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

WILL rail renationalisation survive Keir Starmer’s cull of commitments? Or will it be shunted into the sidings and forgotten about?
Uncertain messaging from the top at Labour’s recent conference suggests the party is considering not taking back control of trains after all.
The 2019 manifesto promised “bringing our railways back into public ownership.” But listen to shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon’s conference speech: that isn’t what he calls for.

Labour’s new Treasury unit will ‘challenge unnecessary regulation’ by forcing nominally independent bodies like Ofwat to bend to business demands — exactly what Iain Anderson’s corporate clients wanted, writes SOLOMON HUGHES

There have been penalties for those who looked the other way when Epstein was convicted of child sex offences and decided to maintain relationships with the financier — but not for the British ambassador to Washington, reveals SOLOMON HUGHES

US General Stanley McChrystal has been invited to advise on creating a ‘team of teams’ for healthcare transformation. His credentials? He previously ran interrogation bases where Iraqis were stripped naked and beaten, reports SOLOMON HUGHES