The Israeli Supreme Court ruled last May that the Bedouin must leave the area. Peter Lerner, an Israeli official, said, "We hope that the other families will understand that we are serious. We will continue to evacuate them if they do not pick themselves up and move."

Wall Street threatens Beijing
Charlene Barshefsky, acting U.S. trade representative, warned the Chinese government January 29 that it would be barred from entering the World Trade Organization if it continues blocking the importation of some U.S. agricultural goods, including pork, poultry, and wheat. Beijing says the products carry diseases that could contaminate the food system in China. U.S. officials call that explanation a government-manufactured story to shield Chinese producers from world market competition.

UK forces maneuver in Cyprus
Some 100 British troops began a military exercise in a forest in northwestern Cyprus January 27, where they fired live ammunition, despite the presence of Cypriot protesters in the woods. Police rounded up 12 of the Mediterranean isle protesters, who argued such military exercises could set off fires that would destroy the environmental balance in the area. Three protesters remained in the forest, including parliamentary deputy Marios Matsakis. The British government claims two regions of the island - both now used as military bases -under a 1960 treaty outlining Cypriot independence from Britain.

Vietnamese farmers defend land
On Dec. 30, 1996, hundreds of Vietnamese cops in riot gear stormed the village of Tho Da, where farmers are refusing to be kicked off their land to allow the construction of a golf course. Private property was eliminated through the Vietnamese revolution, though land rights can be traded. In these trades toilers on the land often get the short end of the compensation stick. In an earlier confrontation between farmers and police at Tho Da, one of the cops drowned in a fish pond. Farmers set fire to a bulldozer and another vehicle there in January.

Malaysian gov't expels `illegals'
The Malaysian government has initiated a campaign to deport a million undocumented workers from that country. They laid down an end-of-January deadline for immigrants working without permits to "surrender." Only 800 foreign- born workers had responded as of a few days before the deadline. Government troops, cops and civil defense guards have already been deployed, raiding factories, plantations, shopping malls, restaurants, nightclubs, and construction sites. The immigration authorities will also carry out house-to-house searches. Under new immigration laws, those found working without permits could be caned, imprisoned up to five years, heavily fined, or outright deported.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, many immigrant workers "are subjected to continuing abuse and exploitation" as they are forced to work long hours for low wages, and under unsafe working and living conditions. Workers are smuggled into the country and charged high fees for the trip - many under the false impression that they will acquire legal employment.

Chagas disease grips Honduras
Nearly 6 percent of the Honduran population - 300,000 people - are infected with a parasitic disease called Chagas, a government health official announced in January. Infections mainly occur through insect bites or ingestion of contaminated water. Symptoms include prolonged fever, edema or liquid swelling under the skin, and enlargement of the spleen, liver, and lymph nodes. Herald Wire Services says 65,000 Hondurans are expected to die of the disease the next few years. The risks of catching the Chagas disease are greatly reduced with access to purified water and enclosed living quarters. A World Health Organization survey says that millions in Latin America are infected with this disease.

O'Leary: `Oops about the nukes'
Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary recently released information about botched tests and storage of nuclear weapons materials that could be a dangerous health hazard. About 250 tons of plutonium and uranium, two toxic metals used in the nuclear warheads to sustain an explosion, have been inadequately stored at 13 sites - the largest one in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. O'Leary, in a report issued last December, cited storage facilities built nearly half a century ago with faulty fire protection systems as a danger. The report said that a large blaze could spread radioactive debris outside the facility.

One of thousands of previously classified films of nuclear tests now being made public shows a missile explode carrying a nuclear warhead capable of melting a large city, covering the Johnston Island test site with radioactive debris.

Blacks denied voting rights
According to a recent study by the Sentencing Project, 14 percent of the Black male population - 1.46 million people - are currently or permanently excluded from voting, due to being in prison, on probation or parole, or convicted of a felony. Those convicted of felony crimes are not able to vote in 46 states while imprisoned, and 31 states prohibit parolees from voting. There are 13 states that permanently deprive alleged felons of the right to vote.

The study indicates that the ratio of Blacks incarcerated in relation to whites jumped from 6.88 to 1 in 1988, to 7.66 to 1 in 1994. Those who have served time in prison get 25 percent less hours of work than they did before incarceration. One of every three Black youth are under control of the criminal justice system, and while Blacks make up 14 percent of the U.S. population, they are 51 percent of the 1.1 million inmates in state and federal prisons.

Pregnancy no grounds for firing
The Virginia Supreme Court ruled January 10 that companies, no matter what their size, cannot fire workers because they are pregnant. Companies that employ less than 15 workers have up to now been exempt from federal civil rights laws that contain such protections. The ruling overturned a previous "employment-at-will" court precedent that relinquished a construction company of any need to justify the firing of a pregnant worker, by saying that racially or gender motivated dismissals are prohibited.

Boss convicted of waste pollution
On January 16, Terry Rettig, a former waste treatment plant manager, was found guilty on 23 counts of violating the Clean Water Act - including releasing waste-ridden liquid into the Pagan River - and destroying and falsifying records. A Norfolk, Virginia federal judge sentenced Rettig to 30 months in prison and one year of supervised release.

He could have gotten up to 54 months in prison with a $5.75 million fine, but this was reduced based on his willingness to cooperate with a federal investigation at Smithsfield meatpacking plants - two of the five places where he flaunted environmental regulations. Last month Smithsfield, one Virginia's largest pork producers and polluters, was sued by the federal government for releasing waste into the Pagan River.

- BRIAN TAYLOR  
 
 
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