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
Put a spring in your step
Mat Coward says spring greens and spring cabbages are good for sowing this month
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
SPRING GREENS are one of the special delights of the vegetable garden or allotment. You can buy them in the shops, but there’s not much point — this is a crop for eating when it’s fresh from the ground, crisp and juicy, not wilted on a supermarket shelf.
The seeds, for sowing this month, might be listed as “spring greens” or “spring cabbage.”
Some varieties can be harvested either as loose greens or, a bit later, as small cabbages. In either case, they’ll have a sweet flavour noticeably different to the heartier winter cabbages.
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