Gunman in Serbia kills 9 after fight with wife

A gunman opened fire Friday in the village of Jabukovac, near the border with Bulgaria in eastern Serbia, killing at least nine people and wounding two, according to officials and media reports.

Rodoljub Milovic, head of Serbia's criminal police, said the man used a hunting rifle and shot randomly at villagers after a dispute with his wife.

The suspect, Nikola Radosavljevic, 38, was found at the local cemetery hours later and arrested.

Rome

Gay men's arrest over kiss deplored

Italian police detained two gay men for kissing outside the Colosseum and accused them of "lewd conduct," sparking howls of protest Friday from rights groups and calls for an apology from a government minister.

The incident took place late Thursday, when the men, aged 27 and 28, were taken to a police station for several hours before being released, according to gay-rights group Arcigay.

Paris

Sarkozy rival faces defamation charge

Political leader Dominique de Villepin, the impassioned voice of French opposition to the Iraq war, was formally accused Friday of complicity in a campaign to smear his rival Nicolas Sarkozy's reputation and presidential aspirations.

De Villepin, who vehemently denied the charges, could face up to five years in prison if convicted.

The scandal began when a judge received a mysterious computer disc accusing Sarkozy and other top ministers of using a Luxembourg bank to hide kickbacks from the sale of $2.8 billion worth of French frigates to Taiwan in 1991. But the charges proved baseless, and investigators focused on finding out who had sent the disc.

Villepin, then foreign minister, came under suspicion of attempting to smear his rival by asking intelligence official Gen. Philippe Rondot to secretly investigate Sarkozy for bribe-taking. Villepin admits asking Rondot to investigate, but denies naming Sarkozy or otherwise attempting to smear him.

Moscow

Navy officials deny nuclear-sub blast

The Russian navy Friday denied media reports of an explosion a day earlier aboard a nuclear submarine under repair in Severodvinsk, on the White Sea.

Igor Dygalo, an aide to the Russian Navy commander, said one of the submarine's main ballast tanks at a dockyard was damaged due to "excessive air pressure."

The Russian Navy has been hit by several accidents involving submarines. The worst occurred on Aug. 12, 2000, when the nuclear sub Kursk sank, killing all 118 crew members, after a torpedo exploded onboard.

Also

The main runway was reopened Friday at a Brazilian airport where a passenger jet skidded off its rain-slicked surface and crashed 10 days earlier, killing almost 200 people. Landings will be restricted in wet weather at São Paulo's Congonhas Airport. Flights arriving in heavy rains will touch down on its backup runway or be diverted to the city's Guarulhos International Airport.

Seattle Times news services