Around the world
BLAST: Heavily armed Russian troops guarded subways, trolleys and bus stations against a feared wave of terrorism Friday after a bus bomb shattered Moscow's morning rush hour for the second straight day. About 1,000 Interior Ministry soldiers were called out to beef up city patrols and police were put on round-the-clock full alert. Eight of the 28 people injured in Friday's explosion were reported in serious condition, and residents riding public transportation later in the day were noticeably on edge.CHECHNYA: Russian forces beat back a rebel attack in southern Chechnya on Friday then bombed the rebel encampment, killing 60 Chechen fighters, the military said. The air strike came on the fourth day of a fierce Russian offensive that has left over 100 civilians dead or wounded in rebel-controlled towns. The offensive contrasts sharply with President Boris Yeltsin's campaign promises to end the unpopular war and has made a mockery of the cease-fire he negotiated with the separatists.
NUDES: Japanese censors on Friday dropped their opposition to several nude scenes in a new film by Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni, loosening Japan's strict standards on nudity in movies. The decision was welcomed by German co-director Wim Wenders, who had come to Tokyo to protest the initial decision to censor "Beyond the Clouds."
OKINAWA: Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto filed a lawsuit Friday against the governor of Okinawa for refusing to force a local landowner to renew his lease to the U.S. military. The lawsuit, filed in the Naha Branch of the Fukuoka High Court, is the latest step in the legal battle between the central government and the southern island of Okinawa.
VISA: Colombian President Ernesto Samper urged his countrymen to unite against U.S. pressure Friday, calling the State Department decision to revoke his visa a threat to Colombia as a whole. His interior minister also took a hard-line stance, insisting that Colombia will not extradite the Cali drug cartel's jailed leaders as American officials have requested.
Across the nation
SLAYING: A Virginia college pres-i-dent confessed to killing his wife in a chilling 911 tape played Friday in court, his soft voice thickened from the medicines he'd swallowed down after the murder. "I am calling to report a dead body on the porch. . . . There is no need for an ambulance. . . . She died at my hands," John Upton told the dispatcher in a pre-dawn call July 2. The recording of Upton's phone call to a 911 emergency operator froze the courtroom, especially two rows of friends and relatives who looked down or cried as he described Kathleen Upton's death at their Lake Michigan summer home last week. The tape was played at a bail hearing. District Judge Gary Stewart ruled that the president of Rappahannock Community College must remain jailed.