Iran mine blast kills two, injures 21 others

TEHERAN • At least two miners were killed and 21 others injured in a coal mine explosion in the northern Iranian province of Golestan yesterday, Press TV reported.

Mr Sadegh-Ali Moqaddam, the head of Golestan's emergency department, said up to 50 people are believed to be trapped in the mine.

Officials have blamed accumulated methane gas for the blast.

XINHUA

Uruguayans can soon buy cannabis openly

MONTEVIDEO • Pot smokers in Uruguay have become the first in the world to sign up to buy state-vetted cannabis for recreational use, as pharmacies aim to start selling it in July.

The small South American country is the first to fully legalise consumption of the drug all the way from production to sale.

Already allowed by the leftist government to grow the weed in their homes and smoke it in clubs, Uruguayans in a few weeks will be able to buy it from the chemist along with their shampoo and aspirins.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Boko Haram leader hurt in Nigeria air strike

KANO (Nigeria) • Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau has been injured and one of his deputies killed in an air strike in Nigeria, civilian and security sources said yesterday.

Two Nigerian air force jets bombarded fighters who had gathered for prayers in a village last Friday, they said.

"Shekau was wounded in the bombings and is believed to be receiving treatment near the Nigerian border with Cameroon around Kolofata," said one source with contacts within Boko Haram.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE