General World News

[StabbytheRabbit]

Things that make you go hmmm…

BBC news.

Netherlands moves billions in gold to London in ‘crisis preparedness’ move

1 day ago
Henry Moore

Reuters

While much of the gold was sold in New York and then repurchased in London, more than 27 tonnes was physically moved to the UK

The Dutch central bank (DNB) has confirmed that billions of dollars in gold has been taken out of north America and relocated to London, citing “increasing geopolitical unrest”.

DNB said on Wednesday that 86 tonnes of gold had been removed from the US and Canada in a complex operation that took several months. It is now being held by the Bank of England, where the precious metal can be traded more easily “in a crisis situation”.

Bank president Olaf Sleijpen said the move was “necessary to strengthen our resilience and preparedness”.

The decision comes amid an ongoing trade dispute between the US and Canada, with both countries announcing fresh tariffs on each other after failed trade talks.

DNB said the transfer, which took place between March and August, saw 27 tonnes of gold bars moved from New York and Ottawa to Zeist in the Netherlands.

A similar quantity and quality was then moved to London, with no need to melt the bars down.

Exactly how so much gold was transported across the Atlantic Ocean has not been revealed.

The rest of the transfer was carried out by selling the gold in New York, and repurchasing it in London, the bank said.

“Combining the processes of buying and selling and physical transport has allowed DNB to spread the risks associated with such a complex physical gold relocation,” the statement said.

DNB did not confirm what it was referring to with its mention of “geopolitical unrest” but the US economy remains in an uncertain position due to the country’s ongoing war with Iran, which has impacted global trade.

Canada, meanwhile, has been hit hard by US tariffs on its key sectors of steel, aluminium, lumber and automobiles as well as an additional 50% levy on about C$28bn ($20bn; £15bn) of Canadian goods announced in August.

DNB said that gold that is held with the Bank of England “is regarded as the world’s most easily tradable gold,” and therefore more readily available in a crisis than if it was still in the US or Canada.

Prior to Wednesday’s announcement, the DNB held 31.3% of its gold in New York and 19.7% in Ottawa. This has now fallen to 18.5% in both countries.

The total Dutch gold stock was 612.4 tonnes at the end of 2025 and has been valued at €72.2 billion, DNB said.

The bank’s share of gold in London has increased from 18.1% to 32.1% after the move, while it still holds 30.8% of its reserves in the Netherlands.

[Loflyer]

Yeah i hmmm’d quite a lot yesterday. On the face of it makes sense, why would you have any faith in that place right now? It’s definitely in the ‘not well’ area of the Boding Scale

[barry_day]

US vice-president says Iran conflict not a war

[Loflyer]

Just a stepping stone on the path to the End Times, right JD?

[Shahid_Afridi]

Scenes from the floods in Nepal and Tibet are catastrophic. But another disaster is unfolding underground and out of sight.

More than 900 workers linked to hydropower projects in flood-ravaged districts near the two countries’ border are feared trapped after a cataclysmic deluge of ice, rock, mud and water swept through the region last Wednesday.

Under floodlights and a backdrop of collapsed hillsides, rescuers are excavating around the clock in a bid to reach those trapped underground.

Their condition remains unknown.

But Melbourne-based geologist and engineer Arnold Dix, who was invited by Nepalese authorities to provide advice on the rescues, says any survivors could live for as long as 17 days.

After the flood, another crisis is unfolding underground in Nepal

[jackman7]

Just a Special Military Operation

[frosty]

Can’t lose if you’re not at war eh…..

[HP1]

Time to rename it to the department of conflict.

[Klawdy]

Department of dipshits.

[percebushby]

##

Jewish Voice for Peace

The Israeli military destroyed an entire Palestinian village yesterday. Al-Taban — in Masafer Yatta, the occupied West Bank — was home to 12 families making up 70 people, including 23 children. The Palestinians who lived there made their living farming and raising livestock. Al-Taban is Palestinian land.

The families were not warned about the demolition and were forbidden from removing their possessions. According to Activestills Collective, “Israeli forces leveled the entire village, destroying 12 homes, four residential caves, nine livestock pens, 15 water tanks and related systems, 12 toilet structures, seven storage structures, four water cisterns, and three pools used to cultivate Azolla — a fern used to feed farmed animals.”

The same night, settlers and soldiers descended upon al-Mughayyir, also in the occupied West Bank. Under military and police protection, settlers trespassed onto Palestinian land while the Israeli military set up snipers on rooftops, protecting the settlers as they stole hundreds of sheep. A sniper killed Khalil Abu Alia, 16 and a settler killed Omar al-Nassan, 19 as they tried to stop Israeli settlers from stealing sheep.

Since it began its genocide in Gaza, the Israeli military has expelled 65 Palestinian communities in the occupied West Bank and is in the process of ethnically cleansing 18 more. It has killed at least 81 Palestinians across the West Bank in 2026.

This is what Zionism — the ideology the Israeli state was founded on, which calls for a Jewish-only state, with the maximum amount of land and a minimum of Palestinians — looks like. Israeli settlers and the military work together to uphold Zionism whenever they kill Palestinians and drive families from their lands.

We unite against state-sponsored killing and ethnic cleansing. We demand an end to the US’s continued funding of these atrocities. Until Palestinians can live with dignity from al-Taban and al-Mughayyir to Khan Younis and Gaza City, we will resist.

[swoodley]

That’s disgraceful…who would have thought that the Israelis would become what they fled from?

Genocidal maniacs.

[Ants]

I think history is full of the abused turning into abusers.

[Loflyer]

Sure, but it’s also full of examples of what right wing ideology inevitably becomes when it’s free to unfurl its leathery wings and given the skies

[tassiehammer]

There’s a Louis Theroux episode covering some events like this. A real eye opener.

[Benny40]

@barry_day

US Vice-President JD Vance says Iran conflict not a war - ABC News

Well he’s not wrong. The last time the US officially declared war was WW2. Every other “war” has been a legal sidestep of their legislation.

[StabbytheRabbit]

“ROUND THE OUTSIDE”.
(note: The phrase “round the outside” is a square dancing call that instructions dancers to circle the perimeter of the square, but I reckon it now has a new meaning as ships may need to transit Chile or Argentina and Cape Horn to go round the outside now.)

Panama Canal may cut ship traffic further as El Niño strengthens

Canal authorities may further reduce ship traffic if a strengthening El Niño worsens the country’s drought.

Share Panama Canal may cut ship traffic further as El Niño strengthens on social media

The Panama Canal, connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, is pivotal to global trade and maritime logistics [Alex Visbal/Getty]

By Al Jazeera Staff, AFP and Reuters

Published On 8 Sep 20268 Sep 2026

Panama could impose further cuts on the number of ships sailing through the Panama Canal, an official said, as a strengthening El Niño raises fears of water shortages at one of the world’s busiest maritime trade routes.

The warning from the new administrator of the Panama Canal Authority, Ilya Espino de Marotta, on Monday came after the government declared a nationwide state of emergency over El Niño on August 26.

The canal, which handles 5 percent of global maritime trade, has already reduced the maximum number of ships allowed through daily, from 36 last month to 34 starting on September 4.

A further reduction will start on September 15, when the limit will be 32 ships.

Espino, who took over as administrator of the Panama Canal Authority on Monday, told the AFP news agency that restrictions could be tightened again if the drought does not subside.

She said she was not ruling out the possibility that in February or March, the limits “could be reduced to 29 or something similar”.

Ships wait in the ocean near Panama, Central America [File: Priscila Zambotto/Getty]

She said rainfall over the coming months would determine whether further restrictions are needed.

“Depending on how much rain falls in September, October and November – the three critical months – that will determine whether I need to lower any slots further in January, February or March,” she told the Reuters news agency last week.

The restrictions are not expected to become as severe as during the 2023-24 drought, when daily crossings fell as low as 22.

The Panama Canal depends on freshwater to operate the locks that raise and lower vessels travelling between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Water comes mainly from the artificial Gatun and Alajuela lakes, which are replenished by rainfall.

An average transit consumes about 200 million litres (about 53 million gallons) of water.

That dependence makes the 80km (50-mile) canal particularly vulnerable to prolonged dry weather, and levels in both reservoirs have already dropped with the onset of El Niño.

This year’s El Niño – which affects weather patterns and pushes up global temperatures – is expected to be the strongest since record-keeping began four decades ago.

The Panama Canal Miraflores Locks system has huge water chambers and lock gates [Nico De Pasquale Photography/Getty]

Apart from reducing the number of vessels transiting the Panama Canal, authorities have also reduced their maximum draft, from 15.2 metres to 14.6 metres (50 feet to 48 feet).

Draft ⁠is the depth of water a ship needs to float safely. A lower draft limit means vessels may have to carry less cargo to pass through the canal.

The disruption comes at a sensitive time for global shipping.

The Panama Canal’s importance has increased as traffic through the Strait of Hormuz in the Middle East has fallen sharply amid the US-Israel war on Iran. Some vessels have recently paid more than $1m at auction to secure transit ‌slots through the canal.

Panama is betting on a new reservoir at Rio Indio – a river in the country’s centre – as a longer-term solution.

The project is intended to provide water for canal operations and more than half of Panama’s population for the next 50 years, but it is expected to take five to six years to complete.

Espino, the new administrator, told Reuters that the reservoir would “ensure that the canal never again has to resort to lowering the draft or reducing the number of transits”.

[Chris_1993]

@StabbytheRabbit

“ROUND THE OUTSIDE”

It’s also where Eminem described two trailer park girls to go.

[Soulnet]

And F1 commentary as someone makes a brilliant move.

[Henry_s_Angry_Pills]

They’ll need to find a closer canal, because far canal seems stuffed.

[tassiehammer]

Donald needs to take it over and rename it Trump fark anall