"The Right to Choose About Our Own Bodies"

The Republic of Argentina shares many sociohistorical parallels with the Republic of Ireland. Both have been traditionally conservative, christian nations, with the Roman Catholic Church having a privileged position of power in all areas of public life. Even so, due to massive demonstrations and strong activist commitment, coupled with horrifying stories which came to the attention of the press, it became impossible for the government to stay impassive any longer. While abortion hasn't become legal in Argentina, this article will explore its history, the parallels with Ireland, and recent developments which may be opening the way for safe and legal abortion in the South American nation.

RTÉ has announced a programme in its Hidden History series making controversial claims about IRA sectarianism during the War of independence. This is how RTE is currently publicising it:

Guns and Neighbours: The Killings at Coolacrease
“The bloody tale of a bitter land dispute, involving a family of Protestant farmers in County Offaly, which comes to a deadly conclusion during the War of Independence. Featuring interviews with descendants of the men who carried out the killings, this portrait of a forgotten atrocity features substantial newspaper archive research, IRA witness statements and military documents from the period.”

Related Links: The Story Starts Here | The Hidden History documentary strand returns to RTÉ

The Photo Used On The Front Of Dahr's Book

It's a cliché that the media was the first casualty of the Iraqi occupation, but few reacted like Dahr Jamail. Made brazen by his travels off the beaten path between monotonous jobs, he packed a cheap digital camera along with a laptop and entered Iraq to go beyond the Green Zone and embedded reporting.

The dispatches he circulated online, first through emails and then through his site, quickly grew into an essential resource for those in the west desperate for an alternative take on the war on terror. They remain today a vital channel for struggling voices inside occupied Iraq.

A collection of Dahr's work called Beyond the Green Zone: Dispatches From an Unembedded Journalist in Occupied Iraq is coming out this month on Haymarket Books, prior to its release he sat down with Indymedia Ireland to talk about his journalism and the situation in Iraq.

Eye Cinema strikers and a youthful supporter

Workers at the Eye Cinema, Galway, members of SIPTU’s Galway No 1 branch, are in dispute with their employer. Although the dispute concerns bread-and-butter issues relating to pay and working conditions, the owner of the cinema, local property tycoon Gerry Barrett, has turned it into a dispute about the right to belong to a union.

Earlier this week: Over a thousand, primarily women, NIPSA members met at Writers Square in Belfast today for a March and Rally to mark the first day of industrial action demanding far pay and conditions for classroom assistants across the North of Ireland. Classroom assistants had voted...see photo report.

Related Links: Sinn Fein Minister to cut pay of classroom assistants | SIPTU Press Release On Eye Cinema | Wildcat strike in Musgrave Warehouse In Dublin | Independent Workers' Union Exposes Abuse Of Migrant Workers | Postman Pat says ‘stuff your pay cut” | Nurses Call For Health System Based On Solidarity | Joanne Delaney Gets Reinstated | Polish Workers Wildcat at Tescos | Indymedia Workers Archive

American imperialism or Iranian fundamentalism

Under a storm of controversy Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was invited to speak at Columbia University in New York City. Ahmadinejad is in New York for the UN General Assembly meeting. The Iranian President had already caused controversy by seeking to visit the site of the Twin Towers disaster. The request was swiftly denied by the US authorities. The invitation to speak at Columbia was attacked by many across the political spectrum of the US despite many US citizens priding themselves on the right to free speech. The Iranian Presidents speech to the University has come at a time when the US establishment has increased its propaganda war against Iran in what appears to many as a precursor to war.

Related Links: Iranian President goes to UN General assembly | Irish Times continues to Misrepresent Iranian "Threat" | Iran Holocaust conference opens | Irans Nuclear Threat | "Israel must be wiped off the map"! But did Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad actually say this?