World IN BRIEF : GREECE : Albanians Risk All to Cross Over

Nearly 600 Albanians have braved machine-gun fire and waded through heavy snow and icy waters so far this month to flee to Greece, police said. The refugees, mostly ethnic Greeks from southern Albania, are fleeing the Communist country that was long Eastern Europe’s most repressed and isolated state but which is due to hold multi-party elections in February. Refugees tell of long hikes through heavy snow and of Albanian border guards opening up with machine guns even after they crossed the border. Five or six people have been killed and many wounded by guards in recent days, refugees said.