Once the bustling heart of Christian pilgrimage, Bethlehem now faces shuttered hotels, empty streets and a shrinking Christian community, while Israel’s assault on Gaza and the tightening grip of occupation destroy hopes of peace at the birthplace of Christ, writes Father GEOFF BOTTOMS
The ‘Bandung spirit’ lives on in the new multipolar world
China’s huge growth and trade success have driven the expansion of the Brics alliance — now is a good time for the global South to rediscover 1955’s historic Bandung conference, and learn its lessons, writes ROGER McKENZIE
A plenary session during the Bandung Conference, 1955
After years hidden away, Oldham’s memorial to six local volunteers who died fighting fascism in the Spanish civil war has been restored to public view, marking both a victory for campaigners and a renewed tribute to the town’s proud International Brigade heritage, says ROB HARGREAVES
The June 2025 attacks on Iran have heightened the risk of a wider war, exposed the fiction of a rules-based international order and left ordinary Iranians trapped between external aggression and internal repression, says the Committee for Defence of Iranian People’s Rights
While pretending to seek peace, Europe is heading toward a collision course with Russia – using security guarantees, troop deployments, expropriation and censorship as tools, writes SEVIM DAGDELEN
A WWI hero, renowned ornithologist, medical doctor, trade union organiser and founder member of the Communist Party of Great Britain all rolled in one. MAT COWARD tells the story of a life so improbable it was once dismissed as fiction
The long-term effects of chemical weapons such as Agent Orange mean that the impact of war lasts well beyond a ceasefire
THIS year is the 70th anniversary of the historic Bandung conference, a landmark moment for the global majority.
It was the first-ever summit-level meeting of independence leaders from Africa and Asia and is a beacon for the new mood of determination to break the largely “flag independence” that followed the end of colonialism.
Bandung provides important lessons for the global majority on how to meet the challenges of creating a new multilateral world.
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The UN is not only in need of structural change, a fundamental mindset revolution is also required – and it’s China that points the way with its Global Governance Initiative, argues ROGER McKENZIE
The charter emerged from a profoundly democratic process where people across South Africa answered ‘What kind of country do we want?’ — but imperial backlash and neoliberal compromise deferred its deepest transformations, argues RONNIE KASRILS
A multipolar world is emerging where a number of countries of the global South are now using their growing economic power and political importance to demand reform of the post-WWII order, argues DAVID CAVENDISH
