JAPAN BRACES FOR THE WORST

Tokyo hospitals stocked up on nerve gas antidotes while some schools and shopping centers shut down early for the weekend, as police authorities stepped up the largest peacetime security operation in Japanese history. Tokyo is bracing for a disaster this weekend, as predicted in a book released last month byAum Shinrikyo cultleader Shoko Asahara. He is believed to have directed thenerve gas attack that killed 11 people in Tokyo subwayslast month. Today, Japanese police carried 53 children from the Aum Shinrikyo compound near Mt. Fuji, many wearing headgear with wires attached. Cult followers believe the gadgets allow them to synchronize brain waves with Asahara.