Around the world
EXECUTED: Lithuania has executed Mafia boss Boris Dekanidze for ordering the murder two years ago of a popular investigative journalist, the newspaper Lietuvos Rytas said Friday. Dekanidze, 33, had been on death row since November last year, convicted of masterminding the assassination of journalist Vytas Lingys, shot in front of his house in 1993. Lingys had written a series of articles accusing Dekanidze of running extortion rackets.
SRI LANKA FIGHTING: Hundreds of Tamil separatists launched a counterattack Friday and shot down an air force plane in their first significant action since a major government offensive began five days ago. At least 45 soldiers were killed and 100 wounded when rebels attacked troops near Alavetti and Sandilippaai, towns in northern Sri Lanka that the military had captured this week, military sources said. They said rebel casualties appeared to be high, but no numbers were immediately available. About 600 rebels overran two military camps near the towns, the sources said.
Across the nation
SMITH TRIAL: As jury selection dragged, the prosecutor in the Susan Smith case repeated he will not plea bargain but would be comfortable if she pleaded guilty and allowed the judge, not a jury, to impose sentence. At the end of Thursday's session in Circuit Judge William Howard's courtroom in Union S.C., only one new juror was selected, bringing the total sequestered to six. Twelve jurors and six alternates are being sought. Prosecutor Tommy Pope, who has sought the death penalty for Smith in the drownings of her two young sons, presented the idea of a decision by the judge.
PRESSES ROLL: Editors and managers followed through on their plan to publish Friday's editions of The Detroit Free Press and The Detroit News after a breakdown in contract negotiations led 2,500 workers to walk off the job. As the strike deadline passed Thursday, workers filed out of the Free Press and the News buildings, which are about a block apart on the same street. Management assumed editorial operations at both papers to finish up Friday's editions, according to officials with Detroit Newspapers. An undetermined number of copies of the papers were published overnight, but home delivery was suspended Friday.