Car bomb hits president

A car bomb exploded as the President of the troubled Russian region of Ingushetia passed by in his convoy in Nazran last night, critically wounding him and killing or wounding several others, officials said.

Yunus Bek Yevkurov was the third top official to be wounded or killed in Ingushetia in the past three weeks and the fourth in Russia's turbulent North Caucasus this month.

Ingushetia is home to hundreds of refugees from the wars in Chechnya, to the south, and is one of Russia's poorest regions.