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
Be patient with your liquorice
Gardening with MAT COWARD
Liquorice roots
[Jeansef/Creative Commons]
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
IF you’re sending off your seed orders this month, and fancy including something a little less familiar than potatoes and radishes, I’d suggest buying some liquorice seeds. It’s a surprisingly ornamental plant, and interesting to grow. The only thing is, you mustn’t be in too much of a hurry for your first crop.
Of course, readers in some parts of Yorkshire and Surrey may already have an old liquorice plant growing on their allotments, perhaps a souvenir of the days when Glycyrrhiza glabra was a commercial crop in Britain, and Pontefract cakes were made from home-grown rather than imported roots.
You’ll find the seeds offered in several catalogues, including Suttons (www.suttons.co.uk; tel 0844 326 2200), and there are also two-year-old plants on sale on the internet, which would give you a head start, but at a considerably higher price. If you know someone who’s already got a liquorice plant, you can propagate from it by taking root divisions in autumn or spring.
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