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The Hill
2 hours ago
- Business
- The Hill
AllAfrica covers a continent the US is increasingly ignoring
For the staff of the digital news service AllAfrica, this has been a typically frenetic season. The platform is the premier producer and aggregator of content from and about Africa. It reaches tens of millions monthly with news in English and French, coverage usually absent from most Western media. A rare exception was President Trump's May 21 Oval Office ambush of South African President Cyril Ramaphosa with a propaganda video. Trump claimed South Africa's white Afrikaners were subjects of widespread land confiscations and 'genocide.' Seasoned negotiator Ramaphosa deftly referred questions to his team's Afrikaners: a cabinet minister, a billionaire businessman and a former world golfing champion. The White House confrontation was a 'developing story that isn't going away, and poorly covered — without context — by all major media,' said Dr. Tamela (Tami) Hultman, AllAfrica's co-founder and chief content officer. In fact, many Afrikaners whom the administration has deemed 'refugees' have admitted to accepting free repatriation to find easier jobs. South African polls showed most Afrikaners are uninterested in leaving South Africa. AllAfrica provided that deeper context. Reed Kramer, another co-founder, told me South Africa's concern about Afrikaner disinformation continues as Trump's team uses it to undermine the country's current G-20 inter-governmental economic group presidency. 'We're valued for comprehensive African coverage, not just what U.S. media see as the issue of the moment,' said Hultman. (Full disclosure: Hultman, Kramer and I were classmates at Duke University in the 1960s.) AllAfrica reported on less-noticed news, such as cancelled U.S. funding for HIV and drug-resistant tuberculosis research by South Africa's world-class scientists. Most recently, Hultman said AllAfrica's audience seems more interested in New York City's Democratic mayoral nominee, Uganda-born Zohran Mamdani. Hultman said AllAfrica seeks to spotlight other under-covered issues, such as the Trump administration's desire for minerals from war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, plus Africa's agricultural innovations and entrepreneurial culture. 'It is inexplicable,' she told me, 'that international media have largely ignored the world's worst humanitarian disaster — in Sudan — where U.S. allies support rival combatants who overthrew a democratic government, are stealing the country's gold and creating famine.' Genocide in Sudan's Darfur area, which prompted global outrage in the early 2000s, has returned. AllAfrica was among the first to report South Sudan's refusal to accept eight deportees from Vietnam, Cuba and Mexico, leading to the administration's threatened withdrawal of all South Sudan visas, including that of basketball star Khaman Maluach, just hours before Duke's NCAA Final Four appearance. Further evidence of the administration's devaluing Africa's strategic importance were Pentagon signals of dramatically cutting military assistance and training to African armies fighting insurgencies. The site's groundbreaking coverage of Africa's Covid crisis exposed wealthy nations' failure to share vaccines with African countries, even when South Africa, for example, contracted to package vaccines for export to the U.K. A long-time working relationship with World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and his team facilitated that reporting. In its early days, AllAfrica was nominated as ' Best News Site,' alongside Google and BBC, by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. The website Media Bias Fact Check wrote, 'Overall, we rate AllAfrica Least Biased based on balanced and diverse story selection and High for factual reporting due to proper sourcing and a clean fact check record.' 'For decades, AllAfrica has been indispensable for teaching about Africa,' said Kenneth Vickery, emeritus professor of African history at North Carolina State University. 'Nothing else provides the range, depth and quality of its coverage.' Over 60 percent of AllAfrica's multimedia audience is in Africa, primarily using mobile devices. Users include journalists, heads of state and government, business leaders, scientists and clinicians, human rights organizations and democracy activists. 'We began early on and continue to this day to work with African journalists, some very brave and dedicated people among them,' said Kramer, who has known Ramaphosa since before he became South Africa's president. Still, there is work to be done. On July 9, at a White House meeting of West African leaders, Trump praised Liberian President Joseph Boakai for his English skills, wondering, 'Where did you learn to speak so beautifully?' English has been the official language of Liberia for more than 200 years, as it was settled by formerly enslaved African Americans. Hultman and Kramer attribute their career to listening to Africans, beginning with their pioneering on-the-ground research on U.S. corporations supporting apartheid in the 1960s and 1970s. 'We were in the fortunate position of knowing both the activists arising inside South Africa and a network of outside contacts who wanted to support them,' Kramer told an interviewer. 'The concept of a news agency focusing on Africa stemmed from frustration with the lack of news and information.' Last May, Hultman and Kramer, who are married, received Lifetime Achievement Awards during the 2024 African Media Leaders Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, for 'exceptional contributions to media development in Africa.' The third co-founder and AllAfrica's executive chair, Amadou Mahtar Ba from Senegal, said at the ceremony, 'In an era where the media landscape continues to change at a breathtaking pace, Tamela Hultman and Reed Kramer remain beacons of inspiration, reminding us of the enduring power of truth and the boundless potential of digital innovation.' AllAfrica is using artificial intelligence to increase collaborative content creation with staff in Dakar, Cape Town, Nairobi, Monrovia and Washington, D.C. The site will help enable around 100 print and broadcast partners across Africa to use the newest Voice AI and Voice Agent technologies to boost efficiency and revenues. Sustaining an independent news agency is increasingly challenging, Hultman says. But 'covering Africa — with its dynamism, creativity and vast untapped youth market — is critical to United States strategic interests.' AllAfrica's multi-national staff, Hultman and Kramer say, is dedicated to being the voice of 'All Africa All the Time.'
The Print
2 days ago
- Business
- The Print
‘Said I treated her like bachchi, bitched about her'—behind Sitharaman's ire at ex-finance secy Subhash Garg
This resulted in a 'broken functional relationship' between the two, and Garg's eventual resignation as finance secretary, he has written in this richly detailed account of the rough and tumble of administrative life, including the many run-ins he had with politicians throughout his career. The reason for her angst? She thought that Garg went about 'bitching' about her and treating her like a bachchi (child). New Delhi: Soon after she assumed the charge of the finance ministry, Nirmala Sitharaman's attitude towards the finance secretary, Subhash Chandra Garg, was frosty, the IAS officer of 1983 batch Rajasthan cadre has written in his new book, 'No, Minister: Navigating Power, Politics and Bureaucracy with a Steely Resolve'. In the book, he also describes former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje as an 'official split personality,' who felt 'cheated' when he was called by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in 2014, soon after Modi became PM. Also Read: Home Secy Govind Mohan joins IAS/IPS/IRS officers who have benefited from Modi govt's extension culture A strange accusation—'bitching' about the finance minister On their official visit to Japan in June 2019, Garg complimented Sitharaman for speaking effectively at the G-20 finance ministers' meeting. Her reaction surprised him. 'I hope I did not disappoint you,' she retorted. 'My suspicion that she was carrying biases against me were confirmed but I chose to ignore it,' Garg writes. The second instance came soon after. In June, 2019, Garg sought to conclude a pre-budget meeting with stakeholders by thanking them for their participation, and telling them their inputs will be put up in front of the minister for her consideration. 'I will abide by what the finance secretary says, especially a finance secretary who is much older than me in the finance ministry, and not discuss the suggestions,' Garg recalls her as saying. She did not close the meeting thereafter, and the stakeholders continued to make their interventions. Even as they were talking, Sitharaman turned to Garg, and said, 'What do you think, I cannot violate you? I would.' When Garg went to her room to clear the air after the meeting, she was 'livid' and 'relentless', he writes. 'She said I treated her like a bachchi (child). At one stage, she said that I had gone to various people and 'bitched' about her, which was false. She also threatened to bring the entire matter to the notice of the prime minister.' 'I don't know what had got into her. It was clear, though, that there was a serious problem and that our functional relationship had broken down,' Garg says. In the run-up to the Budget, things became worse. While the finance minister and secretary are supposed to work in tandem on the budget speech, which is closely vetted by the prime minister, the finance minister refused to share the draft of the speech with Garg before the meeting with the PM, he said. 'This created an unprecedented situation. I was responsible for finalising the speech and seeing it through to print without any glitches. Further, I was also primarily responsible for presenting and defending the speech in the PMO,' he writes. 'Still, I did not have a draft of it which my finance minister had finalised.' The 'last straw' for Garg was, however, the non-banking financial company (NBFC) package, which the PMO wanted to announce. The secretary of the Department of Financial Services (DFS), Rajiv Kumar, who recently retired as the chief election commissioner, proposed amendments in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Act, including conferring regulatory and resolution jurisdiction to RBI. Garg opposed this. While Sitharaman sided with Garg on this issue, he ended up irking Nripendra Misra, former principal secretary to the PM. The PMO decided to go ahead with the initial proposal made by Kumar. Garg signed the file with a fresh note saying that the proposal of the DFS is to be accepted. Sitharaman—who he says, 'found it difficult to clear any file on which differing views were recorded' —wanted Garg's earlier oppositions to be removed. 'She would not sign the file with the earlier notes still in it. Her office conveyed this clearly to Rajiv. Rajiv told me the note sheets recorded earlier would have to be taken out, destroyed and replaced with new note sheets with the same dates and numbers,' he writes. 'Though I had never allowed such a thing in my life, I acquiesced only to ensure that the budget process could go through.' 'But I decided that I would not be party to something like this ever again. It was the moment I made up my mind to quit the IAS,' he writes. 'Official split personality' This was not the first time Garg had irked a politician. In 2014, Garg was called by P.K. Mishra, then Additional Principal Secretary to the newly appointed Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and was asked to join as India's Executive Director at the World Bank. His acceptance irrevocably antagonised his then chief minister, Vasundhara Raje, with whom he had worked for several years. Raje had an 'official split personality'—extraordinarily efficient and transparent on one hand, but 'different' on matters concerning revenue-earning departments like excise, land allotment, etc., he says. Yet, he enjoyed a close working relationship with her for years. When Raje learnt of his appointment, 'all hell broke loose' in Rajasthan, he writes. 'She was infuriated and felt cheated,' he writes. 'She summoned Rajiv Mehrishi (then the chief secretary of Rajasthan) and declared, 'Subhash is not going anywhere.'' She asked Mehrishi to write to the PMO that Garg will not be relieved, but the chief secretary advised her against it, given that 'the relationship between the two was also not very cordial'. Later, Garg was unceremoniously excluded from a cabinet meeting for which he went, and his relieving orders were suddenly handed to him. He was asked to immediately proceed on central deputation without even a courtesy visit to Raje, which he requested twice. 'I made one more request to see her before I departed Jaipur lock, stock and barrel on 24 September,' he writes. 'Her secretary did not revert. I decided that was the end of the matter. I never reached out to her thereafter. We have neither met nor spoken to each other since September 2014.' The recalcitrant minister Unlike Sitharaman and Raje, Garg did not work directly with the 'recalcitrant minister' Jayanthi Natrajan, who was the environment minister in the 'policy paralysis' era of the UPA II. In 2013, when Garg was appointed in the cabinet secretariat, first as a joint secretary and then an additional secretary, there was an 'evident rot' in the environment ministry, he writes. Not only was it procedurally difficult to get clearances, Natarajan 'sat on files for months', he writes. 'The environment secretary's helplessness was apparent—there were over 400 files reportedly pending, waiting for the minister's approval and signature,' he says. Even the constitution of the cabinet committee on investments did not succeed in getting the 'recalcitrant minister' to act. He relates one particular incident, 'a bizarre spectacle', where Natrajan kept former prime minister Manmohan Singh waiting for 40 minutes at a meeting of the cabinet committee on investments. When she finally showed up, she just said she would take more time to examine the projects without any explanation for the delay, Garg writes. 'The meeting ended with the prime minister advising the minister to try to clear the projects at the earliest,' he says. 'No one needed better evidence to conclude how weak and ineffectual Manmohan Singh had become in his own cabinet.' In the over-400-page book, Garg also writes of the difficult relationship he shared with Andhra Pradesh chief minister Chandrababu Naidu and former principal secretary to the PM, Misra. Naidu, who like present times was a key coalition partner of the NDA government in the early 2000s, sought to direct disproportionate amount of central funds to Andhra Pradesh, Garg writes. When as director in the Department of Economic Affairs (DEA), Garg sought to check this, Babu started 'baying for his blood', he says. As for Misra, on one occasion, Garg says he told him, 'Don't ever go to the PM over my head.' On another, he explicitly said, 'The prime minister is unhappy with you. The finance minister is unhappy with you. Subhash, you are not in tune with the thinking of the government.' (Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri) Also read: IAS seeing progress on gender parity—1 of 5 secretaries at Centre are women
Malay Mail
4 days ago
- Business
- Malay Mail
China says exports reflect demand, not bid for world market dominance
BEIJING, July 20 — China is not seeking to dominate global markets, Vice Finance Minister Liao Min said on Friday while defending the country's trade practices during a G-20 gathering near Durban, South Africa. He said most of China's production serves domestic demand, with exports only responding to overseas needs and not part of a wider strategy to flood foreign markets, Bloomberg reported. Liao said China's recent economic performance, including 5.3 per cent growth in the first half of the year, contributes stability at a time when global markets face uncertainty. 'China's certainty and stability are the greatest contributions it makes to the world today,' Liao said, stressing the country's shift toward a consumption-led economy. He noted that 86.4 per cent of China's growth came from domestic demand and that consumption alone drove an average of 56.2 per cent of GDP gains over the past four years. The government is continuing to promote consumption through measures such as 300 billion yuan in special sovereign bonds aimed at boosting sales of electronics, home appliances and cars. China recorded a goods-trade surplus of about US$586 billion (RM2.5 trillion) in the first half of 2025, partly due to exporters accelerating shipments amid fears of new US tariffs. While this export momentum may slow later in the year, economists believe China could still post a record annual surplus exceeding US$1 trillion. Liao argued that China's current-account surplus stood at 2.2 per cent last year, a figure he called globally reasonable and not indicative of excessive trade dominance. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has accused China of extreme trade imbalances and suggested the country is trying to export its way out of a property crisis. Liao rejected overcapacity claims as oversimplified, saying large market share in some sectors does not prove China is distorting global trade. He also voiced strong support for multilateralism and praised the G-20 finance ministers' joint communique, calling it a sign of continued global cooperation despite trade tensions.
Straits Times
4 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
China defends growth model, plans consumption as greater driver
Find out what's new on ST website and app. Consumption has driven an average of 56.2 per cent of China's growth gains over the past four years. DURBAN, South Africa – China's trade with the world is within reasonable bounds, and the nation is not out to dominate global markets, a senior official has said, pointing to figures showing domestic consumption is driving economic growth. 'Most of China's production is intended to meet domestic demand,' Finance Vice-Minister Liao Min said in an interview on July 18 near Durban, South Africa, where he was attending a gathering of Group of 20 (G-20) policymakers . 'When there's demand from abroad, China exports accordingly. This does not mean, however, that China is trying to dominate every market,' he said. Mr Liao also hailed the latest Chinese GDP growth figures as helping to contribute to the world economy at a decisive moment. Economists have marked down their projections for global growth in 2025 due to the onslaught of tariff increases by US President Donald Trump. Figures this week showed China's expansion at 5.3 per cent for the first half of 2025 , 'in line with expectations,' Mr Liao said. 'China's certainty and stability are the greatest contributions it makes to the world today because what the global economy needs most right now is stability and certainty,' Mr Liao said. 'We are steadily advancing toward an economic model driven by consumption, while at the same time maintaining a relatively balanced foreign trade.' The latest China GDP figures showed exports supported growth in the most recent quarter. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Bukit Panjang LRT disruption: Train service resumes after power fault affects 13-station line Asia Autogate glitch causes chaos at KLIA and Johor checkpoints, foreign passport holders affected Singapore A deadly cocktail: Easy access, lax attitudes driving Kpod scourge in S'pore Singapore 'I thought it was an April Fool's joke': Teen addicted to Kpods on news that friend died Singapore Who decides when you can't? A guide on planning for end-of-life care Singapore S'pore sees no baby boom in Year of the Dragon despite slight rise in births in 2024 Singapore New auto pet wash service in Buona Vista draws flak, but company stands by its safety Singapore 314 suicides reported in Singapore in 2024, remains leading cause of youth deaths The country logged a goods-trade surplus of about US$586 billion (S$752 billion) in the first half of 2025, due in part to exporters front-loading shipments on tariff fears. While export momentum is expected to cool in the coming months, some economists still see a record full-year surplus above US$1 trillion. Mr Liao said that, over the past four years, consumption has driven an average of 56.2 per cent of China's GDP gains. That was 8.6 percentage points higher than during the 2016-2020 period, he said. Domestic demand, as a whole, accounted for 86.4 per cent of China's growth, he said. He also said China's current account surplus – the broadest measure of trade, as it includes services and some financial transactions – was about 2.2 per cent in 2024, a level 'recognised globally as reasonable' and indicating the share of its shipments worldwide is 'not excessively high'. China's critics have used other metrics. A top US Treasury official cited figures in 2024 showing China's manufacturing-goods trade surplus approaching 2 per cent of world GDP, roughly twice the share of Japan's in the early 1990s. Current Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has repeatedly called China ' the most imbalanced economy in the history of the world'. Speaking at a congressional hearing in June, Mr Bessent charged Beijing with 'trying to export their way out' of the nation's domestic real estate slump. Mr Liao's comments come ahead of an expected fresh round of trade talks with the United States in the coming weeks. He did not offer any specific comment on Mr Bessent's criticism. Mr Liao has been a key member of China's team of negotiators that reached a trade-war truce with their American counterparts in Geneva, and again in London, earlier in 2025. Consumption aid Mr Liao also said looking at a particular sector can give a flawed perspective of China's trade. 'Just because China holds a large market share in certain products doesn't mean it should be accused of overcapacity,' he said. 'Such claims are oversimplifications and fail to capture the full reality.' The huge uncertainty surrounding Mr Trump's levies on Chinese goods has added urgency in Beijing to shift its growth toward domestic consumption. The government has doubled the amount of ultra-long special sovereign bond issuance, aimed at subsidising consumer purchases of electronic products, home appliances and cars. That took the total to 300 billion yuan (S$54 billion). More than half of the allowance was used in the first half, incentivising sales of about 10 times that amount. For the longer term, the authorities will seek to expand service industries and promote the green and digital sectors, with a goal of propelling economic transformation, beefing up consumer spending power as jobs and incomes rise, Mr Liao said. Meanwhile, the government will continue strengthening social safety nets, including pensions to ensure stable growth in consumer spending over the long run, he said. BLOOMBERG
Straits Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
While You Were Sleeping: 5 stories you might have missed, July 19, 2025
Find out what's new on ST website and app. US President Donald Trump had warned Mr Rupert Murdoch (right), the founder of News Corp, the WSJ's parent company, that he planned to sue. Trump sues Dow Jones, News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, WSJ reporters for libel President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit on July 18 against Dow Jones, News Corp, Rupert Murdoch and two Wall Street Journal reporters, raising claims under federal libel law, court records show. A copy of the complaint was not immediately available. The case was filed in Miami federal court. The lawsuit comes after The Wall Street Journal reported on a 50th birthday greeting to Jeffrey Epstein that Mr Trump allegedly sent in 2003 that included a sexually suggestive drawing and a reference to secrets they shared. Mr Trump aides were also expected on July 18 to ask a court to release grand jury testimony about Epstein, as the president fought back against concerns over his administration's handling of the deceased convicted sex offender's case. READ MORE HERE G-20 communique delivers rare show of unity amid Trump trade war PHOTO: AFP The Group of 20 (G-20) finance ministers and central bank chiefs committed to international policy cooperation in a communique adopted on July 18, finding rare consensus amid escalating tensions over the US trade war. 'The global economy is facing heightened uncertainty and complex challenges, including ongoing wars and conflicts, geopolitical and trade tension,' the communique said. 'We emphasise the importance of strengthening multilateral cooperation to address existing and emerging risks to the global economy.' Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Critical infrastructure in S'pore under attack by cyber espionage group: Shanmugam Singapore What is UNC3886, the group that attacked Singapore's critical information infrastructure? Singapore Alleged Kpod peddler filmed trying to flee raid in Bishan charged with 6 offences Asia Indonesia court jails former trade minister for 4½ years in sugar graft case Singapore Singapore police in contact with Indonesian authorities over baby trafficking allegations Singapore NTU upholds zero grade for student accused of using AI in essay; panel found 14 false citations or data Singapore 7-year-old girl, cabby taken to hospital after vehicle pile-up in City Hall area Singapore Former NUH male nurse charged after he allegedly molested man at hospital The agreement, forged during the G-20 summit in South Africa's eastern KwaZulu-Natal province, was reached despite simmering tensions over US President Donald Trump's trade war, which is set to intensify when higher tariffs take effect on Aug 1. READ MORE HERE Spain confirms using Huawei to store judicial wiretaps PHOTO: REUTERS Spain said it only relies on Huawei Technologies to operate part of its wiretapping system, and dismissed any security risks. Huawei storage within the so-called Sitel judicial wiretapping system 'represents a minor part of a watertight, audited, isolated and certified system in compliance with the national high-level security scheme,' a government official said in a statement on July 18 in response to questions from Bloomberg News. The comments follow recent media reports saying that the government uses Huawei technology to help operate Sitel. The reports led US Senator Tom Cotton and Representative Rick Crawford to write to Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard earlier this week to request that Washington pull back on sharing intelligence with Spain. READ MORE HERE Brazil court orders raids, restraints on Bolsonaro for colluding with Trump PHOTO: EPA Brazil's Supreme Court issued search warrants and restraining orders against former President Jair Bolsonaro on July 18, banning him from contacting foreign officials over allegations he had courted the interference of US President Donald Trump. Federal police raided Bolsonaro's home and put an ankle monitor on him, an escalation in the legal pressure he is already facing and that Mr Trump has tried to relieve with a steep tariff on Brazilian goods. Bolsonaro told Reuters that he believed the court orders were a reaction to Trump's criticism of his trial before the Supreme Court. The court's crackdown on Bolsonaro added to evidence that Mr Trump's tactics are backfiring in Brazil, compounding trouble for his ideological ally and rallying public support behind a defiant leftist government. READ MORE HERE Spain see off spirited Swiss to reach Women's Euro 2025 semi-finals PHOTO: EPA Spain reached the semi-finals of Women's Euro 2025 on July 18 after battling past Switzerland 2-0 as the world champions continued their bid for a first-ever European crown. Athenea del Castillo and Claudia Pina scored the goals in the second half in Bern to give La Roja deserved passage to the last four where they will face either France or Germany on July 16. But Montse Tome's team didn't have it all their own way as hosts Switzerland put up a brave fight in front of a passionate crowd at the Wankdorf Stadium.
