theSIGNAL BUSINESS
31 May 2026
"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
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Business

Trump-linked firm poised for Balkan pipeline deal

A little-known Washington-connected company is close to securing a billion-dollar gas infrastructure contract in Bosnia.

Behind an unmarked white door on a graffitied backstreet in Sarajevo, a company with no discernible track record in large-scale infrastructure is reported to be on the verge of winning contracts worth more than one billion dollars. AAFS Infrastructure and Energy is understood to be close to securing a concession that would allow it to build and operate a pipeline carrying American liquefied natural gas across the Balkans, effectively displacing Russian supply. Senior Bosnian officials, who have asked not to be named given the sensitivity of ongoing negotiations, have described the project as potentially the most consequential piece of infrastructure their country has ever undertaken. What the company appears to lack in experience, it may compensate for in political proximity. Two of its principal representatives are said to maintain close personal ties to Donald Trump: one is a Washington lawyer who has represented members of the Trump family in politically sensitive litigation, while the other is the brother of a former national security adviser. Both individuals are reported to have played roles in efforts to challenge the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, a cause long associated with Trump himself. A Guardian investigation, drawing on leaked documents, corporate records and interviews with current and former officials on both sides of the Atlantic, has sought to trace how a company of such limited profile came to occupy so prominent a position in the global contest over energy supply. The picture that emerges is one in which the conventional boundary between state policy and private enrichment appears to have become substantially blurred. One former senior American official with regional experience suggested that, however distasteful such arrangements might seem, they have acquired a certain transactional logic under the current administration. The geopolitical stakes are considerable.…

The Sarajevo backstreet address registered to AAFS Infrastructure and Energy
The Sarajevo backstreet address registered to AAFS Infrastructure and Energy (detail)
Discuss
  • What risks arise when personal political connections shape major infrastructure decisions?
  • How might this pipeline deal affect Bosnia's fragile post-war ethnic balance?
  • To what extent does the project reflect a broader shift in American foreign policy?
  • Should international bodies have greater oversight of energy concessions in post-conflict states?
  • How does the blurring of government policy and private enrichment undermine democratic norms?
World

Gaza's cemeteries erased by Israeli military operations

Satellite imagery updated on Google Earth and captured in February 2026 has confirmed that large portions of Gaza have been rendered unrecognisable, with entire residential neighbourhoods reduced to rubble and significant areas of the coastline now occupied by displaced populations living in makeshift encampments. Among the sites that appear to have been transformed is the Sheikh Mohammed cemetery in Khan Younis, which satellite data suggests has been converted into an Israeli military outpost. Palestinian journalist Muhannad Qishta, whose sisters are buried there, described being unable to visit their graves.

According to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Israeli forces have fully or partially destroyed 94 percent of Gaza's cemeteries since the conflict began. In Rafah, entire districts such as the Saudi neighbourhood in Tal as-Sultan and the Swedish village — a coastal community founded in 1965 to shelter Palestinian refugees — have been effectively wiped from the map. The death toll is reported to have reached nearly 73,000, a figure that rights organisations have characterised as evidence of an ongoing genocide.
  • What legal obligations exist regarding the protection of civilian burial sites during conflict?
  • How does the destruction of cultural and memorial sites affect long-term prospects for peace?
Health

DRC Ebola outbreak carries up to 50% fatality rate

The World Health Organization has revised its estimate of the death rate associated with the current Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to between 30 and 50 percent of confirmed cases, a figure described by senior WHO officials as deeply alarming. The outbreak, which was formally declared on 15 May, has so far resulted in 10 confirmed and 223 suspected deaths among more than 1,000 confirmed and suspected cases, though the true scale is believed to be larger given that the virus is thought to have circulated undetected for some weeks prior to detection.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus travelled to Kinshasa and was scheduled to visit the outbreak's epicentre in the north-eastern Ituri province, where the response is being complicated by the presence of armed groups including the Rwanda-backed M23 movement. Tedros made a direct appeal to all parties in the conflict to declare a ceasefire, arguing that no political grievance could justify exposing civilians to a preventable and potentially fatal disease. One recovery has been confirmed, offering a limited but meaningful signal that containment may be achievable.
  • How does armed conflict in Ituri complicate international efforts to contain Ebola?
—
Together, we will overcome this outbreak.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization
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theSIGNAL IN THE LAB
IVOCABULARY
on the verge ofconcession
transactional logicmakeshiftepicentre
containmentdiscernible
IIGRAMMAR FOCUS
Passive voice with reporting verbs (is said to, is reported to, is understood to, is believed to)
We use passive reporting structures (e.g. 'is/are + past participle + infinitive') to report information without attributing it to a specific source. Common verbs include: said, reported, understood, believed, described, thought, confirmed.
said · reported · understood · believed · described · thought · confirmed
  1. AAFS Infrastructure and Energy is to be close to securing a major pipeline concession in Bosnia.
  2. Two of the company's principal representatives are to maintain close personal ties to Donald Trump.
  3. The true scale of the Ebola outbreak is to be larger than official figures suggest, as the virus circulated undetected for weeks.
  4. Satellite imagery has that large portions of Gaza have been rendered unrecognisable since the conflict began.
  5. The death toll in Gaza is to have reached nearly 73,000, a figure rights organisations call evidence of genocide.
  6. The WHO Director-General was to have travelled to Kinshasa to address the Ebola outbreak directly.
  7. The virus is to have circulated undetected for some weeks before the outbreak was formally declared on 15 May.
IIIIDIOMS
Define each idiom in your own words. Then write one sentence of your own using the idiom.
  1. on the verge of (winning contracts)
  2. no discernible track record
  3. blurred the boundary (between state policy and private enrichment)
  4. wiped from the map
  5. compensate for (in political proximity)
  6. carrying a certain transactional logic
IVCRITICAL THINKING
The article describes the boundary between state policy and private enrichment as 'substantially blurred' in the case of the Balkan pipeline deal. To what extent do you think personal political connections should influence which companies win major infrastructure contracts? Who bears the cost when such decisions are made on the basis of proximity to power rather than proven competence?
VCREATIVE · HEADLINES
Write a headline for the Balkan pipeline story in each style:
  • Tabloid newspaper
  • Luxury magazine
  • Activist blog
VIWRITING
A former official in the article suggests that blending private gain with government policy has acquired a 'transactional logic' under the current administration. Write a short opinion piece (180–220 words) arguing either that this approach is a pragmatic and effective way to advance national interests, or that it fundamentally undermines democratic governance and public trust.
VIIDEGREES OF EXTREMITY
Complete each ladder from mild to strong. Fill in the missing word(s) from the articles.
  • interested in→→
  • connected to→→
  • unclear→→
  • worrying→→
  • damaged→→
  • changed→→
  • serious→→
VIIISPEAKING
  1. Can private profit ever coexist ethically with foreign policy?
  2. Should political connections determine who wins infrastructure contracts?
  3. Is satellite evidence alone sufficient to establish legal accountability?
  4. How should the international community respond to genocide allegations?
  5. Can a ceasefire ever be achieved during an active Ebola outbreak?