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
Ireland’s lacklustre election sees the status quo cling on
With the Green Party’s electoral wipeout and far-right’s failure, the traditional defenders of the ruling class maintain in control, and the multiple crises our nation faces remain unaddressed, explains the COMMUNIST PARTY OF IRELAND
Activists protest outside the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office in central London on November 28
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
THE outcome of the general election in the 26 counties will do nothing to solve the multiple crises of homelessness, health provision, rising prices and precarious employment facing many urban and rural working-class communities.
Nor will it deal with the continuing erosion of democracy, which sees the Irish government unable and unwilling to sever economic, cultural, and political links with the genocidal Israeli state because of pressure from the EU and the US.
The election was contested by 10 political parties, but they all had the same economic programme. There was no challenge to the existing economic system; they only differed in how to manage it.
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New year’s statement from the Communist Party of Ireland