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
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September's elections: a letter from Germany
The next administration will have to wrestle with the thorny topic of a crumbling EU and the demands from the US for a new Cold War — and sadly, the new government is unlikely to be left wing, reports JOHN GREEN
Long goodbye: Angela Merkel is to leave office after 16 years
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
Alba party leader KENNY MacASKILL makes some suggestions on how to save our pubs and reduce irresponsible drinking
The catastrophe unfolding in Gaza – where Palestinians are freezing to death in tents – is not a natural disaster but a calculated outcome of Israel’s ongoing blockade, aid restrictions and continued violence, argues CLAUDIA WEBBE
Opinion polls point to electoral collapse, parliamentary rebellion and a looming leadership challenge as Starmer’s Labour haemorrhages working-class support and the far right exploits the vacuum left by a hollowed-out party, says NICK WRIGHT
The long-term effects of chemical weapons such as Agent Orange mean that the impact of war lasts well beyond a ceasefire
THE forthcoming Bundestag — German parliament — elections on September 26 will be a nail-biting affair and the outcome will have repercussions not only for national politics but also for Germany’s role internationally.
The new Bundestag’s first task will be to elect a Chancellor. Since her election to the chancellorship in 2005, Angela Merkel has been a conciliatory and stabilising figure.
Although her party — the Christian Democratic Union (CDU-CSU) — was the largest in the Bundestag, it never had an overall majority. Throughout her chancellorship Merkel has been obliged to rule in coalition with one or two of the other parties. Her decision to resign this year, after 16 years in the post, has left a gaping hole, with no obvious successor to fill it.
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In the recent federal elections the far-right AfD was able to reach sections of the working class on issues over which the left is divided and unable to articulate a coherent position, a situation that is replicated in a number of other European countries, argues NICK WRIGHT
With federal elections coming up in Germany in February, NICK WRIGHT takes a look at the class forces shaping the policies of the main parties, and sees little hope of a breakthrough for the left