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
Venerable and vulnerable- the destitution of the elderly
RUTH HUNT asks Labour to hear the pleas from the Grey Swans activist group to end pensioner poverty
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 Grey Swans are a campaigning group run by and for older people experiencing both relative and absolute poverty. Let down by the Tory government they want to see Labour commit to policies in the next manifesto that will help end pensioner poverty.
The founder of the group, Christine Williams, has been aware for some time that many more pensioners were falling below the poverty line and as such, were more likely to become isolated, unwell and at risk of an early death.
These concerns were recently borne out by figures released by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which showed 300,00 more pensioners were in poverty. This announcement also included the rise in child poverty.
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Labour will find increases in the state pension age are unacceptable, just as cuts to the Winter Fuel Allowance, personal independence payments and universal credit are — it needs to change direction immediately, writes PCS general secretary FRAN HEATHCOTE
Social security is lagging further and further behind inflation and our government quite simply does not care, argues Dr DYLAN MURPHY