Russia

Persecuted minorities begin leaving for U.S.

The first members of a long-persecuted minority group began leaving southern Russia for the United States on Wednesday as part of an agreement between Moscow and Washington, officials said.

Eleven Meskhetian Turks departed Krasnodar, about 750 miles south of Moscow, on their way to Philadelphia, said a representative with the Geneva-based International Organization of Migration. Another 30 are to leave for the United States in coming days.

The Meskhetian Turks will be given refugee status in the United States and resettled by volunteer and charitable organizations, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

More Meskhetian Turks could move to the United States in the weeks and months ahead, the official said, adding that all who want to move — and are approved by U.S. Homeland Security officials — will be allowed emigrate.

Bangladesh

Toll nears 550 in monsoon floods

Monsoon floods, tornadoes and rains roared through already inundated villages in South Asia, killing 42 more people and raising the region’s death toll from the annual deluge to 546, officials and news reports said Wednesday.

In India, 27 people died in the eastern Bihar state, including 11 killed when their boat overturned in the raging Gandak River, Superintendent of Police Kapileshwar Manjhi told The Associated Press.

In neighboring Bangladesh, 15 people were killed.

Tornadoes and torrential rains destroyed hundreds of already submerged houses and uprooted trees Tuesday in two of Bangladesh’s northern districts, news reports said. At least 100 people were hurt by flying debris.

Last year, 1,500 people died across South Asia during the mid-June to mid-October monsoons.

Ukraine

Coal mine fire partially contained

Emergency workers labored Wednesday to extinguish a fire deep in a Ukrainian mine, two days after an explosion killed 31 and left five missing.

A massive methane and coal dust blast sparked the blaze Monday evening as 48 miners were changing shifts at a coal face 3,180 feet below the surface. Twelve escaped uninjured.

Part of the blaze at the Krasnolimanskaya mine in Rodinskoye was brought under control after workers pumped in water and nitrogen, Deputy Prime Minister Andrey Klyuyev said.

“All are presumed dead. No one could survive that inferno,” said one official.

Authorities declared three days of mourning for the 31 confirmed dead. A funeral was scheduled for Thursday.

London

Britain loosens rules on screening embryos

Britain’s fertility regulator said Wednesday it was loosening rules on screening human embryos to allow couples to conceive a baby in hopes of curing an ailing sibling.

Britain previously permitted embryo screening only to eliminate genetic disorders.

After a months-long review and a meeting Wednesday, the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority said it would let couples with a sick child test embryos conceived during fertility treatment and pick one to implant in the uterus that matched the older child’s tissue type.

Suzi Leather, head of the fertility board, said the decision would affect very few families. “We’re going to look at this on a case-by-case basis, and we believe this should be a treatment of last resort,” she said. “However, it will make a very great deal of difference to a small number of people. It will help save the lives of some much-loved children.

“This is a cautionary advance for medical treatment for an existing, very sick sibling. I do not believe this is playing God,” she said.