China: 140 Dead and 800+ Injured in Riots

The number of casualties is 140 dead and 800+ wounded according to the Chinese government. Goodness only knows how many are actually dead or wounded.

News blurb:

SHANGHAI -- The official death toll in riots in China's northwestern Xinjiang region rose sharply Monday, with the government saying that 140 had been killed in what appears to be one of the deadliest episodes of unrest in China in decades.

Police said at least 828 other people were injured in violence that began Sunday in Urumqi, Xinjiang's capital. Witnesses said the conflicts pitted security forces against demonstrators, and members of the region's Turkic-speaking Uighur ethnic group against members of the country's Han Chinese majority. Many among the predominantly Muslim Uighurs have chafed at Chinese government rule.

The official tally of dead and injured increased Monday as more information came out of Urumqi through the state-run Xinhua news agency, although it appeared that most or all of the violence had ended by the early hours of Monday.

What is going on over there?

Meanwhile, none of this has appeared in the MSM because it's too busy frothing over Michael Jackson.