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NEWS ... GLOBAL NEWS ... THE TOP 25 NEWS STORIES AS 4) Hunger and Homelessness 8) Pentagon E gon Exempt from Freedom JUDGED BY PROJECT CENSORED increasing in the USA of Information Act Requests 4) Hunger and Homelessness Increasing in the USA lhe number of hungry and homeless people in US cities continued to grow in 2005, despite claims of an improved economy. Increased demand for vital services rose as the needs of the most destitute went unmet, according to the annual report of the US Conference of Mayors which, since its 1982 inception, has documented increasing need. 8) Pentagon Exempt from Freedom of Information Act Requests he Department of Defense has been granted exemption from the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). In December 2005, Congress passed the 2006 Defense Authorization Act which renders Defense Intelligence Agency "operational files" fully immune to FOIA requests. 1) Future of Internet Debate Ignored by Media hroughout 2005 and 2006, a large underground debate raged regarding the future of the Internet. More recently referred to as "network neutrality", the issue has become a tug of war with cable companies on the one hand and consumers and Internet service providers on the other. 9) The World Bank Funds Israel- Palestine Wall espite the 2004 International Court of Justice decision that called for tearing down the Israel-Palestine Wall and compensating affected communities, construction of the Wall has accelerated. The World Bank's vision of "economic development", however, evades any discussion of the Wall's illegality. 5) High-Tech Genocide in the Congo lhe world's most neglected emergency, according to the United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, is the ongoing tragedy of the Congo, where six to seven million have died since 1996 as a consequence of invasions and wars sponsored by Western powers trying to gain control of the region's mineral wealth. 2) Halliburton Charged with Selling Nuclear Technologies to Iran Acorns to journalist Jason Leopold, sources at US Vice-President Dick Cheney's former company Halliburton allege that, as recently as January 2005, the company sold key components for a nuclear reactor to an Iranian oil development company. Leopold says his Halliburton sources have intimate knowledge of the business dealings of both Halliburton and Oriental Oil Kish, one of Iran's largest private oil companies. 10) Expanded Air War in Iraq Will Kill More Civilians here is widespread speculation that President Bush will begin pulling troops out of Iraq in 2006. A key element of the drawdown plans not mentioned in public statements is that the departing American troops will be replaced by American airpower. 6) Federal Whistleblower Protection in Jeopardy pecial counsel Scott Bloch, appointed by President George W. Bush in 2004, is overseeing the virtual elimination of whistleblower rights in the US government. 3) Oceans of the World in Extreme Danger Onn problems once found on a local scale are now pandemic. Data from oceanography, marine biology, meteorology and glaciology reveal that the oceans are changing in ominous ways. A vortex of cause and effect wrought by global environmental dilemmas is changing the ocean from a watery horizon with assorted regional troubles to a global system in alarming distress. 7) US Operatives Torture Detainees to Death in Afghanistan and Iraq n October 25, 2005, the American Civil Liberties Union released documents on 44 autopsies performed in Afghanistan and Iraq. Twenty-one of those deaths are listed as homicides. The documents show that detainees died during and after interrogations by Navy SEALs, military intelligence and other agencies. 11) Dangers of Genetically Modified Food Confirmed Sent recent studies confirm fears that genetically modified (GM) foods damage human health. These studies were released as the World Trade Organization moved towards upholding the ruling that the EU has violated international trade rules by stopping importation of GM foods. —— CUR PLAPET Ess WIFE OUT OUR THRE. 12) Pentagon Plans New Land Mines lhe Bush administration plans to resume production of antipersonnel land mine systems in a move that is at odds with both the international community and previous US policy, says Human Rights Watch. 13) New Evidence Establishes Dangers of Roundup/Glyphosate ew studies from both sides of the Atlantic reveal that Roundup, the most widely used weed-killer in the world, poses serious human health threats. 14) Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build US Detention Centres alliburton's subsidiary KBR (formerly Kellogg, Brown and Root) announced on January 24, 2006, that it had been 8 = NEXUS www.nexusmagazine.com OCTOBER — NOVEMBER 2006