Michelle Bachelet's runaway victory in Chile's Presidential election has to be seen as a positive development in a country where women have often been treated as second-class citizens. Free article

Sinn Féin Chief Negotiator Martin McGuinness began a series of meetings in Sri Lanka on Tuesday 17 January. McGuinness has travelled to the country at the request of the respected Sri Lankan peace group, the Institute for Political and Conflict Transformation (Inpact). Free article

The international focus on events in the Middle East, accentuated by the US campaign in Iraq, has pushed other conflicts out of the news. On the 12 January, Medicins Sans Frontiers, published a list of ongoing conflicts and humanitarian stories being ignored by media. Free article

Fifteen months after their arrest, two Ógra Shinn Féin activists, John McDermot from Strabane and Daniel Turnbull from Omagh have appeared in court charged with obstruction, disorderly behaviour and resisting arrest. Free article

Sinn Féin County Councillor Gerry Murray has been chosen as the Sinn Féin candidate to contest the next General Election in Mayo. The Mayo Sinn Féin election convention which was attended by some 300 party members and supporters, took place in the Gateway Hotel, Swinford last Sunday 15 January. Free article

Once again, Justice Minister Michael McDowell stands exposed for rank hypocrisy and double speak, this time in relation to the issue of compulsory identity cards. In 2003 McDowell condemned British plans for compulsory ID cards, comparing it to apartheid South Africa. But three years later he has failed to oppose the introduction of such cards in the Six Counties and is now threatening to introduce them in the 26 Counties. Free article

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams led a party delegation including Fermanagh/South Tyrone MP Michelle Gildernew and North Belfast MLA Gerry Kelly to meet a delegation of US Congress members in the Belfast on Wednesday. The US delegation was led by Jim Walsh and included Tim Murphy and Brian Higgins. Free article

Two hundred people from Dublin and Sligo protested outside Mountjoy Jail last Tuesday 17 January at the treatment of Nigerian woman Pamela Izbekhai, who has been imprisoned while awaiting a deportation decision. Free article

A parish priest is accusing the PSNI of not prosecuting the killers of postman Daniel McColgan because they are Special Branch informants. Father Dan Whyte was speaking on the fourth anniversary of the killing of 21-year-old Danny McColgan who was shot dead by unionist paramilitaries as he arrived for work at a Post Office sorting office in the unionist Rathcoole Estate on the outskirts of North Belfast on 12 January 2002. Free article

The European Union Directive on Services in the Internal Market is due to be voted on in the EU Parliament in early February and if passed will have a profound impact on workers' rights, pay and conditions across Ireland and the EU. Free article