If you were to write a history of the death of the Labour Party, you could do worse than start with the election of Ed Miliband as leader in 2010.

Choosing Ed over his big brother was the first indication we had that Labour members - and, of course, trade unionists - were growing tired of grown up politics, of the inevitable compromises that accompany being in government. We were out of government now - Great God almighty, free at last! - and it was time to let our hair down, to talk about what we wanted to talk abut, campaign on what we wanted to campaign on, and not be subject any more to the selfish whims of the electorate.

So instead of choosing someone we thought the rest of the country would see as a future prime minister, we chose someone who we saw as a Leader of the Opposition.

Shortly after Ed's first leader's speech in the same week, I spoke to a fellow member of Labour Friends of Israel (LFI), who shared our organisation's anger at Ed's words. Instead of praising Israel's record as a truly liberal, free democracy that must be defended and supported against the repressive dictatorships that surrounded it, he instead declared magnanimously only that Israel had the right to exist.

First details begin to emerge about the suspected Islamic State attack on Istanbul's Atatürk Airport that left at least 44 people dead and more than 230 injured.

A senior Turkish government official announced on Thursday that the three suicide bombers who carried out the attack were nationals of Russia, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan.[1]

Turkish pro-government newspaper Yeni Safak quoted police as saying that eight terrorists were involved in the operation. Three of them were killed, one was detained and four others remain at large.

According to the Yeni Safak report, well-known Chechen Islamic State commander Akhmed Chatayev organized the deadly attack.[2]

Robbie Martin's A Very Heavy Agenda is a powerful series of documentary films that chart the rise of neo-conservatism and its ever-changing impact on US and global affairs. From the Kagans to the Kristols, from the anthrax attacks to Hilary Clinton, this is an epic journey into the dark heart of American media and politics. It is an exceptional documentary that is truly not to be missed.

Neo-Conservatives

A documentary in three parts, A Very Heavy Agenda is the fullest, broadest and deepest exploration of the neo-conservative phenomenon. Robbie Martin's films explore neo-conservatism not only as a political philosophy but also as a series of organisations from PNAC to the Foreign Policy Initiative and the Institute for the Study of War, and as a group of people adopting radical positions in media interviews and thinktank discussions. It features countless pieces of news media archive footage showing how the neo-cons, in particular the Kristol and Kagan families, have relentlessly pushed the most warmongering, hardline interventionist views into the popular American and global dialogue over the last 20 years or more.

From predicting both 9/11 and the anthrax attacks to blaming Palestinians on 9/12 and trying to fully reignite the Cold War with Russia, the neo-cons have had a prominent influence on how we talk about foreign affairs. This influence had been exclusively pro-war, pro-conflict, pro-death and destruction. While they are by no means the only people responsible for the chaos in the world today the neo-conservative cabal are completely unashamed and unrelenting in their quest. This makes them very dangerous.

The leaders of America's towns and cities issued a resolution warning the Obama administration and NATO that continued anti-Russian provocations place humanity at greater risk of nuclear annihilation.

The United States Conference of Mayors (USCM), the official non-partisan organization for city leaders administering populations greater than 30,000, moved to condemn NATO's Anaconda War Games on Russia's border as increasing the threat of nuclear conflict. "The largest NATO war games in decades, involving 14,000 US troops, and activation of US missile defenses in Eastern Europe are fueling growing tensions between nuclear-armed giants," said the USCM warning in the lead up to the military alliance's summit on July 8-9 in Warsaw, Poland.

The resolution adopted at the USCM's 84th Annual Conference from June 24-27 in Indianapolis stated: "More than 15,000 nuclear weapons, most orders of magnitude more powerful than the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs, 94% held by the United States and Russia, continue to pose an intolerable threat to cities and humanity."

The US Conference of Mayors went on to criticize President Obama for capitulating to the defense establishment and "laying the groundwork for the United States to spend one trillion dollars over the next three decades" on the so-called nuclear modernization effort that will result in a net increase in America's atomic stockpile in contravention to the spirit of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The Arkansas senator on the list of potential running mates for Donald J. Trump, the GOP's presumptive nominee, told activists Saturday at the Western Conservative Summit that Hillary Clinton's reckless and criminal behavior disqualifies her to become America's commander-in-chief.

A combat veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, Sen. Thomas Cotton (R.-Ark.) said he was glad to make it on time for his speech after a series of travel delays.

"We were on the tarmac, I thought Bill Clinton might be boarding my plane to talk to me," said the former Army Airborne Ranger officer.

Cotton said it was shocking, but not shocking to him, that the former president would meet with Attorney General Loretta Lynch — whose department is investigating both his wife and himself for his handling of the Clinton Foundation.

UK police summoned Tzipi Livni, the former Israeli foreign Minister and acting member of parliament from the Zionist Union, for questioning over links to alleged war crimes committed by Israeli military during operation Cast Lead in the Gaza Strip in 2008-2009, Israeli media reported Sunday.

According the Haaretz newspaper, Livni is currently in London to attend the Israeli conference organized by the media outlet.

On Thursday, Livni received a telephone call from Scotland Yard's War Crimes unit, which asked the lawmaker to confirm her upcoming visit to London and then sent the summons via email, the publication reads.

The Israeli government in coordination with the embassy in London reacted immediately to avoid the summons, though the incident was kept quiet for three days.

FBI documents sought after in Freedom of Information Act requests for the last year are now available, thanks to a leak to the Intercept. They lay out secret rules for collecting phone records of journalists, bypassing normal judicial processes. The documents, published Thursday, outline how FBI agents would utilize National Security Letters in obtaining journalists' phone records. They date back to 2013, the same year the agency's overseer, the US Department of Justice, amended its standards for subpoenaing for such records.

However, the newly leaked papers are marked "last updated October 2011," and they seem to conflict with DOJ policy as well as reveal information that many say never should have been secret in the first place.

The FBI's National Security Letters, or NSLs, are used like search warrants, but unlike a normal warrant, they are not signed off on by any judge or court. They are approved in-house without even a requirement to notify the target. For the purposes of these documents, that means not even the news organization employing the journalist would necessarily be informed. Furthermore, they nearly always come with some form of a gag order, preventing the target from talking about their NSL case.

In a single week, several major events have seemingly radically restructured the geopolitical chessboard. From the surprise of Brexit to Turkish President Erdogan's unexpected apology over the shoot-down of a Russian jet in Syria, people all over the world are wondering what is up. Just a day after the announcement of Erdogan's apology, Istanbul airport was attacked by a trio of assailants. European nations are lining up with complaints about anti-Russian sanctions. The U.S. is scrambling to retain some control over the war in Syria, this time offering to work with Russia, but with conditions attached.

Today on Behind the Headlines, discussed these events in their wider context, as well as the recent duplicitous proposal by the U.S. to 'coordinate' with Russia in Syria, and the latest disturbing U.S. police state stories in our weekly round-up with Brent.

Running Time: 02:11:42

Download: MP3

Last week's UK vote to leave the EU may have come as a shock to many, but the sentiment that led British voters to reject rule from Brussels is nothing unique. In fact it is growing sentiment worldwide. Frustration with politics as usual, with political parties that really do not differ in philosophy, with an economy that serves the one percent at the expense of the rest of society is a growing phenomenon throughout Europe and in the United States as well. The Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump phenomena are but one example of a frustrated public sensing something is very wrong with society and looking for a way out.

What is happening in the UK, in Europe, and in the US, is nothing less than a breakdown of the entire system. The EU was meant to be a customs union where post-World War II Western Europe could rebuild itself through free trade and a reduction in bureaucracy. Through corruption and political ambition it became an unelected bully government in Brussels, where the well-connected were well compensated and insulated from the votes of mere citizens.

Whatever happens in the near future - and it is certainly not assured that the vote to "Brexit" will actually end in the UK's departure from the EU - a line has been crossed that supporters of more personal liberty should celebrate. Rule from London is preferable to liberty-minded Britons than rule from Brussels. Just as Texans should prefer rule from Austin to rule from Washington. That doesn't make either option perfect, just more likely to produce more freedom.

Is Brexit the first victory in a larger freedom movement?

Can we get out of a system that creates money out of thin air to benefit the ruling class while impoverishing the middle class? Can we get out of a central bank that finances the wars that make us less safe? Can we exit Executive Orders? Can we exit the surveillance state? The PATRIOT Act? Can we exit NDAA and indefinite detention? Can we exit the US worldwide drone program, that kills innocents overseas and makes us ever-more hated?

Getting out of NATO would be a good first move.

This Cold War relic survives only by stirring up conflict and then selling itself as the only option to confront the conflict it churned up. Wouldn't it be better to not go looking for a fight in the first place? Do we really need still another NATO military exercise on the Russian border? It should be no surprise that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg was fear-mongering on the eve of the Brexit vote, warning UK citizens that if they vote to leave they could face increased terrorism. Likewise, the US would do well to exit the various phony "free trade" agreements that provide advantage to the well-connected elites while harming the rest of us.

The act of exit is liberating. We should make a longer list of those things we would like to get out of. I am only getting started.

The Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity is a special project of the Foundation for Rational Economics and Education, a non-profit established by Ron Paul in 1976.

Sliding Into Absurdity

Stock markets continued their rebound on Wednesday. The Dow rose 284 points... or just over 1.5%. London's FTSE 100 Index was up 3.6%. And Europe's equivalent of the Dow, the Euro Stoxx 50, was up 2.7%.

Investors have realized Brexit isn't the end of the world. First, because they think it won't really happen. After all, elites can fix elections, buy politicians, and control public policy... surely, they can fix this!

A letter in the Financial Times reminds us that Swedish voters cast their ballots against nuclear power in 1980. The government just ignored them, doubling nuclear power generation over the next 36 years.

Second, because investors see the panic over Brexit leading to more spirited intervention by central banks! The EZ money floodgates - already wide open - are to be opened wider.

The U.S. has its QE program on hold, but Europe's scheme is gushing like Niagara. Mario Draghi at the European Central Bank buys $90 billion a month in bonds. And he's not only buying government bonds; he's buying corporates, too.