YEAR IN REVIEW 1997: SOCIAL-PROTECTION

HUMAN RIGHTS Major human rights issues that emerged during 1996 included growing concerns over the status and rights of minority groups; self-determination and autonomy in such regions as Rwanda and Burundi, China (Tibet), Turkey (the Kurds), and the republics of the former Soviet Union; problems associated with forced migration; the status and treatment of an ever-increasing number of refugees; the status and treatment of women; economic and social rights; and the rights of development. Problems of special significance were also reported in Burundi, China, Turkey, Nigeria, and Chechnya. Sports and Games In 1996 the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga. (see Special Report), overshadowed most professional sports, but for some it was a banner year. U.S. major league baseball players and owners finally ended a four-year feud and approved a five-year, no-strike labour contract that promised, among other things, experimental interleague play in 1997. It remained to be seen whether the deal would bring back fan support lost during and after the prolonged 1994 strike. In the cricket World Cup, Sri Lanka, which was prevented from sharing duties as host with India and Pakistan when Australia and West Indies refused to play games scheduled there, redeemed itself and the quadrennial one-day tournament with a seven-wicket victory over Australia. (See Sidebar.) The much-anticipated return of professional association football (soccer) to the U.S. arrived with major league soccer (MLS). Most of the 10 MLS teams attracted fairly good crowds, and the first-ever final was an exciting match that ended with the Washington, D.C., United defeating the Los Angeles Galaxy 3-2 in overtime. Women's professional basketball also debuted in the U.S. with the creation of the American Basketball League, which began playing in October, and the Women's National Basketball Association, scheduled to start in June 1997. In Canada the 20-event Women's Curling Tour opened in late 1996 in preparation for the 1997 qualification bonspiel for the 1998 Winter Olympic Games. Although the tour would consist only of preexisting spiels at first, it was expected to provide a framework for future growth in the sport. In several sports 1996 was the year of the rookie, as young, newly professional athletes came to the fore. Chief among them was Eldrick ("Tiger") Woods, the 20-year-old U.S. golf phenomenon who turned pro after winning his third U.S. Amateur title and then won 2 of the 11 tournaments in which he played. At age 21, rookie pro golfer Karrie Webb of Australia won four events (having captured the 1995 Women's British Open as an amateur) and ended the season as the first woman golfer to earn over $1 million in a single season. Czech-born Martina Hingis (age 16), representing Switzerland on the professional tennis circuit, achieved two singles victories, the women's doubles title at Wimbledon, and a fourth-place ranking in the world. In basketball two 18-year-olds--Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Jermaine O'Neal of the Portland Trail Blazers--were drafted into the National Basketball Association out of high school. (MELINDA C. SHEPHERD)