A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno

re in the center of Beijing . Nothing much of note went on here Friday , except 

an impressive display of the Chinese Communist Party 's fear of it own people . 

As a result of the Tiananmen anniversary , the government security apparatus has

 been locking down China 's capital for weeks now . And by Friday , all the scre

ws seemed to be firmly in place . Nevertheless , it was a bright , sunny day , a

 good day for a bike ride to a place and a symbol that has been never far from t

he heart of the story that I 've been covering for most of the last five years .

 `` You 'd better be careful , '' I told my new cycling companion , motioning be

hind me with my thumb . `` Public security . '' `` Just ride , '' he said , neve

r looking my way . And so we pedaled on in parallel , I and this man in his late

 20s whose true purpose I could not guess and likely would never entirely fathom

 an apt metaphor for much of what the foreign new media encounter here . We roll

ed past the public-security and armed-police vans and buses parked every 40 to 5

0 feet on the sidewalk between the Great Hall of the People and the massive squa

re . Past the clumps of plainclothes agents , many of whom apparently were issue

d the same straw sun hats . And past the Monument to the People 's Heroes , the 

obelisk erected in memory of those who died for the Communist revolution and the

 site where five years ago Thursday the last Tiananmen protesters courageously h

ung on . `` Many people have forgotten , '' my fellow cyclist said as we hit the

 south end of the square and sliced through the edge of Qianmen , a busy shoppin

g district enlivened by the consumption boom that has swallowed Beijing and othe

r Chinese cities in recent years . My tail the agent riding behind us was still 

there . But Qianmen 's commotion seemed to temporarily mute his presence . `` Th

e government would like to pretend it never happened , '' the young man said . `

` But it willn't let us . '' We slowly turned north to cycle along the east side

 of the square . In the weeks after the crackdown on the Tiananmen protests in 1

989 and again on its first anniversary in 1990 , foreign reporters coming around

 here could easily end up with assault rifles pointed at the tips of their noses

 . It wasn't fun . Two years ago , a colleague working for a U.S. TV network was

 so badly beaten up on the square that he still is disabled by the neurological 

damage . Authorities have never recognized the incident . No guns were openly ev

ident Friday . In recent years , Chinese security `` apparatchiks '' seemed to h

ave gained a degree of experience in handling these matters in less heavy-handed

 ways . But their para-military presence was as unsubtle as ever . Within a base

ball 's throw of the People 's Heroes monument , more than half the would-be tou

rists lingering around appeared to be agents . Many were readily identifiable fr

om their not-so-concealed beepers , portable phones , briefcase cameras or binoc

ulars . ( Begin optional trim ) The overkill was consistent with the last couple

 of weeks here in which the government faced with relatively little challenge fr

om the few dissidents still in the open has acted as though it was under siege .

 This has been so much the case that it 's prompted some foreign reporters and d

iplomats to muse that the government must know something that the entire China-w

atching corps is missing . Or it could just be a kind of dress rehearsal for how

 the regime will handle the death of Deng Xiaoping , China 's elderly and ailing

 paramount leader . Aside from aggressively harassing dissidents , following for

eign reporters and tapping phone lines all of which have become standard practic

es this time each year security agents have been noticeably more quick this spri

ng to react to any ripple that might infringe on their sense of control . Gather

ings primarily of foreigners parties , charity bazaars , film viewings have been

 canceled by authorities . The usual excuse has been an electrical power failure

 , a problem that typically arises at the last minute and lasts only as long as 

the scheduled event . Beijing hotels Thursday were ordered by police to turn off

 their satellite TV broadcasts of the U.S.-based Cable News Network . In the cit

y 's foreign-apartment compounds , CNN was still was available , but the broadca

sts were blacked out whenever a news item about China came on . ( End optional t

rim ) `` What do they have to fear ? '' the young cyclist asked as we reached th

e north end of the square and turned into the much larger swarms of riders flowi

ng down the Avenue of Everlasting Peace , the broad boulevard that bisects Beiji

ng from east to west . `` They have all the power , '' he said in answer to his 

own question . I thought a moment , was about to say something and found he wasn

't at my side any longer or anywhere within the mass of bikes now around me . In

 this crowded Beijing street , I suddenly was alone again except for the thug on

 the bike still behind me .

 PORT-AU-PRINCE , Haiti The generals still give the orders and their gunmen stil

l rule the streets . But as diplomats and Haitians look to scenarios for the fut

ure , the vision isn't pretty especially , they say , if the United States succe

eds in restoring President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to power . Almost every Haitia

n expert and most foreign sources interviewed over a week 's time agreed that , 

as one leading businessman put it , `` there is no other option to the ( U.S. ) 

military option '' to put Aristide back in office more than 32 months after he w

as driven into exile by the Haitian army . This conviction has been strengthened

 by Aristide 's statements last week giving qualified approval to a limited U.S.

 military strike to remove Haiti 's ruling army officers . With the prospect tha

t the deposed leader might somehow be back , sources all of whom opposed the Sep

tember , 1991 , coup and have worked to end military rule are showing signs of g

reat caution , if not outright fear , of an Aristide government . This concern i

s based on what they say have been shortsighted U.S. policies and the uncompromi

sing opposition by the ousted president to broadening his government to include 

differing political and economic views from his populist and partisan approach .

 `` It 's the same old thing , '' said a Haitian diplomatic expert who said he v

oted for Aristide and wants him restored `` as a matter of democratic principle 

. '' `` Aristide and his advisers in Washington ( where the ousted president liv

es ) think they can rule alone , that anyone who opposes a policy is an enemy , 

'' he said . His view , shared by many of those interviewed , is rooted in what 

is seen as duplicitous Aristide actions over the last year , particularly in ins

isting that he has accepted the need for a broader government . He did this , a 

political analyst said , `` only under American pressure and to keep American su

pport . Now that it seems certain that he will come back , he 's the same old Ar

istide . '' The expert 's main example is Aristide 's failure to nominate a new 

prime minister to replace Robert Malval , the moderate who resigned over Aristid

e 's refusal to accept a broadened government . `` If Aristide had learned anyth

ing or was sincere in seeking reconciliation , he would certainly have named a p

rime minister acceptable to more people , '' he said . `` I know his advisers ar

e telling him there 's no need now , that he will come back and do whatever he w

ants . '' ( Begin optional trim ) This source , contacted after word of Aristide

 's acceptance of possible U.S. military action here , said even the limited end

orsement was a sign of Aristide 's ambiguous attitude . `` You note he called fo

r a surgical strike , for the American forces to come in and get out and only to

 remove the military , '' the analyst said . Aristide `` said nothing about the 

structural changes we need and can only be accomplished if there is stability im

posed from the outside . '' `` You know what is going to happen ? '' he asked . 

`` Right after he gets back and Cedras , Biamby and Francois are forced out , Ar

istide is going to condemn ` American intervention ' and demand the U.S. forces 

leave . '' The source was referring to Lt. Gen. Raoul Cedras , the military coup

 leader ; army chief of staff Gen. Philippe Biamby ; and Police Commander Michel

-Joseph Francois . The three are seen as architects of the coup and the brutal p

olicies that have followed . ( End optional trim ) Other concerns , which appear

 to reflect class and economic distinctions as well as differing political views

 , are based on a belief that in the seven months of Aristide 's government , he

 was violently anti-business and instigated the nation 's poor the overwhelming 

majority here against Haiti 's middle and upper classes . `` There was less huma

n rights abuse ( under Aristide ) than at any time in Haitian history , '' said 

a onetime Aristide associate . `` Economic measures were improving . The problem

 was his lack of a political vision , his lack of understanding of the political

 process and his inability to realize he was a politician and needed more than a

 vision from God to govern . '' Now , the source said , `` Aristide believes tha

t his only problem the ( Haitian ) military will be removed . He doesn't underst

and that Haiti 's problems are far deeper than a corrupt and abusive army . '' O

thers said that misunderstanding goes beyond Aristide to include the Clinton adm

inistration , which , one source said , `` is now driven entirely by domestic po

litical concerns and seems based on the idea that if the military is driven out 

, the United States can forget Haiti . '' Of possible U.S. military action , a p

olitical expert , once favored to be a senior Aristide Cabinet official , observ

ed : `` It is all well and good . But the Americans are totally crazy if they do

n't look at the day after '' the U.S. troops arrive . Under the best of circumst

ances , Aristide 's return will present huge challenges not only to him but to l

ong-range U.S. interests here the creation of a stable economic and political cl

imate to finally remove the threat of massive Haitian migration to the United St

ates . While Aristide is still judged to hold the support of most of the 70 perc

ent who made him Haiti 's first democratically elected president , his enemies w

ill remain powerful and determined to protect their economic and social advantag

es . He has no political party and what little support he had in the Parliament 

is dissipated , one diplomat said , pointing out that `` Aristide is a lame duck

 with little more than a year and a half before he 's out of office . '' `` So f

igure it out , '' the source said . Aristide is `` returning on the backs of Ame

rican troops ; that weakens him among nationalists . He has virtually lost the t

rust of the middle and progressive upper classes and the business sector , even 

the ones who opposed the coup . You know the Americans dislike him and just want

 to get rid of him and Haiti . And there is the brutal opposition he will face f

rom all aspects of the politicians here . It will be a mess . '' ( Optional add 

end ) But that is not necessarily true , a former Aristide associate said , noti

ng : `` Look , first of all , Aristide will have to use some of the very people 

you have interviewed , if for no other reason that he needs technically aware pe

ople to run the central bank , to administer aid to just run the government . An

d the lame duck argument can be turned around . He 's only in office for 18 more

 months or so . He willn't have time to do any real harm , and all those politic

ians who will be staking out the future for themselves certainly willn't let him

 . '' Another source , though , who seemed to voice the prevailing mood , said t

hat `` if nothing is done beyond disbanding the military and there are no seriou

s efforts to dismantle the old institutions , then Haiti will remain the same . 

In 10 years we 'll still be the mess we are . ''

 JERUSALEM For six weeks , Israeli women have not been able , except in a few em

ergencies , to get the official approval required for abortions . Cases of suspe

cted child abuse have gone largely uninvestigated . Judges have been unable to d

ecide child custody in divorces . And the elderly have not been able to get home

 health care . Israel 's extensive social safety net , in short , has all but di

sappeared with a strike by the country 's 9,500 social workers and the governmen

t 's refusal to pay the cost of restoring their services a virtual doubling of t

heir poverty-line salaries . `` Our job is to help people at the most difficult 

times of their lives , and we are not there , '' said Nehama Feder , deputy dire

ctor of social services at a Jerusalem hospital . `` For society , the line of d

efense that protects abused children and battered wives , that rehabilitates dru

g addicts , that comforts the victims of terrorism is gone . '' ( Begin optional

 trim ) For those directly affected , the strike in its 45th day as negotiators 

on both sides press for a settlement this weekend has added greatly to their pri

vate traumas : A woman , 43 , discovered in her 20th week of pregnancy that she 

was carrying a baby with Down 's syndrome and applied for an abortion . But no s

ocial worker was available for the panel that , under Israeli law , had to appro

ve the operation and had to have a social worker as a member . A 12-year-old gir

l telephoned her caseworker to complain that her father was sexually abusing her

 again , but all the social worker could do was call the girl 's school counselo

r . Normally , the social worker would interview the girl , bring in the police 

and obtain court orders to protect her . An elderly widower , recovering from a 

heart attack , has been kept in a Tel Aviv hospital for an additional month , no

t permitted by physicians to return home until he can have regular care there . 

The social workers who must authorize home care , and would do so routinely , ar

e on strike . Taken cumulatively , the social workers ' caseload could prove tra

gic if left unattended much longer . ( End optional trim ) Social workers regula

rly check on the well-being of about 1,600 children who have suffered abuse in t

heir homes or who have been abandoned by their families . By law , only social w

orkers can interview children in cases of domestic violence and sexual abuse . S

ocial workers must make recommendations on all adoptions and child custody cases

 . Ora Namir , minister of labor and social affairs and a social worker by profe

ssion , ordered 70 strikers back to work to deal with urgent cases , and the Cab

inet has authorized her to bring 710 more back under emergency regulations . `` 

I can't wait any longer and take responsibility for the damage being done to the

 needy , '' Namir said . The strikers ' grievance is low pay . A starting social

 worker is paid $ 623 a month after a welfare supplement of more than $ 200 to b

ring the salary above Israel 's minimum wage of $ 500 a month . After 17 years ,

 a social worker gets $ 900 a month . Israeli professionals with similar trainin

g in psychology or sociology earn about $ 335 more a month at most levels than d

o social workers . ( Optional add end ) Social workers fell behind in wages beca

use of poor union leadership and the fact that 87 percent of social workers are 

women , whose salaries are regarded as supplemental family income . The social w

orkers , who have been without a contract for 17 months , initially demanded an 

across-the-board pay increase of $ 965 , more than doubling most salaries . The 

current demand is for an additional $ 635 a month , effective immediately . The 

government is offering a raise of $ 535 , but spread over nearly four years . ``

 The law has given us tremendous responsibility for individuals and for society 

, '' said Esther Sapira , chief of a social work team in Jerusalem . `` To do th

at , we must be paid decently . ''

 BUJUMBURA , Burundi All but forgotten by the world , this nation hangs in nerve

-racking suspension , balanced between forces that dare pray for conciliation an

d those who would turn this troubled land into another Rwanda . The slightest mi

sstep could tip the balance . And after a year in which Burundi witnessed its fi

rst free elections , the murder of two of its presidents and a massacre that cla

imed as many as 100,000 lives , the specter of uncontrolled slaughter in a neigh

boring land is very real , very chilling . `` Rwanda is terrifying and terrible 

, '' said Venerand Bakevyumusaya , Burundi 's minister of labor . `` One would t

hink it would have taught us to avoid that kind of madness , but there is a very

 real danger that what happened there could happen here . The calm you see here 

now is not a reassuring calm . '' In colonial times , the two countries were gov

erned first by Germany , then Belgium , as part of a single territory known as R

wanda-Urundi . As in Rwanda , the Tutsis here are a minority , making up 15 perc

ent of Burundi 's 6 million people . But unlike in Rwanda , the Tutsis still con

trol the army , and that , people here say , is what has spared them from genoci

de . The deep mistrust between the Tutsis and Hutus in Burundi , combined with f

ears that chaos in Rwanda could inflame extremists on both sides here , has fill

ed this ramshackle capital with anxiety and a well-founded xenophobia . The coun

tdown is under way , but no one knows if it is toward war or peace . Sadly , onl

y last June , Burundi was being hailed as a model of democratic reform in Africa

 . Its president , Col. Pierre Buyoya , a Tutsi , was soundly defeated by the ci

vilian Hutu candidate , Melchior Ndadaye , in the country 's first free election

s . And , much to everyone 's surprise , Buyoya agreed to honor the results . Nd

adaye pledged a new era in human rights . Four months later , in October , Ndada

ye was spirited away one night to an army camp where he was beaten , stabbed and

 strangled . The vice president and several other senior government officials al

so were killed . In a response that drew little attention in the world , Hutu mo

bs throughout the countryside hunted down and killed as many as 100,000 Tutsis .

 The Hutus called the massacre a preemptive strike . Five days after the assassi

nation , Foreign Minister Sylvestre Ntibantunganya , a Hutu and the de facto hea

d of government , summoned Bujumbura 's tiny diplomatic corps , which includes N

orth Korea and Russia as a holdover from Cold War days . The diplomats pleaded w

ith Ntibantunganya whose wife had been killed in the blood-letting and who himse

lf had barely managed to escape with his life to denounce the killings and to ac

t to end the bloodshed . `` Ntibantunganya was unmoved , '' said an envoy at the

 meeting . He told the diplomats that they were asking for something he could no

t do . The assassination apparently convinced Hutu extremists that even though t

hey had won political power via elections including 80 percent of the seats in P

arliament and 60 percent of the Cabinet posts real power would not be theirs unt

il they controlled the guns . In clandestine fashion , they began arming civilia

ns with South African weapons slipped into the country from Rwanda via Zaire . T

he shipments gave rise to a rebel army , created , ironically enough , by a gove

rnment wanting to protect itself from its own institutions . Hundreds of Tutsis 

took to the streets in Bujumbura on April 6 to dance and march in celebration wh

en the Hutu presidents of Burundi and Rwanda Cyprian Ntaryamira and Juvenal Haby

arimana , respectively were killed in Kigali . The crash of their plane , which 

had been hit by a rocket , unleashed an orgy of massacres in Rwanda . To date , 

aid workers estimate the blood-letting has claimed 200,000 to 500,000 lives . ( 

Optional add end ) In Bujumbura , Ntibantunganya , apparently having learned som

e lessons from the October massacres , went on national television within hours 

of the crash . Flanked by the minister of defense and army chief of staff , he u

rged his countrymen to stay calm . Their presence signaled that the army and the

 government had reached some sort of understanding . Ntibantunganya also gave hi

s approval for the army to disarm the recently equipped civilian militia . But a

 cordon operation in Kamenge and other Hutu neighborhoods turned up relatively f

ew weapons . Western diplomats said most of the leaders of the makeshift rebel a

rmy appeared to have slipped away into the mountains or into Zaire .

 TBILISI , Georgia Eduard A . Shevardnadze , who helped keep the world from expl

oding as he negotiated the end of the Cold War , somehow has been unable to do t

he same in his own small , forgotten homeland . Shevardnadze , the last Soviet f

oreign minister , the diplomat who was the toast of the world as he oversaw the 

dismantling of the Berlin Wall and the growth of the Soviet Union 's friendship 

with the United States , now spends his days surrounded by bodyguards , increasi

ngly disregarded and even reviled as Georgia destroys itself . Shevardnadze retu

rned to his newly independent nation in March 1992 to rescue it from civil war .

 He was quickly elected chairman of the Parliament by a grateful citizenry who s

aw him as a savior . Now , instead of leading a hero 's life , he is suffering t

he bitter harvest of the new world order he helped create . `` The demise of the

 empire was unmanageable , '' he said in a late-evening interview . `` I favored

 the idea of a transition period , but somehow the coup in August 1991 hastened 

this process and it all happened in an unmanageable way . `` Then the Georgian g

overnment took a wrong turn , which led the country to isolation and confrontati

on . Now we are bearing the fruit of that confrontation . '' Georgia began to fa