Students Protest University Budget Cuts:
Students at Sussex University have come into conflict with riot police by occupying the central building of their campus. As part of a Stop The Cuts campaign, roughly 80 students occupied Sussex House with a supporting demonstration of roughly 300 protesters. The occupation was part of a national day of action against the governments proposed £950 million cuts to higher education. There were also protests in Norwich, Leeds and London.

Controversial Political Chinese Artist To Exhibit In London:
Ai Weiwei, China’s most famous living artist, has been commissioned to fill the Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall. Last year Chinese police beat Ai so badly that surgeons had to drill two holes in his head to remove 30ml of fluid from his skull. The attack was a reaction to Ai’s investigation into the deaths of 5,250 children in the 2008 Shichuan earthquake. “I almost got killed,” he admitted after his Munich operation. “The point is if you want to make a point you are in danger. Whoever comes to this point will be crushed.” Vicente Todoli, director of Tate Modern, said Ai’s work was “among the most socially engaged works of art being made today.”

NHS and Eco-protesters Under Fire From Tory Trainer:
Tory parliamentary candidates are being trained by an organisation that supports the scraping of the NHS and believes waterboarding prisoners is justifiable. Donal Blaney, chief executive of Young Britons’ Foundation, has called for environmental protesters who trespass to be “shot down” by the police, for US-style liberal firearm laws in Britain and has written an article entitled Scrap The NHS, Not Just Targets. The Young Briton’s Foundation claims to have trained over 2,500 Conservative party activists and have featured 11 prospective Tory candidates as speakers. Programmes designed to radicalise young Tories include trips to meet neo-conservative groups in the US and to a shooting range in Virginia to fire submachine guns and assault rifles. Jon Cruddas, a Labour MP who is heading a campaign against righwing extremism in the election, said: “It beggars belief that the Conservative party should be so reliant for the training of some of its candidates and thousands of its young activists on an organisation headed by people with such extremist views.”

Honduras Activist Murdered:
Claudia Brizuela, National Popular Resistance Front activist and daughter of a prominent Communist party member, union organizer, political strategist, radio host and journalist, has been shot dead at her home by an unidentified gunmen. Since the new president of Honduras, Porfirio Lopez, took power in a coup in January, their has been a political suppression of the FNRP, with activist Junez Benitez being shot dead by unidentified gunmen on a motorbike in February. The day after Claudia’s murder, 10,000 people marched to the presidential palace, demanding constitutional reform, teacher back pay and demanding an end to the attacks on activists. An FNRP statement said, “We will not rest until the successful reform of the state through the installation of a National Constitutional Assembly.”

Haiti Could Face Another Disaster, Says UN Relief Chief:
John Holmes, the British diplomat who heads the UN’s disaster relief programme, has called for a huge increase in the provision of shelter and sanitation in Haiti before the arrival of the rainy season in a few weeks. Up to 150,000 people are thought to be living in high risk areas prone to flooding and mudslides, and about half them need to be moved. Holmes said the UN was scrambling to provide temporary housing for 1.2 million Haitians thought to be homeless.

Protests Allowed A Prevention Of War Crimes Defence:
A judge has allowed six protesters to claim “prevention of war crimes” as a defence in their trail for smashing machinery at an EDO weapons factory. Judge Kemp of Lewes Crown Court refused to hear the prosecutions attempt to prevent the war-crimes deference application. Determined to prevent the defendants from justifying their actions in front of a jury, the prosecution is taking their argument to the High Court to overturn the decision. Chloe Marsh, Smash EDO’s press spokesperson said, “This was an attempt by the authorities to shut down a fair trial for the defendants. There are important questions to be answered about this company’s complicity in war crimes. We welcome the judge’s decision and condemn these underhand attempts to prevent a jury from hearing the full facts of the case.”

Words: Richard Lemmer.

Photos: Flickr user BOZAR of Ai Weiwei and his artwork.

Flickr user IFRC of destruction in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince after the devastating earthquakes.