In northern Nigeria, US-backed airstrikes have killed dozens of civilians, locals say.

The US previously announced that 175 Islamic State militants had been killed in May. US Africa Command (AFRICOM) has a large neocolonial footprint on the continent.

Drop Site News reported this week:

The strikes were part of an expanding war between the Nigerian government and local Islamist groups which has drawn the increased involvement of the Trump administration, with little scrutiny. Metele, a remote community in northern Borno State near the Nigeria-Niger border, has long been affected by insurgent activities.

Reporters added:

Security sources and local residents have frequently identified the area and its surroundings as locations where fighters affiliated with the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) operate.

At the time, AFRICOM chief general, Dagvin Anderson, said:

As President Trump shared last night, AFRICOM in coordination with the Armed Forces of Nigeria, bravely and valiantly conducted a successful mission that resulted in the elimination of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki, and multiple other ISIS leaders.

Nigeria: Dozens killed and injured

Reports from the ground tell a different story. Metele’s village head, Zannah Abba Aji, told Drop Site News:

The community experienced a tragic airstrike attack recently which caused heavy casualties and destruction in Metele.

Many innocent civilians were affected during the incident.

Aji compiled a list of 27 civilians killed in the strikes, including 12 women and children.

Doctor Adam Asil Tijjani confirmed that “several noncombatants had been killed in the strikes”. He told Drop Site:

…two women and four children received in the aftermath of the bombings had died from their injuries there.

Those injuries included:

…burns, fractures, shrapnel wounds, and trauma-related injuries.

Eyewitness Goni Ahmed also described the horror:

First, we heard aircraft overhead. Shortly afterward, there were loud explosions that shook the ground. After the blasts, I could hear people shouting, crying, and calling for assistance. The sounds of panic and confusion continued for quite some time.

In the moments before:

Children were playing, women were preparing meals, and there was nothing to suggest that anything unusual was about to happen.

Civilian Protection Center of Excellence scrapped

The Trump administration intentionally axed a new civilian casualty accountability unit called the Civilian Protection Center of Excellence, Propublica reported in March.

The civilian protection mission was dissolved as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made “lethality” a top priority.

The outlet added:

Dismantling the fledgling harm-reduction effort, defense analysts say, is among several ways the Trump administration has reorganized national security around two principles: more aggression, less accountability.

The US practice of training local forces and backing them with airpower has shattered communities across the world. Trump cancelling a US accountability monitor has certainly compounded the issue.

However, the truth is, this is a US approach to ‘counter-terrorism’ that has thrived under both Democratic and Republican administrations.

The suffering in Africa barely figures in the grand calculations of empire, whoever is running it on the day.

Featured image via Ahmed Kingimi/ Reuters

By Joe Glenton

Fascist Israeli security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has told a meeting of Netanyahu’s cabinet that the occupation regime needs to abduct more Lebanese women and children.

He told his fellow monsters ministers that killing many Lebanese resistance fighters is good but that “arresting their women and children”…

This is what hurts them most.

Ben-Gvir/Israel’s actions met with impunity and silence

As the International Committee of the Red Cross notes, collective punishment of civilians is unequivocally a war crime. The minister is used to getting away with committing and inciting war crimes.

So far, the UK government has not condemned this one. Or even mentioned it.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politicians have maintained they were correct to stand alongside masked men who hurled racist and sectarian abuse at a peaceful pro-Palestine march.

MP for Upper Bann, Carla Lockhart, incongruously claimed that she showed “real leadership” by joining a 300-strong pro-genocide mob, which jeered relentlessly metres away from the roughly 1,500-strong Palestine-backing contingent.

The latter were taking part in the Great March for Gaza, an event raising money for Palestinians still being murdered by Israeli Occupation Forces. Part of the march on 6 June passed along a towpath beside the largely unionist town of Scarva, prompting hostility from some residents.

Lockhart said she was there to “ensure calm heads prevailed and no one was hurt or injured in what had the potential to be a volatile situation”.

She further claimed to have averted “an absolute bloodbath” through her actions on the day. If the situation needed calming, it was only because the DUP had done everything imaginable to whip things up to fever pitch prior to the march.

The party suggested the march route had been “deliberately chosen to provoke tensions”. In fact the organisers, Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign Ireland (IPSC Lurgan), had selected a route that would avoid contentious areas to the maximum extent possible.

DUP stir confected outrage then play mediator

On the day of the march, Lockhart dishonestly attempted to link the march to republican paramilitaries. She also suggested the slogan ‘From the River to the Sea‘ is a “hate crime given its meaning is to exterminate the land of Israel and its inhabitants from off the face of the earth”.

Of course, its actual meaning is simply a call for one democratic state between the sea and the Jordan river, with equal rights for all who live there. The outrageous falsehood that it is anything else is purely Zionist propaganda, intended to whip up hostility to those trying to stop so-called ‘Israel’s’ holocaust in Gaza.

Lockhart published footage of herself speaking to Scarva residents prior to the Great March for Gaza’s arrival.

In it, she does request calm, and urges residents not to engage in violence. However, it’s a bit rich to get people as riled up as possible beforehand, then swoop in at the last minute and act like the stateswoman. You can’t take credit for defusing the very tension which had been partly created by your own actions.

It’s a little like when people celebrate Britain for ending slavery. You can’t do something obviously wrong for ages, then expect everyone to laud you when finally, belatedly, you cease your shameful behaviour.

At Stormont, DUP MLA, Diane Forsythe, was flipping her lid over what she described as an “excessive” policing.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) was indeed out in force, bringing riot cops and water cannons to the scene. They described it as a “appropriate and proportionate policing operation“. This seems about right, given the numbers present on each side, and the wild rhetoric going out from loyalist groups beforehand.

March exposes nature of those for/against genocide

On the one hand, we’re told by the DUP that “an absolute bloodbath” was on the horizon. Yet on the other hand, we’re supposed to believe a large police presence was “excessive”. This is the non-logic of a party that knows how to whip up confected, sectarianised outrage but does nothing of actual use for their constituents.

IPSC Lurgan correctly said the march was neither “intimidating, sectarian or provocative”. It pointed out what all available footage shows — that participants were “peaceful, dignified and disciplined throughout”. This didn’t stop Forsythe outright lying.

He said:

…when the Palestine walk appeared, [they] unfurled their banners and chanted at the crowd [opposite]…

No such event occurred at any stage. In reality, the two groups on either side of Newry canal provided an unmatched depiction of those for and against the Gaza holocaust.

On one side, those waving the Zionist entity’s flag, hate-filled and throwing disgusting abuse, shoulder to shoulder with politicians that allow the slaughter in Gaza to continue. On the other, an entirely peaceful humanitarian procession, doing what little they can to support those enduring some of the worst crimes in human history.

Featured image via the Canary

By Robert Freeman

Carmarthenshire County Council has rejected Bryn Bach Coal Ltd’s second attempt to expand and extend the currently dormant Glan Lash opencast coal mine, about 15 miles north of Swansea. This followed hundreds of hand-written and online objections from residents in the county.

The decision reflects a clear, strategic commitment to climate leadership, rare habitat protection, and safeguarding the health of surrounding communities.

There are no live applications for new coal mines, and only two active coal mines remain in the UK. One is a large underground mine in Aberpergwm, Glynneath, the other a small underground mine called Ayle Colliery in Northumberland. There is a further proposal (pre-application stage) to mine the Bedwas coal tips of waste coal.

Coal emissions

The proposed expansion was the mining company’s second application. And it followed unanimous rejection by councillors of the company’s first application in September 2023.

The second application reduced the amount of coal to be mined from 95,000 tonnes to 85,000 over 5.4 years, with a slightly smaller area to be excavated. However, the latest application remained incompatible with Wales’ coal and protected habitats policies.

Rejecting this application has prevented the release of hundreds of thousands of tonnes of CO2 and methane. It also avoids exhaust emissions from years of heavy machinery use.

The would-be commercial buyers of this coal, as listed by the mining company, sell anthracite coal to burn on the international market, undermining the company’s claims that coal from Glan Lash would not be burned.

Selling Glan Lash coal on the international market would fuel dependence abroad on the world’s number one dirtiest fossil fuel, whilst the UK itself transitions to greener, cleaner industry and air quality.

Habitats and planning

Beyond emissions, an independent ecologist’s report outlines in stark terms how the mine expansion would have destroyed a further 2.5 hectares of woodland, including sections of listed ancient woodland, as well as over 400 metres of precious hedgerow habitat.

It also would have delayed the excavated area’s restoration (which planning permission originally required by 2019) by a further 5.4 years. The mining company originally committed to start restoring the site in 2018. But it delayed this with successive attempts to extend mining instead.

These delays have coincided with the deterioration of protected habitats on the site such as those supporting threatened marsh fritillary butterflies, whose numbers have plummeted across the UK by 64% since just 2005.

This refusal paves the way to require the company finally to return the land for the benefit of nature and local communities.

With the closest homes just 30 metres from the edge of the opencast site, the application was also clearly incompatible with the 500 metre minimum buffer zone. Welsh government policy requires this to protect surrounding communities from excessive noise, dust, and air pollution and disturbance.

Carmarthenshire Planning Authority’s decision reflects alignment with the Welsh government’s positions on coal, climate, and nature recovery, the UK government’s commitment to prevent new coal mining licences, and the international movement to phase out coal.

Local campaigner Philip Hughes said:

Following yet another year of record-breaking temperatures we are so grateful that Carmarthenshire County Council has rejected the application.

As was mentioned by so many residents visiting the petition stall, we need to keep fossil fuels in the ground, create green jobs, and protect our beautiful county.

Agreeing this application would have been disastrous on so many levels. Coal is our heritage but it is not our future.

Daniel Therkelsen, campaigns and communications manager of Coal Action Network, said:

We congratulate the Local Planning Authority on making the right decision for Carmarthenshire’s sustainable future.

We worked alongside local campaigners to secure this outcome, and we’ll continue to engage with the Authority on the restoration to ensure it is delivered to the standard promised, and to avoid the tragic outcome currently unfolding at the Ffos-y-fran ex-opencast coal mine site, also in South Wales.

Featured image via Coal Action Network

By The Canary

A video filmed in Armagh shows a Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officer repeatedly punching a grounded man who poses no meaningful threat.

At least three cops restrain the man, with the most violent officer completely on top of him.

Appallingly, the PSNI has attempted to defend the attack, claiming “it was necessary for officers to use a degree of force in order to safely make [the arrest]”.

A PSNI spokesperson gave background to the cop’s attack:

At around 10.30pm on Saturday night, 6 June, police received reports a man had been attacked at a bar on Railway Street in Armagh.

It is alleged the victim had been punched a number of times to the face, and head-butted by a female suspect who then along with a male suspect, is believed to have caused criminal damage to the bar, including smashing a window.

Upon police arrival both suspects appeared to be fighting with each other in the street.

When approached both the man and woman lashed out at police, punching and kicking violently.

PSNI misuse of force must be condemned

Regardless of what preceded the PSNI brutality, there is no justification for repeatedly striking a grounded man who at that point was barely resisting.

Sinn Féin councillors, Sarah Duffy and John O’Kane, have produced a rather weak response failing to condemn the assault.

They said:

Given the level of concerns that have been raised with us by members of the local community, we have requested an urgent meeting with the PSNI to discuss the matter and to receive an update on the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) MLA, Colin McGrath, has also equivocated.

He said:

It is important to remember that police officers carry out their duties in often challenging circumstances.

However, public confidence depends on transparency and accountability when questions are raised.

The incident is strikingly similar to a recent ‘arrest’ made by thugs in Coleraine. They attacked Mohammed Manai and held him hostage, likely motivated by his ethnicity.

Police had accused Manai of attempting to gain entry to a primary school, without providing any evidence. The PSNI subsequently arrested Manai, but not any of his assailants, despite footage proving their violent assault against him.

Recently, Zack Polanski sadly backtracked after rightly criticising police in England for “kicking a mentally ill man in the head when he was already incapacitated by taser”.

The attack happened during an attempt by police to subdue Essa Suleiman, who is accused of stabbing three men in London.

Once again, however, it’s important to emphasise that we ought never justify extreme, needless violence from police, even in extreme situations.

Amnesty criticise rising police aggression

Doing so leads to appalling crimes, particularly against marginalised groups, such as when a thug in uniform carried out the manslaughter of ex-footballer, Dalian Atkinson, in 2016.

Benjamin Monk kicked Atkinson with “such force that his bootlaces left an imprint on his forehead”. 

Amnesty International has drawn attention to increased PSNI use of force. In 2024, the NGO raised the “deeply disturbing” 21% increase in such methods from the previous year.

Recently, it raised concerns about the police service’s decision to bring in a “‘Taser 10’ (T10) electro-shock weapon”. Amnesty International said the weapon “carries significant new risks, with the potential for serious unintended injuries”.

It cites the most recent PSNI statistics on use of force, which show a 36% increase in drawing tasers and a 38% increase in firing them.

The Armagh incident raises questions about whether PSNI officers can control themselves even when unarmed, so handing out new tasers seems liable to pose an even greater danger to the public.</p>

Featured image via Niall Carson/ PA 

By Robert Freeman

Iran has suffered a fresh blow just days before the start of the 2026 World Cup, after the Iranian Football Federation announced the withdrawal of its allocated share of fan tickets for its three World Cup matches.

The move has sparked widespread controversy and led Tehran to question whether political considerations are influencing the organisation of the tournament.

Iran fans left disappointed

Reuters cited the Iranian Football Federation, which said it had already begun distributing and selling tickets for the national team’s group stage matches, before it learnt about the tickets being withdrawn.

This means Iranian fans will be denied access to tickets through the federation’s official channels.

The federation added that a large number of Iranian fans had already finalised their travel and accommodation arrangements. Depriving them of their official allocation, it argued, “contradicts the spirit of international competitions and the principle of equality among participating nations”.

The Iranian Football Federation stressed that the decision raises “serious questions” about the interference of non-sporting and political considerations in the organisation of the World Cup.

FIFA under pressure

According to tournament regulations, each participating federation receives 8% of the tickets for its matches to distribute to supporters. However, the Iranian Football Federation has not disclosed which body took the decision to withdraw the tickets.

It has also called on FIFA to intervene and uphold the principles of neutrality, fairness and the applicable regulations, warning that political issues could affect the atmosphere of the tournament.

FIFA has not yet released an official comment despite requests from the media for clarification on the reasons behind the decision.

A series of crises before kick-off

The ticket crisis comes amid a series of complications faced by Iran since qualifying for the World Cup, against a backdrop of political and security tensions that escalated following the air strikes launched by the US and Israel against Iran in late February.

These circumstances prompted the Iranian Football Federation to negotiate moving the team’s base from the US state of Arizona to Mexico.

After weeks of uncertainty, all of Iran’s players received their US entry visas just 10 days before their first match in the tournament. Meanwhile, several members of the administrative and technical staff did not receive the required visas.

In an attempt to defuse tensions, FIFA announced that its general secretary, Mattias Grafström, had held a “positive” meeting with the president of the Iranian Football Federation, Mehdi Taj.

The meeting followed the team’s arrival at their training camp in Mexico, emphasising that dialogue and cooperation would continue to ensure Iran could compete in the tournament under the best possible conditions.

The Iranian national team begins its World Cup campaign against New Zealand on 15 June, before facing Belgium on 21 June. Iran concludes its group stage matches against Egypt on 6 July.

Featured image via Amin M. Jamali/ Getty Images 

By Alaa Shamali

Kemi Badenoch has announced her intention to “repeal the public sector equality duty in its entirety”.

The PSED, or simply “the duty”, requires public sector leaders to abide by equality considerations set out in the 2010 Equality Act.

Principally, this means working to prevent discrimination against people with protected characteristics (race, sex, disability etc), and monitoring the outcomes of that work.

The news comes just a week after Nigel Farage weaponised the tragic murder of Henry Nowak as an excuse to attack diversity, equality and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

Vickrum Digwa, a British Asian man, stabbed Nowak, then told police he had been the victim of a racially-motivated assault. The police arrested Nowak even as he lay dying, ignoring his pleas and him saying he’d been stabbed.

Shamelessly, the Reform leader used the incident to claim that the UK is a “two-tier system” biased against white people.

He called for an “end to DEI and positive discrimination” and “a country that treats everybody equally and fairly before the law”.

Badenoch claims laws ‘delivering perverse outcomes’

In today’s speech, Badenoch followed suit, trailing after her further-right counterpart. She claimed that the public sector equality duty had led to a pursuit of “equality of outcome” rather than “equal treatment and equality under the law”.

Badenoch went on to brand the duty a “Blairite legal settlement”, and claimed that she was installed as Tory leader to undo it.

Likewise, she added:

There are many laws which were brought in with good intentions but are delivering perverse outcomes and unintended consequences.

Demonstrating that there are truly no depths to which she won’t stoop, the Tory-in-chief attacked the Macpherson report. After the racially-motivated murder of Stephen Lawrence in 1993, and the disdainful reaction from law enforcement, the landmark report recognised that the UK policing is institutionally racist.

Badenoch claimed that the report “wanted to put right what went wrong with policing in the 1990s”.

However, in attempting to do so, it also enshrined a principle which I believe is wrong: that a racist incident is racist, if it is perceived as racist by the victim or any other person.

This may have made sense in a different context long ago, but today when we look at the response to Henry Nowak’s murder, and the police’s acceptance that the murderer was correct when he accused Henry of racism, it’s clear that mere accusations are being accepted as facts.

‘Fear of being called racist’

As examples of ‘equalities law overreach’, the Badenoch named the Southport murders, Nottingham stabbings and the Manchester Arena bombing.

She claimed:

All these crimes could have been stopped if people had intervened instead of having a fear of being called racist.

An official inquiry into the Southport debacle highlighted that the Prevent counter-terrorism agency repeatedly ignored referrals for the murderer, Axel Rudakubana, because his ideology wasn’t terror-related.

At the Canary, we phrased this another way:

The UK has invested so much in the very idea that (Muslim) terrorism is the greatest threat to our safety that we’ve actively started to damage the capacity to respond to non-terror threats.

That’s a far cry from the police being afraid of being called racist. However, we’re not exactly surprised that Badenoch has failed to take basic facts into account. There’s no other way you could get to the conclusion that the police are somehow too anti-discrimination.

Labour and Reform condemned by Tory leader

In spite of presenting what amounts to a watered-down Farage talking point, Badenoch attacked both Reform and Labour in her speech. The latter were, in her words, “not yet sure anything is wrong”.

Meanwhile, Reform’s plan to rip up the Equality Act completely, as announced by ex-Tory turncoat Suella Braverman, would apparently “make it legal to discriminate against white people”.

Badenoch’s words have been truly vile. She’s ignored years of findings on police racism, yet again betraying Black and Brown people across the country. What’s more, she and others have ignored Nowak’s parents’ plea not to use his murder to stir up hatred and division.

Beyond that, however, there’s something so desperately pathetic about the Badenoch right now.

She’s outflanked on the right by Nigel Farage, the figurehead of a party of white supremacists and bigots. Meanwhile, on her (near) left, Starmer has managed to sleepwalk into becoming prime minister simply by not being a Conservative.

The racist scum that used to vote for the Tories have a white man to vote for now. There’s no level of self-hatred that Badenoch can display that will win them back. One day, she might even realise that.

Featured image via Alishia Abodunde/ Getty Images 

By Alex/Rose Cocker

Donald Trump’s vanity will have taken a hit when fans booed him after being shown on the big screen at a basketball game in New York’s Madison Square Garden.

In contrast, cheers were heard as Zohran Mamdani strode into the arena ahead of the New York Knicks – Spurs game on Monday.

The FT reported.

President Trump attends Madison Square Garden for Game 3 of the NBA Finals to cheer on his hometown team — but as Trump was shown on the jumbotron during the national anthem, the crowd erupted in loud booing. https://t.co/uQCepUP70B

— NBC News (@NBCNews) June 9, 2026

CBS News wrote:

By The Canary

The 2026 World Cup is set to enter a radically different phase in its history, following the decision to increase the number of participating teams from 32 to 48. This expansion has not only increased the number of teams but has also completely reshaped the tournament’s structure, from the group stage right through to the knockout rounds.

This change has led to an increase in the number of matches from 64 to 104, with the adoption of a completely new competition format, the biggest since the tournament’s inception.

A completely new format: 12 groups and an expanded knockout stage

In the previous format, which ran from 1998 to 2022, the tournament was organised into eight groups of four teams each, with the top two teams in each group qualifying directly for the round of 16, whilst the remaining 16 teams were eliminated.

For the 2026 World Cup, however, the number of groups has increased to 12, with four teams in each group, making the format both broader and more complex.

Under the new system, the top two teams from each group qualify directly for the round of 32, a new stage introduced to accommodate the significant expansion, bringing the total number of direct qualifiers to 24 teams.

The most significant change is that the eight best third-placed teams are given the chance to continue in the tournament by qualifying for the round of 32, bringing the total number of qualifiers for the knockout stages to 32.

Conversely, 12 teams will be eliminated immediately, namely those finishing fourth in their groups.

Criteria for determining the best third-placed teams

In the event of a tie between teams finishing third, a series of progressive criteria will be applied to determine the outcome:

First: points scored in the group stage.

Second: goal difference. Third: number of goals scored.

Fourth: fair play record.

The fair play record is based on disciplinary points as follows:

• Yellow card: 1 point
• Sending off after two yellow cards: 3 points
• Straight red card: 4 points
• Yellow card followed by a straight red card: 5 points

If the tie persists, the FIFA World Ranking is used to determine the winner.

Draw for the Round of 32

Once the 32 qualifiers have been determined, the tournament bracket is reconfigured according to a specific draw:

• The 8 group winners face the 8 third-placed teams.
• Another 4 group winners face 4 runners-up.
• The 8 runners-up also face each other in a direct knockout stage.

Final qualification table

At the end of the group stage, the places are distributed as follows:

• 12 group winners
• 12 runners-up
• 8 best third-placed teams
• 12 teams will be eliminated in the first round

This brings the number of teams qualifying for the knockout stages from 16 in the old system to 32 in the 2026 edition, ushering in a new era for the tournament that is the largest and most extensive in World Cup history.

Featured image via Getty/Orlando Ramirez

By Alaa Shamali

Just days before the start of the 2026 World Cup, the latest valuations from the website ‘Transfermarkt’ have revealed which clubs dominate the market. Paris Saint-Germain’s (PSG) rise to the top of the world’s most valuable clubs for the first time in its history, whilst Premier League clubs have exerted a striking dominance over the global elite.

Paris Saint-Germain oust giants from the top

The Parisian club has taken the top spot with a market value of €1.37 billion, ahead of second-placed Manchester City at €1.32 billion and Arsenal in third place at €1.25 billion.

This rise reflects the transformation the French club’s sporting project has undergone in recent years, relying on a group of the world’s most promising young talents and the rising market value of several of its stars, which has seen it overtake clubs that used to dominate the top of the table, such as Real Madrid and Barcelona.

Real Madrid came fourth with a value of €1.22 billion, followed by Barcelona in fifth place with €1.17 billion, whilst Chelsea retained sixth place after the value of its squad surpassed the €1 billion mark to reach €1.11 billion.

The Premier League dominates the scene

Although Paris Saint-Germain topped the list, the English Premier League was the biggest winner in the rankings, having made an exceptional showing with 11 clubs in the top 20.

Alongside Manchester City, Arsenal and Chelsea, the list included Liverpool, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, Nottingham Forest, Brighton, Bournemouth, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa, a clear indication of the significant economic gap between the English league and its European rivals.

Liverpool ranked eighth with a value of €940 million, whilst Manchester United came ninth with €752 million, ahead of Tottenham Hotspur and Newcastle United.

Notable surprises and the decline of some traditional powerhouses

The list was not without surprises, as Nottingham Forest managed to secure 13th place globally with a value of €578 million, ahead of established clubs such as Atlético Madrid and Juventus.

Bournemouth and Crystal Palace also made an unexpected appearance among the world’s top 20 clubs by market value, reflecting the financial boom experienced by English Premier League clubs in recent years.

In contrast, Bayern Munich came in seventh as the highest-ranked German club with a value of €958 million, whilst Inter Milan finished twelfth to top the Italian clubs with a value of €647 million, while Juventus slipped to twentieth place with a value of just €500 million.

With the World Cup fast approaching, these figures confirm that the balance of power in modern football is no longer measured by titles alone, but also by the value of the talent clubs possess and their ability to invest in the future, making the list of clubs with the highest market value a true reflection of the shifts the game is undergoing within the global economy.

List of the 20 most valuable clubs in the world

1. Paris Saint-Germain — €1.37 billion
2. Manchester City — €1.32 billion
3. Arsenal — €1.25 billion
4. Real Madrid — €1.22 billion
5. Barcelona — €1.17 billion
6. Chelsea — €1.11 billion
7. Bayern Munich — €958 million
8. Liverpool — €940 million
9. Manchester United — €752 million
10. Tottenham Hotspur — €700 million
11. Newcastle United — €696 million
12. Inter Milan — €647 million
13. Nottingham Forest — €578 million
14. Atlético Madrid — €577 million
15. Brighton — €567 million
16. Bournemouth — €566 million
17. Crystal Palace — €553 million
18. Aston Villa — €532 million
19. Leipzig — €505 million
20. Juventus — €500 million

Featured image via Getty/Franco Garland

By Alaa Shamali

In what may be his strangest move yet, Tommy Robinson has released a video of himself with Elon Musk‘s father, Errol, an alleged sex offender.

Tommy Robinson is in Russia with Erroll Musk, who has been accused of sexually abusing five of his children and stepchildren. pic.twitter.com/kHKxFiVpC4

— Mukhtar (@I_amMukhtar) June 9, 2026

For clarity’s sake, we’re not saying it’s a ‘strange move’ because Errol has faced accusations of sexual abuse. After all, hanging around with alleged sex offenders is par for the course with Robinson. What’s not standard practice, however, is pissing off his wealthy backers and as we’ll get into, Elon despises his father.

Tommy Robinson and Errol Musk

Elon Musk has previously covered Robinson’s legal costs, as Robinson openly admitted. People also suspect Elon has artificially boosted Robinson’s reach on the Musk-owned X/Twitter because Robinson is all over its timeline posting suck-up posts like this:

How did I just make a full blown movie trailer with myself in it all on grok imagine 1.5

This would’ve cost 100s of thousands to produce years ago @elonmusk really doing his thing. pic.twitter.com/DYaan3LCRc

— Tommy Robinson (@TRobinsonNewEra) June 4, 2026

In the video above, Robinson says:

Enjoying my day with… This is for my ex-subscribers, Errol. Say hello to them.

Errol responds:

Hi, ex-subscribers of Tommy.

Tommy then says:

We’re gonna go and cause some trouble.

Errol retorts:

Yeah, no trouble. Doing things right.

Robinson then laughs as he says:

Trying our best to.

He likely won’t be laughing once Elon gets a look at this little love in.

The relationship between Elon and his dad

While there really is no excuse for Elon being the way he is, knowing more about his father does at least explain how we ended up with this absolute dustbin of a human being.

Elon Musk Confirms He Used Burner Account On X To Role-Play As Toddler Son https://t.co/TE6xciuk2K

— HuffPost (@HuffPost) April 8, 2024

There are ‘daddy issues’, and there’s whatever the f*ck this is. And as we said, this strange behaviour doesn’t come from nowhere.

Benzinga reported that Elon said the following about his “terrible” father:

In my experience, there is nothing you can do. Nothing, nothing. I wish. I’ve tried everything. I tried threats, rewards, intellectual arguments, emotional arguments, everything to try to change my father for the better, and he, no way, it just got worse.

Speaking on how he came to live with Errol, Elon said (summarised by the Guardian):

I felt sorry for my father, because my mother had all three kids. He seemed very sad and lonely by himself. So I thought, ‘I can be company’.

I didn’t really understand at the time what kind of person he was…It was not a good idea.

Elon isn’t the only Musk to have accused Errol of being a wretched human. A New York Times investigation revealed that Errol has faced multiple accusations of sexual abuse from family members, including:

• A stepdaughter who accused him of touching her in 1993, aged four
• The same stepdaughter accused him of sniffing her worn underwear a decade later
• Three police investigations into his behaviour

Outside of the allegations, it’s 100% confirmed that Errol fathered two children with his former stepdaughter. Oh, and Errol has also admitted to killing three men, supposedly in self-defence.

Given all this, then, it’s understandable why Elon would say:

He was such a terrible human being, you have no idea. My dad will have a carefully thought-out plan of evil. He will plan evil. Almost every crime you can possibly think of, he has done. Almost every evil thing you could possibly think of, he has done. It’s so terrible, you can’t believe it

The question is how will Elon feel about seeing his minion, Tommy Robinson, with his abuser?

Curtains for Tommy Robinson

As of right now, Elon still follows Robinson. This could change, however, because Elon is incredibly spiteful.

A good example of Elon turning on a former plaything is the case of Matt Taibbi.

Taibbi was once a well-respected investigative journalist. This changed when Elon took over Twitter, and he brought Taibbi in to curate the so-called Twitter Files — a release of internal documents exchanged between the site’s former owners.

If you’ve never heard of the ‘Twitter Files’, it’s because nothing came out which was all that surprising. As a result, many accused Taibbi of doing paid-for propaganda on behalf of a billionaire.

Things later turned sour between Elon and Taibbi because of the journalist’s relationship with Substack, a site which Elon regarded as a rival.

Since sharing links to my articles is a primary reason I come to this platform, I was alarmed and asked what was going on. I was given the option of posting articles on Twitter instead.

I’m obviously staying at Substack, and will be moving to Substack Notes next week.

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) April 7, 2023

The following messages show how things panned out:

Since @elonmusk published parts of these conversations, I might as well include others. I was under a “blanket search ban” at one point and a lot of my 1.9 million followers still don’t see my content. https://t.co/vFRtJFierF pic.twitter.com/k29MFxLUTC

— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) February 15, 2024

There’s also a more recent example which exemplifies how weird and fickle Elon is.

Everything is Cheong

In late May, Musk unfollowed Ian Miles Cheong, a guy who’s made a career out of sucking up to Elon. For an example of this, see the time Cheong claimed to have “never finished GTA5” despite the fact that IT WAS HIS JOB TO PUBLISH GUIDES ON GTA 5.

Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!

You mean to tell me the game series named "Grand Theft Auto" is gonna involve doing crimes?!

Count me out, sir!
Not me, Upstanding Citizen Cheong! https://t.co/tDc1NAY64n

— 𝕋𝕙𝕖 ℍ𝕚𝕤𝕥𝕠𝕣𝕪 𝕠𝕗 ℂ𝕙𝕚𝕟𝕒 ℙ𝕠𝕕𝕔𝕒𝕤𝕥 (@thocpodcast) December 5, 2023

Readers added a Community Note to this Tweet: https://t.co/yEdKu6hqQA

— Helpful Community Notes (@HelpfulNotes) December 6, 2023

The Tesla billionaire unfollowed Cheong after the man made the following observation about the mother of one of Elon’s children:

Ashley St. Claire is now trying to smash Hasan Piker. Third baby on the way, I guess. pic.twitter.com/NDBmo0zFtC

— Ian Miles Cheong (@ianmiles) May 26, 2026

It's pretty cool how some of you who act like you're friends with me are publicly gloating over Elon's decision to unfollow me. Good to know where I stand with you!

— Ian Miles Cheong (@ianmiles) May 27, 2026

As Cheong has 1.2 million followers on X, it looks like Elon may now be throttling the man’s reach.

To be clear, it’s almost certainly not the case that Musk unfollowed Cheong because he insulted the mother of his child. If we had to guess, we’d say it’s because Cheong drew attention to a conversation in which Ashley St. Claire talked at length about how weird and abusive Elon is.

St. Claire has said the following about Musk:

No one’s going to believe me, but he was so much more normal before I got pregnant. It was a very normal conversation. His demeanor was normal. I know I’m going to get roasted for this, but in private, he was funny, but then it just got so f–king weird, man.

Singer Grimes has also accused Musk of being manipulative and controlling in regards to their parental arrangements. It doesn’t end there, either, as the Atlantic reported:

Musk has an undisclosed number of children that is likely well above the 14 already publicly known, and he’s shown no obvious intention to stop sowing his seed.

But perhaps more interesting than the presence of contracts between Musk and his harem of mothers is the apparent absence of traditional family ties. He appears to acknowledge few, if any, bonds of genuine duty and responsibility among family members, much less bonds of care or love.

Musk seems to have reduced traditional family relationships to mere financial arrangements, undermining longtime conservative agreement around the importance of family.

What goes around comes around

All this is a roundabout way of noting that Elon is a weird and spiteful creature who is every bit the progeny of his father, which could be a problem for Tommy Robinson.

If he does lose Elon, though, he will still have his Zionist backers, as Lowkey exposed in the following thread and video:

Tommy Robinson has previously stated he would "fight for Israel in a war."

This thread examines Robinson and EDL's very clear material relationship with the Zionist Movement and considers the possibility that the racist attacks and pogroms in Britain are part of that fight.

— Lowkey (@Lowkey0nline) August 4, 2024

Featured image via Leon Neal/ Kevin Dietsch/ Getty Images

By Willem Moore

After three packed days of music in some of London’s finest grassroots music venues, the inaugural edition of Bulletproof Festival has concluded.

Jeremy Corbyn’s Peace & Justice Project founded Bulletproof Festival as part of the Music For The Many campaign. It aims to support grassroots music venues, UK live music and new artists.

The inaugural edition of the festival was headlined by Maruja, SPRINTS, and Pussy Riot who performed their new production Riot Days.

There were also performances from CQ Wrestling, SNAYX, The Oozes, Currls, Cody Frost, Dead Air, Hongza, YARD, Jools, and many more. Fast-rising live band Westside Cowboy performed a secret set on the Friday night of the event.

EartH in Hackney was the main stage, with a second stage rotating between The Victoria, Shacklewell Arms and The Jago. Overall, Bulletproof Festival brought together thousands of people in support of independent venues and action to ensure the long-term sustainability of live music.

Founder of the Peace & Justice Project and Your Party leader Jeremy Corbyn addressed the crowd and introduced Maruja on the first night of the event. Corbyn said:

We have built a festival from scratch to raise the plight of Britain’s grassroots music venues. We call on the government to act to fund live music and support the next generation of artists.

We also call on the government to end its censorship of those speaking out against social injustice and the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

Bulletproof Festival’s lead organiser Samuel Sweek said:

Bulletproof was set up to show that independent music venues and community creative spaces have an absolutely invaluable role in the music industry, where the power dynamic between up-and-coming artists and small venues against the huge sponsorship deals of massive arenas, stadiums and festivals couldn’t be more stark.

We’ve shown that things can be different, things can be fairer and that the heart of British live music is still beating.

Featured image via Bekky Calver

By The Canary

Somalia’s top referee, Omar Abdulkadir Artan, has been dramatically ruled out of the 2026 World Cup after being denied entry to the United States, ending what would have been a landmark moment for Somali football. The 34‑year‑old, voted Africa’s best referee in 2025, was set to become the first Somali official to take charge at a men’s World Cup finals. Instead, he was forced to fly back to Istanbul after being turned away at Miami International Airport.

FIFA confirmed the decision late on Monday, acknowledging that one of Africa’s most respected officials would not be part of the tournament after US authorities refused him entry.

A dream shattered at the final checkpoint

Artan travelled to Miami believing he held the correct visa to work at the tournament. Somalia remains on the US travel‑ban list, but he had been assured he could enter under the accreditation and documentation provided for World Cup officials. That confidence evaporated the moment he landed.

According to US Customs and Border Protection, Artan was subjected to “additional inspection” upon arrival on Saturday as officers assessed whether he met the criteria for entry. After hours of checks, he was deemed “inadmissible due to vetting concerns” and denied entry.

He was placed on a return flight to Istanbul, where he had been based for refereeing assignments in recent seasons.

FIFA: ‘Host governments determine who receives a visa’

FIFA moved quickly to clarify its position, stressing that it has no authority over immigration decisions made by host nations.

A spokesperson said:

“FIFA can confirm that match official Omar Abdulkadir Artan will be unable to train and officiate at the FIFA World Cup 2026 after he was denied entry into the United States. FIFA is not involved in host country immigration processes, including visa adjudications, and has been informed by authorities that Mr Artan’s status will not be changed at present. In line with previous FIFA events, a host government ultimately determines who receives a visa and who is admitted into their country.”

The statement leaves no room for appeal. With the tournament days away, FIFA has already begun the process of replacing Artan within its refereeing pool.

A historic first that never materialised

For Somalia, Artan’s appointment was more than a personal milestone — it was a national breakthrough. No Somali referee had ever been selected for a men’s World Cup finals. His rise through African football, culminating in being named CAF Referee of the Year in 2025, had been celebrated across the continent.

His absence now leaves a glaring void.

Artan had been scheduled to join the final pre‑tournament training camp in the US, where referees undergo fitness testing, VAR calibration sessions, and match‑specific briefings. Instead, he watched his World Cup dream collapse at the airport gate.

Somali officials condemn the decision

News of the visa denial sparked immediate frustration within Somali sporting circles. Ciise Aden Abshir, an advisor to Somalia’s Ministry of Sports, told Agence France-Presse:

Omar is among Africa’s most respected referees and deserves the support of the entire football community. Denying him entry and preventing him officiating harms not only him personally but also undermines football’s commitment to fairness, merit and the spirit of fair play.

The sentiment has been echoed across Somali media, where Artan’s story had been held up as proof that Somali football could produce world‑class officials despite decades of instability at home.

A wider problem of visa complications

Artan’s case is not isolated. In recent weeks, multiple athletes, journalists, and officials from countries on US travel‑restriction lists have reported delays or denials in securing visas for the World Cup. While FIFA has insisted it is working with US authorities to streamline the process, the governing body has repeatedly emphasised that it cannot override immigration decisions.

For referees, the stakes are particularly high. Unlike players, who travel with national teams and federations, match officials must meet strict logistical and training deadlines. Missing even a few days of preparation can rule them out of the tournament entirely.

Artan’s removal underscores the fragility of that system.

A career defined by resilience

Artan’s rise through the refereeing ranks has been anything but straightforward. Born and raised in Mogadishu, he began officiating in local leagues before earning CAF recognition for his composure, fitness, and command of matches. His performances in the CAF Champions League and Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers earned him a place on FIFA’s elite list.

By 2025, he had become one of the most trusted referees on the continent, praised for his calm authority and ability to manage high‑pressure fixtures. His selection for the 2026 World Cup was widely viewed as overdue recognition.

That journey now hits an unexpected and painful halt.

What happens next for FIFA and African officiating

FIFA will now reassign Artan’s scheduled matches to other officials, likely drawing from its standby list. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) is expected to push for another African referee to be added to the roster, though time is running short.

For African officiating, Artan’s exclusion is a symbolic blow. His presence at the World Cup would have represented a step forward for Somali football and a broader statement about the continent’s refereeing depth.

Instead, the conversation has shifted to immigration policy, travel bans, and the complexities of hosting a global tournament across multiple countries with differing entry rules.

For Artan, the disappointment is profound. For Somalia, it is a missed moment of global visibility. For FIFA, it is another reminder of the corruption when tournaments intersect with geopolitics.

The World Cup will go on without him. The image of a top African referee being turned away at a US airport days before the biggest tournament of his life will linger a stark reminder that even in football, borders can still close doors that talent alone cannot open.

Featured Image via Khaled Desouki/Getty Images

By Faz Ali

Christian Eriksen’s collapse during Denmark’s friendly against Ukraine sent a jolt through the Nature Energy Park crowd and brought the match to an immediate halt. What began as a routine warm‑up fixture ahead of the summer schedule turned into a moment of collective fear, one that revived memories no Danish supporter ever wanted to relive.

The 34‑year‑old midfielder went down shortly after the hour mark, appearing to clutch his chest before falling to the turf. Players reacted instantly, waving urgently for medical staff while forming a protective circle around him. The stadium, loud only minutes earlier, fell into a stunned, suspended silence.

Within minutes, the referee abandoned the match. Supporters were told the players would not return.

Eriksen reassurance from home

Hours later, the tension eased. Eriksen released a short statement confirming he was back home, recovering, and doing well. It was the message Denmark and much of the football world needed to hear.

He clarified that the incident was not a repeat of his cardiac arrest at Euro 2020. Instead, his implantable cardioverter‑defibrillator (ICD), fitted after that life‑threatening episode, had activated as designed. The device had done its job. He emphasised that he felt stable, was in good spirits, and was already focusing on rest with his family.

The tone was calm, measured, and reassuring, mirroring the way he plays on the pitch.

Echoes of Copenhagen

For many watching, the scene in Odense was painfully familiar. Eriksen’s collapse at Euro 2020 remains one of the most harrowing moments in modern football. His heart stopped on the pitch. CPR was administered. Teammates shielded him from cameras. The world held its breath.

That day changed the trajectory of his career. Italian regulations prevented him from continuing at Inter Milan with an ICD, prompting his return to the Premier League with Brentford in 2022. His performances there earned him a move to Manchester United, where he made over 100 appearances and lifted both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup before moving to Wolfsburg in 2025.

Through it all, Eriksen has been open about his recovery, his gratitude, and his determination to keep playing. Saturday’s incident was a reminder of the journey he has already travelled and the resilience that defines him.

Players’ immediate response

The reaction on the pitch was swift and emotional. Denmark captain Simon Kjær, who played a crucial role in Eriksen’s care in 2021, was among the first to call for medical assistance. Ukrainian players, visibly shaken, stepped back to allow space while joining the applause as Eriksen was taken off.

Some players were in tears. Others knelt, heads bowed. It was a moment that stripped away rivalry and left only human concern.

Medical clarity 

Eriksen will undergo further tests in the coming days, but early indications suggest he avoided serious complications. His club, Wolfsburg, issued a brief statement echoing Denmark’s update and offering full support.

For now, there is no timeline on his return to training. That will come later. The priority is stability, rest, and careful monitoring.

In Denmark, the relief was palpable. Supporters who had lived through the trauma of 2021 feared the worst when Eriksen fell. The news that he was home, recovering, and in good condition brought a collective exhale.

Messages of support poured in from across Europe, teammates, former clubs, rival players, and supporters who have followed his remarkable comeback story. Eriksen has long been one of football’s most admired figures, not just for his talent but for the grace with which he has navigated adversity.

Featured Image via Stuart Franklin/Getty Images

By Faz Ali

The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) chief prosecutor Karim Khan has been suspended from his duties following an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct. Khan has now been referred to disciplinary proceedings which will see a vote by all 125 ICC member states, with the upcoming vote set to decide his fate.

However, prior reports regarding the investigation suggested that three judges found that the evidence was not conclusive, despite a UN probe initially finding a “factual basis” for the allegations of sexual misconduct raised by a female aide.

Khan has refuted the allegations levelled against him as a “politically motivated smear campaign,” stating:

The decision is unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence.

As a result, fresh concerns are raised as to why this has now resulted in a member-state vote which could kick Khan out of the ICC.

Moreover, this grows particularly concerning in light of threats and sanctions imposed by Western states towards Khan and the court itself following his decision to issue arrest warrants for genocidal Israeli leaders.

BREAKING: ICC chief prosecutor Karim Khan has been suspended pending a vote by member states after a probe found he committed serious misconduct.

Khan denies the allegations and faces a possible removal vote.

More on https://t.co/5H0QqpfIYw pic.twitter.com/mmSG5phi1t

— Al Jazeera Breaking News (@AJENews) June 8, 2026

ICC: Khan denies any wrongdoing, and evidence is inconclusive

Khan will now face a vote by all 125 member states, but further disciplinary action will require at least 65 states to decide against him. Nevertheless, prior reports surrounding the allegations, which prompted Khan to take a voluntary leave of absence when first raised, suggest that there is not conclusive evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the claims are valid and legitimate.

Despite that lack of evidence, the bureau – the executive committee of the court’s oversight body – has chosen to refer to a member state vote after making its own decision regarding Khan’s disciplinary proceedings. Frustratingly, the executive committee has not offered an explanation for why it chose to formally suspend Khan, despite reports from Reuters and the Associated Press that a three-judge panel selected to assess the case found that the evidence was not conclusive enough to support the allegations.

However, any faint prospect of understanding the rationale behind such a strong rebuke of the ICC prosecutor will be challenging, given that the Bureau has stated:

The decision of the ⁠Bureau and the related documentation will remain confidential.

In contrast, Khan has come under significant pressure, receiving threats and sanctions by leaders of Western states following his principled decision to issue arrest warrants for genocidal Israeli leaders, PM Benjamin Netanyahu and former minister of defence Yoav Gallant. Since charging the pair with war crimes and crimes against humanity seen in Gaza, the ICC and its prosecutor have faced widespread political pressuring to withdraw the warrants.

Defiantly, and in keeping with his stated commitment to upholding international law, Khan has stood by his position and resisted attempts by pro-Zionist governments and political actors in the West to pressure him into silence.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan remains defiant and set on justice for victims of genocide, as US sustain sanctions on him and his family

By @MaddisonW92 https://t.co/xF9OGt5Hlu

— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) June 3, 2026

Sanctions and threats from Western pro-Zionist leaders

Khan has condemned the decision taken as a politically motivated smear campaign. A majority of 21 diplomats sitting on the executive committee recommended the finding of ‘serious misconduct’ despite three judges finding no real evidence of wrongdoing. Given the lack of evidence and the strong position taken by this executive body, the suggestion of sinister political motivations being at play is hard to discount.

After all, we know that then-foreign secretary David Cameron threatened Khan in an attempt to intimidate him into refraining from issuing arrest warrants, saying that the UK would withdraw from the ICC if he didn’t. Khan did not back down, and we are still a member of the ICC – but resistance to holding Israel accountable for its flagrant war crimes, abuses, and crimes against humanity is still going strong as the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) ‘lost’ all recorded evidence of Israel’s crimes.

Furthermore, and likely relevant to his subsequent character assassination, a British-Israeli lawyer acting on Netanyahu’s behalf reportedly warned Khan in May 2025 that, unless the ICC abandoned the case against the Zionist, genocidal leader, they would “destroy” both the prosecutor and the court itself. Such a warning is surely designed not merely to influence a legal proceeding, but to intimidate the very institution charged with upholding international law.

This state-led intimidation should be illegal

The law rightly treats the intimidation of jurors as a serious offence because it undermines the integrity of the judicial process. In the same way, attempts to pressure or coerce an international court and its officials should bring equal criminality. But that principle only holds if Western leaders are, in practice, prepared to defend the rule of law consistently and without fear or favour.

Nonetheless, this principled, moral leadership certainly won’t come from the US. We wrote recently about Khan’s dogged resistance to the US’ abusive, maligned pressure – which saw unfair, and arguably illegal, sanctions applied against himself and his children by US President Trump:

Khan opened up about the coercive agenda at play to intimidate him as he pursues justice and accountability for the tens of thousands of victims of flagrant war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In response, Khan defiantly centered those who have lost everything as a result of imperialist aggression, saying:

“.. it’s not about us. It’s about victims and their right to justice.

They’re not worthless. They’re not numbers. They’re not abstract concepts.

They’re people that have lost their babies, their wives, their husbands, their grandparents.”

Sanctions didn’t work – now they’re weaponising disciplinary processes

Therefore, Khan argues that this may be yet another attempt at intimidation and silencing by the powers he believes dominate the West—Israel and its closely aligned allies in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Regardless of the cynical and potentially subversive agenda that may be driving these actions against him, the member states will ultimately decide any further steps through a vote. International law must matter. Without it, the world risks descending into barbarism, where the most powerful actors remain untouchable and can act with complete impunity. In such a status quo, no one can truly be safe.

Featured image via Getty/Michael M. Santiago

By Maddison Wheeldon

Keir Starmer has launched the latest crap policy that he thinks will save his failing premiership: an AI jobcentre advisor – because that’s exactly what the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) need.

DWP and AI needs to walk the plank

The Prime Minister announced at London Tech Week that the DWP had developed the new ‘AI work assistant’. Starmer called the tool a ‘jobcentre in your pocket’ and said it would help unemployed people find work and help build them CVs.

Science editor at The Times, Tom Whipple decided to give it a go, with a twist.

He wrote on Twitter:

I tried the government’s new AI “Jobcentre in your pocket” chatbot. Could it write me a CV? It could.

It also suggested that I should consider employment law and whether I’ve been discriminated against.

Key detail: I’m a parrot.

As Whipple wrote, he asked the robot to ask him to not help him, but Long John Silver’s faithful parrot from Treasure Island.

The journalist details that the AI told him repeating a phrase over and over (‘pieces of eight’) wasn’t an issue. This simply made him an expert in verbal communications. The parrot didn’t just sit on Long John Silver’s shoulder cracking wise, he was responsible for ‘supporting senior figures in client-facing work’.

The AI did flag up that the parrot (real name Captain Flint, according to the book) did have one issue, a significant gap in employment. But that tends to happen when the book you’re in was written in the 18th century, doesn’t it?

Despite the ridiculousness, the AI did produce a CV for the parrot, it even included a glowing endorsement from his previous employer:

Who’s a pretty boy, then?

-Former employer, Maritime industry

Let’s be clear, whilst this was hilarious, it was a rather smug middle-class approach. All this really proves is that the AI is indeed a robot that can’t identify context clues and so set on its directive, it won’t deviate from it. This side-quest of Whipple’s doesn’t really drill down into how sinister using AI to push someone into work is.

What will the AI force disabled people into?

As the Canary’s Hannah Sharland has previously reported, the DWP has previously funnelled £1.5 million into AI companies. As Sharland explained, the department is weaponising AI against disabled people to force them into work:

What we have is AI spying on sick people in work, and AI spying on sick people not in work. Ultimately, this new DWP AI guff is just the government’s latest dodgy gambit to bring sick and disabled people under the thumb of the exploitative capitalist market.

It’s especially hypocritical that the department continues to use AI when it previously demonised disabled benefits claimants for using AI to complete needlessly traumatic and long PIP forms.

Back in March, the I paper ran with:

‘Dangerous’ over-dependence on AI tools leaves disabled people using wrong or irrelevant information on their forms, say benefits advisers.

The real story here was that the DWP was refusing to release PIP assessor training manuals, but the department covered that up by claiming that they could be fed into AI. And while they don’t want people using AI to fill in the forms, they use AI to make benefits decisions. This is despite findings that AI use is much more likely to target vulnerable claimants.

The DWP has designed an AI that will manipulate people into work no matter what. Sure, in this case it’s a fictional parrot, but what happens when a disabled person who would desperately need support at work starts talking to it, will the machine pinpoint this safeguarding issue? Or will it twist the claimant’s words and massage them to make them more desirable to employers?

Whilst disabled people are being forced into employment without the support they need, a tool like this is dangerous and just another way the DWP will make disabled people’s lives harder.

Featured image via Getty/Justin Sullivan

By Rachel Charlton-Dailey

Palantir has begun the process of suing London mayor Sadiq Khan for blocking a £50m deal to supply AI criminal investigations software to the Metropolitan Police.

The US tech firm has also provided services to such illustrious clients as Israel’s genocidal military and Trump’s racist border regime. As if that wasn’t enough reason to drop Palantir, the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) pointed out that: 

the Met only engaged with one potential supplier, Palantir. It also did not present their procurement strategy to the deputy mayor for approval as required. The process followed by the Metropolitan Police Service for the award of the contract has not adequately ensured, or demonstrated, value for money.

The news of the lawsuit also happens to follow less than a week after the UK’s cross-party Science, Information and Technology Committee called Palantir’s increasing power over the UK state an “unacceptable weakness”. The committee went so far as to urge the government to:

exercise the 2027 break clause in the NHS Federated Data Platform Contract with Palantir and either develop an in-house replacement or seek an alternative UK provider.

So, we’ve got: procedural violations, ethical concerns, and security concerns in play. Remind us again why this is even up for debate?

Conservatives egged Palantir on

Following Khan’s veto, Palantir’s European-branch chief – Louis Mosley, grandson of the famed fascist –told Times Radio that:

I think the mayor is putting politics over public safety. He talks about values but I think what Londoners’ value is not being mugged, not being raped by a serving police officer, and that’s really what the focus here should be.

Like the obedient lap dogs of big business they are, Conservatives figureheads were quick to jump on Palantir’s bandwagon. Ex-attorney general Michael Ellis characterised MOPAC’s move as:

no doubt [that] Palantir has an extremely strong case for judicial review of Khan’s decision, to get it overturned. I strongly encourage Palantir to do that.

‘A subjective assessment’

It now appears that the authoritarian AI company has decided to do just that. Palantir’s lawyers wrote a pre-action letter to MOPAC stating that they’ll challenge Khan’s decision in court.

Defending his position in City AM, Khan echoed public concerns about the AI companies being handed control of sensitive personal data:

They want to know: what are the guardrails? What are the rules when it comes to us using the technology? How can we use it?

We can’t be blind to it. That’s why I’m not evangelical about AI to the extent where I don’t understand the importance of the guardrails and having rules in play.

Campaigning organisation 38 Degrees recently promoted two anti-Palantir petitions which attracted almost 230,000 signatures. The first urged Labour to end all public contracts with the firm. The second called on then-health-secretary Wes Streeting to axe the company’s £330m NHS patient data contract

Regarding the impending lawsuit, a source from within Palantir argued that Khan made a “subjective assessment”, adding:

We don’t take this decision lightly but we cannot stand by if procurement of our software is being politicised in this way.

A truly pathetic argument right there. ‘Sure, maybe we’re evil, but you still have to buy our software or we’ll sue’.

On top of that, Palantir didn’t seem to mind ‘politicising’ procurement when Epstein-linked ex-ambassador Peter Mandelson was handing out introductions between the company and government. And let’s not even get into the fact the tech company was a client of Mandelson’s consultancy at the time…

This lawsuit is a monumental waste of public time and money – the best of luck to Londoners in the ongoing fight to keep this evil company from sinking its claws any deeper into their city.

Featured image via Getty/Leon Neal

By Alex/Rose Cocker

The Reform-led council in St Helens has instructed all local libraries to take down displays promoting or funding anything relating to Pride or Refugee Week.

This Orwellian – and bigoted – move comes just as Refugee Week is set to commence, between the 15th and 21st June, and shuts down the long-seen practice of libraries highlighting resources which increase understanding and compassion towards marginalised communities.

At the same time, the council have afforded £200k of taxpayers’ money to pay a consultant to ‘educate’ elected Reform councillors on the inner workings of the council over four years. This follows a comment made by a newly elected Reform councillor, George Woodward, in their first council meeting that they are:

enthusiastic but politically inexperienced.

Nevertheless, many newly elected councillors begin their terms with gaps in knowledge around policy and procedure, which is why councils already employ paid officers to support and advise them. However, Reform councillors are more than happy for lofty taxpayer funding for specialist political education delivered by consultants of their choosing, while simultaneously imposing cruel cuts to funding for community libraries.

Reform bigotry

This now-deleted post by St Helen’s Reform Councillor Mal Webster states it is a decision based in equality, because equality is of course the pretense that other groups just don’t exist.

Once again, white supremacy and bigotry is on full display by Reform UK.

Reform ;no longer support performative celebrations’

The Canary has seen an anonymous report from a library worker in St Helens who has spoken out saying “most if not all staff are horrified by this and we don’t have any outlet to disagree or speak out”.

Stating they are a ‘concerned member of the community’, they told us:

I don’t want my name used because I will lose my job. But I want people to know that Library management has told staff not to support Pride Month or Refugee week. I personally had to take down my Refugee Week display and Pride book display. This has not come from Reform, the libraries, which are supposed to represent the community, are covering themselves to cozy up with the new administration.

All Libraries in St Helens have been told not to support Pride Month or Refugee Week

Quote from Management – “We’re not recognizing Pride as a particular event this year”

Actions taken –

The calendar is being updated to remove references to Pride. Any leaflets mentioning Pride or Rainbow events “need to be pulled” and not distributed.

Rebranding Events: Events originally advertised as “Pride” or “Rainbow” events are being rebranded as “creative crafts.”

“Pride book displays are to be removed.”

Quote from Management – “The council’s position is that they’re not supporting Refugee Week this year.”

Actions taken

Removing Displays: Staff have been instructed to “bring down” Refugee Week exhibitions.

Modifying Educational Content: The “empathy school visits” has been updated specifically to “remove” references to Refugee Week.

We have since learned that the Reform council leader and cabinet directed this decision, with Newton-le-Willows Library issuing an “official response” stating that:

The council will not be involved in promoting or funding both Pride and Refugee Week.

Now with a clear need to replace the displays with something else, they’ve decided that Christmas comes twice this year – of course, this can’t possibly be called a performative display for one group, can it?

Money for “sympathetic” policy advisers, but not for inclusive libraries

Subsequently, the Reform council has stated its decision is about ensuring public money is not used for what it describes as “performative celebrations of one group”. However, the fact remains that it has seen fit to pay a consultant £50k a year on a four-year contract to inform Reform’s newly elected councillors, despite the council already having paid council officers who are more than able to inform on council policy and process for all who require it.

Therefore, it seems Reform is more than happy for taxpayer funds to go to the ‘performative’ benefit of one group, so long as it’s ‘theirs’. As a result, their far-right agenda becomes ever clearer, as they decide that it is not in the public interest for local people to have resources to help them understand and empathise with refugees and fellow citizens in their local LGBTQ+ community.

Once again, Reform show they want to restrict access to factual information that doesn’t suit their political narrative – because it goes directly against their gross, bigoted and ego-driven political motivations to divide our communities and increase hate in our towns and cities.

Since the council imposed the policy this week, local residents have been deeply unhappy with this development, with many across St Helen’s contacting their local libraries for answers and some going down to their library to see the ‘lack’ of displays for themselves.

We also tried to contact a number of local libraries in St Helens, but they would not confirm or deny whether they have taken down their displays. Instead, they directed us to speak to Reform Councillor Long for information regarding this cruel, anti-humanitarian ban.

Only one group matters to Reform – white supremacists

This disgusting policy decision, which in turn will leave communities without the educational resources to better understand issues surrounding refugees and our own LGBTQ+ community, is indicative of Reform UK’s commitment to white supremacy.

Their own leader Nigel Farage has done little to hide his disdain for marginalised people, as he recently sought to use the tragic death of Henry Nowak to whip up “pure cold rage” amongst fellow racists. Subsequently, we saw white riots in Southampton, which terrorised local residents.

Now, Reform is making clear that they want to leave communities in the dark and withhold vital resources which could help to bring down barriers, decrease fear, and increase understanding towards embattled people in the UK.

Where this will lead in St Helens awaits to be seen. But nothing good ever comes from fear, and education is the only way we can counter ignorance.

Reform is now actively taking that education away from our communities.

Featured image via Getty/Bruno Vincent

By Maddison Wheeldon

To celebrate Nigel Farage’s 50th day without a hosting press conference, Labour have published 50 pressing questions that both Parliament and the public would like him to answer.

By coincidence, the publication also coincides with the approval of Farage’s planning application for to extend and renovate his latest house purchase.

After the Guardian broke its story about Nigel Farage’s undeclared, untaxed ‘gift’ from crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, the Reform leader has maintained an unusual level of radio silence. Instead, he’s made ’emergency broadcasts’ which incited a riot from the middle of a field.

Cooking up a white-supremacist riot is certainly one way to divert attention from massive (alleged) corruption. Unfortunately for the UK’s racist ringleader, the Parliamentary Standards Commissioner probably hasn’t forgotten that he’s currently investigating Farage.

Neither, for that matter, has Labour chair Anna Turley.

Farage ‘Shifting accounts’

On 7 June, the Labour Press account published the full letter on social media. Addressed directly from Turley to Farage, it listed 50 pressing questions for the Reform leader to answer. What’s more, many of them even came with helpful quotes from Farage himself… and contradictory quotes, likewise.

On the subject of Farage’s many conflicting stories about the £5m gift (or was it donation?) for security (or possibly Brexit, but it definitely wasn’t political), the letter stated that:

Rather than providing clarity, these shifting accounts have raised further serious questions about whether you have broken Parliamentary rules, about potential conflicts of interest, and about whether you have told the truth.

You have refused to answer questions from journalists about the extraordinary sum of money you recieved. That is not acceptable.

Turley got in a quick jab about reporting Farage’s alleged ‘Russian hack’ to the police before coming to the matter at hand:

Below are 50 unanswered questions – one for each of the 50 days since you held a press conference. You must now set out the answers, clearly and in full. The public deserves the truth.

Lets play 50 questions

In a markedly helpful fashion, Turley arranged her questions into eight similar headings. Of course, we’d love answers to the lot, but the following are some of out favourites. We’re starting fairly easy with the basic details:

Was the “gift” received into your personal bank account or crypto-wallet, or that of a company you control?

Surely Farage can remember that one, unless ‘Moscow’ deleted his records on its way out,

Next up, a group of questions on the fact that Farage didn’t bother to declare the £5m. Labour asked what kind of legal advice led the Reform leader not to bother with that one. Likewise, the party also wondered whether the undeclared £5m came up during Farage’s other recent parliamentary investigation:

The Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards opened an inquiry on 30 October 2025 into your breaches of the MPs Code of Conduct, and on 20 January 2026 concluded that you had breached the rules 17 times by failing to register financial interests totalling £384,000 within the 28-day limit. […] Did you discuss with the Commissioner the £5 million “gift” or any others given before the 2024 general election?

Private gift or political donation?

Turley then moved on to the reasons behind the ‘gift’. At just two questions, this section was rather short. However, we felt the following was particularly pressing:

You said that the £5 million from Christopher Harborne “was given to me so that I would be safe and secure for the rest of my life”, […] that it was “purely private”, “wasn’t political in any sense at all” and “an unconditional, non-political personal gift” […], and that “it was given as a reward for campaigning for Brexit for 27 years”. […] Which of these is true?

When is a political gift not a gift? When somebody’s telling great big fibs.

For that matter, the letter also pressed Farage on whether he’d taken similar undeclared ‘gifts’ from anyone else. Likewise, Turley was also curious whether Harborne had handed money over to any other Reform stalwarts.

That said, highlighting that Reform promptly began shilling for crypto is probably the biggest ‘gotcha’:

On May 29, 2025 at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, you announced Reform had put together a proposed ‘Cryptoassets and Digital Finance Bill’ […]. Did Christopher Harborne or representatives of his business advise you or any other Reform-UK-linked figures on matters related to this bill in advance of its publication?

Well, a house is a kind of security…

Given that Farage originally claimed that the £5m was for ‘security purposes’, Turley devoted 10 whole questions to the subject. In particular, she pointed out one major disparity:

Christopher Harborne reportedly became “concerned about what little protection Mr Farage has access to” following an incident in 2019 […]. Why was there a five-year gap between his becoming concerned and giving you £5 million for your security?

We at the Canary had it that Harborne’s inciting incident was watching Farage get hit by a milkshake. We know billionaires are out-of-touch, but a raincoat is probably a cheaper fix than £5m there.

Of course, the fact that Farage and his partner bought/extended several houses up front, within months of the ‘gift’, also featured heavily. Turley singled out the dubious sourcing of those funds:

Reform UK has said that this house purchase was funded not by the Harborne gift but by the fee from your appearence on I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! but you have previously said this fee was paid to your production company, Thorn in the Side Ltd. And Thorn in the Side’s company accounts suggest that the fee remained in the company account after the house purchase. How did you pay for the Surrey house in May 2024?

In our opinion, I’m a Celebrity owes the public money for subjecting them to Farage, but whatever.

Last but not least: Moscow

Inevitably, given Turley’s recent history with Farage, she finished up with a question about the Reform leader’s claim to have been hacked by Russia:

According to the Mail on Sunday report, following the disclosure of the £5 million “gift” you “decided to submit [your] mobile phone for forensic analysis by counter-espionage experts” who “concluded that hostile state actors, almost certainly linked to Moscow, had used ‘spear phishing’ tactics to compromise [your] phone, email and bank accounts”. Who were these counter-espionage experts?

Farage is scuppered either way on this one. Either he didn’t report the ‘Russian hack’, which he should have as a national security incident, or he made the whole thing up. Personally, our money’s on the latter.

Of course, if Farage wants to remain in hiding, he’s free to do so. Dodging interviews is really helping his public image as a man who definitely isn’t lying. That said, if he does fancy facing the music, Turley’s itemised list is probably a good place to start.

Featured image via Getty/Dan Kitwood

By Alex/Rose Cocker

Just as Green Party leader Zack Polanski has made calls to release Marwan Barghouti, so too in Spain, prime minister Pedro Sanchez attended Barcelona’s Primavera Sound festival. There, Barghouti’s son, Arab Barghouti, addressed 75,000 people before meeting the Spanish premier.

Arab Barghouthi, son of Palestinian prisoner Marwan Barghouti, met with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez after addressing 75,000 people at Primavera Sound. pic.twitter.com/RMMyKyzGm3

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) June 8, 2026

Sanchez even shared a video of Barghouti’s son’s speech on Instagram and thanked him for raising his voice.

Polanski and Sanchez’s positioning of Marwan Barghouthi as a political prisoner rather than Israel’s framing of him as a terrorist borrows directly from the playbook that once freed Nelson Mandela.

Barghouti has been called “Palestine’s Mandela” – a statue of him briefly stood near the UK Parliament last week before police intercepted it.

Like Mandela, Barghouti has spent decades in prison. And like Mandela, his supporters believe he will one day be recognised as a global symbol of freedom and justice.

Barghouti must be freed

A POLITICO profile published the same week praised the Spanish PM as a “rockstar” and the “unlikely face of Europe’s opposition” to Trump.

When the U.S. and Israel began their attack on Iran in late February, Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez stood out as the sole EU leader to openly condemn the military operation.

Within months, he went from an outlier in Europe to the bloc’s moral leader.

https://t.co/VLTgSu4Whv pic.twitter.com/s4N6wcvf0c

— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) June 8, 2026

POLITICO traces Sanchez’s domestic popularity to his defiance of US foreign policy priorities.

Spaniards backed him when he refused Trump’s demands to hike NATO spending. But it was his condemnation of the war on Iran that resonated with Spanish voters, among the most opposed to the attack anywhere in Europe.

The news outlet praised Sanchez as an exception to other European leaders who have not stood up to the Americans:

Overall, Europe’s leaders have been reluctant to clash with Trump. The U.S. is one of the EU’s largest trading partners, and maintaining stable ties is considered essential for countries like Germany. Additionally, despite Trump’s efforts to undermine NATO, European defense continues to not only be U.S.-led, but U.S.-centered.

But Sánchez is an exception to that status quo.

Zionist backlash

Like Barghouti’s, though obviously not to anywhere near the same degree, Polanski and Sanchez have paid the price of standing up to the Anglo-American-Zionist ruling elite.

For Polanski, the cost is a relentless media war. The Telegraph has joined other right-wing rags in publishing antisemitic Polanski caricatures. The Telegraph has also implied that Polanski wants to create a “Jew register,” in response to the Green leader backing calls to hold potential war criminals to account.

The Daily Mail published anonymous claims from allegedly “disgusted” relatives, but Polanski revealed they’d all refused to talk.

For Sanchez, right-wing rags are too eager for his downfall. The Jerusalem Post calls Sanchez’s administration “the most antisemitic government in the West,” and digs into his wife’s corruption case. 

One particularly strange claim from the Jerusalem Post, attributed to Spanish businessman David Hatchwell, insists Spain is “led by a coalition financed by Iran” made up of “terrorists who have never answered for their crimes.” No evidence is provided.

Hatchwell smears Sanchez’s government as one that “hates Spain, hates Israel, and hates America.”

Polanski and Sánchez might not reflect mainstream elite politics – but they certainly reflect majority public opinion.

New polling from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign reveals just how out of touch the British establishment really is.

BREAKING: New polling shows that Labour’s policy on Gaza is a significant factor in progressive voters ditching the party in huge numbers pic.twitter.com/9ftj4Y1QWQ

— Palestine Solidarity Campaign (@PSCupdates) June 8, 2026

Polling showed that Labour’s policy on Gaza is a significant factor in progressive voters ditching the party in huge numbers, with 53% of those who switched to the Greens, Lib Dems, SNP, Plaid Cymru, or independents citing Gaza as a reason.

Polanski and Sanchez’s embrace of Barghouti’s cause probably resonates more with ordinary voters than any front-page smear in the Daily Mail or Jerusalem Post.

Featured image via Getty/Buda Mendes

By The Canary

The US military deployed elements of the elite 82nd airborne division – paratroopers – to the Middle East in March. Sources have now revealed some went to Israel. Their mission, if called upon, was to seize Iranian oil port Kharg island.

US journalist Ken Klippenstein reported on 8 June:

When the Pentagon announced that the 82nd Airborne was deploying to the Middle East in March, it concealed a key detail: some of the paratroopers were headed to Israel, as revealed in an Army deployment order I obtained.

Adding:

A military source involved in war planning tells me the deployment is tied to new U.S.-Israeli joint contingency plans, completed since February, for seizing Kharg Island and carving out coastal territory inside Iran.

Rumours of a ground invasion bubbled then faded as the war ground to a humiliating halt. Klippenstein, among others, argued that a ground war was never going to happen. Trump’s war on Iran is currently polling as badly as the Vietnam war.

US paratroopers Israeli mission kept secret

The mission was kept quiet to head off:

public debate over a joint U.S.-Israeli operation inside Iran — a prospect many considered plausible at the time.

And because:

A joint U.S.-Israeli operation raises thorny questions for America’s Gulf Arab “partners,” especially over logistical support — hence the 82nd, which could launch directly from Israel without any Gulf state’s consent to use its territory.

The last mass military parachute drop was in 1945. While the Pentagon did talk about the deployment, the Israel tasking was kept quiet.

US Joint Chiefs Chairman general Dan Caine praised the 82nd in a public meeting in May 2026:

He went on to describe the paratroopers as “constantly ready to jump from Air Force aircraft into ground combat [to] seize key terrain if ordered to do so, just like their predecessors did in Sicily and Normandy in World War II, or to secure or enable the follow-on forces to flow into theater as they did in Grenada or Panama.”

For Klippenstein:

That is a description of readiness to seize a piece of Iranian terrain — which makes me suspect the New York Times and others were being used to “message” Tehran that such an operation was imminent.

One company remains Israel

The US-Israeli alliance is hardly a secret. Klippenstein gave three reasons why the mission was kept so secret:

First, the breadth and depth of U.S.-Israeli military cooperation goes far beyond arms sales and “deconfliction.”

Secondly:

the two countries are deepening intelligence sharing aimed at making Israel a sixth “eye” in the so-called Five Eyes alliance of the U.S., Canada, Great Britain, Australia, and New Zealand.

And:

Third, naming Israel would expose how much of the U.S. assault on Iran is in fact a joint U.S.-Israeli attack — not a Trump-Netanyahu brotherhood, but cooperation at the military-to-military working level, where combined war plans are now reality.

Klippenstein said one airborne company – between 60 and 250 soldiers –  is still in Israel:

from which no dispatches have emerged in two months. I’m not saying a ground operation is imminent or inevitable. But if one were coming, wouldn’t it be nice to know?

US-Israel attacked Iran first on 28 February without provocation. Iran was offering unprecedented concessions in negotiations at the time. The Pentagon has since stated there was no imminent threat from Iran. And the UN’s atomic watchdog, the IAEA, has said there is no evidence Iran was developing a nuclear weapon.

The US has achieved none of its original war aims. Iran predictably closed the Straits of Hormuz, a vital oil channel, once attacked – creating a global energy crisis. Far from being defeated, Iran has said the war will continue until “the enemy’s inevitable and permanent humiliation, disgrace, regret, and surrender”. Trump came to power on an anti-war ‘America First’ ticket. He now faces worldwide humiliation.

Featured image via Getty/Ian Hitchcock

By Joe Glenton

Nigel Farage has called on the Unions to ditch Labour and instead join far-right Reform UK.

Reform is now the party of workers.

Today I am inviting trade unions to apply for affiliation with Reform UK.

We also welcome union leaders to attend our national conference in September and engage in discussions about the policies of a future Reform government. pic.twitter.com/v9dRHMmwU4

— Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) June 9, 2026

Farage has never been a member of a union. Instead, he has spent most of his career spouting hatred at them.

Nigel Farage hasn’t been a member of a union his whole life. He’s had nothing but borderline hatred for them his entire career. He’s also quoted as saying “Reform would go to war with these left wing teaching unions”.

Meanwhile councillors like @DarrenGrimes constantly air… https://t.co/mcBIPmgr8M

— Reform Party UK Exposed (@reformexposed) June 9, 2026

If any union accepts his offer, there is no doubt that it will eventually destroy both the union and its members’ rights. That sounds a bit like a turkey voting for Christmas.

Farage inviting the Unions to get into bed with him and Reform UK because they are ‘the party of working people’.
If any union accepts this offer it will destroy them and their members rights, perhaps that’s his plan? I would leave my union if it did would you? #Farage #ReformUK pic.twitter.com/QtOy7KVV8Z

— The Rev. Anton Mittens (@MittensOff) June 9, 2026

Farage voting against workers’ rights

Farage claims that Reform is the party of working people. However, the reality is that Farage has consistently voted against workers’ rights.

Trade union representative here: ARE THEY FUCK FOR THE WORKING PEOPLE. https://t.co/B8FDP1t6d3

— SaltyTech (@Captin__Caveman) June 9, 2026

From the man and party who voted against the Employment Rights Act – this is farcical.

What was it about the law which repeals vast swathes of the Tories’ punitive Trade Union Act 2016 and makes it far easier to get unions recognised in a workplace you didn’t like Nigel? https://t.co/LUMQhJlkY3

— Cllr Tom Creswell (@tom_creswell_) June 9, 2026

Reform wants to scrap the Equality Act. This would threaten parental leave rights, along with job security for half a million pregnant people.

Reform opposed the Employment Rights Bill & would scrap day one sick pay & parental leave rights.

Farage was against increasing the minimum wage & defended Thatcher causing a “little pain” with huge job losses in working class communities.

Reform are not on the side of workers. https://t.co/TSpttGE86e

— Danny Adilypour (@dannyadilypour) June 9, 2026

Farage was also against increasing the minimum wage. Which is hilarious given how much he takes home each year from his nine jobs. He takes home over £600k every single year – so much for a man of the people!

Reform is the party of corporate interests

Eleven trade unions are affiliated to the Labour Party. Having said that, a recent poll suggested there is growing support among some trade union members for Reform UK.

However, leaders of the TUC, GMB, Unison and Community all hit back at Farage. They said that Reform was the party of “corporate interests”.

In an interview with the Times, Farage said union leaders were spending members’ money on policies that members do not support. He added:

Reform now runs councils that employ tens of thousands of unionised workers: bin men and women, social workers, care staff, school support workers.

Unlike the snobbish Tories of old, we will never treat organised labour with contempt. If you represent working people in this country, my door is open. The doors of every Reform council leader from Sunderland to Sandwell are open.

Reform has never, and will never be, the party of workers.

Reform is not the party of workers.

You hate trade unions. You hate workers rights. You hate the minimum wage.

How can a party of greedy corrupt multi-millionaires and failed Tories who want to strip away our rights, make us poorer and privatise the NHS, ever be on our side. https://t.co/BZ9KSSSmIu

— Oliver Bennett (@OBennettSocial) June 9, 2026

Does Nige think that if he’s racist enough and incites enough riots, everyone will just forget about the £5m donation and the house he didn’t pay stamp duty on?

Why won’t you allow yourself to be interviewed? Why are you running away from the scandal of your £5mil ‘gift’ or should we say bribe? #Farage #FarageRiots #ReformUK #Brexit #RejoinEU https://t.co/5Ms3KSpeS1

— WeAreTheDeeplyUnhelpful48% #FBPE #RejoinEU (@Budfrog) June 9, 2026

It’s actually insulting to working-class people that Farage thinks he can spout racism and the working class will jump into his arms. But you can’t claim to be the party of working people whilst simultaneously voting against workers’ rights.

A man of the people wouldn’t take millions from crypto billionaires, pay as little tax as possible, and consistently vote against stronger employment rights for workers.

There is absolutely no doubt that if he got into Number 10, Farage would take a massive dump on workers as soon as he got the chance.

Featured image via Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

By HG

Thomas Massie, US Congressman, has demanded the US reopen its investigation into the Israeli attack on the USS Liberty in 1967, which he suspects was not an accident.

The attack on the US Navy ship killed 34 service members and injured 171 others.

Massie marked the 59th anniversary of the attack by delivering a speech to the House of Representatives.

The Israeli government has always maintained the incident was a “friendly fire”. However, some crew members from the USS Liberty have argued with that assessment, saying the attack was deliberate.

Their stories question the official version of the events.

Previously, Al Jazeera published audio recordings from the day of the attack. These suggested that the Israeli military knew the ship was American before it launched its attack. However, the mainstream media and Western governments have pretty much ignored this.

Now, in his speech, Massie pointed out the unlimited visibility and the American flag which was flying above the USS Liberty.

Massie also referenced several top diplomatic, intelligence and military officials. These included the former US Secretary of State Dean Rusk and the ex-top General Thomas Hinman Moorer. Both said they believe the attack was deliberate.

Massie said:

None of these distinguished men think this was an accident

They think it was intentional murder by the country of Israel, either as a false flag operation or because they simply didn’t want anybody observing what they were doing that day.

Israeli impunity?

The incident was during the Naksa, or six-day war, where Israel illegally seized the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza, and Syria’s Golan Heights.

As the Canary previously reported:

It began on 5 June, when “Israel” launched surprise attacks against Egypt and quickly entered a conflict involving Jordan and Syria. By the time the fighting ended, six days later, the criminal regime had devastated its Arab neighbours. It had also seized and occupied the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip, Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula and Syria’s Golan Heights. Although victory was swift for “Israel,” for Palestinians the effects of the Naksa are ongoing.

In only six days, the IOF forcibly displaced 300,000 Palestinians from Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem. Israel had already displaced most of these people in 1948. They spent twenty years rebuilding their lives in refugee camps – just for Israel to uproot them again.

The US sent the USS Liberty into international waters near the area for ‘observation and intelligence collection’.

However, on June 8, 1967, Israeli jets opened fire and dropped napalm – an incendiary weapon – on the USS Liberty. They then torpedoed the vessel.

In his speech, Massie pointed out that Israeli jets had been seen surveilling the vessel the day before the attack and:

were intent on leaving no survivors.

Decades later, in 2003, Ward Boston, a US Navy official and adviser to the court of inquiry, released sworn testimony that the lead investigator had been pressured to rule the incident a case of mistaken identity.

‘Certain’

However, a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) assessment, which was released in 2006, claimed that Israeli pilots “failed to identify” the USS Liberty as a US ship.

Then, in a 2007 article, Ward Boston wrote:

Israel claimed it was an accident. Yet I know from personal conversations with the late Admiral Isaac C. Kidd — president of the Court of Inquiry — that President Johnson and Secretary of Defense McNamara ordered him to conclude that the attack was a case of “mistaken identity”.
The ensuing cover-up has haunted us for forty years. What does it imply for our national security, not to mention our ability to honestly broker peace in the Middle East, when we cannot question Israel’s actions – even when they kill Americans?

The authorities only gave Boston and Kidd one week to gather evidence. A proper court inquiry would have taken at least six months. Boston added:

We boarded the crippled ship at sea and interviewed survivors. The evidence was clear. We both believed with certainty that this attack was a deliberate effort to sink an American ship and murder its entire crew.

Boston was “certain” the Israeli pilots and commanders knew the ship was American. He said:

 I saw the bullet-riddled American flag that had been raised by the crew after their first flag had been shot down completely. I heard testimony that made it clear the Israelis intended there be no survivors. Not only did they attack with napalm, gunfire, and missiles, Israeli torpedo boats machine-gunned at close range three life rafts that had been launched in an attempt to save the most seriously wounded.

Crucially, the cover-up started right at the very top. Boston concluded:

Admiral Kidd told me that after receiving the President’s cover-up orders, he was instructed to sit down with two civilians from either the White House or the Defense Department, and rewrite portions of the Court’s findings.  He said, “Ward, they’re not interested in the facts.  It’s a political matter and we cannot talk about it.”  We were to “put a lid on it” and caution everyone involved never to speak of it again.

After his speech, the USS Liberty Veterans Association, a group of survivors who have been calling for accountability in the case, praised Massie on social media.

Featured image via Al Jazeera English/Youtube

By HG

Many have accused Reform politicians of having regressive opinions about women’s rights and female body autonomy. They’ve accused them of this because Reform politicians have regressive opinions about women’s rights and female body autonomy. And as such, it’s unsurprising the party attracts far fewer female candidates than its rivals.

In the latest example of the party not being the safest place for women (allegedly), a councillor from the 2025 intake has defected to the Tories:

Another Reform councillor has quit, citing bullying, sexism and misogyny within the party. And in Staffordshire alone we’ve also seen repeated racism controversies involving Reform representatives.

This isn’t a few bad apples. Reform is institutionally racist and misogynistic. https://t.co/3KwnKili5R

— Will Barnish (@WillBarnish365) June 8, 2026

“Natural home” in Reform…

The ex-Reform councillor in question is Charlotte Kelly of Leek Rural, Staffordshire. Rather than stepping down, she’s defected to the Conservative Party, of which she was previously a member. She’s now described herself as a “traditional Conservative”, and said that Kemi Badenoch’s Tory Party is her “natural home”.

Of course, if this is true, it suggests she originally switched to Reform because she’d have a better chance of winning under their banner. She certainly wasn’t wrong to suspect this. In the 2025 locals, the Tories lost as many seats as Reform gained:

Speaking on her reasons for leaving, Kelly said:

Unfortunately, as a member of the Reform group I have experienced bullying and sexism on a regular basis.

Reform’s leadership has not been willing to deal with the issue and this has made it impossible for me to continue as a member of that group.

In response, Reform politicians made accusations of their own:

It comes as no surprise that councillor Kelly has left Reform UK. She has been a source of ongoing disharmony within the group and is currently subject to a formal complaint.

It is regrettable that she has chosen to defect to a party with a dire track record of mismanagement in Staffordshire – one that has driven the council into hundreds of millions of pounds of debt through reckless and uncontrolled spending.

According to the Stoke Sentinel, Kelly also lodged formal complaints – two in fact. Reportedly, she made these complaints two months ago, and is still waiting for action to be taken.

The Sentinel also reported that Kelly blamed ‘toxicity’ for her departure, and that:

a local party official ‘yelled and swore’ on multiple occasions, and her name was added to a lobbying letter against her wishes. She believes she was treated this way because she is a young woman, with most of her fellow party members being older men.

Not the first

As reported by the Guardian, Reform UK struggles to attract female candidates:

Reform UK has the smallest proportion of women on ballot papers in the local elections in England, at 23%. Labour is the closest to achieving gender parity, with 42% of its candidates women, followed by the Green party (41%), the Liberal Democrats (33%) and the Conservatives.

Reform also has issues holding on to female councillors.

On 3 March, Kathryn Shaw and Joanne Blythe of West Northamptonshire Council left the party to sit as independents. Blythe blamed ‘misogynistic undertones’; Shaw said the move was necessary to ‘more effectively advocate for strong safeguarding systems’.

It’s easy to see why Reform would attract sexists when you listen to its bigwigs. For an example of this, take no-fault divorce, which senior Reform politicians have discussed ending. Should this happen, women would once again find themselves trapped in abusive marriages because they can’t tick the correct box on a government check sheet.

'We need more prosperous families which lead to a more prosperous country.'

Reform's Richard Tice dodges @AndrewMarr9's question over whether reversing no-fault divorces is his party's policy. pic.twitter.com/9RpwHoFxU5

— LBC (@LBC) February 24, 2026

Farage himself has repeatedly demeaned female journalists in interviews. He was also accused of using the grooming gangs scandal for political capital – and accused by the victims themselves, no less. These same women demanded an apology from Farage after he lied about their situation.

Oh, and there’s also this:

A man is judged by the company he keeps. pic.twitter.com/vOZLwzKTje

— Reform Party UK Exposed (@reformexposed) October 28, 2025

A sign of things to come

It’s obviously completely inappropriate for men to belittle, bully, or harass their female colleagues. Such attitudes could become far more normalised if Reform takes power, however, and we get a government which is three quarters male, pale, and racist.

Before even taking power, Reform is threatening to tear up the Equality Act. The party claims this won’t lead to women losing the hard-won rights they enjoy today. Personally, however, we would advise women to take a long, hard look at Reform UK’s record before trusting them on this.

Featured image via Finnbarr Webster (Getty Images)

By Willem Moore

Around 100 well-known public figures have signed an Artists for Palestine open letter describing the government’s plan to impose terror sentencing on four humanitarian activists as a “miscarriage of justice”.

Signatories include author Sally Rooney, activist Greta Thunberg, filmmaker Terry Gilliam, actor Steve Coogan, comedians Jen Brister and Alexei Sayle and law expert Lord John Hendy KC. After failing to gain convictions in their first trial, the state rigged the retrial of six ‘Filton 24’ activists to ensure convictions. The judge prevented the jury hearing that they had a right to acquit the defendants. He banned media from reporting on the fact that sentencing would be escalated as ‘terrorism’.

Even so, two activists were acquitted completely; all were acquitted of any violent intent. Four – Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona Kamio, and Fatema Zainab Rajwani – were convicted of criminal damage to an Israeli weapons factory. Sentencing is scheduled for this Friday, 12 June 2026. The judge has refused to recuse himself from the sentencing hearing because of the conflict of interest in his long links to UK security services.

Feeble state excuse for the Filton 24

The letter’s signatories urge judge Jeremy Johnson to drop use of a ‘terrorism connection’ in Friday’s sentencing, because imposing such sentencing after banning mention of it during the trial would be to:

bypass the jury and sentence a group of protesters as terrorists would constitute an extremely grave miscarriage of justice, with consequences far beyond this case alone,

The letter, also signed by actors Zoë Wanamaker, Miriam Margolyes, and Zawe Ashton, Palestinian writer Mohammed El-Kurd, Labour MP John McDonnell and musicians Charlotte Church and Kate Nash, notes the state’s feeble excuse for demanding terror sentencing: that the activists were trying to influence the Israeli government. Nobody believes the Israeli government was going to be influenced – the action was to damage weapons and save Palestinian lives.

Authors Marina Warner and Kamila Shamsie, scholars Paul Gilroy and Jewish academic Avi Shlaim, and actors Brian Cox and Tobias Menzies have all put their names to the call. Irish novelist Sally Rooney, herself a frequent target of Israel lobbyists for her stand against genocide, said:

Protest that poses no threat to the public simply is not terrorism. These activists may have knowingly risked their freedom in taking action, but they now face the prospect of punishment for crimes they were never convicted of and did not commit. This is an obvious effort to undermine solidarity with Palestine, but what it really undermines is UK law.

Singer Charlotte Church added:

The government failed in its duty to prevent genocide in Palestine. Now the courts are lashing out at young people who acted to try and stop it, when it’s those making weapons for Israel that should be facing jail.

Supporters have been asked to gather at Woolwich Crown Court on Friday to increase awareness of the state’s abuse of justice and process to protect Israel. The letter and signatories are reproduced below:

We, the undersigned, urge you to drop the use of the ‘terrorism connection’ in the sentencing of Charlotte Head, Samuel Corner, Leona (Ellie) Kamio, and Fatema Zainab Rajwani on June 12th 2026.

The four defendants were not charged with terrorism offences. They were not tried under terrorism laws. The jury was never informed of any proposed ‘terrorism connection’ during the trial and did not find any of the defendants guilty of any terror-related crimes. The proposed ‘terrorism connection’ is founded simply on a guilty verdict in relation to criminal damage. To bypass the jury and sentence a group of protesters as terrorists would constitute an extremely grave miscarriage of justice, with consequences far beyond this case alone.

It is a consensus view within the international legal community that Israel’s campaign of mass killing in Gaza has crossed the threshold of genocide. International law prohibits arms exports to any nation committing genocide or other atrocity crimes, but the UK has continued to supply Israel with weaponry. The defendants in this trial tried every means at their disposal to call for an end to this illegal arms supply: they marched in the streets, wrote to their MPs and joined university encampments. But the export of lethal weapons, and the mass killings they facilitated, continued.

Finally, in August 2024, the defendants took action. They entered a UK facility run by Israel’s largest arms producer, Elbit Systems, and dismantled weapons themselves. Their actions may well have saved lives. And yet, when facing trial, the defendants were not permitted to explain their motivations to the jury. Deprived of the full moral and humanitarian context, the jury found four of the six defendants guilty of ordinary criminal offences.

The conscientious motives of these activists – suppressed throughout the trial – may now be brought against them at the sentencing stage through the use of a ‘terrorism connection’. The only stated basis for this connection is that the defendants were ‘attempting to influence the Israeli government by restricting their access to weapons’. But virtually every international humanitarian organisation, including a group of expert UN Special Rapporteurs, has called for the same thing: the restriction of Israel’s access to weapons, in accordance with international law.

In this case, the purported ‘terrorism connection’ could extend the defendants’ prison sentences, require them to ‘rescind’ their deepest moral beliefs in order to be eligible for parole, and impose harsh restrictions on their freedoms even after their release. Never before has a link to terrorism been imposed at the sentencing stage in a criminal damage case. The implications for civil liberties in Britain are difficult to overstate.

Over 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, including over 20,000 children. The Filton activists acted to uphold international law and defend human life. To sentence them on the basis of a ‘terrorism connection’ would not only be unjust and cruel: it would gravely undermine the right to protest and the impartiality of the judicial system itself. We demand that you reconsider before it is too late.

The Filton 24 letter has so far been signed by:

Alaa Abd El-Fattah, writer, campaigner, software developer
Khalid Abdalla, actor
Abubaker Abed, journalist
Susan Abulhawa, author
Mark Adderley, producer, director
Lolly Adefope, actor
Travis Alabanza, artist
Anthony Anaxagorou, poet, publisher
Huwaida Arraf, human rights attorney
Zawe Ashton, actor, playwright
Krystel Ball, independent analyst
Ronan Bennett, screenwriter
Emma Breschi, model, DJ
Jen Brister, comedian
Dunstan Bruce, musician
Debbie Campbell, ecologist
Joanna Carolan ,comedian
Grace Chatto, musician
Louise Christian, solicitor
Charlotte Church, singer-songwriter, actor
Caryl Churchill, playwright
Steve Coogan, actor, comedian, writer
Brian Cox, actor
Jasmine Cruickshank (jasmine.4.t), musician
Clare Daly, former Member of European Parliament
Jessica Darrow, actor, singer
Siobhan Davies, artist
Robert Del Naja, musician
Mohammed El Kurd, author, poet
Theo Ellis, musician
Brian Eno, composer, producer
Paapa Essiedu, actor
Bobby Gillespie, singer-songwriter
Terry Gilliam, film director, screenwriter
Paul Gilroy, writer, scholar
Lambrini Girls, band
Kerry Godliman, actor and comedian
Denise Gough, actress
Katharine Hamnett, designer
Misan Harriman, photographer
Eleanor Harrison, director
Rima Hassan, Member of European Parliment
John Hendy QC
Billy Howle, actor
Noah Huntley, actor
Sue Jones, casting director
Mali Koa Hood, musician
Florence Kosky, director
Yorgos Lanthimos, film director
Ruth Lass, actor
Paul Laverty, screenwriter
Alex Lawther, actor
Sophie Lewis, writer, scholar
Ken Loach, film director
Mikaela Loach, writer
Lowkey, rapper
Moshé Machover, professor, philosopher
Shirley Manson, musician
Miriam Margolyes, actor
Francesca Martinez, comedian, writer
Victoria Mary Clarke, writer
John McDonnell MP
Tobias Menzies, actor
Kate Nash, musician
Nyome Nicholas-Williams, model, writer
Fionn ó Loingsigh, actor
Ardal O’Hanlon, actor
Lola Olufemi, writer, researcher
Alice Oswald, poet
Maxine Peake, actor
Max Porter, writer
Bella Ramsey, actor
David Renton, barrister, historian
Sally Rooney, writer
Nadia Sawalha, TV Presenter, actor
Alexei Sayle, comedian, author, broadcaster
Graeme Segal, scholar, mathematics
Nadine Shah, singer-songwriter
Kamila Shamsie, writer
Avi Shlaim, emeritus professor of International Relations
Laila Souief, assistant professor of mathematics
Jack Steadman, musician
Maggie Steed, actor
Rahel Stephanie, chef, writer
Juliet Stevenson, actor
Joelle Taylor, writer, poet
Greta Thunberg, campaigner
Zing Tsjeng, journalist
Yanis Varoufakis, economist, academic and author
Bobby Vylan, musician
Harsha Walia, author
Mick Wallace, former MEP
Harriet Walter, actor, author
Zoë Wanamaker, actor
Marina Warner, writer, historian
Roger Waters, musician
Boff Whalley, writer and Musician

Jeremy Corbyn has called on potential new PM Andy Burnham to guarantee an independent public inquiry into UK state collusion in Israel’s genocide. Keir Starmer’s war on UK justice and human rights should put him behind bars in the Hague.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

Laila Cunningham is Reform UK’s candidate for the mayor of London, and, in a new interview, she disputed the claim that Nigel Farage wants to force the UK to abandon free health care in the form of the NHS for a US-style insurance model. The problem is that Farage has publicly voiced this opinion on camera, as commentator Farrukh highlighted:

Mick Lynch repeatedly humiliates Reform UK's Laila Cunningham

She then accuses Mick Lynch and Labour of spreading lies to "win the argument" denying that Nigel Farage wants an insurance-based NHS

Here are two clips of Nigel Farage saying,

1. He doesn't want the NHS funded… pic.twitter.com/joAvIQ2YQ0

— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) June 8, 2026

Death to the NHS

In the first clip Farrukh highlighted, Farage says the following to Sky’s Beth Rigby:

I do not want [the NHS] funded through general taxation. It doesn’t work. It’s not working.

In an older clip, Farage says:

I think we’re going to have to think about health care very, very differently. And I think we’re going to have to move to an insurance-based system of health care. Frankly, I would feel more comfortable that my money would return value if I was able to do that through the marketplace of an insurance company than just us trustingly giving £100bn a year to central government and expecting them to organise the health care service from cradle to grave.

What Farage is talking about is a US-style system; a system which offers the worst of all worlds to taxpayers. As Health System Tracker note:

analysis shows that 20 million people (nearly 1 in 12 adults) owe medical debt. The SIPP survey suggests people in the United States owe at least $220 billion in medical debt. Approximately 14 million people (6% of adults) in the U.S. owe over $1,000 in medical debt and about 3 million people (1% of adults) owe medical debt of more than $10,000. While medical debt occurs across demographic groups, people with disabilities or in worse health, lower-income people, and uninsured people are more likely to have medical debt.

The reason we say it’s ‘the worst of all worlds’ is because the US pays more per head for their healthcare.

That’s right.

A private health insurance system doesn’t just lead to inescapable personal debt and worse health outcomes; it also costs taxpayers more than the alternative. And the reason it costs more is because the industry is a massive scam.

As congressman Ro Khanna said in April this year:

The U.S. spends far more on healthcare than other rich countries. $15,000 per person (almost double), 18% of GDP (nearly twice as high), and healthcare inflation is 7% (roughly double others).

Yet outcomes are worse. Life expectancy is lower, infant & maternal mortality higher, and chronic disease like diabetes and heart disease higher. Canada with single payer has far lower costs than the US, and even than Germany & Switzerland, and provides better, universal coverage.

Unimpressive

The NHS point wasn’t the only question that Cunningham struggled to answer:

"Nigel Farage hasn't held a press conference for 40 days, since details of his £5 million gift from his billionaire crypto friend in Thailand was reported in April."

"He's out there speaking to people."@vicderbyshire interviews Reform UK's Laila Cunningham.#Newsnight pic.twitter.com/M9X5pQB9z2

— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) June 8, 2026

Farage isn’t just ducking questions, either; he’s also skiving from work. As we reported on 3 June:

There have been 525 votes in this parliament, and Farage has shown up to just 169. At 32%, this means he’s shown up for less than a third of the votes he should have done. Do you think you could get away with missing seven days out of every ten at work?

Further demonstrating how unimpressive she is, Cunningham admitted the following to Lynch:

I don’t even understand what you said.

Generally, it’s better to have politicians who understand things. This is how you end up with something like the NHS. Reform, meanwhile, is how you end up with a chaotic, US-style insurance system.

Featured image via Leon Neal (Getty Images) / Carl Court (Getty Images) / Dan Kitwood (Getty Images)

By Willem Moore

A group of Jewish mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers plans to set up a large tent in London on Thursday 11 June to highlight the living hell children in Gaza have been living through during Israel’s genocide there. Several members of the group – Jewish Peaceniks UK – told the Canary more.

Jewish mothers opposing the ‘barbaric cruelty as the world stands by’

Sonja Linden told us that the women wanted to put up their Gaza Tent Installation:

Because we want people to realise that children in Gaza are still living in hell. Quite apart from the fact that the bombing and killings continue – despite the so-called ceasefire, into their tents, which offer flimsy protection at most, come mice, rats, scorpions, spiders, snakes, cockroaches, mosquitoes, flies, leading to an estimated 70,000 cases of ectoparasitic infections and rodent-borne illnesses in Gaza.

She added that:

The most basic elements of what we would consider to be normal living conditions are missing – like toilets, for example, which are not allowed in by Israel, or refuse collections, so that mounds of garbage provide nesting ground for rodents that feed on the decomposing bodies still under mountains of rubble. This is apart from the continued food and water shortages.

And it is the children who are sent off to seek water, and wood to make fires, and find scraps to sell to make a minimum of money in an economy that has completely collapsed; children who have lost one or two parents or whose parents are too injured to support their own families; children whose development, education, indeed whole lives have been put on hold for the past two and three-quarter years.

With all of this in mind, she concluded:

We are horrified as Jewish mothers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers that this barbaric cruelty is happening in plain sight, nominally ‘in our name’, as the world stands by.

Fellow Peacenik Lyndall Stein echoed this sentiment, stressing that:

There are a million children trapped in Gaza. So many have already been murdered, maimed and mutilated – so many suffering from malnutrition.

Nobody should stand by and do nothing. But we, as older Jewish women, feel a special responsibility to stand up for these innocent children.

Challenging the “wicked, overblown and very deliberate” attempts to smear Israel critics and ‘erase Palestinians from our consciousness’

Marsha Sanders, meanwhile, highlighted the importance of bringing:

attention back to the ongoing genocide in Gaza and, particularly to those remaining children who have not been slaughtered but are suffering so much physical and psychological trauma.

Other national and international events have dominated the news more in recent months, she said, but the genocide in Palestine and attempts to ‘erase it from our consciousness’ remain prominent in UK politics. As she asserted:

Focus has been diverted from Palestine because of the war in Iran and our own dramatic local political developments. And this suits Israel’s purpose, which is to erase Palestine and Palestinians from the map, from history and from our consciousness. But we won’t let this happen.

In particular, she mentioned efforts to weaponise antisemitism allegations to silence expressions of pro-Palestinian solidarity, insisting:

As a Jew I am furious about the prevailing narrative regarding antisemitism which is a wicked, overblown and very deliberate fabrication used to smear anybody who dares to condemn Israel’s war crimes and crimes against humanity and to confer impunity on Israel, the latest being the report on ‘antisemitism’ in the NHS.

I wonder how many of those alleged 779 cases of antisemitism had links to UK Lawyers for Israel, the Campaign Against Antisemitism or the Community Security Trust, all organisations whose mission is to inflate and weaponise antisemitism in the service of Israel and genocide denial.

I have had multiple visits to my local hospital in North London – a substantial number of whose doctors in very senior positions are Jewish – and have never been subject to antisemitism, nor has anyone I know. But I’d be quite hesitant to wear my watermelon or ‘Jewish not Zionist’ badges or my keffiyah.

Will the mainstream media keep refusing to cover Jewish voices opposing Israel’s genocide?

The Canary has regularly reported on the activism of Carolyn Gelenter, another member of Jewish Peaceniks UK. And ahead of the Gaza Tent Installation event, she explained:

I am proud to be part of a small group of older Jewish women who continue to raise our voices against the genocide in Gaza – sadly and shockingly 3 years on. As women, we are appalled at what these children are suffering as part of a deliberate attempt to annihilate the Palestinian people, their heritage and their land.

As Jewish women we say there is no other word but genocide and there is no other choice but to keep protesting, to keep raising our voices, as mothers, grandmothers and great grandmothers, as children of Holocaust Survivors and in the name of humanity and the future of the Palestinians and for all our children.

She also slammed media outlets that shamefully ignore Jewish criticism of Israel’s genocide, saying:

It is shocking that the mainstream media refuse to cover any Jewish voice that speaks out about Israel’s actions, that calls a genocide for what it is, and that refuses to recognise Israel as our country. The genocide continues, the West Bank is under attack, and so is our democracy.

Mainstream media propagandists regularly seek to defend Israel by questioning expert opinion on Israel’s genocide. And their efforts are very much part of a repressive ecosystem, including the pro-Israel lobby within the UK government, that seeks to weaken or silence expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Whether mainstream journalists cover their activism or not, though, Jewish Peaceniks UK have a clear commitment to keep raising their voices. And as the hellish suffering of Gaza’s children continues, with the complicity of our government, the message of these mothers remains essential: silence is unacceptable.

Featured image via the Canary

By Ed Sykes

Figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show that benefits assessors are once again failing disabled claimants. Even worse, the assessors who are putting vulnerable people at risk are getting away with it.

In a new report, the DWP admits that there were 767 concerning incidents reported in the first six months of the Functional Assessment Services from September 2024.

This saw the department hand new multi-billion contracts and farm out benefits assessments to Ingeus, Capita, Maximus, and Serco. It also managed the DWP’s own smaller clinical teams.

The assessors are contracted to carry out Personal Independence Payment (PIP) assessments and Work Capability Assessments (WCA) for Universal Credit (UC).

DWP failing vulnerable people, again

301 incidents were related to ‘information governance, ‘ which includes missing data, incorrect information recorded and data breaches. The fact that there’s no further elaboration into what these incidents were is especially concerning, as who knows what sensitive information could have been leaked and to whom.

Disgustingly, not one of these incidents was deemed important enough to be reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

238 of the incidents were complaints against clinicians. As Benefits and Work states, the report gives barely any details about what the complaints were, so we don’t know the severity of them all. One ‘illustrative case example’ states:

A complaint was received stating assessor was late and abrupt. The complaint was investigated and upheld. The healthcare professional undertook further training and reflection and their work was monitored. No further issues have been identified.

However, the report also says:

100% were closed with reflective learning or policy updates, further support/ training and ongoing review.

So nobody faced any consequences for the way they treated vulnerable disabled people. Cool.

DWP doesn’t take safeguarding seriously

Just as worryingly, 152 incidents involved safeguarding. Typically, the examples given here are both cases where the safeguarding issue was identified by a second person after the first assessor missed it. The report does not mention the thousands of people who will slip through the net and have their needs ignored.

The DWP claims that just four of these incidents were serious enough to require action. But this only amounted to additional training or personal reflection from the healthcare professional. Yes really. According to them, no harm occurred to any claimant, but considering that we know the DWP phone lines leave claimants feeling suicidal, this feels unlikely.

The report also broke down the incident reports by provider. Of the 767,  507 incidents came from Ingenus. However, the report has an excuse for this, too. You see, it’s based on the companies self reporting, and Ingenus are apparently more transparent.

A law unto itself

So this begs the question, how many weren’t reported? We already know that private contractors report feeling despised and that the DWP struggles to retain these assessors. We also know that 1 in 5 privately contracted benefit assessors aren’t safeguard trained.

The fact that assessors only have to do a bit of training if they cause potential harm to a claimant means they essentially have free rein to be as vile as they want, with no fear of being disciplined or losing their jobs.

With the department pushing ahead with plans to move the UC health element to PIP, even more disabled people will be forced to engage with these cruel assessors who face no consequences for their actions.

This report proves that the DWP is a law unto itself. Despite various committees trying to bring it under control, the department desperately needs to be held to account, before even more disabled people die.

Featured image via the Canary

By Rachel Charlton-Dailey

Your Party parliamentary leader Jeremy Corbyn is asking for the public’s help to pressure Makerfield by-election candidate Andy Burnham into confirming he will back an independent inquiry into UK collusion in Israel’s genocide. Corbyn wrote to the Greater Manchester mayor in May 2026 asking Burnham to say publicly that he will back an inquiry. Burnham did not respond.

Now Corbyn wants members of the public, particularly but not exclusively in Makerfield, to sign a petition demanding Burnham state unequivocally that he will back an inquiry – and arrange it if he wins the by-election and a leadership election.

The British public deserves to know the full scale of its government’s complicity in genocide. That’s why I will continue to push for an independent, public inquiry.

We will not give up until there is justice for the people of Palestine.https://t.co/X0HlSxpGCg

— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) May 26, 2026

Friends of genocide – except Corbyn

Burnham, at least formerly a supporter of Labour Friends of Israel (LFI), is surrounded by concerns over his closeness to the UK Israel lobby. Disgraced, Israel-supporting incumbent Josh Simons quit in order to trigger the by-election and other pro-Israel figures now support Burnham. Burnham needs to win in order to challenge Keir Starmer for the keys to Number 10. Simons’s pro-Israel ‘Labour Together’ sabotage outfit appears to be trying to stay in control.

Makerfield voters go to the polls Thursday, 18 June 2026. If Burnham wants the left to lend him a vote, he needs to say right now – as per Corbyn’s demand – that he will hold an independent inquiry into the collusion of UK government, media and others in Israel’s slaughter of innocents.

Sign the petition here.

By Skwawkbox

Zack Polanski has accused the Telegraph of fabricating quotes. And he’s got good reason to do so, because the way the Telegraph presented the following information clearly gives an entirely false impression:

We're at the point where the Telegraph are literally making up quotes.

I said when veg is sold for pennies in supermarkets, it's a sign someone's not being paid properly.

Farmers being paid a pittance for their produce.

Workers on less than a living wage in supermarkets. https://t.co/rQOSII9l1p

— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) June 9, 2026

‘This is not a quote’

Something we should explain is that there are two key ways of quoting people:

• Direct quote: A quote which presents what was said as written or spoken, indicated with “double inverted commas”.
• Paraphrase: A quote which alters the wording but retains the same meaning, indicated with ‘single inverted commas’.

As you can see above, the Telegraph used single inverted commas around ‘Food is too cheap’, indicating a paraphrase. The question is whether they’ve retained the same meaning. The answer – we believe – is no (or ‘yes’, if you’re the Telegraph).

By saying ‘food is too cheap’ rather than ‘veg is too cheap’, the impression given is that Polanski meant all food is too cheap. This is obviously very different to the point he actually made. And he didn’t even say all veg is too cheap either.

Here’s what the Telegraph reported about Polanski:

Speaking to the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers’ Union on Monday, he said: “That is not a sign of a healthy system. Someone is being exploited somewhere, and if you’re paying 7p for vegetables, then something is not right.

“It is those supermarket bosses who are taking record profits … meanwhile paying their workers poverty wages. We cannot go on like this.”

He called for tighter regulation of supermarkets, saying the sector had “not been regulated enough” and was exploiting “both the workers in the supermarkets and the farmers and agricultural workers”.

Even if they went with the more accurate ‘some veg is too cheap’, it wouldn’t really be a paraphrase of what he said. It would be a summary, certainly, but not a paraphrase given the gist of his wording.

An actually appropriate paraphrase would be something like:

‘7p veg a sign of exploitation’.

Or:

‘Supermarkets exploit farmers and their own workers’.

“Absolute bullsh*t” says Polanski

So yeah, it’s understandable Polanski has also now said:

Sections of the media are just absolute bullshit.

They’ve always been a problem – but now they’re literally lying and making up things that have never been said.

The only way to defeat the billionaire media is to organise around them.

The Media Reform Coalition backed him on this:

Zack is 100% right – our media is bullshit.

So join us & the Greens’ deputy leader @rachelmillward at the Media Democracy Festival, Sat 27 June, to build a democratic, independent media that serves us instead of billionaires: https://t.co/SJSs50vozv https://t.co/BuHbJ3hN9D

— Media Reform Coalition (@mediareformUK) June 9, 2026

This isn’t Polanski’s only run-in with the Telegraph this week either, as Ed Sykes reported for the Canary on 8 June:

Notorious pro–Israel bigot Stephen Pollard has written a desperate, antisemitic article trying to smear Zack Polanski. He did this in response to the Green leader backing calls to hold potential war criminals to account. And he did so in the Telegraph, which has joined other right-wing rags in publishing antisemitic Polanski caricatures.

The above is a direct quote of what Sykes wrote; a paraphrase would be ‘bigot Pollard smears Polanski as antisemitic’. You can see the difference, right?

We’re pretty sure the Telegraph can too; they’re simply lowering their editorial standards to attack a political enemy.

Featured image via Jeff J Mitchell (Getty Images)

By Willem Moore

The Israeli regime’s sacking of deputy Mossad chief – known only as ‘Aleph‘, Hebrew for ‘Alpha’ – is an admission, Skwawkbox believes. Aleph was removed, according to Israeli media reports, “over failed Iran regime change efforts”.

Not that there was any doubt to any honest observer that Israel and the US were directly behind the mobs that rampaged through Iran, murdering police officers and their own rioters. Senior Israeli and US figures publicly congratulated themselves and each other on arranging the riots. Yet the official claim – and state-corporate media narrative – continued to be that the riots were a grassroots uprising. And the supposed popular uprising was supposedly brutally crushed by Tehran.

Stronger than before (not Mossad)

In fact, Iran used its own intel and assistance from China to roll up vast Israeli and US spy networks and the whole operation failed. Just as with the criminal US-Israeli war on Iran, the cost to the aggressors was enormous yet it left Iran stronger than before. Now ‘Alpha’s career head has rolled and the new director of Mossad has zero intelligence experience.

And the reason for the removal puts beyond any doubt that there was no popular revolt in Iran, only a Mossad op. Which is no doubt why the UK and other western ‘mainstream’ media have opted to ignore it entirely. Just as they have with Israel’s 7 October 2023 slaughter of hundreds of its own people.

Featured image via the Canary

By Skwawkbox

The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians has commented on Israeli plans to seize control of even more of Gaza:

Benjamin Netanyahu’s order to the IDF [Israel’s name for its military occupation forces] to seize control of at least 70% of the Gaza Strip is an egregious violation of the so-called ‘ceasefire’ that Israel has violated more than 3,000 times since October.

Increasing Israeli occupation of Gaza has gone unchecked and the so-called ‘yellow line’ has continually expanded, with Israeli soldiers operating an open-fire policy on any Palestinians who finds themselves within the no man’s land, most of whom are in their own neighbourhoods.

In moving the ‘yellow line’ forward, Israel is deliberately forcing Palestinians from their homes as part of their ethnic cleansing policies. This will ensure a death sentence for many Palestinians in Gaza who are already faced with extreme overcrowding, food shortages, vermin-infested shelters, and displacement.

‘Unlawful Israeli occupation of Gaza’

Israel’s consistent encroachment of territory in Gaza is an intentional re-occupation plan that will ultimately solidify the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians and the unlawful Israeli occupation of Gaza.

This use of the occupied ‘yellow line’ as a free fire zone for Israeli soldiers is an abhorrent violation of human rights and a further example of Israel rendering Palestinians as human target practice. As the UN Human Rights Commissioner has asserted, Israeli claims of ‘self-defence’ in their operating of the ‘yellow line’ are without any legal basis.

As Israel deepens its assault on Lebanon and annexation of the West Bank, the humanitarian conditions in Gaza are going increasingly un-noticed, with Israel forcing increasingly dire conditions in the overcrowded Strip. Food and medical supplies remain scarce, and diseases and infestation are spreading. Israeli-backed militias are also contributing to worsening conditions.

Israeli forces have systematically destroyed Gaza, and Netanyahu’s order of 70% Israeli occupation would result in the 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza living in less than a third of the original territory and lead to ultimately uninhabitable conditions.

Órlaith Roe, public affairs and communications officer at the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, said:

There is no such thing as ‘voluntary emigration’. What Israel is suggesting is the ethnic cleansing of a Palestinian population from an area that has already been systematically destroyed. Netanyahu did not stop at 50% or 60%, and he will not stop at 70%.

Israel has made its intentions very clear: it will not stop until it has forcibly removed every Palestinian from Gaza; and what is truly remarkable is the response of governments such as the UK who remain indifferent to Israel’s open declarations of ethnic cleansing.

Featured image via Erik Marmor / Getty Images

By The Canary

The Labour right and their friends in the media are constantly urging the party to become more regressive to appeal to Reform voters. As we’ve reported in the past, though, Labour actually lost four times as many voters to parties on its left. And now, we have a clearer picture of what pushed them in that direction.

EXCLUSIVE: More than half of former Labour voters who intent to back a centre or leftwing party in the next general election have cited the government's record on Gaza as a reason for abandoning Labour, new polling shows.

— Harriet Williamson (@harriepw) June 8, 2026

Labour genocidaires

Labour offered both political and material support to Israel and its genocide on Palestine. An example of the political support was denying Israel’s actions constituted ‘genocide’, despite the UN and human rights watchdogs saying otherwise. An example of the material support was continuing to send arms.

Conducted by Opinium, the poll was commissioned by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) and Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FoE). Highlighting what was found, PSC produced the following infographic:

BREAKING: New polling shows that Labour’s policy on Gaza is a significant factor in progressive voters ditching the party in huge numbers pic.twitter.com/9ftj4Y1QWQ

— Palestine Solidarity Campaign (@PSCupdates) June 8, 2026

The Green Party has been the primary beneficiary of Labour’s losses.

These voters overwhelmingly support stronger action for Palestine (4/6): pic.twitter.com/9NB2ah3SSd

— Palestine Solidarity Campaign (@PSCupdates) June 8, 2026

These findings come as Israel escalates its violence against Palestinians.

The Labour government must heed this message and finally end its shameful complicity in Israel's genocide and apartheid against Palestinians.

For the full results, see here (6/6):…

— Palestine Solidarity Campaign (@PSCupdates) June 8, 2026

What the above shows is that a new PM could potentially win back a substantial cohort of voters by adopting a moral stance. In other words, it would be a win-win. The question is whether any of Starmer’s potential replacements care more about winning than saving Israel’s blushes.

Mealy-mouthed Andy Burnham has refused to describe Israel’s actions as a genocide, stating:

I can’t judge things of that enormity from where I am as mayor of Greater Manchester.

This might wash if he wanted to remain a regional mayor, but he doesn’t. And if he’s unable to make big decisions now, maybe he’s not cut out for a more important role?

Burnham also said:

But I do have concerns about the disproportionate nature of what has happened in terms of the destruction, and there has to be a full process of investigation and accountability.

In other words, he wants a lengthy inquiry which concludes years after everyone responsible is out of office.

Wes Streeting – the other man angling to become PM – is also not to be trusted on this matter:

You spent two years supporting genocide and now pretend you didn't? Just staggering dishonesty from
these human pieces of excrement. https://t.co/Vz7iEYsHIW

— Bog Standard Marxist (@muskeatsbogeys) June 2, 2026

As HG wrote for the Canary:

Streeting has no backbone. If he truly cared about Gaza, he’d have spoken out and publicly condemned Israel’s war crimes. He would not have just done it via text to Epstein’s pal. He also wouldn’t wait until now, when there is a potential leadership contest in the not-so-distant future. It’s pretty convenient that he’s suddenly taking a hardline stance against a genocidal terrorist state. What good are your faux morals if they only appear to benefit your potential run as party leader?

‘Sensible’ politics

At this point, we have to stop pretending these Labour politicians are pursuing ‘sensible, grown-up politics’.

Supporting genocide and apartheid isn’t just morally evil; it’s a certified vote loser. This means they’re not doing it for electability reasons; they’re doing it because they’re ideologically committed to the far-right ideology of Zionism.

Featured image via WPA Pool (Getty Images) / Amir Levy (Getty Images)

By Willem Moore

A Geolocator has revealed new satellite imagery from the EU’s Copernicus program, which appears to show that an Iranian ballistic missile directly hit a warehouse at Ramat David Air Base in northern Israel.

Satellite imagery confirms yesterday’s Iranian ballistic missile attack scored a direct hit on a warehouse at Ramat David Air Base, located at 32°39’43.65″N 35°10’53.39″E.

Ramat David is the Israeli Air Force’s only major base in northern Israel, about 46 km from Lebanon. https://t.co/oFS5Pfrlbj pic.twitter.com/NVI1WaNHgm

— Egypt’s Intel Observer (@EGYOSINT) June 8, 2026

Ramat David is the main base the IOF uses for aerial operations toward Lebanon and Syria. It is also the only Israeli Air Force airbase in the northern occupied territories.

False color layer gives a better result, even in low resolution, we can confirm that warehouse at Ramat David Air Base was indeed destroyed. https://t.co/Lo6RpAlgvp pic.twitter.com/7pP1nk7iUV

— MenchOsint (@MenchOsint) June 8, 2026

On Sunday, June 7, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said that its Aerospace Force targeted Ramat David Air Base with ballistic missiles. It said that the attack was a warning and that, if aggression is repeated, Iran’s responses would be:

broader and include all US-Israeli targets in the region.

According to Iran International, the IRGC had put its missile units on full alert after Israel struck the Dahieh district of Beirut. This led to commanders requesting authorisation to launch retaliatory attacks on Israel.

This came after Iran had already warned that it would target northern Israel with missiles if Israel attacked Beirut.

In response to Israel’s bombing of apartment buildings, Ebrahim Rezaei, the spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s foreign policy and national security committee, wrote on X:

We will give a decisive and painful response to the Zionist regime’s attack on the suburbs … Watch the sky of the occupied territories tonight.

Of course, Western media outlets, including the Guardian, reported the retaliation as “shattering a fragile ceasefire”. As usual, this completely disregards Israel’s brutal daily ceasefire violations for the last two months.

The Zionist nation is a genocidal terrorist state which has murdered and displaced tens of thousands of people is never the bad guy.

In a statement, the IRGC said:

Our acceptance of the ceasefire on April 7 (Farvardin 19) was conditional upon a cessation of fire across all fronts. However, as always, the United States and the Zionist regime failed to adhere to their commitments. They not only continued their aggressions and atrocities in Lebanon but also repeatedly violated the ceasefire by targeting Iranian coasts and vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, the Sea of Oman, and the Indian Ocean.

Tonight’s operation was a warning. Should these aggressions be repeated, the responses will be far more extensive and will encompass all American-Zionist targets across the region.

Israel respond with more lies

Of course, Israel claimed it intercepted all of Iran’s missiles.

The Times of Israel reported that:

All of the Iranian missiles launched at Israel this morning were intercepted, according to the military.

The IDF assesses that an impact reported in an open field in the West Bank was likely a large fragment following an interception.

Israeli media also reported extensive interception operations over Southern Israel, including the Dead Sea, Dimona and Beersheba areas.

Rockets and shrapnel debris fell near Beit Shemesh, west of Jerusalem, and in the Negev region around Beersheba. Additionally, a rocket fell near the illegal Itamar settlement in the northern occupied West Bank. Israel has not reported any damage or injuries.

Boom boom

Meanwhile, Iranians cheered and danced as the missiles were launched and flew over their airspace.

Moment of the launches in Iran. https://t.co/LFXSXpidO9 pic.twitter.com/hwkGQsVS60

— MenchOsint (@MenchOsint) June 7, 2026

Every other party managed to adhere to the ceasefire, but for some reason, yet again, it was a bit too much for the Zionists. And in its very short history, Israel has not managed to stick to a single ceasefire. Yet the genocidal terrorists start crying when Hezbollah or the IRGC retaliate and defend themselves.

From carpet bombing, displacing and starving people in Gaza, to ethnically cleansing and illegally occupying Southern Lebanon, the only language the settler state knows is aggression and violence.

Israel needs to learn that actions – especially ones which are highly illegal under international law – have direct consequences.

Featured image via Amir Levy/ Getty Images

By HG

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) has written to the candidates in the Makerfield by-election – but only the Green Party candidate has responded so far. Specifically, they’re asking what each candidate will do to “uphold the rights of Palestinian people”. Green Party candidate Sarah Wakefield has now responded, seemingly making her the first to do so. Front-runner Andy Burnham, meanwhile, is still refusing to get off the fence.

Green Party candidate steps up

The letter from PSC reads:

Millions of people across Britain are rightly horrified by Israel’s ongoing atrocities against Palestinians. The strength of these sentiments is seen not just in the national marches for Palestine – the largest sustained mass mobilisation in Britain since the suffragettes – but also in elections and polling. For example, polls show that the overwhelming majority of people, including in the North West, oppose Israel’s military actions in Gaza, with more than 80% of voters believing that Israel is guilty of genocide.

A vast array of experts and human rights organisations, including the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry and the International Association of Genocide Scholars, have conducted their own investigations and found that Israel’s crimes against the Palestinian people amount to genocide. A similar consensus exists regarding Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians, including the July 2024 International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling, which found Israel to be in violation of international prohibition against apartheid.

Israel’s genocide in Gaza continues – with almost 1,000 Palestinians violently killed by Israel since the so-called “ceasefire” began, alongside ongoing severe restrictions on aid and life-saving organisations. So too does Israel’s ethnic cleansing, military occupation, and apartheid. In light of this, if you are elected as the Member of Parliament for Makerfield, will you:

1. Act, if the findings of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry amongst others that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza and the July 2024 ICJ ruling that Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid against Palestinians?
2. Support a total ban on trade with Israel’s illegal settlements and all other trade that aids or assists Israel’s unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory?
3. Support comprehensive sanctions on Israel, including a full arms embargo?
4. Support the reversal of the authoritarian use of public order and anti-terror legislation to suppress protest in support of Palestinian rights?

In the interests of transparency, we will publish this letter and any replies we receive. We would also be happy to meet to discuss these matters with you.

Answers

In a refreshing change of pace for a UK politician, Wakefield has actually provided answers to the above questions (emphasis added):

Thank you for getting in contact with me about this. It’s so important that all politicians are held accountable on this issue.

Opposing genocide is not optional. For those of us seeking political power, using that power to work to end the ongoing genocide in Palestine is not optional. Under international law, all countries have a duty to actively work to prevent genocide – but in this country our responsibility goes beyond that.

The UK government has been more than a bystander to the genocide in Gaza. It has been, and remains, complicit. It sells weapon components to Israel, has provided diplomatic cover for Israel, and refuses to accept the overwhelming expert consensus that what is being inflicted on the Palestinian people is, indeed, a genocide.

I unequivocally accept the findings of the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry and numerous other expert bodies that Israel has committed genocide in Gaza. I additionally accept the 2024 ICJ ruling that Israel is guilty of the crime of apartheid against Palestinians.

I fully support a total ban on trade with Israel’s illegal settlements and all other trade that aids or assists Israel’s unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory. I also support comprehensive sanctions on Israel, including a full arms embargo. Without doubt, I support reversing the authoritarian use of public order and anti-terror legislation to suppress protest in support of Palestinian rights.

Every politician who sincerely believes in human rights, international law, and the sanctity of human life should be able to say the same.

Labour let downs

Wakefield has been clear on her stance. Front-runner Andy Burnham, meanwhile, said the following when asked if Israel’s actions constitute a genocide:

I can’t judge things of that enormity from where I am as mayor of Greater Manchester.

When politicians refuse to commit to a position, it’s because they don’t want to be held to it later. Going off the actions of Labour, we have to assume Burnham doesn’t want to stand up to Israel because he knows his Labour colleagues won’t stand behind him. Going off his own actions, we have to assume he’s probably in agreement with them:

https://t.co/0qbagSvIYp https://t.co/yCaxsotv6n

— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) June 9, 2026

His stance on the genocide isn’t the only time Burnham has proven to be non-committal or right-wing in this by-election campaign either:

• Burnham ‘to support’ Mahmood’s racist immigration changes.
• Burnham is silent on wealth taxes – not a promising sign from potential PM.
• Andy Burnham’s role with Iain Duncan Smith’s think tank just shows he’s more of the same.
• Burnham WON’T back proportional representation this parliament.
• Shapeshifting Burnham ditches trans rights to panic-grab Reform votes.
• Burnham slammed for saying he won’t renationalise Thames Water.

Free Palestine

Before the genocide, Israel subjected Palestinians in Gaza to decades of apartheid. And they did so with support of the political establishment in Western countries like the UK.

For many of us, this status quo cannot continue. And if politicians like Andy Burnham don’t learn that lesson, they’re going to have a problem come the next general election.

Featured image via Christopher Furlong (Getty Images)

By Willem Moore

With just days to go before the start of the 2026 World Cup, the settler colonial US have been denying entry to fans, players, and officials – this time to Somali referee Omar Artan.

At a time when all eyes should be on the stadiums and the national teams, some of the World Cup’s most prominent stories have begun at airports and border checkpoints.

Somali referee turned away

Somali referee Omar Abdulqadir Artan was set for a historic moment in his career after being selected by FIFA for the 2026 World Cup, making him one of the most prominent African referees at the tournament.

However, the journey came to an abrupt end upon his arrival in the United States, where he underwent additional screening and questioning before US authorities refused him entry and sent him back to Istanbul, despite him holding a valid visa.

Artan had met all of FIFA’s technical and administrative requirements for participation in the tournament, and of course has travelled widely in his role as a professional referee. Nevertheless, his dream of appearing at the world’s biggest football event was dashed by procedures relating to entry into the host country.

The case quickly became one of the most sensitive issues ahead of the World Cup, given its implications that go beyond football and affect the ability of approved participants to reach the tournament.

Iraq captain Ayman Hussein… lengthy investigations and a different outcome

Days before the Artan case, Reuters highlighted another incident that sparked controversy within the World Cup, when Iraqi striker Ayman Hussein underwent an investigation lasting around seven hours at O’Hare Airport in Chicago following the arrival of his national team’s delegation.

According to the agency, the procedures included a search of the player’s phone before he was eventually allowed to enter and join the Iraqi national team’s camp.

However, the outcome was not the same for the Iraqi national team’s official photographer, Talal Salah, who was detained for more than ten hours and subjected to similar procedures, before being definitively denied entry to the United States.

The two incidents have once again raised questions about the nature of the procedures faced by some participants in the tournament, particularly as both cases involved individuals who had arrived as part of an officially accredited delegation to take part in the global event.

The World Cup under the microscope

Although the details of each case differ, the common thread is that the crisis did not relate to sporting competition or technical readiness, but rather to entry procedures into the United States.

In the space of a few days, a FIFA-accredited referee found himself excluded from the tournament, whilst the captain of the Iraqi national team spent hours under investigation, and an official photographer was barred from accompanying his national team – scenes that were unforeseen ahead of the biggest edition in World Cup history.

As the opening whistle approaches, it seems that the controversy over visas and border procedures has become part of the World Cup landscape, adding a new challenge for the tournament as it prepares to welcome the world to the United States, Canada and Mexico.

Featured image via YouTube screenshot/Al Jazeera English

By Alaa Shamali

The Scottish parliament has voted to approve a new wealth tax on high-end luxury goods, especially mansions and houses over £1m and private jet travel.

Scottish parliament leading the way

MSPs went to the Scottish parliament chamber to debate a new “fair, progressive and sustainable” approach to tax. This included the plans for a levy on private jets and houses owned by the wealthiest in society.

The motion — which passed 84-28, with 10 abstentions — highlighted the role taxes play in the delivery of essential public services. The motion welcomed all of Scotland’s recent

progress made towards the creation of a private jet tax and a mansion tax

The vote was largely symbolic, as the SNP‘s budget already outlined plans to implement a mansion tax by 2028, alongside a private jet tax. Labour’s amendment calling for an “immediate and comprehensive review of business rates” also passed by 95 votes to 27.

Posting on X, Scotland’s newly (re-)elected SNP First Minister John Swinney celebrated the vote:

In a cost of living crisis, it is right that those with the broadest shoulders contribute a bit more – while the majority of taxpayers in Scotland continue to pay less tax than elsewhere in the UK.

These are the words we head from Starmer once upon a time. How refreshing that they should actually be taken to mean something and be acted upon.

BREAKING: Parliament backed our plans for a private jet tax and a mansion tax.

In a cost of living crisis, it is right that those with the broadest shoulders contribute a bit more – while the majority of taxpayers in Scotland continue to pay less tax than elsewhere in the UK. pic.twitter.com/ABAZ0tQs7f

— John Swinney (@JohnSwinney) June 4, 2026

Call it the ‘Offord Tax’

The Scottish Greens have long campaigned for a private jet levy and other forms of wealth taxes, and joined the SNP politicians in celebrating the vote online.

However, a Greens’ amendment was defeated by 30 votes to 37, with 55 abstentions It argued that:

progressive reform of property tax could play a powerful role in wealth taxation

Nonetheless, the Greens have clear cause for celebrating the policy which they, alongside other progressives, have made the loudest case for. This is partly thanks to Zack Polanski’s bold messaging to the south.

Private jet flights are 30 times more polluting than regular flights.

After years of campaigning from Scottish Green MSPs, the Scottish Government is set to introduce a private jet tax! pic.twitter.com/WoURMlQsqc

— Scottish Greens (@scottishgreens) June 4, 2026

But it’s Scottish Greens leader Ross Greer’s sharp jibes at Reform UK’s leader Malcom Offord in the final stretch of May’s Holyrood elections which clearly captured the wealth debate.

Appearing together on the party leaders’ televised STV debate, the multi-millionaire ex-BoJo donor Lord Offord bragged about his wealth accumulation. Offord stated:

Today, I own six houses, five cars, and six boats. …

Mr Greer, in your Scotland … Do you want more people like me or fewer people like me?

To this, Greer swiftly and unapologetically replied: “Fewer people like you.” He said he was glad Offord finally admitted how many homes he owns! He also pointed out that there’s three times as many empty homes in Scotland as there are homeless children.

Reform UK’s amendment warned that increases in wealth taxes lead to “significant flight of tax revenues.” It lost by 16 votes to 94, with 10 abstentions. Perhaps with some luck, Mr Offord will take Mr Greer’s advice and flee away, taxes and all if needs be.

The Conservatives’ amendment called on the Government to “reduce income tax to stimulate growth.” It was also defeated in the Scottish parliament by 28 votes to 94. Reducing tax burdens on working people and focusing on wealth tax isn’t a bad idea — but Tories don’t support that. Let’s sort out wealth taxes before we reconsider income, eh?

Reform’s Scottish leader brags about owning ‘6 houses’ in debate

Featured image via the Canary

By Cameron Baillie

Florentino Pérez has retained his position as president of Real Madrid after winning the club’s first competitive election in two decades, securing a new five-year term at the helm of the club.

According to the Guardian, Pérez secured around 65 per cent of the club members’ votes, beating his rival, businessman Enrique Riquelme, who received 35 per cent of the vote, in an election that reflected a stronger opposition movement than in recent years.

In his first comments following the announcement of the results, Pérez described the victory as a “historic result”, emphasising that his achievement represented the second-best election result in Real Madrid’s history. The club president said the support he received spanned all age groups of members, viewing the vote as a clear mandate to continue his project over the next five years, according to a report by Reuters.

Criticism and calls for change

The British newspaper noted that the victory, despite its clarity, revealed a relative decline in the level of electoral dominance to which Pérez had become accustomed during his previous terms in office, particularly following a season in which the team failed to win any major trophies – a factor that prompted him to call for early elections before the end of his current term.

The election campaign saw a fierce debate over the club’s future, with Riquelme focusing on criticising Pérez’s management and calling for a change in sporting and administrative approach, whilst the current president defended his project based on modernising Real Madrid’s economic structure.

Controversial financial reforms at Real Madrid

The Guardian noted that Pérez intends to press ahead with a number of controversial financial reforms, including a plan to sell a limited stake in the club with the aim of bolstering its investment resources and continuing to develop its facilities.

These plans come at a time when Real Madrid continues to cement its position as one of the world’s financially strongest clubs, benefiting from growing commercial and investment revenues in recent years.

The transfer market has dominated both election campaigns, with Pérez dangling the prospect of a massive deal potentially worth up to €150 million, whilst his rival has responded with promises to attract high-profile names to the club, both in terms of players and the coaching staff.

The newspaper argued that the election battle had turned into an open contest over the identity of Real Madrid’s future sporting project, rather than merely a race for the presidency.

Mourinho returns to the spotlight

On the coaching front, Al Jazeera, citing Reuters, reported that Florentino Pérez had confirmed during his election campaign that the Portuguese José Mourinho would return to manage Real Madrid should he win the election, a promise that has returned to the forefront following the announcement of the voting results.

According to the same source, Mourinho’s return is one of the key talking points associated with the club’s new era, at a time when Real Madrid is seeking to regain its lustre after a period away from the major trophy podiums.

A new term and growing challenges at Real Madrid

Despite successfully retaining his position, the election results showed that Pérez is entering his new term amidst greater challenges and mounting pressure from a section of the club’s members who are calling for more change and competition within the Madrid institution.

Between his ambitions to return the team to the pinnacle of European football and the economic and administrative development projects he champions, Pérez begins a new chapter in his long career with Real Madrid, setting his sights on restoring the sporting successes that have shaped his legacy over the past two decades.

Featured image via the Canary

By Alaa Shamali

Award-winning Welsh journalist and author Will Hayward has criticised a senior Welsh Reform politician over his comments that “infantilise” the proud people he claims to represent.

The Reformer’s statement came at the Hay literary festival in Hay-on-Wye in Wales. Hayward indicated the Member of the Senedd (MS) in his post as James Evans. He’s the Shadow Minister for Health, Prevention and Sport in Reform’s Welsh cabinet.

Since May’s Senedd elections, James Evans MS has occupied that position within Welsh Reform. The comments were made in the context of significant ongoing debates around devolving the Crown Estate.

The MS stated that Wales shouldn’t have more devolved powers because:

I don’t think it should devolve, for the simple reason being: if you devolve it you’ve got to then set up an office to run it. And we’re not very good in Wales at being efficient in running things…

The crowd, presumably with a large Welsh contingent, groaned in unison at these ignorant comments. There’s at least one audible exclamation of “come on,” and certainly not a positive one.

Reform are the official opposition since Labour collapsed in Wales in May’s historic Senedd elections which delivered pro-independence party Plaid Cymru to power for the first time. It’s hardly very patriotic for a Welsh Reform politician to belittle his people in such a demeaning manner.

Reform’s three-page plea to Wales doesn’t mention ‘Wales’ once

Hayward hits back at Reform

Will Hayward makes it clear that, while he favours devolution of Wales’ land away from the English crown to its people, being against evolution is not inherently anti-Welsh. Evans’ comments, however, do seem to be.

Responding to the Reform shadow minister’s comments, Hayward wrote online:

the argument that “we are not very good in Wales at being efficient” is one of the most infantile descriptions of a nation I have ever heard, especially coming from a man/party who claimed they wanted to lead that nation. The idea that Wales and the Welsh are uniquely incapable of running something illustrates a level of self-hate and lack of confidence that we need to shed.

It’s a narrative that holds us back more than almost anything.

In Hayward’s view, this mindset makes a mockery of the idea that Welsh Reform are serious about winning power in the Celtic nation. It gives credence to the idea that Welsh Reform’s political agenda in Wales is only really ever about laundering consent for Reform in Westminster, and not about the Welsh people.

It’s a retrograde, patronising state of mind, which we should always push back on when it comes from outside of Wales. But it’s particularly damaging when it comes from politicians who claim that they want to lead Wales. …

Reform are deeply hostile to treating Wales as a thing in and of itself. They’re really hostile to the idea of Wales having devolution, of having its own parliament. … If you thought you could lead Welsh government, why would you not want that government to be equipped?

As Hayward points out in another video, Reform appear to have abandoned some major demographic groups. They need to win these around if they were serious about winning meaningfully in Wales:

• Women, who make up 51% of voters, yet lag ten percent behind Welsh male support for Reform;
• Young people, who overwhelmingly oppose Reform at both the Welsh and the UK level; and
• People who feel “more Welsh than British,” which is Wales’s largest single identity group across all other demographic dividers (ethnic background, age, gender, etc.).

To that list I’d add Wales’ Black and Brown people, since multiple Reform figures have shared vile racist posts.

Wales moves to decolonise its museums, and GB News is losing it

Time to devolve the Crown Estate?

The Crown Estate is the land owned by the King in Wales, and all moneys earned by it go to the Treasury in London. It’s not like Scotland’s estates, where money earned from royal estates remains in Holyrood.

Constitutional law wonk Gareth Evans explains the significance of the Crown Estate:

The Crown Estate holds a diverse portfolio of assets in Wales which includes 65 per cent of the foreshore, over 50,000 acres of land, and the majority of the seabed out to 12 nautical miles. It also holds general rights over the seabed and subsoil out to 200 nautical miles, including natural resources and the licensing of offshore energy projects, but excluding fossil fuels. …

The economic importance … of these assets is reflected in the recent changes in the stated value of the Crown Estate’s assets in Wales, which increased from £95 million in 2020 to £853 million in 2023.

So this sudden uptick in value has clearly made the Crown Estate a hot topic. But the issue of the Crown Estate has gained particular significance since Plaid Cymru took power in Wales.

In 2025 a Private Members’ bill was introduced by Lord Wigley, Plaid’s former leader. But it did not pass, and the UK government remains opposed to devolving the money-maker. Because of course it does.

However, in 2024, the Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales recommended that the Crown Estate should:

become the responsibility of the devolved government of Wales, as it is in Scotland.

Advocates like Hayward argue that if it’s not devolved, Wales might forgo opportunities to shape and capture value from its own natural resources. In Scotland, Holyrood’s management of their devolved Crown Estate estimate that over £90b investments into offshore wind energy could be made within 10-15 years.

Ultimately, like all of Wales, the Estate was only brought under English rule by military conquest centuries ago. It remains, like some say of all Cymru, colonised by England’s crown.

Featured image via the Canary

By Cameron Baillie

England manager Thomas Tuchel has sent a direct message to Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham, emphasising that competition for starting places in the squad heading to the 2026 World Cup will be wide open, with no guarantees for any player.

Bellingham’s place not confirmed – yet

According to Sky Sports, Tuchel emphasised that Bellingham is one of several players in contention for the playmaker role (No. 10), given the wealth of options available within the England squad.

This comes at a time when Bellingham has featured in just four matches during the qualifiers, whilst the coaching staff have relied on other players, most notably Aston Villa’s Morgan Rogers, who played in all eight qualifying matches, reflecting the fierce competition for this position.

According to the same source, Tuchel emphasised that England’s squad includes a large number of players capable of filling key roles, noting that the coaching staff have around 14 or 15 players who could be considered for the starting line-up, which means the final selections will remain open until the very last moments before the tournament kicks off.

This statement presents Bellingham with a direct challenge to prove his worth, at a time when England are preparing to enter the World Cup with high ambitions and a squad brimming with options in the attacking midfield.

Featured image via the Canary

By Alaa Shamali

Senegal enters the 2026 World Cup finals with a rare blend of ambition, experience and renewal, in an attempt to rewrite one of the most beautiful stories in African football on the world stage.

Although the ‘Lions of Teranga’ were unable to go beyond the quarter-finals of the 2002 World Cup, the signs leading up to the current edition suggest that the West African side possesses the qualities to make it one of the leading contenders to play the role of ‘dark horse’ in the tournament.

Senegal had made their way to the World Cup with remarkable consistency, topping their qualifying group with seven wins from ten matches, conceding just three goals – a statistic which the Guardian considered to reflect the enduring strength of the Senegalese school of football, which has long built its success on defensive solidity and tactical discipline.

A new generation from Senegal is knocking on the door

Since taking charge, coach Pape Tiéaou has worked to reshape the national team’s identity without completely breaking with the generation of stars that led Senegal to continental glory.

The squad set to feature in the United States, Canada and Mexico includes six players with only limited international experience, a fact to which the Guardian clearly pointed as indicative of the renewal process being led by the coaching staff. Tiaw has opted to rely on younger, faster players, giving the team a style based on possession and constant movement rather than simply relying on the physical strength associated with the national team in previous years.

This shift does not mean abandoning the pillars of experience, as captain Kalidou Koulibaly remains the defensive linchpin, whilst Idrissa Gueye and Edouard Mendy continue to play pivotal roles within the squad.

A balance between solidity and quick transitions

In FIFA’s report on the Senegal national team, which details information, statistics and analysis, it is stated that Senegal’s technical approach relies on a clear blend of traditional defensive discipline and speed in attacking transitions, with an increasing tendency towards direct play when regaining possession. The team is characterised by a strong defensive unit led by Kalidou Koulibaly, which gives the side the ability to withstand high pressure, whilst Edouard Mendy provides a key anchor at the back.

In attack, Senegal tend to exploit the flanks through the pace of Ismaïla Sarr and Nicolas Jackson’s ability to get behind the lines, relying on quick vertical passes rather than slow build-up play.

Lamine Camara also plays a key role in linking the lines and setting the tempo in midfield, giving the team the flexibility to switch between quick transitions and positional play depending on the opposition.

This balance has made the team more adaptable in big matches, but they still need to improve their effectiveness against teams that defend in deep blocks, which is the main challenge ahead of the World Cup.

The team has also reverted to a 4-3-3 formation following an unsuccessful experiment with a back three, which has given the side greater balance between defence and attack.

Mané and the final chapter

If every World Cup has a human story, Senegal’s story begins and ends almost entirely with Sadio Mané.

The star, who missed the 2022 Qatar World Cup through injury, returns this time knowing that this may be his last chance to make a major mark at the World Cup. It is true that his pace is no longer what it was during his golden years at Liverpool, but his influence on and off the pitch remains decisive, whether through his attacking leadership or his symbolic status in the dressing room.

The 2026 edition looks set to be Mané’s final attempt to lead his country to a global achievement that matches his status among the greatest African players of the modern era.

Despite the abundance of stars, all eyes are on the young talent Amara Diouf, who turned 18 just before the tournament kicked off.

The rising winger is regarded as Senegal’s most promising footballing prospect at present, having established himself in the senior squad at a very young age, thanks to his speed, dribbling ability and knack for breaking down defensive blocks, as described by the Guardian.

A group that tests ambition for Senegal

Senegal’s task will not be an easy one in a group featuring France, Norway and Iraq, as their campaign begins with a historically significant clash against France, the very side Senegal knocked out in one of the biggest upsets of the 2002 World Cup.

But what sets this edition of the ‘Lions of Teranga’ apart is that they do not rest on past glories. With the experience of Mané and Koulibaly, the dynamism of Jackson and Sar, and the daring of Diouf and Kamara, Senegal appear to be at a crossroads between a generation that made history and one trying to surpass it.

And perhaps for this very reason, many view the Senegalese national team as one of the sides most capable of defying the odds at the 2026 World Cup.

Featured image via the Canary

By Alaa Shamali

The US-Israeli imperial war machine has been hitting Iran and Hezbollah for months. That machine is a vastly superior killing implement  – on paper, at least. Yet the so-called ‘axis of resistance’ is still alive and kicking as a potential Pakistan-brokered peace deal edges closer.

This all speaks to US decline, but it also outlines a deep Western misunderstanding of how the opposition functions. Faced with a US-provisioned force with a full suite of air-power, artillery, drones and cyber, Hezbollah killed 15 Israelis overnight, reports say:

NEW: The US and Israel say that Hezbollah killed 15 Israeli soldiers overnight, which prompted strikes on Beirut

[@tparsi]

— Politics Global (@PolitlcsGlobal) June 7, 2026

Even a former Israeli PM Ehud Barak has said Hezbollah cannot be conquered:

A year and a half has passed since Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared, after the cease-fire, that “We’ve set Hezbollah back decades.” What empty boasting.

He added:

We’ve indeed seen some amazing achievements – the pagers operation, the elimination of Hassan Nasrallah and other senior Hezbollah figures, the fatal attack on the Radwan forces and the missile array and its operators.

But all of this has melted away as if it never existed.

Barak, no stranger to war crime accusations himself,  also lamented that fact that Israel had “no solution” to Hezbollah’s FPV drone tactics.

Hezbollah appeared to be in a pugnacious mood. According to the Cradle, they refuted Trump’s claim he was in dialogue with them:

Senior Lebanese Resistance figure, Deputy Chairman of Hezbollah’s Political Council Mahmoud Qamati, confirmed to AFP earlier today that no direct communication channels exist between Trump and Hezbollah officials, dismissing Washington’s attempts to portray a direct diplomatic breakthrough regarding the war.

Qamati reportedly said:

Trump may have intentionally mischaracterized indirect diplomatic channels, noting that Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri’s adviser regularly communicates with the US ambassador to convey messages.

Westerns misreads and miscalculations

Meanwhile academic Trita Parsi said the West has routinely misunderstood the nature of the Iran-Hezbollah relationship. And the media has repeated these errors verbatim.

There is a surprising level of surprise in the West that Iran was serious about its demand for a region-wide ceasefire and that it would act against Israel if it continued attacking Lebanon.

I explain here: https://t.co/Rs000ZMhJM

…why Tehran was dead serious about forcing…

— Trita Parsi (@tparsi) June 7, 2026

There is a surprising level of surprise in the West that Iran was serious about its demand for a region-wide ceasefire and that it would act against Israel if it continued attacking Lebanon.

He said the idea Hezbollah was simply a “proxy” for Iran was a fatal error in analysis:

Hezbollah is consistently described in the Western discourse as an Iranian proxy. And it appears that this statement was genuinely believed by Western observers.

Adding:

So if the belief is that Hezbollah is no more than a proxy, it also becomes more difficult to take Iranian threats that it will defend Lebanon seriously. A proxy, after all, is a piece on the chessboard whose fate almost invariably is to be sacrificed or consumed.

The reality is that the relationship is:

a mutually beneficial alliance in which Tehran clearly is the bigger party but not one that can simply issue dictats for Hezbollah to follow.

If this had been properly understood:

Iran’s warnings against continued Israeli attacks on Lebanon would likely have been taken more seriously.

Iran and Hezbollah still standing

The US expended $25bn in munitions, fuel and other areas in the first eight weeks of the war. This is a conservative estimate. Some sources say:

that the $25 billion estimate did not account for damage from Iran’s retaliatory attacks, which could put the total cost of the war so far as high as $50 billion.

Israel spent around $11bn.

Yet the signal achievement of the attack is a global economic crisis. Hardly something to write home about.

Even legacy media outlets like The Atlantic were withering in their assessment:

If these are indeed the conditions under which the war is concluded, the U.S. emerges from the conflict in worse strategic shape than it started, and Iran emerges in better condition in the long run.

Adding:

Although the U.S. demonstrated tactical and operational excellence throughout the conflict, it was not sufficient to provide a real victory.

The ‘butcher’s bill’ of this Trumpian blunder has not yet been counted. But when it is, US – and Israeli – influence in the region will have been vastly diminished. Despite lacking any of the fancy equipment and eye-watering war budgets available to the US, Iran, and Hezbollah are intact and undefeated.

Featured image via the Canary

By Joe Glenton

Iran, Yemen, and Hezbollah have retaliated against Israel’s aggression, bombarding targets inside the settler-colonial state’s borders. Iran and Israel pledged to stop firing on 8 June. But Trump’s humiliation in this, his war of choice, draws closer by the hour.

Iran and Yemen push back

Journalist Jeremy Scahill captured the sheer cynicism of the Israeli government:

Netanyahu, in part, began his scorched earth bombing in southern Lebanon—and the seizure of territory north of the Litani—so that he could establish a new “yellow line” in advance of any agreement between Iran and the U.S. He wants this to be Israel's place when the music stops…

— jeremy scahill (@jeremyscahill) June 8, 2026

Israeli aggression precipitated the first Iranian strikes for a month:

Sirens sounded across northern Israel as the IDF said it detected the launches and was working to intercept the missiles.

An initial wave of two ballistic missiles fired at northern Israel was intercepted by air defenses, the IDF said. A second wave was then detected, with sirens expected to sound again in coming minutes.

Israel has cancelled schools nationwide and limited outdoor gatherings to 200 and indoor gatherings to 500 as the Home Front Command issued emergency guidelines.

The Times of Israel reported that the region had been “catapulted”:

back to the cusp of all-out war after two months of a shaky ceasefire, with Israel initially vowing to respond before US President Donald Trump attempted to limit the fallout and keep truce negotiations with Tehran on track.

Though the paper’s top line neglected to mention that Iranian missiles were a response to Israeli attacks. Those strikes caused a number of deaths in Beirut’s southern suburbs:

Israeli forces struck the Dahiyeh district of Beirut’s southern suburbs Sunday, killing at least 2 people and wounding 11 in strikes on residential apartments, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency. The strikes came after several weeks during which Israel had refrained from targeting Beirut’s southern suburbs amid Iranian pressure via its negotiations with the U.S.

So much for the ‘anti-war’ president

Donald Trump, whose assault on Iran has left him flailing to exit while claiming victory, has tried to say the war has not undermined his supposed anti-war credentials.

Trump tapped into domestic fatigue from the Iraq and Afghan wars to get elected. Any goodwill toward him on that front has evaporated.

A new poll says the Iran war is as unpopular as Vietnam – a war Trump himself allegedly dodged.

Associated Press reported:

Trump, in an interview that aired Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said he “didn’t guarantee” there would be no wars if he were back in office.

“First of all, I didn’t guarantee no war. Why would I have built the strongest military in the world?” Trump said.

The under-pressure president said:

I didn’t promise anything.

I don’t like these endless wars. This is not an endless war. We’ve been doing this for three months.

Trump tried to claim:

he was “doing the world a service” and “doing our country a service” because he had to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon. But elsewhere in the interview, Trump repeated a contradictory message where he said U.S. strikes last year “obliterated” Iranian nuclear sites.

The response to Israel’s latest aggression – which came despite Trump’s insistence he’d discipline Benyamin Netanyahu – came from Hezbollah and Yemen as well as Iran:

Yemen also declared a ban on Israeli shipping in the Red Sea:

Yemen Strikes Tel Aviv Area, Declares Total Ban on Israeli Shipping in Red Sea

➤ The Yemeni Armed Forces launched a missile barrage targeting what it described as sensitive Israeli targets in the Jaffa area of Tel Aviv, claiming the strikes “achieved their objectives with… pic.twitter.com/lGdQ5uFazJ

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) June 8, 2026

Yemeni strikes targeted Tel Aviv and central and southern Israel:

Missile From Yemen Targets Central and Southern Israel

The Israeli army confirmed missile launched from Yemen toward Israel, saying defense systems are actively intercepting it. Alarm sirens sounded across Tel Aviv and large areas of central and southern Israel, with a rocket… pic.twitter.com/FValEXsB2S

— Drop Site (@DropSiteNews) June 8, 2026

US-Israel attacked Iran first on 28 February without provocation. Iran was offering unprecedented concessions in negotiations at the time. The Pentagon has since stated there was no imminent threat from Iran. And the UN’s atomic watchdog, the IAEA, has said there is no evidence Iran was developing a nuclear weapon.

The US has achieved none of its original war aims. Iran predictably closed the Straits of Hormuz, a vital oil channel, once attacked – creating a global energy crisis. Far from being defeated, Iran has said the war will continue until “the enemy’s inevitable and permanent humiliation, disgrace, regret, and surrender”. Trump came to power on an anti-war ‘America First’ ticket. He now faces worldwide humiliation.

Trump took to social media to say:

Both sides Israel and Iran are looking to do an immediate ceasefire in final negotiations.

Demonstrating a frankly nuclear lack of self-awareness, he added:

Peace is proceeding subject to ignorance or stupidity getting in its way.

He said:

The blockade will remain in place and in full force and effect until a final deal is reached and things should move quickly. Thank you for your attention to this matter.

With mid-terms approaching Trump is unable to get an exit out of a deeply unpopular war. And a fading US empire, driven by hubris and arrogance, is accelerating its own decline while its international rivals look on. Iran increasingly looks like Trump’s Vietnam – even without US boots on the ground.

Featured image via the Canary

By Joe Glenton

The US and Israel-allied state, the UAE, has launched an initiative calling citizens and residents to digitally “reaffirm their dedication to the nation’s core values of unity, coexistence, and tolerance,” as it has also deported 5,000 to 18,000 Shia Pakistanis recently since the US-Israel war on Iran began in February.

The two actions by the Gulf state show it is anxious to ward off working-class solidarity against its alliance with Zionism.

This follows a broader pattern of the UAE aligning with Washington. The Gulf state has reportedly joined US-Israeli strikes on Iran, requested dollar swap lines tying its economy to America, and exited OPEC as part of its “Israelification.”

Iran’s foreign minister has slammed the UAE for being “directly involved in the aggression” against his country, while Netanyahu claims he made a secret visit to the UAE on March 26th, a claim the UAE denied, though flight data suggests otherwise.

Deportation of Pakistani Shia workers in UAE

NPR reported over the weekend accounts from Pakistani Shia men who were deported from the UAE shortly after the US and Israel went to war with Iran.

Pakistani legislators told NPR that anywhere between 5,000 to 18,000 Shia Pakistanis had been deported.

They also reported that Pakistan’s government has called the accounts “vicious propaganda” and refuses to accept what is happening to its own citizens.

Pakistani Shias in the Gulf appear to have become more vulnerable to suspicion amid a regional security climate increasingly sensitive to any perceived connection to Iran, whether religious, social or political

Read more https://t.co/qzI1ofZhFV

— MBN English (@MBNEnglish) June 4, 2026

Meanwhile, MBN English reported that Pakistani Shia deportees had their phones searched by UAE authorities for Iranian contacts, their bank accounts frozen, and were given no explanation except “We cannot tell you, but you must leave.”

MBN English reported that a Shia political organization estimated as many as 30,000 Pakistani passport holders may have been affected.

Pledge of loyalty

 

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A post shared by Dubai Scoops (@dubaiscoops)

Nothing says “coexistence” like an online loyalty pledge you can sign from your phone while the government deports thousands of people for being the wrong kind of Muslim.

That’s exactly what the UAE launched on May 20th.

The “Pledge and Commitment” initiative, overseen by the country’s Minister of Tolerance and Coexistence, asks citizens and residents to digitally swear “loyalty and allegiance” to the UAE President, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, through an online form or QR code, all in the name of “unity, stability, and social cohesion.”

The launch event featured more than 4,800 leaders in attendance.

Asad AbuKhalil, a Lebanese-American professor of political science at California State University, Stanislaus, slammed the initiative by the “totalitarian despot of the UAE.”

The totalitarian despot of the UAE is now requiring loyalty pledges. You won’t hear a word of condemnation from the corrupt class of pro-Gulf Lebanese human rights poseurs, journalists, or academics. pic.twitter.com/LS7v3XitqI

— asad abukhalil أسعد أبو خليل (@asadabukhalil) June 6, 2026

He also slammed Lebanese pro-Gulf “human rights poseurs, journalists, and academics” for refusing to utter a single word of condemnation.

Tolerance, in the UAE, is short for compliance with the US and Israel. Sign the pledge, scan the QR code, swear loyalty to the despot, or get deported for being the wrong kind of Muslim.

Featured image via the Canary

By The Canary

Notorious pro–Israel bigot Stephen Pollard has written a desperate, antisemitic article trying to smear Zack Polanski. He did this in response to the Green leader backing calls to hold potential war criminals to account. And he did so in the Telegraph, which has joined other right-wing rags in publishing antisemitic Polanski caricatures.

Lobby backlash as Polanski backs accountability calls for potential war criminals

Zack Polanski, along with many other Jewish people in the UK, has been vocal in his criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza. And hardline Zionists (whether Jewish or non-Jewish) don’t like this. So they’ve thrown their toys out of the pram following Polanski’s backing of an open letter calling on the government to start:

monitoring the entry of British-Israeli dual national citizens into the UK and investigating potential links to war crimes, in cases where they have served in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).

Israel fanboys like Pollard have responded by antisemitically suggesting this means ‘monitoring all Jews’. As Jewish Voice for Peace has said, such treatment of “Jewish people as a monolithic group” is a ‘contemporary expression of antisemitism’. Even the controversial IHRA definition argues that one example of antisemitism is:

Holding Jews collectively responsible for actions of the state of Israel.

Pollard’s desperate, antisemitic argument in the Telegraph

We’ll talk more about Pollard in a minute. But first, let’s look at his argument in the racist Telegraph, now under the ownership of the firmly pro-Israel Axel Springer. Pollard suggested that:

• “Zack Polanski wants a Jew register”, because tracking people who have served in Israel’s occupation army during the genocide (and “just happen to be Jews”) means making a list “of bad Jews”.
• “Polanski has said not a word” about “accusations of war crimes” elsewhere in time and space. The only example he mentioned was the horrific but distant “1971 Bangladesh war of independence”. He hinted that this was relevant because “many new Green voters are drawn from those communities” (Green deputy leader Mothin Ali, for example, is a British Bangladeshi). Then, in another casual conflation of Israel and Jewish people, he added “But no Israelis were involved (let’s be honest: no Jews).” That’s why Polanski was being silent about this, he argued, rather than because it happened 55 years ago.
• Despite the overwhelming international consensus that Israel has been committing genocide, the word genocide was somehow “hotly contested” (it is by Israel and its allies, of course, but then genocidal criminals don’t tend to embrace that kind of label in public). Pollard contrasted this with the “well-founded allegation” (for which there is no overwhelming international consensus) that China’s controversial treatment of its Uyghur community may amount to genocide. (Roughly 200 people died during the July 2009 riots.)
• Polanski showing interest in the suffering of the Palestinian people was just a “strategy” to get votes from people who “only” care about the genocide in Gaza.

It's not a Jew register @stephenpollard
Its a war criminal register.
Your not saying Jews are criminals again, are you?
You still can't quite kick the anti-Semite habit, can you? https://t.co/6YOugU0eOH

— Mark Howell (@markhowell7) June 7, 2026

You and Pollard are anti-Semites; Polanski does not mention Jews, he mentions British citizens. What you are doing is akin to saying Germans got tried at the Nuremberg trials not Nazis. It is deeply racist. https://t.co/HLqw1xeSWh

— Ashunsi Ankram (@AshunsiAnkram) June 6, 2026

Away from the Telegraph, and in reality…

Some relevant facts to counter Pollard’s assertions include that:

• Not all Israelis are Jewish, and not all Jewish Israelis serve in the occupation forces (either through exemption or refusal). As the piece itself admits, military service is also compulsory for non-Jewish Israelis like Druze and Circassian citizens.
• As Polanski himself has said, conflating Jewish people with Israeli war criminals “is both harmful and antisemitic”.
• During Polanski’s short time as Green leader, Israel’s genocide in Gaza has been the only genocide in which the UK has been openly complicit, which makes highlighting this as a priority very politically relevant and urgent – especially when the servile corporate media has failed to do so. The UK government is literally cracking down on protest rights as part of widespread institutional efforts to silence criticism of Israel. It’s not doing that for any other country.
• Polanski has called for “consistent international justice” and spoken out about the suffering in numerous global war zones. On the other hand, it’s people seeking to defend or downplay Israel’s crimes who usually show double standards about which criminals they condemn and which they don’t.
• Pollard isn’t someone we should go to if we want reliable, independent conclusions. He previously lost a lawsuit, for example, for making dodgy allegations relating to genocide.
• If anyone is being antisemitic right now, it’s the Telegraph and other right-wing rags:

Whilst senior editor @CamillaTominey is harassing Zack and defaming him, the @Telegraph have still not apologised for their antisemitic cartoon.

They need an immediate review into antisemitism. pic.twitter.com/6HTq0lZukI

— Harry Eccles (@Heccles94) June 6, 2026

You are a shameless liar: Polanski is calling for a list of British citizens who have fought in a probable genocide & possibly committed war crimes & other atrocities to be compiled. This is what any civilised lawful country should do https://t.co/RikAhqNjWL

— Andrew Feinstein (@andrewfeinstein) June 7, 2026

I'm sure those well known defenders of Jewish people though will be along with more Antisemitic caricatures before too long of which the establishment will still have absolutely nothing to say weeks later…. pic.twitter.com/CjvMf2wtYC

— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) June 4, 2026

Pollard’s dangerous antisemitic rhetoric has always been all about defending Israel and smearing the left

Pollard has basically admitted previously that he thinks it’s ok to conflate Israel and Judaism. And he would, because he edited a right-wing pro-Israel rag for years that played a key role in vicious media efforts to keep Israel critic Jeremy Corbyn out of power.

The whole shtick of the Jewish Chronicle in the Corbyn years was basically to weaponise cynical antisemitism allegations against the left. And Pollard’s job was essentially to find antisemitism where it didn’t exist. The Peter Mandelson quote about working “every single day” to defeat Corbyn literally came from a chat with Pollard.

Nowadays, meanwhile, when Pollard isn’t hating on Polanski or spreading antisemitism in the Telegraph, he’s out defending actual racist Nigel Farage. That shows better than anything else that this is not about religion at all. It’s all about politics. And in particular, it’s about defending genocide and defending the war criminals behind it.

Seems Pollard is pro Farage’s racism & against Polanski’s anti racism.
Curious idea of what antisemitism is . pic.twitter.com/V3Uw40a8b8

— Mick (@MickCoffey2) March 30, 2026

Featured image via the Canary

By Ed Sykes

Right now, across our ‘green and pleasant’ land, thousands of tiny fox cubs are exploring a new world. Born in March and April, these tiny, vulnerable little bundles of fur are clumsy, curious and full of life. They’re finally beginning to explore the world. Chasing bugs through long glare, these iconic little cubs are totally unaware of the ticking time bomb that’s so close to going off. A shadow is creeping up on them. And in just a few weeks, their peaceful summer ends. And for so many fox cubs, so do their lives.

Trapped in the woods

August marks the arrival of cubbing season. And that is when the tranquil lives of these tiny cubs are shattered. Hunters politely call this ‘autumn hunting’ or ‘hound exercise’ to mask the reality. The reality is, this is a schooling season for new hounds, and the curriculum is blood. Hunts are not looking for the usual long, dramatic chases across open fields. This time, they’re targeting the most vulnerable animals they can find.

Come August, when these tiny little fox cubs are ready to explore the world, the hunt will strike. Huntsman will take young, inexperienced hounds into small patches of woodland called a covert where foxes live. And there, the slaughter begins. Huntsman choose late-summer fox cubs because they’re young, lacking in stamina and don’t quite yet have knowledge of their territory. This lesson for the hounds is simple. Learn the scent of foxes and gain a taste for killing innocent wildlife.

Escape is pretty much impossible. As hounds flush terrified cubs out from hiding, riders and followers line the perimeter. When a tiny, panicked cub tries to make a break for safety, huntsman slap saddles and crack whips. These monsters deliberately terrify the cubs back into the drooling jaws of the hounds.

The bloody data

And the scale of these activities are damning. A suspected 10,000 fox cubs die every single year to this cruel ‘training’. Can I ask… why the hell are they even training the hounds to kill when hunting live mammals with dogs is illegal? Because these rich huntsman, frankly, don’t give a shit about the law. When hunters claim they’re simply exercising the pack, or following a pre-laid, false trail, they’re lying. The data exposes the truth.

Because the police don’t seem to care, independent monitors watched 624 hunt meets across the country. A mere 23 of these actually showed evidence of an actual trail being laid. A pathetic 3.7% actually showed intent to follow the law.

And the violence is skyrocketing. Monitors recorded 127 incidents of illegal cub killing in just three months. Within that, they saw 106 young cubs being illegally chased by hounds. This is a wild 83% increase compared to last autumn.

This blatant disregard for our laws spills into communities. Hound hunts caused 315 incidents of havoc, targeting domestic pets and trespassing on private land. And that’s just in that same three-month window.

We need to be on the ground for these fox cubs

The Hunting Act 2004 banned this bloody cruelty two decades ago. So why is this bloodshed continuing, and in fact, ramping up? And it’s not like the hunt actually even care about the hounds that are ripping apart these innocent cubs. To the hunt, these hounds are nothing but tools. And they treat them as such. If a young dog fails to recognise scents or it’s too slow to keep up with the pack, the huntsman regularly shoot them in the head when they think no one is looking.

These baby fox cubs and discarded hounds are running out of time. Right now, the government is running a public consultation on finally closing the loophole that is ‘trail hunting’. And it ends on Thursday 18 June 2026. This is our chance to end the smokescreen that allows 10,000 fox cubs to be massacred every year. Why not join or support the Hunt Saboteurs Association who help to monitor these illegal hunts?

We can’t allow these rich, horse-riding monsters to quietly wipe out the next generation of foxes. Will we continue to look away? Or will we finally say enough is enough? Have a look at the consultation, and let’s get boots on the ground this August to end this lawlessness once and for all.

Featured image via the Hunt Saboteurs Association/Three Counties Hunt Sabs

By Antifabot

On 7 June, Israel’s occupation naval forces intentionally targeted and killed Gaza fisherman Mohammad Mousa Abu Jiyab. Mohammed Atef Al-Aqra, who was in the same vessel, was seriously injured. They were fishing off the coast of Deir al Balah, in central Gaza.

Israel intentionally targets Gaza’s fishermen

Off the coast of Gaza City, in a separate incident on the same day, four fishermen were forced to jump into the sea from their boat. They were then arrested by Israel and taken to an unknown location.

There have been many incidents of fishermen being intentionally targeted in Gaza, if not by shooting, by drones instead 

HEARTBREAKING: Old footage shows 18 year old Mohammad Abu Jiyab smiling and swimming at sea.

He was killed today by an Israeli direct strike while in his small fishing boat off the coast of Gaza, as he was trying to earn a living for his family amid the ongoing humanitarian… https://t.co/mfb1IExAOw pic.twitter.com/UnNieiumEL

— Gaza Notifications (@gazanotice) June 7, 2026

For generations, fishing has generated a dependable income, and important protein source, for thousands of Palestinians in Gaza.

Before October 2023 more than 6000 people depended on fishing as their main source of livelihood. A further 110,000 benefited from the sector through related economic activities and household support networks.

Fishing zone in Gaza continually shrinking and so is the catch

Under the Oslo Accords, Palestinian fishermen were promised by Israel access to waters extending up to 20 miles- 37 km, from the coast. But this was never implemented. Since Hamas took power in Gaza, the Israeli occupation has applied severe constraints on Gaza’s fishing industry, including systematically restricting fishing zones.  And these have intensified further since October 2023.

Because the bigger, more profitable fish are found in deeper water, further from the coast, these restrictions have severe consequences. Too many boats fishing in the same small area has lead to increased pressure on coastal fish stocks.

According to Gaza Fishermen Syndicate member Zakaria Baker,  before the genocide, Gaza’s fishing industry used to catch around 15 tonnes a day. But now the catch is less than 15 tonnes for a whole month. Less fish mean that fishing families are having to survive on a greatly reduced income.

Fishermen are also often left uncertain as to where the fishing areas are. Often they discover overnight that previously accessible waters have become off-limits. These limits are increasingly enforced, and fishermen are repeatedly attacked- both onshore and at sea, by the Israeli occupation forces. Every day Gaza’s fishermen have their access to the sea blocked, and risk their lives just to survive. Not only does the occupation confiscate and destroy their boats and fishing equipment. It also arrests these Palestinians, and fires live bullets at them.

Intentional decimation of a one thriving industry

But access is only one part of the problem. According to Gaza’s Ministry of Agriculture, Gaza’s port’s, fish farms and most landing sites have all been bombed or bulldozed by Israel. UNRWA reports that about 95 percent of fishing facilities and assets have been damaged or destroyed. This large scale destruction is intended to ensure that fishing is impossible.

The ongoing blockade is also affecting the entry of materials vital for boat maintenance. Items such as such as fiberglass, steel cables, and engine parts are heavily restricted because they are classified as “dual-use” items. This is because the occupation claims they could also be used for military purposes.

These restrictions have made it increasingly difficult to maintain fishing vessels, while available materials have increased greatly in price. A fisherman told Reuters that before the start of the genocide, a kilo of fibreglass cost 50- 60 shekels, approximately £12-£15. He said the same fiberglass now costs the equivalent of £200. All these factors directly impact the livelihoods of all Gaza’s fishermen, and their families.

Gaza’s fishing industry has now been decimated, with average daily fish catch between October 2023 and April 2024 falling to just over seven percent of 2022 levels. Over 200 fishermen have been killed in Gaza since October 2023, while more than 300 others have been injured. “Israel’s” deliberate and ongoing targeting of Gaza’s fishing industry, its agricultural food production system, and humanitarian aid are all part of its coordinated and intentional genocidal campaign to annihilate Palestinians.

Featured image via the Canary

By Charlie Jaay

Israeli occupation police say they have “neutralised” two people involved in a shooting incident on 7 June. The attack occurred at a gas station near the entrance to Kochav Yair, in “Israel”. It resulted in the death of one “Israeli” and injuries to five others.

Two Palestinians martyred by Israel

Within minutes, Ben Gvir threatens execution: “if the terrorist is caught alive, he will be executed”

Minutes later, the Israeli occupation’s national “security” minister Itamar Ben Gvir, took to X:

“If the terrorist is caught alive, he will be executed. This is the law, and we will demand its enforcement.”

Ben Gvir has championed and celebrated the recently approved death penalty law, which applies to Palestinian prisoners only.

The occupation’s police shot and killed one of the “suspects” at their home in Tayibe. They later reported arresting another suspect there, who they say was connected with the incident. The police claim “the arrest followed intelligence indicating that he had requested assistance in hiding. During the arrest, the police claim he “attempted to attack the officers with a bottle, but he was subdued and taken into custody without injuries.”

Smotrich and Ben Gvir continue to stir up hatred towards Palestinians

Yet again, it will be the occupation’s word against that of Palestinians. And the arrest of this person in Tayibe is more than likely collective punishment. No details have emerged yet of the two killed by the occupation, or this third person who was arrested.

The occupation’s finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, took to X after the incident, blaming Arab- Israelis for the shooting. He claimed “a dangerous and extremist terrorist hotbed is growing that seeks to annihilate the state of Israel.”

Smotrich, a lifelong illegal settler, has recently had an application for his arrest warrant filed by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor’s office.

Photos of Ben Gvir later emerged on the Israeli occupation’s police X post. It stated that Ben Gvir inspects “the site of the terrorist attack in the Sharon region.”

The Israeli occupation police, illegal colonial settlers, military and government all work together. They advance the aims of the ethno-supremacist Israeli state. None of them are to be trusted or believed.

“Israel” carries out collective punishment against Palestinians on a daily basis, and this inciteful and dehumanising language used against them, by the occupation’s police, Knesset members and others today will, no doubt, lead to yet more violence against the indigenous people of Palestine by “Israeli” colonists.

Featured image Al Jazeera English

By Charlie Jaay

Smile design blends art and dental science to improve alignment, color, gums, and bite in a single plan. By assessing facial proportions and lip-tooth relationships, dentists create natural results tailored to each patient. Digital imaging previews outcomes, supporting realistic expectations. The before-and-after difference is often striking. Many patients report higher self-esteem and social confidence after treatment.

Smile Design Results: What Kind of Changes Should You Expect?

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Which Smile Design Procedures Show the Most Dramatic Before and After Differences?

Cosmetic dentistry transformations vary significantly depending on the specific procedure selected and the initial condition of the teeth. Clinical evidence demonstrates that certain treatments deliver more pronounced aesthetic improvements than others.

Porcelain veneers consistently produce the most striking transformations in our clinical practice. These ultra-thin shells completely reshape the visible tooth surface, correcting multiple aesthetic concerns simultaneously. Patients with severely stained or misshapen teeth experience the most dramatic visual improvements, with transformations often appearing to take decades off their appearance.

Dental crowns offer comprehensive coverage for extensively damaged teeth. Combined orthodontic and veneer treatments available through dental design turkey facilities demonstrate how sequential procedures amplify overall results. This strategic approach addresses both alignment and surface aesthetics.

Professional whitening procedures brighten tooth enamel by several shades but cannot alter tooth shape or position. Composite bonding provides conservative solutions for minor imperfections, though the material lacks the longevity and stain resistance of porcelain alternatives.

Combined treatment protocols consistently outperform single-procedure approaches. Orthodontic alignment followed by veneer placement creates comprehensive smile transformations that address both structural and superficial concerns. Our clinical observations confirm that multi-modal treatment strategies generate the most impressive before-and-after differences in modern cosmetic dentistry.

Smile Design Before and After Transformations: Achieving Natural-Looking Results

Modern cosmetic dentistry has revolutionised the way dental design procedures deliver transformations, with natural-looking outcomes now the industry standard. Our extensive experience working with diverse patient cases confirms that authenticity depends on several critical factors rather than a single technique.

Key elements that distinguish natural smile design transformations include:

• Facial symmetry analysis – Dental professionals assess bone structure, lip contour, and gingival architecture to ensure veneers or crowns complement individual features
• Proportional tooth dimensions – Width-to-length ratios typically follow the golden proportion (1:1.6), preventing the artificial “chiclet” appearance
• Translucency matching – Advanced ceramics replicate natural enamel properties, with IPS e.max and zirconia materials offering superior optical characteristics
• Gingival contouring precision – Soft tissue modification creates balanced gum-to-tooth ratios, eliminating the bulky aesthetic associated with poorly executed cases

Digital smile design technology enables clinicians to map transformations with microscopic accuracy. Intraoral scanners capture three-dimensional data, allowing customisation that respects ethnic variations and age-appropriate characteristics.

Professional dental design procedures prioritise harmonious integration rather than dramatic alteration. Teeth should appear proportionate to facial dimensions, with colour gradients mimicking natural tooth structure. Collaboration between restorative specialists and ceramists ensures each restoration exhibits depth, texture variation, and appropriate surface characterisation—qualities absent in overly uniform, artificial-looking transformations that lack biological authenticity.

How Long Does It Take to See Your Smile Design Before and After Results?

The timeline for observing smile design transformations varies significantly depending on the specific cosmetic procedures undertaken and the complexity of each case.

Timeline Based on Procedure Type

1. Immediate transformations occur with composite bonding and porcelain veneers, where patients witness their enhanced appearance within a single appointment or maximum two weeks following final placement.
2. Gradual improvements characterise teeth whitening treatments, typically requiring 14-21 days for professional bleaching systems to achieve optimal shade enhancement.
3. Extended timeframes apply to orthodontic alignment combined with restorative work, where comprehensive smile makeovers may span 3-18 months before complete before and after documentation becomes possible.

Several clinical factors influence the treatment duration beyond procedure selection:

• Individual healing capacity and tissue response to dental interventions
• Complexity of malocclusion or aesthetic concerns requiring correction
• Laboratory fabrication time for custom prosthetic components
• Number of teeth involved in the comprehensive treatment plan

Our clinical experience demonstrates that patients undergoing multi-disciplinary approaches typically observe progressive improvements throughout their journey, with final transformations becoming fully evident once all restorative phases reach completion and soft tissues achieve complete maturation around new dental work.

By Nathan Spears

In the grim annals of British political opportunism, few figures have mastered the art of turning tragedy into a personal recruitment drive quite like Nigel Farage.

The murder of 18-year-old Henry Nowak in Southampton last December was a horror that should unite any decent society in grief and resolve. A young student, full of promise, was stabbed five times by Vickrum Digwa, who then allegedly spun a tale of racial victimhood while the boy lay bleeding out. The police got it catastrophically wrong, handcuffing the dying teenager as they prioritised the killer’s narrative.

It is an unimaginable failure that demands serious scrutiny, accountability, and immediate reform of policing and knife laws. What this shocking murder doesn’t need is Nigel Farage attempting to transform solemn mourning into a circus of self-serving division.

The left has always championed justice for the working class — including holding the powerful to account when systems fail ordinary families like the Nowaks.

We must reject the cynical weaponisation of such failures to pit neighbour against neighbour. Farage’s schtick is as predictable as it is poisonous. Every incident involving a white victim and a Brown perpetrator becomes Exhibit A in his toxic, endless culture war, proof that “real” (read: white, native) Britons are second-class citizens in their own country.

The hypocrisy is staggering, and the hatefulness beneath the pint-and-cigarette persona is unmistakable.

Nigel Farage: staggering hypocrisy

Let’s just dissect the hypocrisy of ‘Breaking Point’ poster boy Nigel Farage, for a moment.

Private-schooled former commodities broker, Nigel Farage has spent literal decades positioning himself as the champion of the common man against the establishment.

Yet where was this fiercest defender of British justice when it came to the countless knife deaths in Britain’s inner cities that disproportionately affect Black and Asian working-class communities?

These tragedies never merit his “emergency addresses” or calls for national rage. They are dismissed as unfortunate by-products of gang culture — problems for “those communities” to sort out themselves.

But let a case fit the narrative of white victimhood and “woke” policing, and suddenly it’s a national emergency demanding “cold rage.”

Farage doesn’t want better training or resources for our underfunded forces (decimated by years of Tory austerity, let’s not forget). He wants to fuel the myth that the entire system is rigged against “people like us.”

It’s classic divide-and-rule, straight from the populist playbook.

The real two-tier system

The real two-tier system in Britain is economic.

One for the super-rich who dodge taxes and buy influence, and another for the rest of us scraping by with crumbling NHS services, sky-high rents, and stagnant wages.

Nigel Farage’s Reform UK offers no solutions to these — no wealth taxes, no massive housebuilding programme, no renationalisation of utilities. Just endless scapegoating of migrants, Muslims, Sikhs, or whoever is convenient.

Farage’s behaviour isn’t just opportunistic. It is hateful in its deliberate stoking of resentment.

By framing the Henry Nowak murder as evidence of systemic anti-white bias, Farage echoes the very darkest corners of online discourse. He knows exactly what he’s doing. His call for “pure cold rage” wasn’t a slip of the tongue – it was calibrated to resonate with frustrated, misguided young men that are feeling left behind.

Southampton saw the result. Mindless violence on the streets, further trauma for the Nowak family, and a Sikh community put on edge.

At what point does someone in power stand up and call for his arrest?

When are we arresting him?

This is the same Nigel Farage who once complained about feeling “uncomfortable” hearing foreign languages on trains. I feel the same when I hear his voice on every bloody news outlet, every bloody day, to be fair.

Farage has repeatedly platformed ideas that equate multiculturalism with societal collapse. His hatefulness isn’t the frothing variety of a street thug but polished, folksy, and delivered with a wink and a pint.

I don’t think there’s anyone on the left that will deny the existence of cultural tensions or systemic failures in integration. We simply refuse to reduce complex human tragedies to tribal point scoring, because it is an utterly hideous thing to do.

Henry Nowak deserved so much better than becoming a convenient prop in Farage’s endless re-election campaign.

Farage, the man who looks like he was assembled from the spare parts of a 1950s bank manager and a pub bore, demands this pure cold rage as if he’s rallying the troops at Agincourt rather than rage-tweeting from a comfortable studio.

Would anyone be shocked if Farage followed up his hateful rants with a Reform-branded energy drink called ‘“Grievance Fuel”? I wouldn’t.

Nigel Farage isn’t a serious statesman. He is a professional stirrer whose greatest achievement is convincing people that their pint costs more because of Polish plumbers and Romanian roofers rather than greedy energy companies and failed privatisation.

Nigel Farage: a professional demagogue

The Nowak family’s incredibly dignified call for unity stands in stark contrast to Farage’s ghoulish exploitation. They understand what he never will: that turning grief into grievance helps no one except those selling fear.

This professional demagogue, this pint-swilling provocateur who has built a career on stoking the very divisions he claims to decry, offers nothing but recycled resentment wrapped in a Union Jack.

Nigel Farage doesn’t care about Henry Nowak or working-class families like his. He only cares about the clicks, the donations, and the ego boost from another viral rant.

Every tragedy that Farage hijacks is another rung on his ladder of self-promotion, leaving communities more fractured and ordinary people more cynical in his wake.

Farage will no doubt continue his pathetic merry dance, hopping from one manufactured outrage to the next like a desperate stand-up comedian whose only material is fear and loathing, his bank balance and media profile ever fattened by the misery that he amplifies.

Rest assured my friends, history has a special contempt for such shameless charlatans – the false prophets who prey on grief to peddle division, because Henry Nowak’s memory deserves far better than to be defiled by Nigel Farage’s grotesque opportunism.

Featured image via the Canary

By Rachael Swindon