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
It’s the time of year to beet around the bush
JUST BEET IT: Your favourite purple vegetables pulled from their earthy bed
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 first couple of weeks in June are an ideal time to sow beetroot for an autumn harvest.
The soil in all but the coldest gardens will finally have warmed up to the point where seeds germinate quickly and uniformly, and there’s still many weeks of good growing weather ahead.
Similar stories
MAT COWARD presents a peculiar cabbage that will only do its bodybuilding once the summer dies down
MAT COWARD rises over such semantics to offer step by step, fool-proof cultivating tips
It’s a dead easy crop to grow and can be made into one of Britain’s best sauces. MAT COWARD explains how
MAT COWARD battles wayward pigeons in pursuit of a crop of purple sprouting broccoli