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
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The SNP twists in the wind on climate change
The Scottish government seems at sixes and sevens over almost every strategic policy as Extinction Rebellion and others push it against the wall (of Holyrood, naturally)
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon refused to say whether new gas-fired power stations were consistent with her declaration of a climate emergency
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
FROM SUNDAY through to Thursday next week, Extinction Rebellion protesters will host a “climate camp” outside Holyrood.
Having announced a “climate emergency” you’d think Nicola Sturgeon would be the first to sign up — but when I asked her spokesman if she’d be visiting, he said he hadn’t even heard of it.
Meanwhile Transport Secretary Michael Matheson said “good progress” had been made to “increase revenue, deliver operating efficiencies and pursue exciting opportunities for the future,” and so Prestwick Airport was ready to be re-privatised. Matheson, like so many of his colleagues, seems to believe this emergency is something one can opt in and out of at one’s convenience.
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Attempts at haggling to win a deal over the Scottish Budget still leave public services short-changed, writes MATT KERR
