National News

Fight to save the NHS

THOUSANDS of protesters marched through the streets of north London last Saturday to express their dismay and outrage at plans to close the Accident and Emergency unit at Whittington Hospital.

It was organised by the Defend Whittington Hospital Coalition and ended in a rally at the hospital in Highgate.

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Women hunger strikers under threat

MORE THAN 22 women are still on hunger strike in Yarl’s Wood Removal Centre. Five are on suicide watch and one has been taken to health care after self-harming.

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Tories’ housing plans are ‘scary as hell’

A CONSERVATIVE election victory would threaten security of tenure for eight million social housing tenants and Britain’s house building programme, according to Jack Dromey, deputy general secretary of the giant union Unite.

He delivered this warning last Saturday at a conference in London of Labour councillors from all around Britain.

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Crown Estate tenants fight for their homes

MORE than 100 tenants last month protested outside the Crown Estates offices near Regent Street in London as their fight to prevent their homes being sold off to the public sector was raised in the House of Commons.

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Dignity is more than a cup of tea

The National Pensioners Convention (NPC), GMB and Action on Elder Abuse (AEA) last week joined forces to call on the Government to mark its Dignity Action Day on 25th February with a commitment to address the scale of neglect suffered by older people in the care system.

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Neo-Nazi jailed for making bomb

A BLACKWOOD man, who admitted possessing an improvised firearm and making pipe bomb, was jailed for three years last week.

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Unions condemn ‘extreme’ hour’s culture

THE TUC last week issued a report saying that the number of people working “extreme” unpaid overtime of more than ten hours a week increased by 14,000 to nearly 900,000 last year.

The report, published on “Work Your Proper Hours day” said that teachers and lawyers are the most likely to do “extreme” unpaid overtime with around one in five employees clocking up an extra 17 hours of free work a week.

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International News

Iraq: ‘resistance the only way’

by our Arab Affairs correspondent

SCORES of Iraqis were killed or wounded in a series of bombings in the central Iraqi city of Baquba on Wednesday as renewed violence swept across the occupied Arab country in the run-up to sectarian elections, organised by the puppet government. Tens of thousands of puppet police and troops have been deployed in the face of increased partisan attacks to ensure that the elections go ahead on 7th March.

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Good news for TEKEL workers

Labour Party (EMEP), Turkey

TURKEY’S Council of State has temporarily delayed a Cabinet decision that required former TEKEL workers to find new work within 30 days. Coming on the eve of the grace period’s expiration date, the court’s move is a victory for the workers.

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Afghan Labyrinth is getting more complicated

Radio Havana Cuba

AFTER the initial euphoria generated by the launch of the Western offensive in southern Afghanistan, a different reality has to be confronted as the invader alliance military think-tanks start to admit serious difficulties in advancing against the determined Afghan resistance. And even though there are not many casualties so far, constant daily losses are worrying Nato’s headquarters and some European governments.

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Karadzic starts his defence

Pravda.ru

WEARING a dark suit and tie, the wartime political leader of Bosnia’s Serbs today ended a previous boycott of his trial for genocide and war crimes to open his own defence.

“I stand before you not to defend the mere mortal that I am but to defend the greatness of a small nation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which for 500 years has had to suffer and has demonstrated modesty and perseverance to survive in freedom,” he told the court in his opening statement.

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Newry bombers have nothing to offer

An Phoblacht

LAST WEEK’S car bomb attack outside Newry courthouse was an attempt by dissident republicans to prevent next month’s planned transfer of policing and justice powers, said Sinn Féin.

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Features

The London Guardian and the absurdity of Kasparov

by Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey

FROM TIME to time, this western newspaper gives space to Gary Kasparov, an Azeri who lives in New York but has an apparent interest in stirring things up inside Russia. While it is understandable that he would prefer residence in the USA to Azerbaijan, his pretensions as regards Russia are curious, if not ominous. Who is pulling his strings?

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Believe it or not — but better not!

by Rob Gowland

A CHAP I was talking to once informed me that “in Soviet Russia, you have to get permission to buy a pair of shoes”. There is no rational response to so daft a statement, is there?

You are left wondering how on earth does he think such a society would — or could — operate, let alone last three quarters of a century in the face of war, sabotage, blockade and subversion?

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International Women’s Day

Workers’ Party of Korea

The struggle of the Workers’ Party of Korea for solution of the women’s issue

A CENTURY has passed since 8th March was set as the International Women’s Day in support of the progressive women in their struggle for independent rights and equal development of women.

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