Fownhope’s Heart of Oak Society traces its roots to the age of friendly societies, when communities provided their own safety net. Its anniversary celebrations reveal a tradition still very much alive, says MARK SEDDON
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Irish ruling elites under pressure from UN verdict
Archaic abortion legislation in Ireland — North and South — is violating women’s human rights, says the UN. Kellie O’Dowd argues it’s time for change
ANGUS REID explains the significance of Cuba’s egalitarian in letter and spirit Family Code and the pertinent lessons it holds for democracies anywhere in the world
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NICK WRIGHT considers how the isolation of Israel and a new film on the controversial Italian communist leader are creating new reference points for Italy’s left
CARLOS MARTINEZ says Cuba’s achievements in the face of a criminal blockade are startling, but the island’s future if the United States succeeds in crushing it looks bleak
AMNON BROWNFIELD STEIN reports that far-right MPs who mobbed the event organised by Hadash may have helped raise awareness of the brutality of the Israeli right
There were two rulings last week relating to abortion from the UN, which are welcomed but come as no surprise to activists who have worked for years to try tod change the situation in Ireland for women and girls who need to access abortion services.
The UN committee said the Republic of Ireland’s laws prohibiting and criminalising abortion violated the rights of Amanda Mellet, a dual citizen of Ireland and the US, as it denied her an abortion despite being given a diagnosis of fatal foetal anomaly in 2011.
It is the first time that an international human rights body has found a state in violation of its human rights obligations for criminalising and prohibiting abortion.
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NORMA AUSTIN HART reports from a conference on on the rights of women prisoners in the Scottish criminal justice system
As peers prepare to debate reform of the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act, Labour MP Tonia Antoniazzi leads a bid to end the criminalisation of women who end pregnancies at home. LYNNE WALSH reports
