A Jordanian soldier shot and killed seven Israeli schoolgirls who were on a field trip to the "Island of Peace," a border strip shared by the two countries. Early reports indicate the man, identified as Ahmed Mustafa, was deranged. Some Israelis blame Jordan's King Hussein for inciting the attack by releasing a vitriolic letter that accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of provoking Palestinian violence. Conversely, some Palestinians blame Israel for escalating tensions in the region by expanding Jewish housing in East Jerusalem and failing to relinquish enough of the West Bank. The massacre prompted Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to speak to Netanyahu after having refused his phone calls for days. (3/14)

Albania is imploding. (Primer: It's between Italy and Greece.) Nine pyramid investment schemes collapsed, which wiped out the life savings of thousands of Albanians, which led to protests, which led to rebellion, which led to police giving loyalist civilians assault weapons, which led to gunfire, looting, and roving bands of robbers. Inmates are escaping from jails, and the president has lost control of the army. There is talk of importing a peacekeeping force, à la Yugoslavia, but no talk of U.S. soldiers. "Albanians themselves were unsure whether to call the violence a civil war, a revolution, a popular uprising or just plain chaos," said the New York Times. (3/14)

A suspect has been charged with the murder of Ennis Cosby. A $100,000 reward offered by the National Enquirer led to a tip, which led police to the gun and the killer's cap, which led to the arrest of Mikail Markhasev, an 18-year-old Russian émigré with a criminal background. Markhasev also matches the description provided by the woman who allegedly saw the gunman. Early reports linked Markhasev to a Russian car-theft ring, but police now say the killing looks like a random robbery attempt gone awry. (3/14)

TCI, the country's biggest cable-TV company, plans to raise its rates by 7 percent. This comes after TCI recently hiked its rates by 13 percent. Critics say the price increase proves 1) last year's telecommunications bill failed to keep cable rates down as promised, and 2) competition from satellite-dish TV services isn't deterring rate hikes either. Other cable companies are expected to follow suit if TCI gets away with the rate increase. (3/14)

The anti-anti-cloning backlash is underway. At a Senate hearing, Republican senators worried that a ban on human-cloning research might prevent lifesaving medical breakthroughs, and researchers and ethicists said there is no need to legislate hastily, since it will take a while to refine the sheep-cloning technique to work in humans. This comes after President Clinton banned federal funding of human-cloning research and two lawmakers filed bills to ban human cloning. The Sunday Times of London reported that a Belgian scientist had cloned a human, but the report was soon debunked when the scientist explained that he had merely fertilized an egg in vitro and then caused it to split, producing twins. Meanwhile, an elderly Milwaukee couple are soliciting women to conceive and bear their grandchild, using frozen sperm from their dead son. (3/14)

The TWA Flight 800 missile theory is back. A group headed by former ABC newsman Pierre Salinger published a massive report in Paris Match claiming that a U.S. Navy missile blew up the plane. The key evidence cited in the report: 1) a red residue on the plane's seats showing "chemical elements consistent with solid missile fuel" and 2) a government radar tape showing a fast projectile on a collision course with the plane. Federal investigators said that lab tests show the residue is from standard glue used in plane seats. They also seized the radar tape, examined it, and said it shows no missile. The Washington Post groaned that the TWA mystery "has become the aviation equivalent of the Kennedy assassination"--i.e., no amount of disproof satisfies the conspiracy theorists. (3/14)

Update on the Democratic fund-raising scandal: 1) President Clinton said FBI agents denied him advance warning about Chinese influence-buying efforts by telling his aides to keep the information secret. The FBI then issued a statement contradicting Clinton. Pundits oohed and aahed over the quarrel. The next day everyone insisted it was just a misunderstanding. Attorney General Janet Reno said she tried to tell National Security Adviser Tony Lake about the Chinese scheme 10 months ago but was unable to reach him by phone, so she asked the FBI to tell the White House, which led to the above fiasco. 2) The FBI warned six members of Congress last year that China had targeted them for illegal campaign donations through foreign companies. 3) The New York Times reported that the administration endorsed a project in China that was financially important to the Riady family just after a Riady-controlled company put Webster Hubbell on its payroll. White House special counsel Lanny Davis said Clinton may have known three years ago that his friends were subsidizing Hubbell. (3/14)

Playboy says it has corroborated a report that Timothy McVeigh confessed to the Oklahoma City bombing. The magazine claims its article is based on documents "prepared under the direction" of McVeigh's lawyer, but that these documents are different from those previously cited by the Dallas Morning News. According to the article, McVeigh said he alone drove the truck bomb to the site--but he flunked polygraph tests, and his lawyers were skeptical. The New York Times reports that "details in the article contradict physical evidence already presented in open court."(3/14)

Five female soldiers say Army investigators pressured them to falsely accuse their superiors of rape. Four of the five say they had sex with their instructors, but that it was consensual. The women claim they were promised helpful transfers if they told investigators what they wanted to hear and threatened with retaliation if they didn't. The announcement was organized by the NAACP, which suspects racism in the investigation because all the accused officers are black, and most of the accusers, white. (3/12)

Political fallout from the scandal: 1) The Senate expanded its investigation to include "improper" as well as illegal conduct in the 1996 elections. This brings soft money and other much-criticized practices under scrutiny. It is seen as a rebuke to Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and a victory for Democrats, Sen. Fred Thompson (who will chair the investigation), and campaign reform. 2) Clinton's job rating fell from 60 to 55 points in a Washington Post poll, apparently because pollees disapproved of his use of the White House for fund raising. (3/12)

Republican fund-raising hypocrisy watch: 1) The Washington Post reported that a Republican House committee counsel hit up investment firms for $100,000 contributions to the GOP shortly after working on financial-deregulation legislation. 2) Democrats released documents indicating that Republicans sold big political donors meals with the party's leaders in federal buildings in 1995. 3) The Washington Post reported that for $5,000, the National Republican Senatorial Committee is offering donors a chance to give Trent Lott and other senators "advice" at a forum next month. (3/12)

Germany told the United States it would expel an American spy. Initial reports indicated the Germans were angry because the agent was conducting economic espionage against Germany. But U.S. officials now say that the agent was gathering intelligence on another country--most likely Iran--and that the Germans ordered the diplomat out because they're tired of the United States using their country as a spy nest and keeping them in the dark about it. American officials are asking Germany to let the agent stay. (3/12)

Russian President Boris Yeltsin ordered a shake-up of his Cabinet. Yeltsin pledged to keep only two aides: Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and Deputy Prime Minister Anatoly Chubais. The betting is that Chubais, a free-market advocate whom Yeltsin promoted just last week, can now put allies in key jobs and restart economic reforms. The Washington Post declared that Yeltsin is back in the saddle and is launching a much-needed second wave of economic reform. But the Chicago Tribune warned that Chubais will fail, because he is a lousy manager and everyone in Russia hates him. (3/12)

Gangsta rap artist Christopher Wallace, a k a Notorious B.I.G., was assassinated in an apparent drive-by shooting. Police have no leads, but everyone suspects the shooting is a payback for last year's drive-by assassination of rival rapper Tupac Shakur. Wallace, who represented the East Coast rap community, had a long-running feud with Shakur, who represented the West Coast rap community. Police fear an escalating war between the two sides. (3/10)

President Clinton ordered federal agencies to hire welfare recipients. The idea is to set an example for business leaders. The announcement appeased some critics who have accused Clinton of hypocrisy for failing (until now) to take this step. But skeptics pointed out that there are few openings for low-skilled workers (since the government is shrinking), and unions objected to giving welfare recipients preference in the competition for those openings. (3/10)