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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China leads the global South’s great escape from poverty
While critics struggle desperately to dismiss or explain away China’s rapid and sustained growth, Beijing’s approach of mutual respect and interdependence is inspiring nations to break free from colonial shackles, writes ROGER McKENZIE
People walk past a Seagull electric vehicle from Chinese car manufacturers BYD parked at a showroom in Beijing, April 10, 2024
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
CHINA will be the world’s top contributor to global growth over the next five years. This is not some idle boast from the Communist Party of China (CPC), but rather, a prediction from one of China’s most consistent critics, the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The IMF predicts that China’s growth is set to outstrip the entire Group of Seven (G7) leading industrial nations combined. Its global growth will also, according to the IMF, be 61 per cent more than the planet’s most populous nation, India.
After years of being assured that the Chinese economy was in meltdown, these so-called impartial experts have been forced to come out with the truth.
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