Angola Taxi Drivers Plan Three-Day Strike Over Higher Fuel Costs
The protests are scheduled to take place July 28-30 in seven of the country's biggest cities, according to the New Alliance of Taxi Drivers of Angola, or Anata. It comes after the government increased fares for public-transport, which includes taxis, by as much as 50% this month as it cuts fuel subsidies.
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Bloomberg
42 minutes ago
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G-20 Search for Consensus
Group of 20 finance ministers and central bankers met in Ballito, South Africa, earlier in July. This episode of Bloomberg Next Africa looks at how South Africa is using its G-20 presidency to highlight issues faced by the entire the continent while also delving into the country's aims for the group ahead of the leaders' summit later this year. Big banks are also in focus as Capitec -- South Africa's fastest growing bank -- enters a new phase with its new leadership. Also on the show: The head of Kenya's largest lender, Equity Bank, discusses navigating uncertainty in Kenyan and Congolese markets along with plans for Middle East expansion. (Source: Bloomberg)
Yahoo
2 hours ago
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No food, no pay, no freedom: marooned seafarers call out rogue shipowners
Twelve seafarers have been stranded in a tanker off the coast of Beira in Mozambique for 10 months, with limited supplies of food, water and power, after a UK-registered shipping company refused to let them leave. The Gas Falcon has three Pakistani and nine Indonesian seafarers on board. They have not been paid this year and are collectively owed more than $260,000 in missed salaries. 'The uncertain conditions, lack of supplies and non-payment of salaries have affected the crew's mental condition very badly,' the ship's captain, Muhammad Aslam, told The Observer. 'They are unable to sleep properly and are always thinking about what will happen and: 'When we will be able to get out of this forced prison?'' Cases of seafarer abandonment are rising. More than 2,280 seafarers have been stranded on 222 vessels this year, with unpaid wages totalling $13.1m – a 30% year-on-year increase, according to the International Transport Workers' Federation (ITF), which supports abandoned crews. Many ships are registered in countries with lax enforcement and owned by shell companies that obscure responsibility. In an industry driven by cost-cutting and aggressive competition, some shipowners walk away when faced with financial trouble, leaving crews unpaid and stranded without food, water or legal recourse. The fragmented nature of maritime law, which varies in each country, combined with limited accountability across jurisdictions, can drive exploitation. The Gas Falcon's registered owner is Gator Shipping Alfa, whose holding company is Gator Shipping Limited, a private limited company registered in Torquay, Devon. The ITF's Steve Trowsdale said the seafarers 'have been abandoned by a company that clearly has no intention of meeting its legal or moral obligations'. Gator Shipping did not respond to this allegation. 'We are very concerned to hear about the plight of these seafarers,' said Sapna Malik, partner and co-head of the international department at the law firm Leigh Day. 'It may be possible to seek legal recourse in the English courts against Gator Shipping for allegedly breaching its duties to the seafarers, potentially engaging the Modern Slavery Act.' 'You do not care how much the ship's crew is suffering aboard your vessel. Now we have run out of supplies and, despite my repeated requests, you are unable to arrange it' The Gas Falcon had been carrying liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). The crew was told by Gator Shipping that salaries would be paid after the cargo was discharged. Instead, it sent the vessel to an anchorage farther out to sea. The seafarers are not allowed to disembark because they do not have visas for Mozambique. The crew has sent repeated emails to Federico Careri – the majority owner of the company, according to company records – pleading for sufficient supplies of food and water. Careri has periodically paid for provisions to be provided to the vessel by port staff in Mozambique. 'You do not care how much the ship's crew is suffering aboard your vessel,' states a 14 July email sent to Careri by Aslam and viewed by The Observer. 'Now we have run out of supplies and, despite my repeated requests, you are unable to arrange it.' In a statement to The Observer, Careri denied being the owner of the Gas Falcon, describing himself as the commercial manager. The Observer has reviewed documents that confirm he is the owner. He did not respond to follow-up questions on this. In the statement, he said: 'We have consistently taken steps to ensure the vessel has sufficient food and water, although delivering bunker provisions and fresh water in Beira presents significant logistical challenges and may have caused occasional delays.' 'We are not getting paid, and not being released or allowed to disembark and work for some other shipping company,' said Aslam, 51, from Lahore, Pakistan. His family back home is running out of money and has taken out loans to make ends meet because he is not being paid. All of t he crew are under pressure to support families, who have been left in a state of despair and poverty, Aslam added . The seafarers have requested permission from the shipowner to disembark three times since December, according to documents seen by The Observer. Gator Shipping has not acted on these pleas.'The company is beyond reason. Mainly they do not bother to reply, and even if they reply it is: 'We are working on it' or simply: 'Noted',' said Aslam. Careri, through Gator Shipping and another of his entities, Kharta Shipping, has been involved in three crew abandonments since May 2024, says the ITF. Last year, another cohort of crew on the Gas Falcon was abandoned off the coast of Mogadishu with 19 seafarers on board. At that time, the ship had insurance with the West of England Shipowners Mutual Insurance Association, which paid the crew's salaries. The Gas Falcon is uninsured, according to the ITF and the crew, after the West of England terminated coverage following that incident. In November 2024, another vessel, the Gas Parrot, was abandoned for about three months with 10 seafarers onboard while under the ownership of Careri's Kharta Shipping. The crew was eventually repatriated in January this year after intervention by the ITF and India's National Union of Seafarers. That vessel was also uninsured, and the crew had only limited food, water and fuel during the ordeal. The Gas Parrot's crew still has not been paid their full salaries, according to the crew and the International Labour Organization, which documents ship abandonments. 'The owner has no mercy in his heart,' said Rey Lorenzo Saraan, the Gas Parrot's second officer at the time. The Gas Falcon is registered under the flag of Gabon, despite having no connection with the West African nation. Most abandoned vessels sail under similar 'flags of convenience', according to the ITF. This system allows shipowners to register vessels in countries with weaker labour protections and oversight, making it harder to hold them legally accountable. This story was supported by the Pulitzer Center's Ocean Reporting Network Photograph by Airbus DS/Earth Genome
Yahoo
7 hours ago
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If Trump Wants American Businesses To Thrive, He Should Get Rid of Government Subsidies
Do American businesses require government subsidies to thrive? In a Thursday post on Truth Social, President Donald Trump wrote: "Everyone is stating that I will destroy Elon [Musk's] companies by taking away some, if not all, of the large scale subsidies he receives from the U.S. Government. This is not so!" He added, "I want Elon, and all businesses within our Country, to THRIVE, in fact, THRIVE like never before!" It's not entirely clear if Trump will cut subsidies to Musk's companies. But during a press briefing a day earlier, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said, "I don't think so. No." when asked if the president supports agencies contracting with Musk's xAI. The federal government spends $181 billion a year on "direct cash subsidies" and "indirect industry support" for private businesses, according to a March study by Chris Edwards, the Kilts Family Chair in Fiscal Studies at the Cato Institute. In June, during a public feud between the two men, Trump posted that the easiest way to cut spending would be "to terminate Elon's Governmental Subsidies and Contracts," adding he was "always surprised that Biden didn't do it!" Musk's Tesla Model S was launched with a $465 million Department of Energy loan, and his company has received $11.4 billion in state and federal subsidies, according to a February report by The Washington Post. It's not just Musk's companies, though—the government trough is open for businesses from all industries, including agriculture, aviation, broadband, energy, education, hospitality, housing, manufacturing, transportation, and others. The $42.5 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program, which aims to provide internet access to underserved and rural areas, has connected zero people. Annual farm subsidies can range "between about $15 billion to $30 billion per year," according to a Cato Institute report. Recent spending bills are littered with government subsidies that overpromise and underdeliver. This includes $684 million spent on eight nonoperational coal carbon-capture plants over the past 15 years, $387 million spent on a failed "clean coal" power plant in Mississippi, and $200 billion stolen from the Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDLs) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) programs. "Everyone wants the United States to be at the leading edge of industry," Edwards tells Reason, "but the way to do that is for the federal government to get it out of the way and to provide an open playing field for everyone." Yet the administration has a mixed record on subsidies in recent weeks. As part of the $9.4 billion rescissions package, Congress recently voted to cut subsidies for public broadcasting. Now, NPR and PBS have to obtain all, rather than most, of their funding from donors and sponsorships. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act claws back $500 billion in energy subsidies but also includes $52.3 billion in spending on the farm safety net, the most significant agricultural subsidy provided by the government. Trump's tariffs are also "akin to corporate subsidies as well", says Edwards, with industries already facing the effects of protectionism lobbying in Washington for favorable treatment. It's consumers who get the short end of the stick in all this, although the administration seems to be OK with this outcome. Worryingly, Trump has at times attempted to assert the executive branch's power over private companies, such as his executive order to "combat illegal private-sector DEI preferences, mandates, policies, programs, and activities," and those targeting various law firms. When companies hitch their wagon to federal funding, it makes it easier for the government to wield the power of the state against them. Edwards argues that "protecting U.S. businesses through subsidies or tariffs makes them complacent and less competitive." True competitiveness, he adds, comes from being "subjected to the full rigors of the market." If Trump wants American businesses to "THRIVE, in fact, THRIVE like never before!" he could act on his promise to "cut Hundreds of Billions of Dollars in spending," by calling on Congress to cancel all federal subsidies and allow American businesses to thrive, or fail, on their merit. The post If Trump Wants American Businesses To Thrive, He Should Get Rid of Government Subsidies appeared first on
