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Fund for climate-exposed Pacific nation invests in fossil fuels

An investigation by Agence France-Presse has uncovered a deeply contradictory revelation: the $200 million trust fund established to support low-lying Pacific island nation Tuvalu, one of the countries most vulnerable to catastrophic climate change, holds investments in coal mining, natural gas exploration, and the world’s highest-emitting crude oil refinery. As Tuvalu braces to host a pre-COP31 climate summit this year to draw global attention to the existential threat rising seas pose to its territory, the disclosure has sparked urgent calls for transparency and a full review of the fund’s portfolio.

A chain of tiny coral atolls situated halfway between Australia and Hawaii, Tuvalu faces some of the most severe climate impacts on Earth: ocean acidification is eroding its coral foundations, storm surges and chronic sea-level rise are increasingly inundating its limited land, and tropical disease risks are growing. With just 26 square kilometers of dry land across the entire archipelago, infrastructure is stretched so thin that the main international airport’s runway doubles as a community sports field. With almost no natural resources and a deeply fragile economy, Tuvalu relies almost entirely on its government-managed trust fund to cover the skyrocketing costs of climate adaptation and disaster response.

Established in 1987 with founding financial support from Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, the Tuvalu Trust Fund has long served as the nation’s largest single financial asset, providing critical ongoing revenue for a state heavily dependent on international aid. Management of the fund was handed to global advisory firm Mercer in 2022, with formal investment guidelines that explicitly require the portfolio to align with Tuvalu’s unique climate vulnerability: the fund’s official objectives state Tuvalu is “particularly susceptible to the adverse impacts of climate change” and mandate that managers minimize exposure to fossil fuel reserves and carbon emissions wherever possible.

AFP’s review of public financial records and government reporting, however, tells a different story. Analyzing holdings data from 14 Mercer-managed funds held by the Tuvalu Trust Fund as of December 2025, investigators found that Tuvalu’s money is tied to some of the world’s largest fossil fuel companies and highest-emitting energy projects.

Among the most high-profile investments is a stake in Indian multinational Reliance Industries, held through Mercer’s emerging markets fund. Reliance owns the Jamnagar petrochemical complex in western India, the world’s largest single-site crude oil refinery. Non-profit climate monitoring group Climate Trace recorded the facility emitted nearly 20 million tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2022, making it the planet’s top-emitting oil refinery.

Further holdings include investments in U.S. utility giants The Southern Company and Duke Energy, ranked the second and third largest greenhouse gas emitters in the United States, according to data from the Political Economy Research Institute. A 2024 report from the U.S.-based Energy and Policy Institute documented that The Southern Company spent $60 million funding groups behind climate disinformation campaigns between 1993 and 2004.

Tuvalu’s portfolio also includes stakes in mining giant Rio Tinto and Australian oil and gas supermajor Woodside Energy, both listed among Australia’s 10 largest greenhouse gas emitters in official government data. The Woodside investment is particularly striking: earlier in 2025, when the Australian government approved a 40-year extension of Woodside’s North West Shelf gas project, Tuvalu’s Climate Change Minister Maina Talia publicly condemned the decision, warning the project’s emissions threatened Tuvalu’s very survival and urging Australia to reject the extension.

Roughly 12% of the entire Tuvalu Trust Fund, equal to around $25 million, is allocated to Mercer’s Australian shares fund, whose single largest holding is BHP Group, the world’s biggest mining firm and one of Australia’s most valuable companies. While BHP has divested most of its thermal coal assets in recent years, it still retains stakes in Australian thermal coal mines that produce the fossil fuel for steel manufacturing.

For Tuvalu’s climate activists, the findings are deeply disheartening. “It was really shocking to see our nation tied up with fossil fuel companies,” Richard Gokrun, a Tuvaluan climate advocate and former weather forecaster, told AFP from the capital Funafuti. “We stand strong for the phase-out of fossil fuels, because we see the impacts to our country every day. The major changes that we are seeing are sea-level rise. We are starting to see new places are getting flooded or inundated.”

The contradiction comes at a pivotal moment for Tuvalu’s global climate advocacy: later this year, the nation will host global leaders for a special pre-COP31 summit ahead of the United Nations’ next major climate conference, an event designed to highlight the devastating toll climate change is already taking on small island developing states. A September 2025 government report also shows Tuvalu is actively courting new donors to contribute additional capital to the trust fund through the UN climate process, with Prime Minister Feleti Teo repeatedly stating that opening new fossil fuel projects is “immoral and unacceptable” and a “death sentence” for his nation.

Climate finance experts say the current portfolio fails utterly to meet the fund’s stated climate commitments. Sebastian Gehricke, a climate finance specialist at the University of Otago, told AFP the investments appear to show “virtually no formal consideration for climate change.” Ivan Diaz-Rainey, a finance professor at Australia’s Griffith University, said AFP’s findings “clearly warrants further investigation” and called for “full disclosure of holdings and a clear account of what actions have been taken to give effect to the fund’s commitments to climate action.”

In response to AFP’s reporting, a spokesperson for the Tuvalu Trust Fund said the fund is currently reviewing its fossil fuel exposure in light of the new findings, reaffirming that “since Tuvalu is particularly susceptible to the adverse impacts of climate change, the TTF continues to seek to minimise the fund’s exposure to fossil fuel reserves and carbon emissions.” When contacted for comment, Mercer declined to address the holdings, stating it “does not provide commentary or analysis on our clients or their investment portfolios.”

27 5 月, 2026
‘Shoebox’ flat reform leaves low-income Hong Kong residents in limbo

For decades, Hong Kong has grappled with a crippling housing crisis: sky-high rents, acute supply shortages, and deep-rooted inequality have pushed hundreds of thousands of low-income residents into cramped, substandard living spaces known as “shoebox flats.” Now, a long-awaited regulatory reform aimed at phasing out these unsafe, tiny units has pushed the city’s most vulnerable households into limbo, as early evictions and a lack of affordable alternatives leave many unsure where they will go next.

The new regulation, which came into force in March, grew out of a directive from Chinese President Xi Jinping for the global financial hub to address its long-running housing woes. Under the new rules, any subdivided unit smaller than 8 square meters (86 square feet) is banned, and mandatory safety and hygiene standards are imposed – requirements including at least one openable window, an enclosed toilet space, and permanent access to a sink. Property owners who register their subdivided units are given until 2030 to complete required renovations or restructure their properties, but many landlords have already moved ahead with eviction notices to clear out tenants ahead of the deadline.

Forty-eight-year-old Lisa Lau, a welfare recipient who receives roughly $930 per month, $330 of which goes to rent, has been living in a 3-square-meter (32-square-foot) subdivided unit in Sham Shui Po, one of Hong Kong’s poorest neighborhoods. Her unit is one of nine separate cubicles split from a single apartment in a 60-year-old walk-up, separated only by thin wooden dividers. With no space for a kitchen, Lau cooks soup and noodles on a rice cooker placed directly on her bed, and shares a single toilet and shower with all other residents of the unit. To keep out rodents and cockroaches, she has taped a foam board across the bottom of her doorway. Months ago, she received an eviction notice, and like many other low-income tenants, she has no clear plan for what comes next.

“I’ll stay here day by day,” Lau told Agence France-Presse. “I don’t know where to go. I’m scratching my head.” Despite the cramped, unsanitary conditions, Lau is reluctant to leave the neighborhood where she has built a small social network, and is waiting to hear if her application for nearby transitional housing will be approved. “As long as the landlord doesn’t come to evict residents, we are so at peace, we are so comfortable,” she said.

Local authorities estimate that more than 220,000 people across Hong Kong’s 7.5 million population live in these shoebox subdivisions, with roughly one-third of all units requiring major structural upgrades to meet the new standards. The Hong Kong Housing Bureau says that more than 100 households have already moved out of Lau’s building, and officials are working to support the remaining 40 households to secure alternative accommodation. In response to inquiries, a government spokesperson noted that authorities have significantly expanded public housing supply, with a target of delivering roughly 196,000 new public units over the next five years, and have sped up application processing for residents waiting for public housing. These measures, the spokesperson said, will reduce overall demand for subdivided units and help keep private market rents stable.

But advocacy groups working with low-income communities say the reform does not go far enough to address the underlying shortage of affordable housing in central, well-connected areas of the city. The Society for Community Organization, a non-profit that supports underprivileged groups, acknowledges that the new rules will help eliminate some of the most dangerous living conditions in the city. But deputy director Sze Lai-shan argues that without more accessible government-supported housing, many poor residents will be left without viable options.

“Don’t expect these people who live in very small flats to move into the new basic housing units. They won’t be able to afford it,” Sze said. “A lot of the poorest people will be very dependent on the government to resettle them.” The organization has documented roughly 300 households already facing forcible eviction – a far higher number than the 35 eviction notices the government says it has received – and Sze expects hundreds more cases to emerge in coming months. While some evicted residents have moved into public or transitional housing, many others have simply relocated to other unregulated, substandard subdivided flats as a temporary stopgap.

The crisis hits even closer to home for low-income workers like 63-year-old Liu Xiaoli, who faces eviction from her current subdivided unit. Divorced, Liu works two part-time jobs as a cook and cleaner to support her daughter and granddaughter on mainland China, and already stretches her income to cover current rent. “If the rent here or in other places goes up, I really can’t afford it,” Liu said. She has been unable to find any alternative accommodation in the area that meets the government’s new size and safety requirements, so she is only delaying the inevitable. “Right now, I’m just delaying as much as I can.”

Notably, the new regulations do not extend to Hong Kong’s even more cramped “coffin homes” – stacked cubicles that resemble oversized bunk beds in dilapidated shared dormitories. Sixty-four-year-old Wan Hon-cheung has lived in a plywood coffin home roughly the size of a single bed for 10 years. He suffers from mobility issues that require a cane, making climbing into his elevated cubicle difficult, and is regularly bitten by bedbugs. He says he hopes the government will eventually extend reforms to improve conditions for people like him, but he has accepted his circumstances. “For us lower classes… this is reality, there’s nothing to complain about.”

27 5 月, 2026
Trump hawking Abraham Accords to a Middle East that’s lost trust

As Washington and Tehran work toward a potential peace agreement to end months of open conflict, former President Donald Trump has thrown a new, contentious requirement onto the negotiating table: any final deal must include commitments from regional Middle Eastern nations to join his Abraham Accords framework, normalizing their formal diplomatic relations with Israel. This unexpected demand comes against a backdrop of shifting strategic fortunes for the U.S. and Israel, which launched their joint military operation ‘Operation Epic Fury’ against Iran back in late February. Today, both nations find themselves in a weaker position militarily, strategically, and economically than they were on the eve of that offensive. The long-standing alliances Washington built with Persian Gulf states are now facing major reevaluation, as those partnerships failed to stop Iran from launching retaliatory attacks on Gulf territory. Meanwhile, despite months of devastating strikes that killed dozens of top Iranian political and military leaders, Iran emerges from the conflict with greater regional influence than it held before. Against this unsteady landscape, both Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu face urgent domestic political pressures: both are seeking a symbolic, electorally appealing win ahead of key upcoming votes — the U.S. midterm elections and Israel’s Knesset vote, both scheduled for later this year. This political calculus is a core driver behind Trump’s push to resuscitate the Abraham Accords, a policy he has repeatedly highlighted as one of the signature foreign policy achievements of his first presidential term. Over the weekend, Trump held a series of phone calls with regional leaders from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan, where he made clear that their inclusion in any final Iran peace deal would be contingent on their full participation in the accords, a requirement that obligates them to formalize full diplomatic ties with Jerusalem. First conceptualized during Trump’s first term, the Abraham Accords were a set of U.S.-brokered diplomatic initiatives overseen by then-White House senior advisor Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law. The framework was framed as a groundbreaking attempt to resolve the decades-long Palestinian-Israeli conflict and broader tensions between Arab states and Israel. The dispute over Palestinian statehood has cast a shadow over Arab politics since the founding of Israel and the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and it remains the most politically salient issue for Arab public opinion today, even as many regional leaders have sought to distance themselves from the conflict in recent years. Over decades of U.S.-backed diplomatic outreach, Israel has gradually eroded collective Arab opposition to its presence in the occupied Palestinian territories, beginning with the 1979 peace treaty with Egypt and the 1994 agreement with Jordan, a process that accelerated with the 2020 launch of the Abraham Accords. In the lead-up to the 2020 accords, the Trump administration took a series of steps widely seen as pro-Israel concessions: it moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, shuttered the Palestine Liberation Organization’s official Washington office, and reversed long-standing U.S. policy by declaring that Israeli settlements in the West Bank were no longer considered illegal under international law. That same year, the administration launched its ‘Peace to Prosperity Plan’, which departed from decades of prior peace efforts by sidelining Palestinian demands for full statehood, instead promising economic development to the region in exchange for abandoning Palestinian statehood claims. The UAE and Bahrain became the first signatories to the Abraham Accords in September 2020, followed by Morocco in December 2020, Sudan in January 2021, and Kazakhstan in November 2025. In exchange for their recognition of Israel, the U.S. offered participating states significant incentives, including economic cooperation deals, advanced military hardware, and diplomatic concessions. For example, the UAE secured access to cutting-edge U.S. military technology, while the U.S. formally recognized Morocco’s claim to sovereignty over the Western Sahara. The long-held top priority for U.S. and Israeli negotiators has been securing Saudi Arabia’s signature on the accords. Many analysts believe this was a core motivating factor behind Hamas’ October 2023 attacks on Israel, as the group sought to derail ongoing normalization talks between Riyadh and Jerusalem. Since Israel’s full-scale retaliatory war in Gaza began, Saudi Arabia has remained a vocal international advocate for Palestinian statehood, and has publicly stated it will not join the Abraham Accords without ironclad international guarantees for Palestinian self-determination. Other major regional powers, including Pakistan, Qatar, and Turkey, also face massive domestic pressure from their populations, who overwhelmingly support Palestinian statehood, making participation in the accords politically toxic. For any of these nations to reverse course, the U.S. would need to offer unprecedented economic and security incentives while applying extreme diplomatic pressure. To date, Pakistan has already formally rejected Trump’s demand, and all indications suggest Saudi Arabia will do the same. As currently structured, the Abraham Accords remain far too politically unpopular across most of the region for leaders to entertain participation, even when tied to the critical goal of ending the Iran war. Despite these headwinds, Trump and Netanyahu show no signs of backing away from their push. For Netanyahu, securing new signatories to the accords would allow him to frame closer regional integration as a political win as his military continues its offensive against Hezbollah and its occupation and destruction of southern Lebanon. Even so, this would be a minor gain compared to his long-stated core goal of eliminating the Iranian threat to Israel, and it is unlikely to ease growing domestic backlash against his government from an increasingly overstretched Israeli military that is facing growing casualty and equipment losses. Expanded regional ties with Israel also will not reverse the rapid shift in regional public opinion that has turned sharply against Jerusalem in recent years, a shift that is even visible among portions of Trump’s own MAGA base in the U.S. For the Trump administration, a win on the Abraham Accords would help offset political damage from the costly Iran conflict, which has left U.S. weapons stockpiles severely depleted, fueled a global energy crisis that has stoked widespread domestic discontent in the U.S., eroded Gulf allies’ confidence in the U.S. security umbrella, and created friction with Netanyahu, who has openly opposed any peace deal with Iran. But as the Middle East undergoes a dramatic strategic reorientation, an increasing number of regional leaders view the Abraham Accords as a U.S.-imposed framework that prioritizes Washington and Jerusalem’s interests over regional needs. Many regional states are now pursuing their own independent initiatives to reshape regional security to their benefit. Most notably, Saudi Arabia has recently proposed a regional non-aggression pact that would include Iran, modeled on the Cold War-era Helsinki Accords that de-escalated tensions between European blocs. Some analysts speculate that Trump’s push to expand the Abraham Accords is partially intended to counter this independent Saudi initiative, while also shoring up political support from pro-Israel factions ahead of the midterms. The widespread silence that has greeted Trump’s latest demand, however, suggests that many regional states are no longer willing to comply with U.S. demands, even when offered major incentives in return.

27 5 月, 2026
UN peacekeeping crisis: Funding, personnel at 25-year low, report warns

A new report from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) has revealed that UN peacekeeping operations have fallen to their lowest resource and deployment level in a quarter-century, driven by delayed and reduced mandatory contributions from major donor nations, with the United States at the center of the trend. The findings, released ahead of the International Day of UN Peacekeepers observed Friday, paint a stark picture of eroding support for multilateral conflict management amid growing geopolitical polarization.

27 5 月, 2026
US carries out new strikes on Iran military site

Escalating military tensions in the Middle East have taken a fresh turn, after the United States military launched targeted strikes against an Iranian military installation near Bandar Abbas, a strategically critical port city that overlooks the Strait of Hormuz, the world’s most vital energy shipping chokepoint.

US Central Command (Centcom), the military body overseeing American operations across the Middle East, confirmed that alongside the ground strike, its forces intercepted and destroyed four one-way attack drones launched by Iran that it said presented an active threat to shipping and military assets in the Strait of Hormuz area. The strike on the Bandar Abbas ground control station was timed to disrupt the launch of a fifth drone, Centcom said. Local Iranian media reported hearing multiple loud explosions east of the city, though no immediate official casualty or damage reports have been released from Tehran.

The new military action comes at a delicate moment: a shaky, unenforced ceasefire has been in place between Washington and Tehran, while slow-moving negotiations drag on to end a three-month war that has crippled commercial shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and sent global energy prices soaring to multi-month highs. Centcom has framed its latest operations as “measured, purely defensive, and intended to preserve the existing ceasefire” rather than escalate conflict.

Speaking during a White House cabinet meeting on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump doubled down on his administration’s negotiating posture, saying Iran was “negotiating on fumes” and insisting that his war strategy would remain unchanged regardless of the upcoming November midterm elections. “Maybe we have to go back and finish it, maybe we don’t,” Trump told reporters, adding that the United States remains “not satisfied” with the progress of talks – a shift from his optimistic tone over the weekend, when he claimed a peace deal with Iran had been “largely negotiated.”

Trump also used the meeting to press Gulf Cooperation Council nations to join the Abraham Accords, the US-brokered framework normalizing diplomatic relations with Israel. Israel joined the US in launching the current conflict against Iran on February 28, and is simultaneously engaged in a separate active war with Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. The president has issued repeated threats to reinitiate large-scale bombing campaigns across Iran if Tehran refuses to accept US negotiating terms.

This is the second round of US strikes on Iranian soil in a single week. Earlier this week, Centcom confirmed a prior set of what it called “self-defense” strikes targeting southern Iran on Monday, which hit Iranian missile facilities and small boats that American officials said were preparing to lay naval mines in the region. Those strikes, Centcom said, were carried out to protect American troop assets from imminent threats posed by Iranian military forces.

Tehran has rejected Washington’s framing of the strikes, condemning both rounds as “a grave violation of the ceasefire” and vowing that it “will not leave any act of hostility unanswered.” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the country’s elite ideological military force, said Tuesday it had shot down an American drone and opened fire on a US fighter jet and a second unmanned aerial vehicle that penetrated Iranian sovereign airspace, though the statement did not specify a date for the alleged incident. The IRGC reaffirmed that Iran retains the “legitimate and definite” right to launch reciprocal retaliation for any US violation of the existing ceasefire agreement.

27 5 月, 2026
Bolivian president warns country at ‘breaking point’ after month of protests

After four consecutive weeks of mass anti-government demonstrations that have left seven people dead and hundreds detained across Bolivia, President Rodrigo Paz has issued a stark warning that the Andean nation is now on the brink of systemic collapse. What began as a targeted protest against a single policy proposal has ballooned into a nationwide movement, with union organizers and indigenous communities at its forefront, establishing widespread roadblocks that have choked supply chains, created crippling shortages of essential goods, and brought large swathes of the country’s daily activity to a standstill.

Protesters have coalesced around a set of core demands: the restoration of cut fuel subsidies, a full reversal of the administration’s austerity policies, and the immediate resignation of President Paz, a US-backed center-right leader who took office just six months ago amid a severe pre-existing economic crisis. In a defiant response, Paz has stated that any group seeking to destabilize the country will face both his administration and the full weight of Bolivia’s constitutional framework.

The unrest traces its origins back to late April, when Paz first proposed a new land reform bill that sparked immediate pushback from small-scale farmers across the country. Many smallholders feared the legislation would remove protections for small plots and clear the way for large agribusiness landowners to acquire their properties en masse. While the Paz administration emphasized that any future land transfers would be strictly voluntary, leading small-farmer advocacy groups rejected this reassurance and moved to block the country’s key highways, kicking off the wave of protests. Though Paz ultimately withdrew the controversial land reform proposal to de-escalate tensions, the concession only opened the door for broader participation, with other discontented sectors of Bolivian society joining the movement to air long-simmering grievances against the administration.

A second major flashpoint came from the government’s decision to eliminate decades-old national fuel subsidies amid ongoing inflation and supply shortfalls. The policy change immediately pushed up energy prices and overall living costs, enraging broad segments of the public and amplifying calls for change. Protesters’ roadblocks have in turn worsened fuel shortages across the country, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of scarcity and anger that has proven difficult to break.

Paz has repeatedly extended invitations for dialogue with opposition groups, framing national stability and order as Bolivia’s most urgent priorities, but has refused to rule out the use of what he terms “constitutional instruments” to clear the blockades and restore control. Just this week, Bolivia’s Congress approved legislation expanding the president’s authority to declare a national state of emergency and deploy military forces to reassert government control. Supporters of the bill argue that violent extremist groups cannot be allowed to override the mandate of a democratically elected government, while opponents warn the move will only deepen social divisions and push tensions into open conflict.

Prior to the congressional vote, Paz had already attempted a series of conciliatory measures to quell the unrest, including a full cabinet reshuffle, voluntary salary cuts for himself and all senior ministers, and the announcement of a new negotiation council to engage with marginalized community groups. To date, none of these overtures have succeeded in defusing the widespread public anger directed at his administration. Economists estimate the ongoing protests and roadblocks are costing the Bolivian economy more than $50 million in losses every single day, adding even more pressure to a country already grappling with deep economic instability.

27 5 月, 2026
Mateta fires Palace to Conference League glory in Glasner farewell

In a historic night of European football at Leipzig’s Red Bull Arena, Crystal Palace claimed the first major European trophy in the club’s 120-year history with a tense 1-0 victory over Spain’s Rayo Vallecano in the 2025 UEFA Conference League final, powered by Jean-Philippe Mateta’s second-half match-winner.

The opening 45 minutes delivered a tightly contested, cagey affair, with both sides trading half-chances but failing to break the deadlock. Rayo Vallecano, who entered the final on a nine-match unbeaten run and entered the tie as underdog overachievers, carved out the first clear opportunity of the game in the 25th minute, when midfielder Alemao saw his low driven effort flash just wide of the Palace goalpost. Moments before halftime, the London side squandered a golden opening: Adam Wharton, who passed a late fitness test to start just hours after battling an ankle injury, floated a pinpoint cross over the Rayo defense that found Tyrick Mitchell unmarked at the back post, only for the full-back’s header to drift inches wide of the target.

The game sprang to life six minutes into the second half, as Crystal Palace found their rhythm and converted the breakthrough. Wharton unleashed a powerful strike from the edge of the 18-yard box that Rayo goalkeeper Augusto Batalla got both hands to, but could only parry the rebound straight into the path of Mateta. The French striker reacted instantly, tapping the loose ball into the empty net to put his side ahead, and send departing manager Oliver Glasner into his final match in charge with the lead.

Palace came tantalizingly close to doubling their advantage shortly after, when Yeremy Pino’s curling free-kick crashed against both the crossbar and the post before ricocheting off a Rayo defender and hitting the woodwork a third time. Rayo somehow cleared the ball off the line to keep the scoreline at 1-0, and the Spanish side rarely threatened an equalizer after that, with Palace’s defense holding firm to see out the win.

The result caps an extraordinary two-and-a-half year reign for Glasner, who departs the club having secured three trophies in two seasons — the most successful run in Crystal Palace’s history. After leading the club to a breakthrough FA Cup win last year and a Community Shield victory at the start of this campaign, the Austrian tactician adds the Conference League title to his collection, having already lifted the Europa League with Eintracht Frankfurt back in 2022, cementing his reputation as a knockout competition specialist.

The triumph is all the more remarkable given the off-season and mid-season upheaval Palace navigated this term. The club sold star players Eberechi Eze and Marc Guehi, the latter to Manchester City in January, and was originally set to compete in the Europa League this season before being demoted to the Conference League due to UEFA multi-club ownership regulations. Even Mateta, the hero of the final, came close to leaving the club in the winter transfer window, collapsing a move to AC Milan only after a failed medical.

Speaking after the final whistle, midfielder Adam Wharton, whose late fitness boost proved pivotal for Palace, hailed Glasner’s transformative impact on the club. “The difference he has made in two and a half years is incredible,” Wharton told TNT Sports. “Three trophies, the first European trophy in the history of the club. He’s got to be one of the best managers Palace have ever had, and he’s completely changed how we approach cup competitions — now we go into every one expecting to win.”

Mateta, who put in a tireless shift up front for Palace, echoed his teammate’s excitement: “I feel fantastic. First time we’ve competed in Europe, and we did it! I’m tired, I gave everything out there, the whole team gave everything, and that’s why we’re champions tonight. Right now I just want to celebrate with the lads.”

Palace’s win makes them the third consecutive London-based Premier League club to lift the Conference League trophy, following West Ham United in 2024 and Chelsea in 2025, a run that underscores the unmatched financial depth of the English top flight across European competition. With Aston Villa already crowned Europa League champions this term, the Premier League is on the cusp of a historic clean sweep of all three major UEFA club trophies, with league champions Arsenal set to face Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League final this Saturday.

27 5 月, 2026
‘Trump’ buffalo spared sacrifice, sent to Bangladesh zoo

In a last-minute twist that has captured public attention across Bangladesh, a rare albino bull buffalo, widely nicknamed ‘Donald Trump’ for its striking golden blond coat that resembles the former U.S. president’s signature hairstyle, has been saved from ritual slaughter ahead of Eid al-Adha and will now live out its life under professional care at the South Asian nation’s national zoo.

Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority country home to 170 million people, prepares to mark Eid al-Adha — the global Islamic Festival of Sacrifice — on Thursday. For generations, the holiday has centered on the ritual slaughter of livestock, with meat distributed to family, friends, and low-income communities. This year, an estimated 12 million animals including goats, sheep, cattle and buffalo are expected to be sacrificed across the country, giving many disadvantaged households a rare opportunity to enjoy meat during the festive celebrations.

The 700-kilogram (1,500-pound) rare albino bull was originally purchased by a local trader ahead of the holiday, slated for slaughter like thousands of other livestock across the nation. But weeks before the event, the animal went viral on local social media platforms, drawing widespread attention for its unique pale complexion and distinct light-colored mane. Crowds of curious onlookers, social media content creators, and local families flocked to the small farm in Keraniganj, on the outskirts of Dhaka, just to catch a glimpse of the rare animal and snap photos with the unexpected viral star.

The buffalo’s original owner, 38-year-old Zia Uddin Mridha, told reporters that his brother first came up with the nickname ‘Trump’ because of the bull’s unusual flowing light hair. Mridha added that in the weeks leading up to Eid, his property saw a nonstop stream of visitors eager to see the rare buffalo.

Even with the growing attention, Mridha completed the sale of the bull ahead of the holiday, as is common for livestock owners ahead of Eid al-Adha. But just hours before the animal was set to be slaughtered, Bangladeshi authorities intervened to spare its life. Local police were dispatched to seize the buffalo from the new owner, following an official order from the national government to protect the rare animal.

‘Livestock department officials requested that we take possession of the buffalo because it is a rare genetic specimen,’ Mohammad Ruhul Quddus, officer-in-charge of Keraniganj Police Station, confirmed to Agence France-Presse. ‘They noted the albino buffalo is still young, and can be cared for and bred for research and conservation over the next several years.’

After being taken into government custody, the buffalo was transferred to Bangladesh’s National Zoo in Dhaka, where zoo officials have already prepared dedicated accommodations for the new resident. Atiqur Rahman, curator of the National Zoo, told reporters on Wednesday that the facility has set aside a private shed for the albino buffalo, assigned a full-time dedicated caregiver, and implemented a mandatory two-week quarantine to ensure the animal is healthy before it is displayed to the public.

‘We will make sure he gets the best possible care here,’ Rahman said. Since the news of the buffalo’s rescue broke, local media reports indicate that zoo attendance has already seen a small boost, with many locals saying they plan to visit to see the viral animal once it goes on public display.

27 5 月, 2026
Ex-US government official arrested after $40 million in gold bars found in home

A high-stakes corruption probe has ended in the arrest of a recently retired top Central Intelligence Agency official, who authorities say hoarded more than $40 million in stolen government gold bars at his private residence in Virginia. Federal Bureau of Investigation agents confirmed they seized 303 one-kilogram gold bars, roughly $2 million in untraceable U.S. cash, and 35 high-end luxury watches—most manufactured by Rolex—during a May 18 search warrant execution at former official David Rush’s home.

Court filings lay out the timeline of the alleged scheme: Between November 2025 and March 2026, Rush repeatedly submitted formal requests to the U.S. government, claiming the millions of dollars in gold and large amounts of foreign currency were needed to cover confidential work-related expenditures. Once the assets were released to him, internal CIA auditors were unable to track any of the gold or significant portions of the currency, and found no documentation showing how Rush had used the assets for official agency business.

According to reporting from *The New York Times*, Rush held a senior leadership role at the CIA until very recently, and maintained top-secret security clearance with full access to the agency’s most sensitive classified information. Beyond the theft of public funds, the former executive faces additional charges: court documents accuse Rush of falsifying his educational background and military service record during his initial government job application, and of improperly collecting thousands of dollars in pay while fraudulently claiming authorized military leave.

The investigation traces back to an internal ethics probe by the CIA itself. In an official written statement, the FBI confirmed that CIA Director John Ratcliffe personally referred the case to federal law enforcement after the agency’s internal review flagged potential criminal violations. FBI agents moved to arrest Rush on May 19, and he remains in federal detention ahead of his first court hearing scheduled for this week. His legal counsel has declined to provide any statement on the charges to reporters. As of press time, court documents have not offered clarification on what Rush intended to do with the cached assets, and the BBC has confirmed it has not yet received a response to its request for additional comment from the CIA.

27 5 月, 2026
AP Exclusive: Trump administration tells prosecutors to stand down on Venezuela leader, sources say

In a development that highlights the Trump administration’s shifting diplomatic approach toward oil-rich Venezuela, multiple current and former U.S. law enforcement officials have confirmed that the White House has quietly ordered federal prosecutors based in Miami to halt active criminal investigations into Venezuelan acting President Delcy Rodríguez, a figure who has been on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s watchlist for nearly a decade. This decision marks the most recent step in a rapid thaw of relations between Washington and Caracas following the ouster of former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

It remains uncertain whether prosecutors had gathered enough evidence to implicate Rodríguez in any criminal activity, or whether law enforcement teams were on the verge of issuing a formal indictment against her. A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Justice claimed in an emailed statement that “there was never an investigation into her to shut down.” However, DEA records obtained earlier this year by The Associated Press confirm that Rodríguez has repeatedly appeared on federal law enforcement’s radar since at least 2018. Unlike a number of other high-ranking Venezuelan government officials, she has never been formally criminally charged in U.S. courts to date.

Multiple officials familiar with the internal directive said the order to suspend investigations into Rodríguez was intentionally crafted to avoid disrupting the administration’s broader efforts to stabilize Venezuela in the wake of Maduro’s capture. It is still unclear whether the White House, which directed all inquiries about the decision to the Department of Justice, directly intervened to order the probes paused. “Everybody has been told to stand down,” one unnamed former senior law enforcement official told the AP. All sources who shared details of the internal deliberations spoke on condition of anonymity, as they were not cleared to publicly discuss confidential law enforcement and policy matters. Requests for comment from Rodríguez, her U.S. legal representative, and Venezuela’s Communications Ministry went unanswered.

By removing the lingering threat of a potential indictment, even on a temporary basis, the U.S. has significantly reduced diplomatic and legal pressure on Rodríguez as the Trump administration works with the acting president to rebuild stability in Venezuela and open the country’s energy sector to American investment. Shortly after U.S. military forces transported Maduro and his wife to New York to face federal narcotics charges — both have pleaded not guilty — former President Donald Trump publicly praised Rodríguez as a “terrific person.”

In recent months, the U.S. has lifted all sweeping sanctions that were imposed on Rodríguez during Trump’s first term, formally recognized her as Venezuela’s legitimate head of state, and cleared the way for her administration to re-establish working relationships with Western financial institutions. This shift has also cleared a path for U.S. energy firms to pursue access to Venezuela’s proven petroleum reserves, the largest on the planet. As bilateral ties deepen, some foreign policy analysts have pointed to the U.S.’s Venezuela strategy — which combines oil blockades, criminal indictments of incumbent leaders, and implicit military threats to force internal regime change — as a potential blueprint for pressure campaigns against other long-standing U.S. adversaries, including Iran and Cuba.

During Trump’s first term, Rodríguez and her brother Jorge Rodríguez, who currently leads Venezuela’s National Assembly, were sanctioned for their role in what the U.S. described as undermining Venezuelan democracy and entrenching Maduro’s authoritarian government. Despite that history, Trump publicly praised Rodríguez’s leadership in a social media post from early March, writing: “The Oil is beginning to flow, and the professionalism and dedication between both Countries is a very nice thing to see!” In recent weeks, Rodríguez has welcomed multiple high-profile delegations of American energy executives to Caracas, including groups led by U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.

Notably missing from the growing diplomatic goodwill between the two governments is any public commitment from Rodríguez to hold long-promised democratic elections. Last month, Rodríguez exceeded a 90-day temporary mandate to hold office that was set by Venezuela’s high court after Maduro’s ouster. When a visiting U.S. journalist asked her earlier this month for a specific timeline to schedule elections, she replied only: “Some time.”

Top Democratic lawmakers have openly criticized the administration’s softening approach to Rodríguez. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, has demanded the administration publicly explain its favorable treatment of Rodríguez, calling her a “central figure in Nicolás Maduro’s repressive regime.” Shaheen, joined by Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, sent a formal letter last week to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, noting that “Sanctions have been lifted on Ms. Rodríguez without any indication that she has taken concrete and meaningful actions to restore democratic order.”

Rick de la Torre, former CIA chief of station in Caracas and current CEO of the geopolitical advisory firm Tower Strategy, said the decision to shield Rodríguez from prosecution aligns cleanly with the Trump administration’s core foreign policy priorities in Venezuela. “She’s a lifelong Marxist and was a senior leader of one of the world’s most corrupt regimes but the U.S. is providing her with breathing space and carrots to lay the foundation for democracy and U.S. investment,” de la Torre explained. He added, “There’s a shelf life to her utility, however. At some point she will face justice.”

As the AP previously reported, the DEA has built a detailed intelligence file on Rodríguez stretching back to at least 2018, with allegations against her ranging from large-scale drug trafficking to illegal gold smuggling. According to DEA records, a confidential informant told agency investigators in early 2021 that Rodríguez used hotels on the Caribbean Venezuelan resort of Isla Margarita as a front to launder proceeds from illegal activity. Her name has been connected to roughly a dozen separate DEA investigations spread across field offices from Paraguay, Ecuador, Phoenix and New York, with several of those probes still active earlier this year. Records also link Rodríguez to Alex Saab, a Colombian-Venezuelan businessman alleged to be Maduro’s chief bag man, who was first arrested by U.S. authorities in 2020 on money laundering charges. Just this month, Rodríguez ordered Saab deported as part of a broader purge of insider business figures accused of enriching themselves through corrupt deals with the former Maduro regime.

It remains unclear which specific active investigations in Miami included Rodríguez’s name, though two former officials confirmed she has also been discussed in meetings among investigators in Tampa, who were tasked last year by former Attorney General Pam Bondi with probing financial corruption linked to Venezuela. At the time the investigations began, Rodríguez was serving as Maduro’s vice president. Under long-standing Department of Justice policy, the attorney general must personally approve any criminal charges against a sitting foreign head of state, who generally enjoy broad immunity from prosecution under both international law and U.S. domestic law.

The pause in investigations into Rodríguez is not an isolated case: the Trump administration has also hit the brakes on ongoing federal probes into another high-profile Latin American leftist leader, Colombian President Gustavo Petro. The DEA had previously designated Petro a “priority target” over alleged ties to drug trafficking organizations, with federal prosecutors conducting a months-long investigation into the claims. The New York Times reported in March that U.S. officials have privately assured the Colombian government that Petro will not face criminal charges in connection with the probe.

Duncan Levin, a former federal prosecutor who previously served in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, said that ordering law enforcement to stand down from a legitimate investigation for political or diplomatic reasons would be “deeply troubling.” “The White House cannot use criminal enforcement as a diplomatic light switch,” Levin told the AP. “DOJ decisions are supposed to be based on law, evidence, policy and public safety — not on whether a foreign official is useful to the administration at a given moment.”

This report was contributed to by Durkin Richer from Washington, Mustian from New York, and Regina Garcia Cano from Mexico City, as part of an ongoing investigation tied to the FRONTLINE documentary *Crisis in Venezuela*, which premiered on PBS on February 10, 2026.

27 5 月, 2026