Word: minibuses
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...Nalchik started around 10 a.m. on an ordinary Thursday morning, just as shops and offices were opening. The fighters appeared out of nowhere, swarming across the city. They hit the headquarters of the fsb and Interior Ministry, several large police stations, and a prison. At the fsb, a minibus carrying six armed men in uniforms and ski masks pulled up in front of the building. They clambered out of the van and charged. Evgeniya Sokurova, the manager of the Rossia Hotel just opposite, noticed them. "I said, 'It looks like there are training exercises going on,'" she recalls. "Then there...
...Some attackers probably got into the building, since at one point Russian snipers across the way took fire from the spot. Most of the men from the minibus soon retreated to a nearby souvenir shop, where they holed up with hostages. The area quickly turned into a battle zone. A guerrilla sniper took down four soldiers as they ran across the square, killing at least one. Another rebel was cut off and took cover in a car in the middle of the square; hours later, hotel staff watched as he leapt out and sprinted under covering fire to the souvenir...
...Zimbabwean Mike Maseko, the journey home is a bitter reminder of his country's decline. It's a trip Maseko makes almost every week, driving the 800 km from Johannesburg to Bulawayo in his blue Toyota minibus. Before setting out, he packs the van with groceries and televisions, furniture and children's toys, carefully concealing envelopes filled with South African rand so the corrupt border guards who inspect his vehicle won't confiscate the money. The cash and consumer goods are gifts from Zimbabwean expatriates in South Africa to their desperate families at home. Maseko, 32, makes roughly $700 from...
...Still, most Zimbabweans abroad would rather be at home, but few seem likely to make that journey anytime soon. On his return trips from Zimbabwe, minibus driver Maseko carries a different freight: Zimbabweans headed for Johannesburg and the possibility of jobs, money and something to eat. "There is nothing to bring from Zimbabwe except those who want to leave," he says. "My country exports only people now. It breaks my heart...
...will Beijing react? Probably slowly. Last week the state-owned news agency Xinhua reported only that "some Hong Kong residents" rallied, and that bus and minibus services were disrupted and which was said to have prompted "complaints from many members of the public." Contacted by TIME, Hong Kong's Transport Department said it hadn't received any; the operators of the three major bus companies said they received a single complaint?and one received "many commendations" from the public...