Lawyers

• Rivals Pakistan, India to start process of joining China security bloc

  Nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India will start the process of joining a security bloc led by China and Russia at a summit in Russia later this week, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Monday, the first time the grouping has expanded since it was set up in 2001.

• Turkey says to keep doors open for Uighur 'brothers', irking China

  Turkey vowed on Friday to keep its doors open to ethnic Uighur migrants fleeing persecution in China, a stance likely to exacerbate Ankara's row with Beijing over its treatment of the largely Muslim, Turkic-language speaking minority.

• Senior Uighur official investigated for graft in China's Xinjiang

  A senior ethnic Uighur official in China's unruly far western region of Xinjiang is being investigated for suspected serious "discipline violations", the Communist Party's anti-graft watchdog said on Sunday, using a euphemism for corruption.

• China to increase video surveillance in security push

  China will ensure that all key public areas are covered with video surveillance cameras by 2020 to fight crime and ensure social stability, the government said on Wednesday, part of a broader push to step up security in response to violent unrest.

• China punishes 17 officials over Xinjiang violence

  China has punished 17 officials for lapses in connection with explosions and riots in the Xinjiang region in September, state media said, as the regional Communist Party boss said the fight against "terrorism" was getting "more intense".

• China sentences two to death for killing of pro-Beijing imam

  A Chinese court has sentenced two people to death and another to life imprisonment for the murder of a state-backed imam in China's restive western region of Xinjiang, the official Xinhua news agency has said.

• Prominent Uighur scholar in China to appeal life sentence: lawyer

  China's most prominent advocate for the rights of Muslim Uighur people will appeal against a life prison sentence that drew criticism from Western countries including the United States, his lawyer said on Wednesday.

• China sentences four for explosives, bid for 'jihad': report

  China has sentenced four people to up to 20 years in jail for "plotting terror attacks", state media said, the latest in a wave of rulings as the government accelerates a crackdown on what it says is violence fueled by Islamist militants.

• China says 'rescues' more children from Xinjiang religious schools

  A sweep on illegal religious activity in the capital of China's unruly far western region of Xinjiang has resulted in 190 children being "rescued", along with the detention of dozens of people, a state newspaper said on Monday.

• China opens trial of Kunming train station attackers

  Four people accused of participating in an attack at a train station in southwestern China went on trial on Friday, charged with murder and organising a terror group, a case that triggered a sweeping crackdown on what Beijing calls militant violence.