NPR 2008-11-30

Officials in India say they believe just ten gunmen managed to carry out the siege of Mumbai, a city of 18 million people, a showdown that left nearly 200 people dead including at least five Americans. Investigators 1 are trying to determine how that was possible. At the huge Taj Mahal Hotel, site of the final clash between the gunmen and security forces, workers've been boarding up windows and troops are going through the building to make sure it’s safe. The BBC's Adam Mynott reports families have also begun burying the dead.

"As is the custom here, there've been a number of funerals today including funerals of the senior officers who were killed during the early hours of the battle. Em, this has taken an enormous death toll 2 here, particularly of Indians. It's mainly Indians who have been killed and there're a number of foreigners also died. So as they say, there's a palpable sense of shock through the city and indeed the whole of India. The BBC's Adam Mynott reporting from Mumbai.

The deadly attacks there have raised the level of tension between India and Pakistan, despite the Pakistani government's denial of any involvement with the militants 3. Alistair Millar of the Center on Global Counterterrorism says the Bush administration is hoping to defuse that tension. "It is a very rapidly unfolding story. It is impossible to point a finger at either. And I think that's why President Bush has been very cautious by just supporting India and not in fact pointing any blame at any one." A team of FBI agents is en route to India to assist the investigation 4 of the attacks.

In the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a United Nations’ special envoy 5 met with President Joseph Kabila and a rebel leader who wants direct talks with Kabila. Rebel fighting in the region is fueling a humanitarian 6 crisis. NPR's Gwen Tompkins reports.

Look who’s not talking. For the second time in a month, former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has come to Congo and met separately with the Congolese president and the rebel leader Laurent Nkunda. And though Nkunda has pressed for direct talks with the government, President Joseph Kabila is not so eager. Since August, Nkunda's rebel army has widened its fierce influence in eastern Congo and the general wants a rolling government among other demands. The rebels say they're no longer attacking government forces. But in recent days, they've rallied militia 7 groups north of Goma. All parties of the conflict are believed to have committed gross human rights abuses. More than 10,000 people have reportedly fled this latest event and they're now seeking safety in Uganda. Gwen Tompkins, NPR News, Goma.

A grenade blast has wounded at least 33 anti-government protestors who have been occupying the prime minister of Thailand's compound in Bangkok. The attack came as the occupation of the city's two airports by demonstrators entered its fifth day. Protestors accused the country's prime minister of being a puppet of his brother-in-law who was ousted 8 in a coup 9 two years ago.

This is NPR News from Washington.

More than 200 people have been killed in central Nigeria in clashes between Muslims and Christian 10 gangs. The army has deployed 11 troops in the city of Jos to enforce a round-the-clock curfew. The violence began when supporters of the area's two main political parties bickered 12 after recent local elections.

Joern Utzon, one of the most prominent architects of the 20th century has died at his home in Copenhagen. He was 90 years old. Frank Browning has more.

Best known for the grand wave-like sculpt 13 of the seaside opera house in Sydney Australia, Utzon was an austere 14 and strict figure in modern architecture who always insisted on the relation of the physical site to the buildings he designed. In fact, Utzon withdrew from the finishing touches of the Sydney Opera House over esthetic 15 disagreement with the builders and the city. Most of the rest of his work was smaller, elegant projects in his native Denmark or in Scandinavia where he was influenced by the sculptural designs of Finnish architect Alvar Aalto as well as the American Frank Lloyd Wright. Five years ago, he was awarded the Pritzker Prize, the so-called Nobel of Architecture for his lifelong oeuvre. From NPR News, I'm Frank Browning.

An early readout of the first day of the holiday shopping season indicates the sales were up 3% yesterday compared to the same day last year. The figures were compiled by the research firm Shopper Trak whose co-founder Bill Martin says they were better than expected. "It was beyond most economists’ expectation. It was beyond what we had anticipated as well.” Martin says shoppers responded to deep discounts as they searched for the best value for their dollars. Some analysts 16 caution that one day's sales figures though, do not necessarily indicate a trend for the whole holiday season.