VIJAY PRASHAD looks at the web of militias and drug-trafficking gangs that emerged in the Sweida region through the Syrian civil war, and how they relate to recent clashes and Israel’s intervention
Things going badly for Starmer is our opportunity
The sidelining of social democrats and embrace of deregulation comes at the same time as a remarkable collapse in public support for the current Labour regime, writes ANDREW MURRAY, so why don’t we go on the offensive?

IN politics, there are two sorts of issues — those that matter and those that “cut through.”
The latter are those which seize the popular imagination and shape perceptions of parties, politicians and governments.
Sometimes, the two categories overlap — as in the Palestine solidarity movement, for example. Other times, they dwell in separate political universes.
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Corbyn and Sultana commit to launching new socialist party

If Labour MPs who rebelled over the welfare reforms expected to be listened to, they shouldn’t have underestimated the vindictiveness of the Starmer regime. But a new left party that might rehome them is yet to be established, writes ANDREW MURRAY

Starmer doubles down on witch hunt by suspending the whip from Diane Abbott