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Police regain full control of Mumbai
MUMBAI, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Indian security forces continued the search for terrorists and victims Saturday as investigators tried to determine who was behind the attacks in Mumbai.
The death toll was put at 183 late Saturday, plus at least 11 gunmen, CNN reported. At least 17 police officers were killed, including Hemant Karkare, the head of the city's anti-terrorism squad, who was remembered Saturday night at a vigil in Shivaji Park.
Police found a cell phone on an abandoned boat floating off the coast that had been used to make calls to Jalalabad, Pakistan, CNN-IBN said. The body of the captain was found on board, his hands bound behind his back, and four crew members were missing, suggesting that the boat had been hijacked.
The attack began Wednesday night with gunmen hitting two five-star hotels, the Taj Mahal and the Trident-Oberoi, Chabad House, a Jewish community center, a hospital and other targets.
The search continued for bodies at the Taj Mahal. At least 36 people were found dead at the Oberoi and five at Chabad House, including two rabbis from the United States, CNN said. The New York Times identified one as Rabbi Gavriel Holtzberg, 29, of Brooklyn, and said his Israeli wife, Rivka, was also killed.
Iran says it's capable of closing straitTEHRAN, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Iran says it is "perfectly capable" of closing the Strait of Hormuz, rebuffing a NATO official who dismissed the possibility.
After Iran warned it could close the strategic waterway, NATO naval forces commander Vice Admiral Maurizio Gemignani said he doubted the Islamic republic could do so.
Iranian threats to close the Persian Gulf waterway are "fantasy," the Italian official said, Iran's PRESSTV reported.
On Saturday, Rear Adm. Habibollah Sayyari told the news service that the U.S. Fifth Fleet's presence in Bahrain and its proximity to Iran's Assalouyeh oil and gas facilities has prompted Iran to draw up plans to protect its sovereignty.
"We are perfectly capable of blockading the Strait of Hormuz in the Persian Gulf and whoever doubts our capabilities can take a step and see the consequences," he said.
Churches urge more help for home ownersWASHINGTON, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- A coalition of faith-based groups is lobbying the U.S. government to do more to reduce the number of home foreclosures.
"Families are losing their homes and they're on the street, and that's just morally wrong," said Mary Rabon, a spokeswoman for People Improving Communities Through Organizing, a coalition of 1,000 congregations across the country.
The coalition, which wants the federal government to adopt a more streamlined approach to troubled mortgages, last week met with federal officials and held a prayer rally outside the Treasury Building, The Washington Post reported Saturday.
"This building behind us has the power to prevent another 2 million foreclosures," said the Rev. Lucy Kolin, a Lutheran pastor from Oakland, Calif.
Under a plan backed by the coalition, any bank that takes federal bailout money would be required to set mortgage payments at no more than 34 percent of a borrower's income, the Post reported.
Liberals feel welcome again in WashingtonWASHINGTON, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- Union officials, civil rights advocates and environmentalists say they feel welcome in Washington after years in political exile.
"Everybody is seeing the energy that has been unleashed in this election cycle," said Eli Pariser, executive director of MoveOn.org, a liberal activist group.
With Barack Obama soon to occupy the White House and Democrats gaining power in Congress, liberal constituencies believe they have returned from an exile forced on them 14 years ago when Democrats last controlled Congress, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
Some activists date their exile to Ronald Reagan's 1980 election because they considered Bill Clinton's presidency centrist with only two years of a Democratic majority in Congress, the Times reported.
"It feels like there's an air of transparency," said Rea Carey, spokeswoman for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "It is this different feeling, that the door is not closed -- the door is opening."
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