Table of contents for 12/27/2024 in The Big Issue

Different factions across Syria joined together to overthrow a repressive ruling government and attempt to restore power to the people. The Great Syrian Revolt of 1925 has echoes of recent events in Syria. Then, like now, there was uncertainty, but hope that a better future lay ahead. After the end of the First World War, which ended Ottoman rule of the region, France controlled Syrian territory. Their military held out against the uprising, but nevertheless it was the first step that led to eventual independence for the country in 1946. This picture from 1925 shows the hugely significant archaeological site at Palmyra. It is now 10 years since brutal Isis militants destroyed much of the remaining ruins, including the Arch of Triumph, seen here. It had stood for 2,000 years…

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF… SARAH, Care4Calais 7am The alarm goes off. Shower, breakfast, coffee, thermal layers, thick socks, waterproofs on and I head off at 8.20am to walk to the warehouse. It’s a dry but cold and cloudy morning. 9.20am I arrive, sign in and grab a coffee ready for the 9.30am briefing. We are doing a distribution this afternoon of new walking boots or new trainers. 9.50am The briefing ends. Today’s jobs include blow-up bed checking, tent checking, services prep – including making cups of tea, coffee, hot chocolate. Also finishing off the boot distribution preparation. I was on this as I’d worked on this job earlier in the week. Prepping is so important. We need to make sure we have enough in each size: they need…

GARY LIGHTBODY Snow Patrol frontman If I went back and told the 16-year-old what’s happened in my life he wouldn’t be able to believe a single word. Because actually quite a significant part of my life has been spent thinking, I’m not supposed to be here. Somebody’s gonna tap me on the shoulder at any moment and say, actually, this is somebody else’s life. You’re supposed to be over here, living this life. ANGELA GRIFFIN Corrie and Holby City star I know we are supposed to give advice to our younger self, but I’d like my 16-year-old self to have a word with me. She was fearless. Even though she was judged by lots of people, she didn’t let it stop her. I spun everything into a positive – if…

Here at Big Issue we have been watching a lot of television. This year we’ve been informed about real-life injustice, educated about history and politics, and entertained by Lycraclad superhumans. When we asked the team to pick the 20 best shows of the year, the range was proof that the creative industries are thriving despite difficult times. From true-life drama to whip-smart modern rom-com, via hard-hitting documentary and 1980s bonkbuster, here’s what we have been watching. Nobody Wants This (Netflix) A romantic comedy starring Kristen Bell as an agnostic sex podcaster who falls in love with a newly single rabbi played by Adam Brody? Turns out, everybody wants this. It’s great writing, carried out by a brilliant cast. Bell manages to make a character who could easily be annoying into…

HOMELESSNESS One night of kindness helped a homeless woman turn her life around – and she came back to say thank you By Liam Geraghty Big Issue Deputy Digital Editor Yasmina was living in her car on the edge of Newcastle city centre, struggling to keep up with her studies at university when spending a night at a strangers’ house “changed her life”. The then-30-year-old fell into homelessness after falling out with her family but was offered a bed for the night by Mark and Elisabeth Bryant through Depaul UK’s Nightstop service. Nightstop gives emergency accommodation for young people experiencing homelessness, relying on people like the Bryants to offer up a spare room in an hour of need. Usually contact stops after the short-term intervention, but Yasmina returned to the…

The UK is one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world. A groundbreaking project to reintroduce wild bison is among the innovative ways we’re trying to redress the balance Everybody’s to-do list has recurring items, and Hannah Mackins’ is no different. Each and every day she clocks in to work, she must set out into an ancient woodland in Kent and attempt to find a herd of bison. This is a legal requirement. Some days, the GPS trackers on the bison work and it is a simple task. But the thick forest often jams up the signal, so Mackins goes back to basics. If she finds dung with flies, it has been there for an hour or so. She’s learned to tell how old a footprint is. Should it…

At the moment we are on our way to the South Sandwich Islands. We’ll get there very early tomorrow morning. We’ve just come from the Antarctic Peninsula. There are lots of icebergs outside the window. This ship can go into ice about a metre deep and plough through it. Bigger things we really need to avoid. We’ve got a lot of people watching out for them, so it’d be very unlikely that we hit something we shouldn’t. The ship is built in such a way that there’s lots of contingencies for if something happens. We wouldn’t replicate the Titanic, it’s OK. Every day is different. It does depend on what the ship is doing. We’ve just come from Signy, one of the research bases. We took some scientists there and…

Demonstrations are an important part of democracy and are enshrined in Germany’s constitution. Article 8 states: “All Germans shall have the right to gather peacefully and unarmed without prior notification or permission.” In 2024, hundreds of thousands of people in Germany have taken to the streets in opposition of right-wing extremism. So many people coming together in one place can easily lead to accidents, injuries and emergencies. For Peer Vlatten, 33, one thing is certain: “It’s imperative for a first-aid service to be in attendance.” First-aid services are not a legal requirement at gatherings – however, the potential danger remains. This is where Vlatten comes in. He is chairman for the ‘protest paramedics’ or, more precisely, the Süd-West medical group. Protest paramedics are medically trained volunteers who attend demonstrations and…

In the morning, I usually wake up before my mum. This gives me time to get ready for the day myself before my caring responsibilities start. I have been a young carer since I was eight years old, however my responsibilities have grown in this time. I feel good about caring when my mum’s health is stable, but on the other hand, when she is really ill, I wonder why this all had to happen to me and my mum. Before school I make breakfast for me and my mum, make sure she is ready for the day and do any other jobs around the house, like doing the washing up or putting clothes in the washing machine. We always make time to chat over breakfast. I walk to and…

I spend most of my time looking for the most unusual and interesting objects in the universe. Searching for life beyond what we already know certainly fits the ‘most unusual and interesting’ bill. Breakthrough Listen is the most comprehensive SETI project in the world; through it, astrophysicists from many disciplines collaborate to advance the search for intelligent life beyond Earth. Astronomers use measurements of light from all sorts of wavelengths, from radio to X-ray, to study the cosmos. For now, we are primarily looking at measurements of optical light – that is the light we can see directly with our own eyes. This data comes from some of the most impressive telescopes on and off Earth, from mountain tops to orbiting satellites. Every so often these telescopes return to the…

Crossword CRYPTIC CLUES Across 1. Something sticky afoot? (7)5. Copper maybe came across a new driver (5)8. Virginia gives permit to servant (5)9. The end of the flight? Doubly so (7)10. Glowing old Peruvian lineage (12)12. Fisherman left in rage (6)14. Inhuman description, but about right for Capone (6)17. Where one can go to get rid of ill feelings (6,6)21. Brought down by disappointing egg production figures? (4,3)22. Member has love of West Indian dance (5)23. School sport (5)24. Make new plans for revolutionary floating structure (7) Down 1. Donate under pressure (4)2. Another headless animal in Italian city (5)3. Unconscious, dead or just celebrating? (3,4)4. Looted another Spanish city (6)5. Lacking dash (5)6. Missile I’d found in the river (7)7. It’s not appropriate for heavy drinkers presumably (5,3)11. Single…