When the United States suddenly moved to dismantle its foreign aid system earlier this year, the UN’s landmine safety and removal project in Nigeria braced for impact.Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and unexploded ordnance killed or injured 418 civilians in northeast Nigeria in 2024, more than double the year prior — but workers knew the severity of the crisis was no guarantee that the programme would survive. US President Donald Trump’s cuts came for everything, from malaria treatment to emergency food for starving people.But then, nothing happened.”We were very surprised,” said Edwin Faigmane, programme chief for the UN Mine Action Service in Nigeria, noting USAID accounted for 20 percent of its funding. The dismantling of USAID, Washington’s main foreign aid arm, has been catastrophic for people across the world. It has also been confusing. Faigmane said he “couldn’t really get an answer” for why UNMAS survived cuts in Nigeria, where a violent jihadist insurgency has been raging since Boko Haram’s 2009 uprising. Earlier this year, AFP reported that malaria clinics in Borno state, the epicentre of the violence, had shut down after USAID funding stopped.UNMAS’s mission in Mali ended when USAID — its sole sponsor — cut its funding. Washington also clawed back funding for UNMAS in Sudan.Earlier this year, UNMAS pre-emptively stopped its USAID-funded operations, until Faigmane got confirmation from USAID officials in Abuja, the capital, that they could continue as normal.”We were able to deploy some other teams in the areas that we were supposed to cover with the USAID funding” during the pre-emptive suspension, Faigmane told AFP. “We were able to survive because of our other donors.”US funds help UNMAS provide education for rural farmers and displaced persons on how to detect mines, IEDs and unexploded ordnance from the conflict — and how to report them for removal.With funds from other donors, UNMAS also trains security personnel on disposal — a crucial job as Nigeria builds up a fledgling National Mine Action Centre established in 2024. The US State Department did not respond to a request for comment.- Civilians on the frontlines -At the El-Miskin displacement camp in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital, workers from the local nonprofit The Big Smile Foundation gather groups for education sessions. This camp’s activities are funded by other donors, but the Americans’ presence is still felt: USAID logos adorn education materials, including a chutes-and-ladders style game for children. “We’ve learned how to stay safe… how to mark (suspected) ordnance from a distance, and report it to the community leader,” said Hauwa Inusa, a 60-year-old camp resident who fled her home a decade ago.She might be forced to use her training soon: the Borno state government has marked the camp for closure. With violence down from its peak a decade ago, the government in recent years has been shutting down camps and sending people back to the countryside.But swathes of the rural northeast remain outside of government control.The long-abandoned town of Darul Jamal, near the Cameroonian border, was recently repopulated with its former residents only for jihadists to massacre scores of them in a September raid.UNMAS meanwhile isn’t out of the woods yet. After some initial uncertainty, Faigmane said, another tranche of US funding, some $225,000, arrived a few weeks ago, which should last until March 2026.But if the United States eventually pulls out, “our reach collapses.”

President Donald Trump may be facing protests back home calling for “no kings” in the United States, but in South Korea officials had the perfect gift for the monarch-loving magnate — a replica golden crown.Trump met South Korean counterpart Lee Jae Myung on Wednesday, part of a visit in which he is expected to hold tense trade talks with China’s Xi Jinping.And capping a lavish welcome ceremony in the historic South Korean capital of Gyeongju, Trump was presented with a replica of a crown worn by the kings of Silla, the dynasty that ruled from 57 BC to 935 AD.The gift from South Korea was a replica of “the largest and most extravagant of the existing gold crowns” from the Silla period, Trump was told.It represented “the divine connection between heavenly and earthly leadership”.Seoul’s presidential office said the crown symbolises “peace, coexistence, and shared prosperity on the peninsula — values that mirror the Silla dynasty’s long era of stability”.Trump has made no secret of his love of monarchies the world over.Americans rallied across the country this month in opposition to what organisers call Trump’s “king-like” presidency and erosion of democratic norms in the United States.Trump mocked the rallies on social media, sharing AI-generated posts showing himself wearing a crown while flying a fighter jet emblazoned with the words “King Trump” dumping faeces on protesters.The US leader was also presented in South Korea with the Grand Order of Mugunghwa — the country’s highest decoration.The medal had a laurel leaf design that symbolises prosperity and it was given “in anticipation of the peace and prosperity you will bring to the Korean peninsula”, Trump was told.”It’s a great honour,” the US president said. “I’d like to wear it right now.”Trump’s love of gold is also well-known and he was gifted gold-plated golf balls during a visit to Tokyo this week.South Korea’s presidential office said Wednesday’s state dinner for Trump will include a “gold-themed dessert” symbolising the “alliance’s enduring trust and the two nations’ shared commitment to peace and prosperity”.