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
Preventative medicine or backdoor private healthcare?
The push to move responsibility for our health onto our personal lifestyle choices is increasing – but all the evidence about growing inequality shows that traditional in-hospital care is absolutely vital, explains HELEN O’CONNOR
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
THE illusion that good health comes from within individuals and is entirely based on the choices individuals make is not only false, it is paving the way for NHS hospitals to be removed from local communities.
Assumptions are made that absolutely anyone can enjoy good health if only they tried a bit harder, spent more money on courses, therapy, gym memberships or special diets. Health policy is being developed and implemented around these ideas.
While there is truth in the fact that lifestyle choices can lead to good health for some, this is only half the story. Human health, like everything else, is firmly rooted in material reality — and multiple factors, including environmental conditions, play a role in determining health outcomes.
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When privatisation is already so deeply embedded in the NHS, we can’t just blindly argue for ‘more funding’ to solve its problems, explain ESTHER GILES, NICO CSERGO, BRIAN GIBBONS and RATHI GUHADASAN
Born from my communist social worker mother’s efforts to bridge healthcare gaps, Labour’s push for home-based care now risks becoming another avenue for the US corporate takeover of the NHS, writes RICHARD CLARKE
JOHN GREEN explores the argument that psychiatry needs to move away from the idea of just seeing and treating the individual
Diverting public funding to grow private-sector ‘spare capacity,’ actively undermines the funding and staff available to the NHS and results in a worse service, write JOHN PUNTIS and TONY O’SULLIVAN