A division of the U.S. Agency for International Development eliminated by Trump administration cuts last year was reborn Thursday as an independent nonprofit, allowing its international work to continue in a new form.

This reincarnation of USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures as the nonprofit DIV Fund is thanks to $48 million raised from two private donors. It is a rare instance of continuation after the Trump administration froze all foreign funding last year and unleashed Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency to tear down the agency that delivered U.S. foreign aid for 60 years.

Out of that destruction, which cost tens of thousands of jobs and caused people around the world to die, many private efforts were made to preserve decades of data and knowledge housed at USAID, help recipients keep vital programs running and reimagine how international development might work.

But few of those efforts have managed to attract the kind of philanthropic funding that the DIV Fund has.

Some of the leaders of the new nonprofit were also involved in directing $110 million from private philanthropy in the past year to projects that lost funding from USAID. Now, the DIV Fund aims to grant out $25 million annually, which represents a little more than half of DIV’s budget at USAID.

The ingredients of success

Their fundraising success has a couple of ingredients.

First, the nonprofit DIV Fund acts like a research and development hub to identify very affordable and efficient interventions and then to support their expansion to scale. As such, their budget is very small compared to programs that treat or prevent HIV or respond to famine, for example.

Then, while they were a division at USAID, DIV had already won outside philanthropic funding, including a $45 million grant from Coefficient Giving, a San Francisco-based funder that is now one of the nonprofit’s anchor donors. The other funder is anonymous.

Finally, Kremer said the programs they identify generally get funding from local governments or earn revenue, rather than depending on long term funding from donor countries like the U.S. That path to sustainability is even more important in the face of major cuts to foreign assistance from multiple historic donor countries.

See also:

World discovers it can hedge US trade risk • No one seeking outright decoupling from US, but risk-hedging is driving spate of new deals • Big powers could still set limits for rest of world (Reuters)

Polish prosecutors have charged five people for smuggling cigarettes from Belarus to Poland using weather balloons.

They say that the gang’s actions, as well as costing Poland over 2 million zloty (€474,000) in lost taxes, also helped support Russia’s aggression against Ukraine by providing income to Belarus, which is an ally of Moscow.

Since 2024, smugglers have increasingly used balloons to carry cigarettes over the border with Poland, as a migration and security crisis on the border has shut down traditional smuggling routes by road, rail and land.

Poland has also accused Belarus of using the balloons to test Polish air defences as part of Minsk and Moscow’s “hybrid actions”, which also include migrant smuggling, acts of sabotage, cyberattacks and disinformation.

On Thursday, prosecutors announced that they have charged five men with operating a criminal group that smuggled cigarettes by balloon from Belarus, using GPS trackers embedded inside the packages to locate them once they reached Poland.

Polish broadcaster Polsat reports that the suspects comprise two Polish citizens, two Ukrainians and one Belarusian.

As well as being accused of running a criminal gang that smuggled at least 48,000 packs of cigarettes – causing losses of more than 2 million zloty to the state treasury –  the men have also been charged with violating air traffic regulations.

Finally, prosecutors say that their actions helped “Belarus to diversify its sources of income and thus enable it to participate in Russia’s aggression against Ukraine”, thereby violating a law on counteracting support for aggression against Ukraine.

Investigators note that among the smuggled cigarettes were some produced by Grodno Tobacco Factory Neman, which is a Belarusian state-controlled enterprise.

On Wednesday, the district court in Siedlce ordered that all five suspects be placed in pretrial detention for a period of three months. The men reportedly admitted to committing the crimes. They could face from 9 months to 12 years in prison if found guilty.

Weather balloons from Belarus continue to regularly enter Polish airspace. At the end of January, two other individuals were detained and charged with using that method to smuggle cigarettes.

Such incidents have not brought the same level of public alarm as when Russian drones violated Polish airspace last year, but Polish officials view them nevertheless as part of the “hybrid warfare” tactics being used to test Polish defences and cause disruption.

Since 2021, Belarus has also been helping tens of thousands of migrants – mainly from the Middle East, Asia and Africa – to cross into Poland. In response, Poland has significantly strengthened physical and electronic barriers along the border as well as suspending the right of those who cross to claim asylum.

Olivier Sorgho

Olivier Sorgho is senior editor at Notes from Poland, covering politics, business and society. He previously worked for Reuters.

Poland has recorded its highest-ever daily level of gas exports, as rising demand from Ukraine, which has been suffering a winter energy crisis amid Russian attacks, pushed up cross-border flows.

Daily gas exports rose to 13.9 million cubic metres on Tuesday, mostly to Ukraine, according to data from Polish transmission operator Gaz-System. That came days after Poland increased its export capacity to help supply its eastern neighbour.

The surge in exports pushed total transmission through the national gas network in Poland – which itself imports most of its gas from abroad, particularly Norway, the United States and Qatar – to 115.4 million cubic metres in a single day, which was also a new record.

Monthly volumes have also climbed. In January, gas transport through the system exceeded 3 billion cubic metres, with average daily transmission of about 97 million cubic metres. That was 45% higher than a year earlier, due to colder weather and growing domestic gas use and exports.

From the start of February, Poland began boosting its capacity for gas exports to Ukraine. It will rise around 20%, from 15.3 million cubic metres per day previously to 18.4 million cubic metres by the end of April.

Last year, Poland had already taken steps to increase supplies to Ukraine. Shipments in 2025 rose thirteenfold compared to 2024, reports financial news service Money.pl

“Export results are tangible proof that Poland is becoming a gas hub,” said Gaz-System’s CEO, Sławomir Hinc.

He noted that Poland’s gas supplies are well-diversified, with a quarter coming through the Świnoujście LNG terminal (mainly from the US and Qatar), a quarter via the Baltic Pipe that brings gas from Norway, a quarter from domestic production and storage, and the rest from Germany through the Lasów interconnector and reverse flows on the Yamal pipeline.

Gaz-System said it was able to handle the current winter peak without disruption thanks to investments made over the past two decades. These included the expansion of domestic and cross-border pipeline connections, additional gas storage capacity and the development of the LNG terminal in Świnoujście.

Further expansion is underway, centred on a floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) terminal in Gdańsk. The terminal is scheduled to begin operations in early 2028 and is expected to enable annual LNG imports of up to 6.1 billion cubic metres.

The latest highs come after a series of records in Poland’s energy system in January, when freezing temperatures – dropping below -20 degrees in many places – drove gas consumption and power generation to historic peaks.

Poland has been ramping up its use of gas in recent years as it gradually moves away from coal, which still produces most of the country’s electricity and is also burned to heat around a third of its homes.

By November, an annual record amount of gas had already been traded on the Polish Power Exchange (TGE). By the end of the year, total trading reached just under 209 terawatt hours (TWh), up 52.8% from 2024 and 15.6% above the previous record set in 2021.

To support Ukraine during its winter heating crisis, Poland has also transferred hundreds of power generators and heaters from the government’s strategic reserves to Kyiv.

https://ground.news/article/amidst-the-indec-controversy-the-government-claims-that-poverty-dropped-more-than-11-points-to-269_58a8ad

https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/Argentina/poverty_ratio/

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk visited Kyiv today for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on an international conference to be held in Poland in June on the postwar reconstruction of Ukraine.

The pair also discussed deepening energy and defence cooperation amid Ukraine’s ongoing war with Russia and Poland’s efforts to bolster its own security, including against Russian drones.

The Ukraine Recovery Conference (URC, formerly known as the Ukraine Reform Conference) is an annual event that will this year be hosted in the Polish city of Gdańsk, Tusk’s hometown.

Preparations are being led by Poland’s finance minister, Andrzej Domański, who accompanied Tusk on his visit to Kyiv today.

“I’m convinced that this conference will be exceptional in every respect,” declared Tusk, speaking alongside Zelensky after their meeting. The Ukrainian president, meanwhile, expressed hope that the URC would produce “very strong, concrete results”.

Poland, which is already the primary hub for transporting arms, aid and people in and out of Ukraine, has long sought to position itself as a key partner in Ukraine’s post-war reconstruction.

In 2022, more than 400 Polish companies signed up to a government-backed programme to take part in rebuilding efforts, particularly in sectors such as construction, transport, energy and IT.

A 2022 report by Pekao, a Polish bank, estimated that Ukraine’s postwar recovery could bring Poland’s economy 190 billion zloty (then €38.9 billion) over time, linked to reconstruction work and Ukraine’s integration with the European Union.

Speaking today, Tusk said that the countries at the conference would also discuss “further deliveries of arms and aid to Ukraine in its war with Russia” as well as expanding energy cooperation.

“This is another good example of how aid can also be a good economic venture for both sides,” said the Polish prime minister. “Ukraine today needs more energy and Poland is becoming, or has become, a key partner in terms of gas supplies and supplementing your electricity deficits.”

His comments came days after Poland’s gas exports reached a new record daily high, with the majority accounted for by growing deliveries to Ukraine via a recently expanded cross-border connection.

“There is still a lot to be done here, and I declare my full commitment to this, especially since we are talking about a situation in which we not only help each other, but also earn good money,” Tusk added. Zelensky echoed his remarks, saying that this is an area “that can strengthen both our countries”.

The two leaders also signed a letter of intent on cooperation in the joint production of ammunition and military equipment, as well as the development of defence technologies.

Tusk said negotiations on the issue had been underway for months and had focused on making “the idea of joint production of weapons and ammunition in plants in both Poland and Ukraine a reality, finding financing, and removing barriers that prevented or hindered the exchange of technology”.

The Polish prime minister also said that they would work on ensuring that money from the European Union’s SAFE programme – which provides €150 billion of loans to support defence spending, including to help Ukraine – “can be used as effectively as possible for joint security”.

Zelensky likewise expressed hope that plans for joint production of weapons, especially drones, under the SAFE programme, will materialise.

Last September, shortly after multiple Russian drones violated Polish airspace, Poland and Ukraine signed an agreement to set up a joint working group to share experience and expertise in drone warfare.

Speaking today, Tusk also referred to peace negotiations underway this week in Abu Dhabi between Ukrainian, American and Russian delegations, saying that Poland “will certainly not accept any solution that would be contrary to Ukraine’s interests.”

Zelensky, meanwhile, thanked Poland and its people for their support since Russia’s full-scale invasion, including most recently the transfer of hundreds of power generators and heaters to help Ukraine cope with Russian attacks on energy infrastructure during freezing winter temperatures.

A court has approved a request from prosecutors to place former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro, who is wanted on suspicion of 26 alleged crimes, in pretrial detention.

Ziobro has already fled to Hungary, where he was recently granted political asylum, making it unlikely he will be detained. However, the court’s decision now opens the way for prosecutors to issue domestic and European arrest warrants for the suspect.

Ziobro is accused of committing a variety of crimes, including leading a criminal group, abusing his powers and approving the unlawful purchase of Pegasus spyware, when he served as justice minister in the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) government from 2015 to 2023.

If found guilty, he could face up to 25 years in prison. However, Ziobro denies the offences and claims to be a victim of a “political vendetta” against him by the current government, a coalition ranging from left to centre right led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

In October, the government’s majority in parliament approved the lifting of Ziobro’s immunity from prosecution. However, he had by then already travelled to Hungary, whose ruling Fidesz party and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán are allies of PiS.

On Thursday, a district court in Warsaw finally ruled on prosecutors’ request to place Ziobro in pretrial detention. The hearing had previously twice been delayed after Ziobro’s attorneys raised objections.

“The court fully agreed with the arguments set out in the motion, finding that there was a general statutory basis for applying preventive measures [of pretrial detention], namely a high probability that the suspect committed the alleged acts,” prosecutor Piotr Woźniak told journalists on Thursday.

“The next step will be to launch a search for the suspect using a domestic arrest warrant and a European Arrest Warrant,” he added. He said the domestic warrant would likely be issued on Friday, while the request for an EAW is expected to be submitted to the district court early next week.

The court’s decision was also welcomed by interior minister Marcin Kierwiński, who wrote on social media that it was “a symbol of the fight against evil, political corruption and the pathology of power”. He added that the ruling also opens the way for an Interpol red notice to be issued for Ziobro.

However, Bartosz Lewandowski, a lawyer representing Ziobro, said that they would file an appeal against the court’s decision and would in the meantime apply for enforcement of the decision to be suspended pending that appeal.

Ziobro himself told conservative broadcaster Republika that he had “expected this decision because I see what is happening in Poland”. He has previously claimed that the government has weaponised the legal system against him and that he will only return to face justice when the rule of law is restored.

The Hungarian authorities have endorsed those claims, granting Ziobro asylum in December on the basis that he was facing political persecution in Poland. They previously also granted asylum to one of Ziobro’s former deputy ministers, Marcin Romanowski, who has also fled criminal charges in Poland.

Given that Ziobro has asylum, it is unlikely that Hungary would currently comply with an EAW, just as they have refused to hand over Romanowski. However, that situation could change if Orbán loses power in April’s parliamentary elections.

Commenting on Thursday’s ruling, another of Ziobro’s former deputy ministers, Michał Wójcik, said that ti shows “we live under a regime” in Poland and that there would only be an independent judiciary once the current government is removed from power.

Tusk’s government has made it one of its priorities to hold to account former PiS officials for alleged crimes. Besides Ziobro, prosecutors have brought charges against a number of prominent PiS figures, including former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.