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

AS THE coronavirus pandemic begins to take serious hold here in the US we are also, it would appear, in the waning days of the Bernie Sanders 2020 run. Although on Wednesday his team shot down reports that the Vermonter was suspending his presidential campaign, it was undeniable that he had had another rough night of primary results.
After resuscitating its faltering anointed son, Joe Biden, the Establishment Democratic Party ran a successful scare campaign against the Sanders brand of socialism and is now suggesting he end his run, lest his candidacy further damage the party’s chances in the next presidential election.
Sanders is ever the villain, damned for entering the race and now damned for not quitting it soon enough.

The crew of the Freedom Flotilla boat, Handala, warned Israel to obey international law but are now in captivity, reports LINDA PENTZ GUNTER

Waves of protesters are refusing to comply with the latest crackdowns on dissent, but the penalties are higher in Starmer’s Labour Britain than in Trump’s autocratic United States, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER

Funds are being raised to bring the bombed al-Shifa hospital back from the ashes, reports Linda Pentz Gunter

From Labour’s panic over the Corbyn-Sultana formation to Democratic Party grandees distancing themselves from Zohran Mamdani, centrist cliques on both sides of the Atlantic are quick to throw the same old insult, writes LINDA PENTZ GUNTER