Let’s explore why central bankers’ top reserve asset is not US debt anymore

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Let’s explore why central bankers’ top reserve asset is not US debt anymore

Globally, central banks now hold 27% of their reserve assets in gold, surpassing US dollar Treasuries at 22%, and just a year ago this was 20% gold versus 25% Treasuries, according to the latest report by the European Central Bank. In 2023, gold’s share was just 16%. Since the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022, China has purchased over 350 tonnes of gold, followed by Poland (320 tonnes), Türkiye (220 tonnes) and India (130 tonnes), according to the ECB, as geopolitical tensions continued to drive strong central bank demand for gold. According to the FT: The shifting composition of reserve assets — highly…

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How Businesses Can Use Background Music To Create Better Customer Experiences

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How Businesses Can Use Background Music To Create Better Customer Experiences

Public spaces are shaped by more than furniture, lighting, layout and service. Sound plays a major role in how a space feels from the moment someone walks through the door. A café can feel warm and relaxed. A gym can feel energetic and focused. A hotel lobby can feel calm and polished. A retail store can feel premium, lively or rushed, depending not only on how it looks, but on what customers hear while they are there. For many businesses, background music is still treated as a small detail. Something to fill silence, or something staff put on quickly at the…

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Union leaders support Ash Field Academy strikers

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Union leaders support Ash Field Academy strikers

Support staff at Ash Field Academy in Leicester were on strike from 3-5 June. This is part of a campaign to demand the reinstatement of victimised union rep Tom Barker. Barker was suspended on 30 October 2025. After more than seven months, three separate investigations, and five investigation meetings, Discovery Schools Academy Trust [DSAT], which runs Ash Field, is still refusing to reinstate Barker. Barker was suspended just three working days after UNISON members voted to strike over staffing cuts. Andrea Egan, UNISON’s general secretary, was in attendance at the Thursday 4 June picket. Addressing the strikers, Egan said: Tom has…

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Heathrow Five lose appeal against convictions for planning protest that never happened

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Heathrow Five lose appeal against convictions for planning protest that never happened

Five Just Stop Oil supporters who have served prison sentences of up to 15 months for planning an action at Heathrow airport that never took place have had their convictions upheld by the Court of Appeal. Rosa Hicks, Adam Beard, Sean O’Callaghan, Sally Davidson and Hannah Schafer were among eight Just Stop Oil supporters convicted of conspiracy to cause a public nuisance after standing trial before Judge Duncan at Isleworth Crown Court in March 2025. A ninth supporter was acquitted and another pleaded guilty before trial. Of the nine convicted, five were given jail terms of up to 15 months, while…

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FIFA water ban sparks fan backlash ahead of 2026 World Cup

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FIFA water ban sparks fan backlash ahead of 2026 World Cup

Fans attending the 2026 World Cup will not be allowed to bring reusable water bottles into stadiums. The latest restriction introduced by FIFA has sparked criticism and concerns about temperatures across the tournament’s hottest host cities. This year’s tournament features 48 teams for the first time. It will take place across the United States, Canada, and Mexico. As a result, several matches are expected to be played in high temperatures and humidity. What has changed in stadium rules? Under the new regulations, fans cannot bring reusable water bottles into venues. However, previously, spectators could carry transparent, empty plastic bottles up to…

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Belfast human rights activist could be deported due to Home Office incompetence

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Belfast human rights activist could be deported due to Home Office incompetence

Never attribute to malice what can be explained by incompetence. In Belfast, Home Office incompetence is threatening Nina Briggs, head of the Migrant Workers’ Union Northern Ireland, with deportation. They insist that Briggs’ active appeal against the unfair Home Office decision does not exist. That is despite an immigration tribunal confirming the department submitted documents in her case in December 2025. Briggs has spent the last 14 years living in Britain or the North of Ireland. Born in the US, she came to Britain to study at St Andrews University in Scotland back in 2012, at age 16. She subsequently entered…

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New Internationalist launches £150k survival appeal

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New Internationalist launches £150k survival appeal

Magazine the New Internationalist, facing the possibility of being forced to cease publication, has launched an appeal to raise £150,000 by 7 July. The independent, cooperatively owned magazine celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2023. The magazine said it was facing “the closest we have ever been to the lights going out for good,” explaining that costs have “soared” while readers are less able to pay. In addition, AI and algorithm changes have hit their website traffic, and that grants are “harder to come by” as funders have shifted priorities. It said:  Our information sphere is being rebuilt by tech oligarchs and far-right…

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Jewish anti-genocide activist Greenstein suffers second ‘de-banking’ attack

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Jewish anti-genocide activist Greenstein suffers second ‘de-banking’ attack

Brighton-based Tony Greenstein is one of the best-known of the UK’s many Jewish anti-genocide activists. As a result, he is one of the most targeted by the Israel lobby’s attacks and smears – including by the UK government. And he has again been hit with one of the most insidious forms of financial attack: de-banking. ‘De-banking’ is a financial state and establishment terror weapon. It involves the summary closure of bank accounts, often under orders or pressure from government or influential groups. This is frequently used as a weapon to financially disable those who stand up for the Palestinian people against…

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Palantir wins contract to manage UK’s guns, explosives, and poisons

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Palantir wins contract to manage UK’s guns, explosives, and poisons

Far-right AI war firm Palantir has won yet another UK contract. This time the genocide-linked company’s software will manage guns, explosives, and even poisons held by the British state. The news comes as the UK’s tech committee urged the government to pull the plug on Palantir’s takeover of vast areas of UK infrastructure. Tech website The Register reported on 4 June: Palantir has secured a £9 million ($12 million) government contract to provide software for managing firearms licensing across the UK. And: The US spy-tech biz will also handle Home Office licensing for explosives, explosive precursors, and poisons. The contract covers…

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The biggest scorelines in World Cup history

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The biggest scorelines in World Cup history

Most football matches are decided by small margins, but others are not. In fact, matches in the World Cup often feature remarkable scorelines not seen elsewhere. In such games, defensive structure can collapse, and goals accumulate quickly. Sometimes this happens through clear mismatches. At other times, it results from unusually open play. With the 2026 edition approaching in the United States, Canada and Mexico, a record 48 teams are taking part. This raises the bar. Uneven scorelines are all the more likely to appear, particularly when debut nations come up against established football powers. Below are the highest-scoring matches in World…

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Polanski call for investigation of alleged Brit war criminals has upset Israel apologists

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Polanski call for investigation of alleged Brit war criminals has upset Israel apologists

Green Party Leader Zack Polanski is under fire for calling for potential British-Israeli dual national war criminals to be investigated. The Jewish News platformed commentators who conflated criticism of the state of Israel with antisemitism over Polanski’s signing of a Declassified UK letter calling for basic accountability. Polanski, who is Jewish, signed the 26 May letter. Declassified and the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians are running a campaign to force police to investigate Brits who served in the Israeli military during the genocide. You can read the Canary’s report here. The campaign letter reads: We, the undersigned, are politicians, lawyers, campaigners,…

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More claimants join test case against Elon Musk’s AI over demeaning sexualised content

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More claimants join test case against Elon Musk’s AI over demeaning sexualised content

Labour MP Jess Asato has announced that she has initiated a legal test case against Elon Musk’s xAI. The case will take to task Grok AI’s creation of fake, pornographic and derogatory content seen in January. Attracting particular condemnation is the fact that the AI tool produced a demeaning, offensive and frankly, dangerous video which showed the MP: being chloroformed and prepared for sexual assault. Grok AI and its prolific creation of sexualised content, including of young children, has prompted widespread anger as it became clear the business model was happy to make money out of the most abusive and sinister views…

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The 2026 World Cup will test Pelé’s youngest-scorer record

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The 2026 World Cup will test Pelé’s youngest-scorer record

For nearly seven decades, Pele has topped one of the most distinguished rosters in World Cup history. When the Brazilian legend scored against Wales at the 1958 World Cup, he was just 17 years and 239 days old — a record that has yet to be beaten. With the final squad lists confirmed for the 2026 tournament, attention has turned to this historic number, especially with several teenagers set to make their World Cup debuts. Pele reigns supreme 68 years on Brazilian Pele still sits at the top of the youngest scorers list, ahead of all stars who have passed through…

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Western politicians and media heaps tributes on the author of Persepolis

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Western politicians and media heaps tributes on the author of Persepolis

Obituaries for Franco-Iranian artist and author of Persepolis Marjane Satrapi are pouring in from Western politicians and media following news of her death in Paris at age 56 on Thursday. Western establishments’ obituaries revealed a pattern of appreciating Satrapi for opposing Iran’s government, reflecting their ever-present instinct of Islamophobia. “Persepolis” was a bestselling graphic novel series by Satrapi. Most of them admire her as CNN puts it as: an outspoken critic of Iran’s ruling establishment and a prominent supporter of the ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ movement. Satrapi was married to Mattias Ripa, who helped translate ‘Persepolis’ into English. He died last year.…

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Supervillain Palantir has had a terrible week in UK Parliament

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Supervillain Palantir has had a terrible week in UK Parliament

The past week in Parliament has seen two major blows for AI-peddler Palantir. In a highly unusual Commons debate, MPs including Jeremy Corbyn laid bare the links that disgraced ambassador Peter Mandelson forged between the UK government and the authoritarian US tech company. Mandelson lost his position after his ties to pedophile ringleader Jeffrey Epstein came to light. In a blow to PM Keir Starmer, it later transpired that Mandelson was handed the ambassadorial post in spite of failing his security vetting. Meanwhile, an influential cross-party science committee condemned the public sector’s increasing reliance of Palantir’s AI as placing the UK…

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Mandelson ‘influential’ in electing Labour’s Scottish Secretary

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Mandelson ‘influential’ in electing Labour’s Scottish Secretary

Newly revealed documents expose Labour’s Scottish Secretary Douglas Alexander as a devoted friend of Peter Mandelson, publicly humiliating his position. Mandelson was “influential,” in Alexander’s own words, in securing his seat as MP for Lothian East. The SNP have called for the minister’s resignation over his apparently doting relationship with Mandelson. The disgraced corrupt former ambassador and friend of notorious pedophile Jeffrey Epstein was well-known, well-loved, and well-connected within the Labour Party. Him and pro-corporate stooge Tony Blair shaped vile New Labour through a willingness to court power, whatever ugly face it took. However, those tight connections across the right wing…

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North of Ireland’s First Minister on the emerging ‘Celtic alliance’

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North of Ireland’s First Minister on the emerging ‘Celtic alliance’

Michelle O’Neill doesn’t mince words: the first nationalist First Minister for the North of Ireland’s six counties sat down with Scottish paper the National. She had plenty to say about culture, reunification, Scottish independence, and the arrogance of Westminster. Politics trickles through culture Something huge is shifting in the North of Ireland. You can feel it in the music, with establishment-baiting Belfast hip-hop trio Kneecap packing out venues across the world. You can see it on TV as Derry Girls made the six counties a cultural export. And you can measure it in the polling: 63% of people in the North…

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US government weighs in on Nowak murder with the same old fascist lies

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US government weighs in on Nowak murder with the same old fascist lies

With grim predictability, the far-right US government has waded into the controversy surrounding the tragic death of Henry Nowak. A US State Department post on social media offered mealy-mouthed “condolences” to Henry’s family, though only after a tight string of fascist dogwhistles. In particular, the Trump administration repeated Farage’s ridiculous ‘two-tier’ anti-white policing claim. This is fitting, given the Reform UK leader shamelessly exploited Nowak’s murder to attack DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) initiatives. As the Canary previously pointed out, Farage clearly received this talking point directly from Trump’s fascist America. In the UK, ‘DEI’ is better known as ‘EDI’ (Equality, Diversity and…

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The Israel lobby’s toxic attempt to silence solidarity with Palestine in the NHS

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The Israel lobby’s toxic attempt to silence solidarity with Palestine in the NHS

In a new review, notorious pro-Israel agitator John Mann has pushed for measures to silence NHS humanitarianism. The government and NHS have already pledged to implement them, including a crackdown on NHS staff members openly expressing solidarity with Palestinian people during Israel’s ongoing genocide. This is about Israel, not about ending racism Israel is a key junior partner to US billionaire–imperialism. The UK is a junior partner too, so giving Israel political and material support is just part of the deal. And for British political elites trying to get away with this shameful behaviour, consistent and widespread public outrage over Israel’s…

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Reform candidate Kenyon exposed as sexist on Question Time

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Reform candidate Kenyon exposed as sexist on Question Time

Reform UK’s MP candidate for Makerfield, Robert Kenyon, once self-proclaimed himself as a sexist, but now he is running for parliament he coincidentally won’t accept the label and insists: I’ve got nothing but respect for women… I’ve said things years ago that I wouldn’t say now. However, his complete refusal to apologise for comments that many women rightfully found deeply offensive exposed another issue with the Makerfield ‘hopeful’. Instead of showing an ounce of humility or reflecting on why people objected, he doubled down. That response only strengthened the perception that he places his own views and sense of certainty above…

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