American press. A lot of people do not realize it, but of India's roughly 1.1 billion population, about 147 million or 13.4% are followers of Islam, giving India the fourth-largest Muslim population in the world after Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh.

There have been a number terrorist bombings and attacks by radical Muslim groups in India over the last decade, some times targeting Shiite or moderate Muslims, but Indian Muslims have also been targeted by Hindu extremist groups. It is important to report when the moderates of Islam speak out against the radicals.

EU to resume key talks with Russia:

European Union foreign ministers agreed on Monday that frozen talks on a new strategic pact with Russia should restart, despite Lithuanian opposition, with the negotiations expected to begin within weeks. The EU which is dependent on Russia for much of its energy, decided it is time to resume major economic and political negotiations with Moscow that were frozen after the invasion of Georgia.

Russia sees hope of missile progress with Obama:

Russia hopes for constructive talks with the next U.S. administration on Washington's planned missile defense system in Europe, Russian media quoted Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying on Sunday. Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko is also reported to have said that Russia will deploy it's Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad only if the U.S. goes ahead with plans to build a defensive shield in Europe. President Medvedev made news last week when he stated that Russia would station missles close to the border of Poland in response to the U.S. Missle shield, the day after the U.S. Presidential election.