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
100 years ago – why was Giacomo Matteotti murdered by Mussolini’s secret police?
ALFIO BERNABEI presents evidence that it was the Italian Socialist MP’s attempt – weeks before his death – to build an anti-fascist platform in Britain that cost him his life, as he vainly sought to prevent Italy from falling into dictatorship
DOOMED: Matteotti (centre) with fellow supporters during the early 1920s
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
AT THE end of his four-day clandestine visit to London in April 1924, Giacomo Matteotti, the Italian secretary of the Socialist Party and a prominent MP, was asked by the Daily Herald if he was not afraid to return to his country.
“My life is always in danger,” he replied. “This is what I want you to understand.” He had every reason to fear for his life. Regarded as the arch-enemy of Mussolini, who was head of government and foreign minister, he had been denied a passport to prevent him from meeting representatives of foreign organisations. It wouldn’t be long before someone would let him know that he had gone a step too far.
Less than two months later, the search for his body was continuing in and around Rome.
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