US Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is facing growing criticism after submitting a draft budget that would eliminate government funding for the Special Olympics.
Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is among the politicians being praised for vowing to fight the bill.
Ms Ocasio-Cortez on Thursday took to Twitter to denounce the plan: “I see Betsy DeVos and the GOP are doubling down on their Anti-Everybody agenda by working to cut Fed funding for the Special Olympics”.
On March 11 the Department of Education made their budget for the coming fiscal year public. The proposal includes annual savings of $6.7 billion with cuts to several areas of special needs education.
The cuts will end 29 programmes – among them the Special Olympics, which will lose its $17.6 million in funding, roughly 10 per cent of its overall budget.
President Trump, who famously mocked a disabled reporter during his campaign trail in 2016 is also proposing cuts to some after-school grants and a $13 million drop in contributions to Gallaudet University, a federally chartered school for the deaf.
Founded in 1968, the Special Olympics provides children and adults with intellectual disabilities the chance to take part in training and competitions. Over five million athletes have competed in the Special Olympics World Games over its history, coming from over 170 countries.
Criticism of Ms DeVos’s proposal comes just days after the closing ceremony of the 2019 Special Olympics World Games in Abu Dhabi on March 21. The largest competition to date and the first in the Middle East and North Africa, 7,000 athletes from around the world competed in 24 disciplines.
The Unified Schools programme allows some 272,000 people to participate in Unified Sports. According to the Special Olympics, these opportunities would not be available without US funding.
“I’m going to school to be a SPED (special education) teacher and with so many budget cuts, how do they expect children of all types to grow and thrive,” one Twitter user said of the minister’s proposal.
Ms DeVos on Wednesday defended the budget. The secretary said the reaction had been “unacceptable, shameful and counterproductive”.
The president's budget, she added, “supports our nation's 7 million students with disabilities through a $13.2 billion request for IDEA funding [a federal grant for the education of children with disabilities] …The budget also requests an additional $225.6 million for competitively awarded grants to support teacher preparation, research and technical assistance to support students with disabilities.”
The Trump administration tried to eliminate Special Olympics funding in its previous budget proposal but Congress ultimately increased funding for the group. Lawmakers indicated that the latest attempt will also fail.
“The good news?” Ms Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “You elected a House Dem majority, so we can halt it”.
As the Democratic party holds a majority in the lower House of Representatives, if the party as a whole opposes the cuts then the budget will be unlikely to move to the Republican-controlled Senate for the next stage.
Athletes, celebrities and politicians joined Ms Ocasio-Cortez in showing their support for the organisation. “Betsy DeVos going after Special Olympics is evil,” American actor and deaf activist Nyle DiMarco tweeted on Tuesday.
Special Olympics Chairman Dr Timothy P. Shriver issued a statement thanking people for the support, including from “many members of Congress – both Republicans and Democrats”.
But, Mr Shriver added that the Special Olympics has a long history and is not reliant on US funding to continue.
“…let me be clear. The traditional Special Olympics programme funded by philanthropy…has over 50 years been built on the backs of volunteers and philanthropists. This is not the work being funded by the United States Department of Education.”
Timeline
2012-2015
The company offers payments/bribes to win key contracts in the Middle East
May 2017
The UK SFO officially opens investigation into Petrofac’s use of agents, corruption, and potential bribery to secure contracts
September 2021
Petrofac pleads guilty to seven counts of failing to prevent bribery under the UK Bribery Act
October 2021
Court fines Petrofac £77 million for bribery. Former executive receives a two-year suspended sentence
December 2024
Petrofac enters into comprehensive restructuring to strengthen the financial position of the group
May 2025
The High Court of England and Wales approves the company’s restructuring plan
July 2025
The Court of Appeal issues a judgment challenging parts of the restructuring plan
August 2025
Petrofac issues a business update to execute the restructuring and confirms it will appeal the Court of Appeal decision
October 2025
Petrofac loses a major TenneT offshore wind contract worth €13 billion. Holding company files for administration in the UK. Petrofac delisted from the London Stock Exchange
November 2025
180 Petrofac employees laid off in the UAE
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Pharaoh's curse
British aristocrat Lord Carnarvon, who funded the expedition to find the Tutankhamun tomb, died in a Cairo hotel four months after the crypt was opened.
He had been in poor health for many years after a car crash, and a mosquito bite made worse by a shaving cut led to blood poisoning and pneumonia.
Reports at the time said Lord Carnarvon suffered from “pain as the inflammation affected the nasal passages and eyes”.
Decades later, scientists contended he had died of aspergillosis after inhaling spores of the fungus aspergillus in the tomb, which can lie dormant for months. The fact several others who entered were also found dead withiin a short time led to the myth of the curse.
'The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting up a Generation for Failure'
Greg Lukianoff and Jonathan Haidt, Penguin Randomhouse
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
