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
The BBC: don’t follow the money
The BBC might prefer us to think of its pundits as ‘neutral’ on topics of the day, but then why is it glossing over their vested sources of income, asks SOLOMON HUGHES
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
“FOLLOW the money” is supposed to be a top journalism tip: it was key to journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein exposing the Watergate conspiracy, bringing down US president Richard Nixon.
“Following the money” is a central technique to what almost every journalist sees as among the best examples of their trade.
So it’s both worrying and a bit sad that the BBC actively doesn’t want you to follow the money. It often doesn’t want you to know the money even exists, let alone tell you who is paying it to who.
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As the cover-ups collapse, IAN SINCLAIR looks at the shocking testimony from British forces who would ‘go in and shoot everyone sleeping there’ during night raids — illegal, systematic murder spawned by an illegal invasion
They’re the problem it’s them: SOLOMON HUGHES on the freeloading flunkies of the Labour Party hoovering up VIP tickets to musical and sporting events
Supposedly top journalists and commentators are suddenly reversing their earlier proclamations that our Labour PM is terrific, and are now saying he’s crap. SOLOMON HUGHES has a shrewd idea why