Sunken cruise ship

SANTIAGO, Chile: Shipwrecked vacationers boarded a military aircraft Saturday and left Antarctica to begin long journeys home after their cruise ship struck ice and sank. More than 150 passengers and crew escaped unhurt after being evacuated by lifeboats Friday from the ship Explorer that hit ice off King George Island in Antarctica.

Nuclear fuel

TEHRAN, Iran: Iran said Saturday it has manufactured nuclear fuel pellets for its 40-megawatt heavy water research reactor in central Iran, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Activists detained

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia: Dozens of members of a Russian opposition party and other activists were detained by police yesterday as they tried to gather for a protest rally in central St. Petersburg. The police action came a week before parliamentary elections.