Tatars step up resistance to Russian rule
AP, Urozhayne
Elnara Asanova lives alone with her four small children because her husband, an ethnic Tatar, is in jail. Last April, when she was seven months pregnant, police grabbed him from the streets of their village because he had taken part in a Tatar protest against Russian annexation of Crimea.
First ‘Silk Road’ train arrives in Tehran from China
AFP, Tehran
The first train to connect China and Iran arrived in Tehran on Monday loaded with Chinese goods, reviving the ancient Silk Road, the Iranian railway company said. The train, carrying 32 containers of commercial products from eastern Zhejiang province, took 14 days to make the 9,500-kilometre (5,900-mile) journey through Kazakstan and Turkmenistan.
Cameroon forces kill 162 Boko Haram militants
AP, Yaounde
Cameroon’s government says its soldiers have retaken Nigeria’s northeastern town of Goshi from Boko Haram, killing 162 militants in a weekend operation.
Communications minister Issa Tchiroma Bakary said late Monday that Cameroon special forces also freed about 100 people being held by the extremists, including Cameroonians and Nigerians. He said two members of Cameroon’s military were killed.
Natural gas explosion kills 6 in Russia
AP, Moscow
An explosion of natural gas in a five-story apartment building in a central Russian city has killed at least six people, including two children, and injured nine others, the emergency services said.
The explosion before dawn Tuesday in Yaroslavl, a city 250 kilometers (160 miles) northeast of Moscow, destroyed five apartments and damaged 20 others in the building, the emergency services said.
All residents of the building were evacuated, a total of about 130 people. It was unclear whether all residents had been accounted for or whether any were missing.
