ALEX BROWN explains how medieval Europe was plunged into sunless years, with widespread crop failures and devastating famines

‘This is for the children of Palestine,’ People Against Genocide say after targeting a Martin-Baker site in Buckinghamshire

Glasgow will remember the martyrs of the 1787 strike this weekend in speech and song, their spirit is sorely needed today, writes JIM LISTER

Remembering a legendary trade unionist and inspirational leader

Novak Djokovic could topple his own record 24 Grand Slam singles titles at the US Open, but the shadow of Rafael Nadal’s greatness still hovers over both the men’s and women’s draws, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER

Sovereignty and the rule of law are under threat from Trump’s attacks on Lula’s administration just as they have been across Latin America, argue CARLOS MARTINEZ and SARA VIVACQUA

MATTHEW HAWKINS looks at some of the Edinburgh Festival dance offerings

Snippets of news from the sporting world with JAMIE J

New releases by Interpol, Phoebe Bridgers, Lambchop

Communists in Australia, Britain and the US outlined a joint state agreement against their governments’ militarist provocations.

Police crackdowns on Israeli peace demonstrators combined with court rulings and settler organisations are designed to strip Palestinian families of their homes and land. The Israeli state has tried to silence both Israelis and Palestinians who resist, according to Zo HaDerekh (This Is The Way) the Communist Party of Israel’s Hebrew-language weekly

Snippets of news from the sporting world with JAMIE J

Faced with crises in every direction, Volodymr Zelensky is rewriting his country’s complex history by paying homage to the founding fathers of Ukrainian ultra-nationalism and courting their modern heirs, writes KENNY COYLE

Young Lionesses press ahead with preparations despite threat of European boycott hanging over the tournament

Labour's Emily Thornberry calls on PM to ban goods from Israel-held Palestinian territory

Hot and dry conditions are threatening British species unequipped for drought, explains PAUL ASHTON

JAMES NALTON argues that Curtis Jones’s departure leaves Liverpool facing a stark local void as the club’s roots are increasingly swallowed by football’s globalised model

As antisemitism spread across Europe and the United States in the 1920s and 1930s, Benny Leonard and Jack ‘Kid’ Berg became symbols of hope and resilience, writes JOHN WIGHT

Extreme hot weather resulting from environmental change needs to be tackled through greater firefighting investment instead of fewer jobs and less resources, writes COLIN BROWN

Before Greek myths reached the multiplex, they were weapons of political satire. CALLUM SMITH explores the evidence

Re-releases of the classics Gypsy Rhumba and Buena Vista Social Club, and a stunning album by Palestinian artist Faris Ishaq

The attacks on black academics are well-funded and relentless, writes DIANE ABBOTT, and they need to be fearlessly resisted by all concerned

ANGUS REID urges us to understand the persecution of Jason Arday from a political and historical perspective, and to see the victim in human terms

Including races at Chester and York

There are many intricate details about the new Saudi, Turkish and Pakistani alliance we do not yet know, suggests ROGER McKENZIE, but its impact could be considerable

DAVID McKINSTRY welcomes the republication of a meticulous portrait of Brother Walfrid, the founder of Celtic FC

HENRY BELL salutes a fine portrait of a revolutionary who remains a deeply significant and provocative figure

JAMIE BRITTON invites readers to visit 3,500 locals as part of a marathon artistic pub crawl

Holyrood incompetence has cost jobs and put the future of Clydeside’s Ferguson Marine shipyard into jeopardy. Its future should have been assured, argues KENNY MACASKILL

JOHN GREEN welcomes a valuable and incisive analysis of a world become hyperpolitical but without the mass movement institutions to represent it

A California union’s decision to host a meeting about US policy towards Cuba has prompted a congressional probe and renewed attacks on international solidarity, writes CAMERON HARRISON

Long-term underfunding and state neglect, while simultaneously probation services have been undermined, have intensified the prison crises, argues SOLOMON HUGHES

With the agitated debate now raging in the media about the early release schemes, Prison Officers Association general secretary STEVE GILLAN gives the view of those who work in the sector

Nothing, says ANDY HEDGECOCK, can rescue this undistinguished amalgam of ponderous melodrama and shallow philosophical speculation

The Baltic state is set to reverse its constitutional prohibition on nuclear weapons and foreign bases as part of accelerated Nato war preparations, warns TOM UNTERRAINER

Tackling climate change is not just an urgent environmental necessity but provides an opportunity for economic restructuring in the interests of the Welsh people

Snippets of news from the sporting world

A spate of bomb recoveries across Dhaka raise questions whether extremism is making a comeback, says SIAM SAROWER JAMIL

Poverty, refugee displacement, child labour and militia violence are exacerbating the challenge of health workers to limit this deadly contagious disease. CONSTANT SAME BAGALWA and MARK BANCHEREAU report 

Chris Searle speaks to jazz vocalist NORMA WINSTONE

by Ayo Ayoola-Amale

The hounding of the late Jason Arday is an all too familiar experience for many black people. ROGER McKENZIE calls for collective action to combat what can feel like personal isolation

The new prime minister has shown a willingness to reconsider his previous views on assisted suicide and focus on improving care services. CHRIS WHITEHOUSE hopes other MPs will do likewise

JAMES WALSH is moved by a provocative and original take on the relationship between ecology and architecture, and a plea to work with, not against, the materials and minerals of our world

China’s investment and commitment to scientific research is already paying off, pushing the country to the centre stage of global technological advance, writes S Krishnaswamy

JAMIE BRITTON welcomes a celebration of Leo Baxendale, who was always political and the godfather of British comics

An immersive, participatory display by a queer Australian Aboriginal performer, and a rebellious unravelling of traditional Scottish dance

There is a determined effort to reverse the diplomatic gains of the Palestinians, despite the shift in worldwide global opinion. Solidarity demands no return to business as usual, argues Ramzy Baroud 

The right-wing media has launched a smear campaign to suggest that widespread solidarity in Britain with the Palestinian people is a dangerous Chinese communist plot, writes Carlos Martinez

CLAUDIA WEBBE speaks out against the lethal mechanics of Britain’s culture-war press

Burnham urged to stand up to the fossil fuel giants and reject plans to drill Britain’s largest untapped oil fields

EWAN CAMERON witnesses a political farce that lacks a clear message

Trade unions and community groups are mobilising to push back against Trump’s racist raids after new revelations of spying on legal protesters. MARK GRUENBERG reports from the US state of Minnesota

The evolution of the Scottish nationalist leadership into cheerleaders for Nato has led the party to betray its pledges on Palestine and social spending, writes COLL McCAIL

Powerful agribusiness interests are trying to overturn efforts by the Lula government to protect the environment and indigenous peoples of the Amazon region, writes GABRIELA SA PESSOA

‘Ultimately, all of Reform's policies benefit big business and attack workers and the poor,’ Diane Abbott MP tells the Star

The best wildfire service may begin with the community, argues KOMAL RAJ ARYAL

Dignity is important to all humans, argues the Marx Memorial Library and Workers’ School, but it does not come about automatically. In a less than perfect world, dignity can accompany suffering, but the collective dignity of working people is achieved through acting together to change the world.

Concessions to Washington by the post-Maduro leadership in Caracas are designed to preserve the core of the Bolivarian Revolution not betray it, argue Roger D Harris, Francisco Dominguez and Mara Paez Victor. How the solidarity movement responds is critical

Peace activists and trade unionists to gather at RAF Fairford to protest against US bombers taking off from Britain to strike Iran

Angus Reid speaks to JAZZ BHALLA about the genesis of his superb feature debut, Never Had A Chance, in cinemas this weekend

ALMA EGAN suggests four days out that bring the region’s history of protest to life

EWAN CAMERON picks out two fascinating music shows, fusing the Korean, and the Celtic, with the modern

While riding the No 3 bus in Glasgow MATT KERR has ample time to dissect the moribund Scottish Labour decline into near oblivion and watch intriguing bus passenger dynamics

BENJAMIN POTHIER suggests that Palaeolithic cave paintings in Spain point to the ceremonial use of hallucinogenic flora

The bard confirms that the right has a humour bypass, and replays the English Revolution on period instruments

Although separated by an ocean, the two islands share deep historical bonds of anti-imperialist solidarity, writes Chris Hazzard MP

The US aim to reshape the existing order in the Middle East needs to be resolutely resisted, argues PAYAM SOLHTALAB

Parliamentary probe into the Reform UK leader’s £5m gift from crypto-billionaire to resume

The disputed election of a far-right president, who is also a US citizen, signals further consolidation of Washington’s regional power and represents a threat to the country’s democracy and sovereignty, writes WT WHITNEY JNR

It may have become a traditional month for holidays, but episodes from early British labour movement history show that class struggle never takes time off, argues KEITH FLETT

The question is not simply how much we spend on defence, but what we understand defence and security to mean, says SIMON BRIGNELL

MARK SEDDON tries to cool off in the countryside to avoid the heatwaves but the greed and incompetence of the privatised water industry is now at boiling point

Snippets of news from the sporting world

MARTIN HALL welcomes a plea for greater compassion between believer and non-believer via the framework of philosophical enquiry

Given the recent rejection of peace proposals by Israel the world must provide an immediate and resolute response to force accountability on Gaza, argues RAMZY BAROUD

MATTHEW HAWKINS welcomes an engaging and nourishing account of the queer subculture that flourished in London between WWII and partial decriminalisation 

ALEX HALL welcomes a history of the Bund, and its emphatic demand for working-class solidarity across racial and ethnic difference

RON JACOBS welcomes the political lessons for today, about organisation and withdrawal from conflict, made by an erudite and conversational biography

MARIA DUARTE and ANDY HEDGECOCK review Sunny Dancer, Tony, Songs of Forgotten Trees, and The End of Oak Street

JOHN GREEN relishes a powerful and moving drama that explores the lived realities of west London’s Punjabi community

Andy Burnham offers unconditional support for Zelensky but no solutions to the underlying conflict between the Nato/EU bloc and Russia, says NICK WRIGHT

Former Olympic star questions ticket prices and calls for greater accessibility at Birmingham event

On its revolutionary founder’s 100th birthday, Cuba remains the revolution that ‘does not give up’ and socialism humanity’s only hope of avoiding the abyss

The Berlin border closure 65 years ago did not happen in isolation, and many Western accounts omit crucial context, explains KEITH BARLOW

CHRIS SEARLE speaks to Argentinian saxophonist CAMILA NEBBIA

Snippets of news from the sporting world 

If you only see one show in Edinburgh, make it this one urges EWAN CAMERON

by Francesco Sani