Chief-Exec.com

Donald Trump’s Board of Peace fund is empty
The official fund for Donald Trump’s Board of Peace is empty and the organisation is stuck in a legal and political limbo that has held up projects to rebuild Gaza. The US president described the board, which solicited $1bn “lifetime membership” fees from world leaders, as one of the “most consequential” international organisations created. Member states pledged $7bn for the board’s Gaza “relief package”, and Trump promised a further $10bn in US funding. But four months after its establishment, the board’s financial fund set up by the World Bank has received no money from donors, according to four people familiar with the matter. “Zero dollars have been deposited,” one said. Rather than use the fund administered by the World Bank, and endorsed by the UN, the board has received donations directly via its JPMorgan account, the board’s spokesperson and another person familiar with the arrangements said. While the World Bank must report on the financial position of the Gaza fund to contributors and board members, no independent transparency requirements are in place for the JPMorgan account. Financial Times, May 27

US-Israel war on Iran driving historic levels of global hunger, UN says
The continuing US-Israel war on Iran has compounded other global disasters to drive record numbers of people into hunger at a time when funding to combat famine has fallen dramatically, the head of the UN World Food Programme has said. The WFP says 363 million people around the world are now at risk of acute hunger, 45 million of them as a result of conflict in the Middle East and the consequent oil price spike. The surge in need comes against the backdrop of a cut in funding last year by a third, with the US, the largest donor by far, cutting its contribution by more than half. Carl Skau, the WFP’s acting executive director … said the huge gap between needs and funding had forced the organisation to cut programmes supporting populations in food emergencies so as to focus on those already facing catastrophic famine. “We take from the hungry to give to the starving. That’s the reality,” Skau told the Guardian. “Much of this is driven by conflict. Last year, we had two famines declared. That hasn’t happened in decades, so these are historic levels of hunger.” The two famines declared in 2025 were in Gaza and Sudan. The situation in Gaza has improved slightly since the October ceasefire, while Sudan continues to be the world’s worst humanitarian crisis, with pockets of famine persisting in parts of Darfur and South Kordofan. The Guardian, May 27

Trump risks triggering financial crisis with Iran war, warns ECB
US President Donald Trump risks triggering a financial crisis, the European Central Bank has warned, citing his war with Iran, repeatedly changing trade policies and retreat from international co-operation. The risk of a geopolitical shock triggering a financial crisis is intensifying because of increasingly “stretched” asset valuations and doubts about the sustainability of high government debt levels, the ECB said in its twice-yearly financial stability review. The Middle East conflict, which began when the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on February 28, is putting the resilience of the financial system “to the test”, ECB vice-president Luis de Guindos wrote in his final review before stepping down at the end of May. “While the full impact of the war is unclear at this stage, the repercussions for the global economy and financial stability are becoming graver the longer it lasts,” he said. Iran said it would respond to US air strikes on Monday as mediators continued talks to extend a ceasefire agreement. Financial Times, May 27

Deforestation in Brazilian Amazon falls to lowest level since 2019
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell last year to its lowest level since 2019, according to a report published on Wednesday that will be seen as good news for leftist President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. South America's biggest country lost 985,000 hectares (2.4 million acres) of native vegetation last year, down 20.6 percent from 2024, the MapBiomas monitoring network announced. The figure is the lowest since the network began keeping records in 2019. It notably does not include forest lost to fires, but after a record fire season in 2024, the country was relatively spared major infernos last year. France 24, May 27

Amazon’s UK tax bill rises to top £1.3bn
Amazon has said it paid more than £1.3 billion in UK taxes last year, as higher labour and business costs helped push up the total bill by at least a fifth. The online marketplace is one of the UK’s biggest employers, despite making a series of layoffs globally in recent months. The company said its taxes for 2025 increased by at least 20 per cent from more than £1 billion in 2024. The direct taxes the company must pay include corporation tax, business rates, employer national insurance and digital services tax. It is understood that a national insurance rate increase, which came into effect in April last year, helped increase the total bill, while it also paid more in corporation tax and business rates last year. The company did not pay any corporation tax in 2021 and 2022 because of the “super-deduction” tax break introduced by former Conservative chancellor Rishi Sunak, which was later reformed. The total amount of tax collected, such as VAT, which customers pay on products they buy, or the national insurance contributions of its staff, came to about £5 billion, up from £4.7 billion the previous year. The online giant employs about 75,000 people in the UK in roles such as warehouse workers, delivery drivers, and corporate and technology positions, making it one of the 10 biggest private employers. The Times, May 27

Nasa unveils next steps to build permanent Moon base
Nasa has released details of robotic landers, hopping drones and vehicles it aims to send to the Moon as part of US plans to build a lunar base. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's space company Blue Origin is one of several companies picked to build the machines. The US wants to land Americans back on the Moon before President Donald Trump leaves office in 2029. But Nasa is competing with China to return humans to the lunar surface, meaning the space agency is under pressure to appear to be winning the new space race. China is forging ahead with its own plans to land humans on the Moon by 2030. On Monday it launched its Shenzhou-23 spacecraft, sending a crew of astronauts to the country's Tiangong space station. In March, Nasa announced a $20 billion programme to construct a permanent base powered by nuclear and solar energy at the Moon's south pole by 2032. Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman said on Tuesday that the announcements mean the US will "never give up the Moon again". A base would allow the US to carry out scientific experiments, potentially mine valuable resources, and travel to Mars more easily. BBC news, May 26

US will no longer have safe haven in region, warns Iran's Khamenei after strikes
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei said on Tuesday that regional countries would "no longer serve as shields for American bases", in a written statement carried by state television. The remarks came after US forces struck missile sites and vessels allegedly laying naval mines in southern Iran, even as Tehran ​and Washington ​continue exchanges aimed at ending the war. France 24, May 26

Netanyahu says Israel will intensify strikes against Hezbollah
The Israeli military says it has begun a wave of strikes across Lebanon following an announcement by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his country will intensify its attacks on Hezbollah. The Israel Defense Forces said it had launched strikes against Hezbollah in the Bekaa Valley in the east of Lebanon and other parts of the country. Hezbollah, a Shia Muslim armed group in Lebanon that is backed by Iran, said it had retaliated by carrying out 22 drone and rocket attacks and that its targets included Israeli soldiers, tanks, barracks and buildings. Earlier this month, Lebanon and Israel agreed to extend a 45-day ceasefire, though some fighting has continued. In a video statement on Monday evening, Netanyahu said Israel was "at war with Hezbollah" and the military has been told to "deal them a crushing blow". Netanyahu said Israel's military offensive against Hezbollah had "eliminated … over 600 terrorists". He continued: "But what this requires of us now is to increase the strikes, to increase the intensity." BBC news, May 26

Real wages start to shrink in developed countries
Workers’ pay packets are shrinking in relation to prices in a growing number of rich countries as the energy shock unleashed by the Iran war chokes off a nascent recovery in real wages. The squeeze on consumers in the UK, US and elsewhere comes as they face sharp increases in prices for petrol and airfares triggered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. US inflation jumped to an annual 3.8 per cent in April, while average hourly earnings increased 3.6 per cent over the year, meaning prices were rising faster than earnings for the first time in two years. “The war is roiling supply chains and will push prices higher [than] before, even if the strait were to open tomorrow,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG US. UK workers face a similar squeeze. Average earnings grew at an annual pace of just 0.1 per cent in real terms in the three months to March, excluding bonuses, and are set to fall outright as inflation rises over the coming months against a backdrop of very weak hiring. Financial Times, May 26

Live news: UK bond yields lowest since mid-April
British government borrowing costs are falling sharply this morning on hopes that US and Iranian negotiators will make progress reopening the strait of Hormuz. UK bond prices are rallying in early trading, pushing down the yield (or interest rate) on the debt. Investors will be calculating that a peace deal would lead to a recovery in oil and gas flows from the Middle East. That would push down inflation and remove some pressures to raise interest rates. The UK bond market was closed yesterday, so traders are now able to respond to the news that Tehran and Washington are discussing a framework to end their three-month-old war. Ten-year gilt yields fell as low as 4.824 per cent at the start of trading, a drop of seven basis points (0.07 of a percentage point). That’s the lowest level since 21 April, before UK yields began rising in early May amid uncertainty over prime minister Keir Starmer’s future. Longer-dated 30-year bond yields have dropped too - down as much as six basis points to 5.49 per cent, the lowest since 17 April. The Guardian, May 26

Reeves urges ministers to ‘buy British’ in critical sectors
Rachel Reeves has urged cabinet ministers to award more government contracts to British companies in critical areas of the UK economy, as she steps up her campaign to remain chancellor amid challenges to Sir Keir Starmer’s ailing premiership. In a letter to her colleagues, the chancellor advised them to “buy British” wherever possible, saying that doing so was “in the wider national interest”. Reeves said this would help “more businesses grow and prosper and create good, skilled jobs and apprenticeships here in Britain”, according to the Guardian, which first reported the letter. The chancellor added that it was “disappointing” that “too many” contracts were going to overseas companies. A government spokesperson told the FT that they would “issue new guidance prioritising contracts for British business where necessary” when procuring suppliers for artificial intelligence, energy infrastructure, shipbuilding and steel. Financial Times, May 25

Social media is the new smoking, medical leaders say
Social media is the new smoking, medical leaders have declared, putting the prime minister under increasing pressure to commit himself to a ban for under-16s. A report by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges warns of an epidemic of harm to children “continuously exposed to hateful, addictive and grossly distressing content”. The report, submitted to the government consultation on the matter, which closes on Tuesday, said social media and smartphone use “ranks alongside smoking and wearing seatbelts in cars as a unifying force for the medical profession”. Doctors are seeing a “wave of radicalised children”, the report says, highlighting cases in which children have joined suicide pacts or killed family pets after watching content online. On Tuesday, Sir Keir Starmer is due to meet people who have lost children or siblings to harm linked to online platforms. The Times, May 26