Army Questions McKinney Accuser

The woman who paved the way for a sexual harassment case against the Army's top enlisted soldier bridled at cross-examination at a military hearing today. During tense questioning by a military attorney for Sergeant Major of the Army Gene McKinney, retired Sgt. Maj. Brenda Hoster exploded when asked for exact sequences of events following an incident of alleged sexual misconduct last year. Hoster, her voice rising, called the questioning "nit-picking." Hoster was the first of five military women to have accused McKinney of sexual misconduct. He has denied all charges, and the current hearing is to determine whether he will face court-martial.

Clinton Vows to Save Lake Tahoe

President Clinton launched an ambitious initiative today to halt the pollution of scenic Lake Tahoe but stopped short of the $300 million spending commitment regional planners wanted. Clinton told a round-table discussion on the banks of the lake that the federal government would double its spending to more than $50 million over the next two years. Experts estimate it will cost $900 million over the next 10 years to reverse the decline of Lake Tahoe, which straddles the California-Nevada border. Lake Tahoe is slowly losing the crystalline brilliance for which it is famous because of the growth of algae, caused by soil erosion and urban runoff.

Purported Cunanan Suicide Note

The Miami Herald says it has received a purported suicide note by Andrew Cunanan, the alleged killer of Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace and four other men. The newspaper said it handed the note, which was unsigned and written on a typewriter or computer, over to police for fingerprinting. The newspaper said the note contained "somewhat unfocused" references to AIDS and to Cunanan's killing spree, which ended with his reported suicide in Miami Beach Wednesday. A local radio station quoted Miami Beach Police Chief Richard Barreto as saying he was not very impressed by the letter, suggesting it was perhaps a hoax.

Eight Die in Belgian Airshow Crash

At least eight people died and dozens were injured today when a light plane mounting an aerobatics display crashed into a Red Cross tent at an air show in the Belgian coastal town of Ostend. The pilot, a captain in Jordan's Royal Falcons aerobatics display team, was among the dead. Scores of people were badly burnt when the plane plunged to the tarmac after the pilot apparently lost control during the display, raining debris onto the crowd and spraying spectators with burning kerosene. Belgian BRTN radio says the death toll is likely to rise.

Budget Talks Continue

White House officials and congressional Republican leaders resumed negotiations today on balanced budget legislation, with the two sides differing on whether they thought a deal was imminent. Entering a private meeting in the Capitol, White House chief of staff Erskine Bowles said, "We're making some progress but we've got a long way to go." House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer, a Texas Republican, was more upbeat. "It looks pretty good. There's optimism we could come to decision today," Archer said. "There really are very few items left to be resolved."

Clinton Calls for Volunteering

President Clinton is calling for "an era of big citizenship," urging all Americans to look beyond their differences and make community service a way of life. In his weekly radio address today, Clinton announced that 1,600 high school students had won college scholarships of at least $1,000 in the first year of his program to reward outstanding community service. The president listed other actions he had taken to use partnerships and citizen service to achieve his policy goals, including a program to mentor families seeking to leave welfare for work.

Barbour Attacks Accuser

Former Republican National Committee head Haley Barbour today denigrated the credibility of a witness who said in sworn testimony that Barbour sought Hong Kong money to use for political purposes. Barbour told CNN today that Richard Richards contradicted himself yesterday when he testified that in 1994 Barbour asked him to solicit a $2.1 million loan from a Hong Kong client. Richards, a prominent Utah Republican who himself once headed the RNC, told a Senate committee that Barbour told him the money was needed to help elect Republican congressmen. Barbour did not give examples of Richards' alleged contradictions.

Some Relief from European Floods

Aid workers and residents of flood drenched east Germany breathed a sigh of relief today as round-the-clock efforts to reinforce dikes held off some of the heaviest floods in decades. Sunny skies and forecasts of improving weather in the coming days gave cause for hope on both sides of the Oder River that divides Germany and Poland that the worst could be over. Thousands of German soldiers spent the night filling 200,000 sandbags on the banks of the Oder. The floods have claimed about 100 lives this month in neighboring Poland and the Czech Republic.

Netanyahu Says No Enclave Now

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's aides have informed Washington, Egypt, and Jordan that Israel will not allow another Jewish settler enclave to be built at this time in Arab East Jerusalem. In a surprise move, a project by an American Jewish magnate to build a few dozen houses in the Arab neighborhood of Ras al-Amoud was given the green light by the Israeli Jerusalem municipality on Thursday. Netanyahu's spokesman says the Ras al-Amoud project will not be allowed to go forward "at this time" but this did little to placate Palestinians, who had called the plan a "declaration of war."

US Calls for Cambodia Mediation

A State Department spokesman says the United States wants ASEAN to act as a mediator in the Cambodian political conflict. Spokesman Nicholas Burns' comments came after U.S. special envoy Stephen Solarz was reported to have found some flexibility among strongman Hun Sen and other parties to the Cambodian conflict. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who is in Malaysia for talks with Association of Southeast Asian Nations officials, has found consensus on U.S.-backed principles that should underpin political reconciliation in Cambodia, although differences remain.

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