x <- "\nMr. Johnson (spoke in \nRussian) (United Kingdom and \nNortheren Ireland) \n"
gr <- gregexpr("\\([^()]*\\)", x)
mat <- regmatches(x, gr)
regmatches(x, gr) <- lapply(mat, function(z) sub("\n", "", z, fixed=TRUE))
x
eCA8LSAiXG5Nci4gSm9obnNvbiAoc3Bva2UgaW4gXG5SdXNzaWFuKSAoVW5pdGVkIEtpbmdkb20gYW5kIFxuTm9ydGhlcmVuIElyZWxhbmQpIFxuIgpnciA8LSBncmVnZXhwcigiXFwoW14oKV0qXFwpIiwgeCkKbWF0IDwtIHJlZ21hdGNoZXMoeCwgZ3IpCnJlZ21hdGNoZXMoeCwgZ3IpIDwtIGxhcHBseShtYXQsIGZ1bmN0aW9uKHopIHN1YigiXG4iLCAiIiwgeiwgZml4ZWQ9VFJVRSkpCng=