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 battle for toilet dignity
On World Toilet Day DIANA HOLLAND explains how Unite is fighting for its driver members to have proper facilities provided
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
WORLD Toilet Day, November 19, is an important date in the diary — it is when we highlight the millions of people who are denied access to decent toilets and sanitation.
Traditionally the focus of World Toilet Day has been in parts of the world where the lack of clean toilets and safe running water is a scandal that the world has failed to tackle and which results in untold deaths every year.
However, in recent years working with the the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF), and the World Toilet Federation, Unite has focused on how in the 21st century hundreds of thousands of workers in the UK are denied toilet dignity.
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