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
Remembering staunch trade unionist Bob Gillespie – ‘a street fighter, a tiger’
Gillespie, pictured during the Glasgow Govan by-election of 1988
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
BOB GILLESPIE who died on April 12 aged 85, was a staunch trade unionist and socialist, well-known and respected in the Scottish trade union and labour movement.
From humble beginnings he became a national officer of the print unions Sogat and GPMU.
Born in 1937, Robert Pollock Gillespie was evacuated to Ayrshire with his mother during the second world war. His father was an infantryman serving overseas.
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MAT COWARD tells the story of the eccentric founder of a short-lived but striking experiment in ‘vital democracy,’ who became best known for giving away his estate to the nation
Remembering a dedicated T&GWU activist, internationalist and anti-sectarian
Remembering KEN CAPSTICK, vice-president of the National Union of Mineworkers Yorkshire Area
From defending Remploy workers to fighting for furniture fire safety, Phil Davies showed lifelong dedication to working people’s rights — while never forgetting international solidarity, writes LES WOODWARD