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NPR's Julie McCarthy reports from Tokyo the Japanese police continue to raid a religious cult and find evidence of the cult being involved in this past week's chemical gas attack on the Tokyo subway.

AFTER HAVING BEEN FIRED FROM THE NAACP LAST YEAR, THE ORGANIZATION'S FORMER PRESIDENT, DR. BENJAMIN CHAVIS HAS FOUND A NEW CAREER. THIS MORNING HE LAUNCHES A NEW WEEKLY RADIO TALK SHOW CALLED "THE FREEDOM JOURNAL" ON SIX BLACK-ORIENTED STATIONS IN THE BALTIMORE-WASHINGTON AREA. NPR'S LAURA KNOY REPORTS.

The Aum Shinrykio sect is now the principal suspect in the Tokyo subway gassing last Monday. Over the past few days Japanese police have confiscated huge amounts of chemical compounds from their headquaters. But as Anne Garrels reports from Moscow the sect also has a large following in Russia - almost three times as many members as in Japan. But some of them are less willing than others.

Daniel talks with Harold Wonkle - deputy assistant director of the FBI's Criminal Investigations Division about the Russian mafia. Recently the FBI opened up an office in Moscow in order to work more closely with the Russian police in combatting Russian criminals whose efforts often extend into the United States. Wonkle says the Russian mafia is very sophisticated and is involved in everything from moneylaundering to medical fraud.

THIS IS THE FINAL STORY STORY BY NPR CORRESPONDENT JACKI LYDEN IN A SERIES OF STORIES ON IRAN WHICH HAVE AIRED THIS PAST MONTH ENTITLED "IRAN AT THE CROSSROADS." SHE VISITS LITERATURE PROFESSOR AZAR NAFICY (AH-zahr nah-FEE-SEE) IN TEHRAN AND BRINGS US THIS PORTRAIT OF AN UNUSUAL PROFESSOR AND UNIQUE WOMAN WHO USES ENGLISH LITERATURE TO CHALLENGE CONVENTIONAL THINKING IN IRAN.

Daniel talks to Philip Alt, who covered WWII for United Press. Alt was a colleague of Pulitzer-Prize winning columnist Ernie Pyle, who was killed in the battle of Okinawa, fifty years ago. Pyle was famous for giving what he called a "worm's eye view of the war," letting his reader know what the regular G.I. did and felt in the trenches.

Daniel visits the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, where development and deforestation have caused a shortage of drinking water. Industrial and commercial development has interfered with natural water patterns, and poor regulation of polluters has exacerbated the problem.

FROM MEMBER STATION WBFO IN BUFFALO, IAN ARONSON REPORTS ON EFFORTS BY THAT CITY'S MAYOR RAISE MUCH NEEDED REVENUE. HE PROPOSES TO CHARGE ON-PROFIT GROUPS WHAT HE CALLS "USER FEES."

THIS WEEK, THE HERMITAGE MUSEUM IN ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, UNVEILED A COLLECTION OF IMPRESSIONIST AND POST-IMPRESSIONIST PAINTINGS. MANY HAD NOT BEEN SEEN IN 50 YEARS AND THOUGHT TO HAVE BEEN DESTROYED DURING WORLD WAR II. IN FACT, THESE PAINTINGS WERE LOOTED IN GERMANY BY SOVIET "TROPHY BRIGADES," AND BROUGHT BACK TO RUSSIA AND HIDDEN IN VAULTS UNTIL NOW. NPR'S BROOKE GLADSTONE WENT TO THE OPENING.

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