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
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Why the NHSpay15 campaign is more important than ever
The plight of the underpaid and overworked staff must be recognised and put at the heart of any strategy to save and rebuild our NHS, explains HELEN O’CONNOR
NHS workers march from St Thomas’ Hospital to Downing Street, London, to demand a pay rise
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
WITH a second wave of coronavirus on the horizon and hospital admissions rising, NHS nurses and health workers will once again be in the eye of the storm as they provide life-saving care and treatment to those most seriously unwell with coronavirus.
The first peak of the pandemic has already taken an enormous physical and psychological toll on NHS staff and they believed that this government would reward their unique and vital contribution to society.
These health staff are heading onto the front line of the second wave of this virus feeling utterly betrayed by a government which chose to deliberately overlook them in the last announcement on public-sector pay.
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