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
Refugee lives matter
We must step up our campaigning in defence of refugees and against right-wing scapegoating, writes JEREMY CORBYN
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 global and ongoing refugee crisis has been back in the headlines in recent weeks, because of tragic scenes of the fire in a refugee camp in Moria, Lesbos.
But refugees have also been the focus of more media attention here because of a wave of hostility encouraged by the Tories and their allies.
The scapegoating of refugees has reached fever-pitch in recent weeks as the Tories employ their age-old divide-and-rule tactics, seeking to deflect attention from their disastrous and deadly handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
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