The recent heatwaves revealed how ill-prepared Britain remains for a hotter future – and how unequal the ability to cope with it has become, write ROX MIDDLETON, LIAM SHAW and MIRIAM GAUNTLETT
MARCH 8 is the day of renewed commitment to the struggle for gender equality and a world free from poverty, violence, discrimination, injustice and environmental destruction.
The first commemoration of this day took place more than a century ago, in 1911. By 1975 the UN had officially recognised this day as International Women’s Day, with a call on all governments to secure women’s rights and fight gender-based inequalities.
In 2025, the battle still continues. As wars rage in different parts of the world, often to subvert the will of the people, to exploit their natural resources or gain geopolitical advantage, women and their children suffer disproportionately from this violence. The recent rush to increase military budgets, following the threats from the extremist Trump administration, at the expense of services that benefit the people, is a serious threat especially to the working class and women.
A packed fringe meeting at the National Education Union conference heard from Iranian teachers, campaigners and journalists
The civilian toll climbs past 1,000 as women, children and families are struck in their homes, schools and public spaces – a stark illustration of the human cost of war. AZAR SEPEHR emphasises that the future of Iran is solely determinable by the people of that country and them alone
MOHAMMAD OMIDVAR, a senior figure in the Tudeh Party of Iran, tells the Morning Star that mass protests are rooted in poverty, corruption and neoliberal rule and warns against monarchist revival and US-engineered regime change
Payam Solhtalab talks to GAWAIN LITTLE, general secretary of Codir, about the connection between the struggle for peace, against banking and economic sanctions, and the threat of a further military attack by the US/Israel axis on Iran


