2 Russian journalists killed in Ukraine
MOSCOW -- Two Russian journalists for a Russian state-owned TV channel died Tuesday in eastern Ukraine after being hit by mortar fire, the Rossiya 24 network said.
Correspondent Igor Kornelyuk, 37, died during surgery in a hospital after being wounded while on assignment in Luhansk. The whereabouts of the sound engineer who was with him were unknown throughout the day, but in late evening the network announced that Anton Voloshin had been confirmed dead as well.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the Ukrainian government should be held responsible for the deaths, while Russia's federal investigative agency announced the opening of a criminal case.
Viktor Denisov, a cameraman working with Kornelyuk, said in a television broadcast that the journalists were filming Ukrainian refugees fleeing the area north of the regional capital when mortar fire began.
Britain plans to reopen embassy in Iran
LONDON -- British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Tuesday that "circumstances are right" to reopen Britain's embassy in Iran, which was closed in 2011 after hard-liners overran the building and ransacked it.
The announcement had been in the works for months as part of a slow rapprochement between the two countries. Hague told Parliament in a written statement that he is satisfied British Embassy personnel would be safe in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and that diplomats would be allowed to work without hindrance.
He said "a range of practical issues" have to be resolved before the embassy can begin operations again and said full consular services would not be offered at first.
Hague's announcement is part of a gradual improvement in relations between the two countries since moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani came to power in August.
In February, Iran partially reopened its embassy in Britain, offering consular services only. Hague said he expects Iran's government to "take steps" to expand its embassy operation in London.
66 Indonesians missing after boat sinks
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- A wooden boat carrying 97 Indonesian migrants capsized and sank after leaving Malaysia's west coast, and rescuers scrambled to try to save 66 people still missing, Malaysia's maritime agency said early today.
The boat was believed to have sunk shortly after midnight Tuesday while trying to leave Malaysia illegally, said an agency official, who declined to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.
He said the Indonesians, including women and children, were believed to be heading home ahead of the start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.
The Malaysian official said 31 people had been rescued. A ship and several boats were searching for survivors and a helicopter was to be dispatched, he said.
No cause was immediately given for the accident.
Tens of thousands of Indonesians work illegally in plantations and other industries in Malaysia. They sometimes risk dangerous boat journeys to return home.
Village 'pot' bust rages on in Albania
LAZARAT, Albania -- Nearly continuous gunfire rang out Tuesday from a lawless village in southern Albania as hundreds more police arrived to battle well-armed marijuana growers who were trying to thwart a government crackdown.
By midday, about 800 police had surrounded the village of Lazarat after shooting overnight wounded a special forces police officer.
With local television broadcasting the events live, police and the Interior Ministry urged the village's 5,000 residents to stay indoors and warned others to stay away from the area, some 140 miles south of the capital, Tirana.
On Monday, about 500 police raided Lazarat, running into 30 suspected marijuana growers who opened fire with rocket-propelled grenades, heavy mortars and machine guns. After many of the growers fled, police said, they destroyed 11,000 cannabis plants and found marijuana in barrels and sacks, but they could not enter the whole village.
A Section on 06/18/2014