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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A paradise lost in Ardrossan’s empty harbour
Mismanagement, privatisation and EU rules have strangled vital ferry services, leaving Scotland’s island communities stranded and the once-bustling ports of my youth in what feels like terminal decline, laments MATT KERR
MEMORY LANE: Ardrossan Harbour lighthouse
[Leslie Barrie/CC]
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
TRIPS to the Ardrossan harbour used to be frequent and a joy — there’s a sentence you won’t read every day.
I grew up just down the road in Saltcoats, near a beach that used to fill up with tourists from Glasgow, even after the advent of the Spanish package holiday.
Some days, Arran looks close enough that you could reach out and touch it from Saltcoats beach, other times, even in the best of weather, it seems to disappear altogether, the black and white striped ferry remaining reassuringly visible.
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Locals have been let down by procrastination over the upgrade to Ardrossan Harbour, says KATY CLARK MSP
