text:
Heavy snowfall kills tourists at a hill station in Pakistan · Global Voices
R Umaima Ahmed

Snow in Murree, Punjab, Pakistan. Image from Flickr by Jannino. CC BY-NC 2.0.
At least 23 people, including women and children, have died in cars that were stranded due to heavy snowfall in Murree and Nathia Gali hill stations just 66 km away from Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan.
On January 7, a snowstorm hit Murree with a snowfall up to 1.2 m (4 ft) deep with the temperature dropping below 8 degrees Celsius. A small hill station, Murree did not have the capacity to cater to the amount of traffic that had reached, causing a major traffic jam. People spent a night in their cars, and several people died from hypothermia or asphyxiation from inhaling fumes after running the engine for a long period to keep the car heaters on.
Every winter, hill stations receive a huge influx of tourists from across Pakistan to witness the snowfall. It is a season when landslides are common, and roads are blocked, often leaving people trapped for days. While these hill stations lack basic essential facilities like gas and water all year round, an unusually heavy snowfall this year complicated things.
On January 4, Rawalpindi Police put up a video on social media to explain the severe weather conditions in Murree and what precautionary measures drivers must take while traveling to hill stations. On January 5, Pakistan Meteorological Department issued a press release warning of heavy rain with snowfall over the hills from January 6 to 9. The same day, Fawad Hussain, the federal minister for information and broadcasting, praised how tourism was excelling in the region:
مری میں ایک لاکھ کے قریب گاڑیاں داخل ہو چکی ہیں ہوٹلوں اور اقامت گاہوں کے کرائے کئ گنا اوپر چلے گئے ہیں سیاحت میں یہ اضافہ عام آدمی کی خوشحالی اور آمدنی میں اضافے کو ظاہر کرتا ہے اس سال سو بڑی کمپنیوں نے 929 ارب روپے منافع کمایا تمام بڑے میڈیا گروپس 33سے چالیس فیصد منافع میں ہیں
— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) January 5, 2022
Translation: Nearly one million cars have entered Murree. The hotels have raised their prices; tourism will help hotels and residents of the area to flourish economically. This year 100 ventures have earned 929 billion rupees [USD 5.27 billion] and all big media groups have earned 33 to 40% more than usual.
On Friday, January 7, around 157,000 vehicles headed towards Murree as tourists were set to spend the weekend there. Many vehicles were trapped by the heavy snowfall on the congested hilly roads leading to the town and inside the town.
Sensing business, the local hotel proprietors had raised their prices per room. According to local media sources, the usual rooms ranging from PKR 6,000 (USD 34) to PKR 10,000 (USD 57) were being offered at PKR 50,000 (USD 284) to PKR 70,000 (USD 397) per night. Some tourists had no other option but to spend the night in their vehicles in the snowstorm as they could not afford the unexpectedly high-priced accommodations. People on Twitter started a trend #BoycottMurree to protest this. Waqas Akhter tweeted:
Hospitality 😡
These people have always taken advantage of the tourist's compulsion.
If anyone raises their voice against their insolence, then everyone is torturing him.
Everyone should boycott Murree so much that Murree people will be thirsty to see the tourist.#boycottmurree pic.twitter.com/iGAsyqPYxo
— Waqas Akhter 🗨 (@waqasakhter077) January 12, 2022
Later Rawalpindi district administration penalized fifteen hotels in Murree by sealing them for overcharging citizens.
By Saturday 8th January, reports started coming in about casualties, and that there was no help available. Waseem Abbasi shared:
Worst traffic jam in Murree.. Tourists are advised not to travel to hill resort for next few days .. it’s no more romantic ..#Murree pic.twitter.com/VJMThJtqk9
— Waseem Abbasi (@Wabbasi007) January 7, 2022
An Islamabad police officer and seven other members of his family also died.
Deaths of 21 people in vehicles stuck in deep snow near Murree have now been confirmed by Rescue 1122
This includes the family of a Rawalpindi police office who along with his wife and six children also perished pic.twitter.com/J1GCJDIUnD
— omar r quraishi (@omar_quraishi) January 8, 2022
People on social media lashed out at the late response from the government.
Syed Talat Hussain, a journalist tweeted:
Heartbreaking videos of families freezing to death on the roads just two hours drive from Islamabad. Govt is silent. Unrepentant. Unapologetic. Yesterday ministers were celebrating “hundreds of thousands tourists flocking Murree” as a sign of economic revival.
— Syed Talat Hussain (@TalatHussain12) January 8, 2022
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan tweeted that the government had failed to protect its citizens:
HRCP mourns the deaths of at least 22 tourists after they were stranded in heavy snowfall in #Murree in the absence of an early warning system and subsequent traffic regulation by the authorities. That they were not rescued in time reflects poor governance and warrants an inquiry pic.twitter.com/QBavLt63yI
— Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (@HRCP87) January 8, 2022
At last, the state machinery came into action, and the military personnel came to the rescue (a large portion of Murree is occupied by a military base).
Abid Zaman shared:
Pak army deployed to rescue stranded tourists in Murree.♥#Murree pic.twitter.com/RGdjO0uXj2
— Abid zaman (@The_abidzaman) January 8, 2022
Many on Twitter were already upset with the deaths but, after the prime minister's tweet blaming the people for not checking the weather beforehand, they criticized him too:
2) The tweet by PM Imran Khan has added insult to injury. By blaming people and saying govt was caught “unawares” boggles the mind with its sheer insensitivity & callousness. What the govt has done is unpardonable & how it's reacting is equally worse #Murree (2/5)
— Fahd Husain (@Fahdhusain) January 8, 2022
With no immediate and adequate support from the authorities, the locals stepped in to help the people stranded in their cars. Many people shared their personal accounts when they reached back safely:
#Murree #SnowStorm
Just received this eye-witness account of tragic incident freezing 21+ people to death. Jiurnos eulogising military personnel for their supposed help, need to read this carefully. No one did jack to help the stranded. Redacting his name for security concerns. pic.twitter.com/WxOg2UYDmS
— Marvi Sirmed (@marvisirmed) January 9, 2022
The opposition in the senate criticized the government for its “criminal negligence” and demanded the formation of a judicial or parliamentary commission to find the culprits responsible for the casualties.
The Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar formed a five-member committee to probe the tragedy to determine the causes and lapses.

author: R Umaima Ahmed


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Undertones: From ‘Satanic’ QR codes and ‘public enemies’, navigating the pandemic in Russia · Global Voices
Civic Media Observatory

Illustration by Giovana Fleck
Welcome to Undertones, the Civic Media Observatory newsletter! In each edition we analyze an event, emerging trend, or a complex story, identifying key narratives of urgent public interest, delving deep into the context and subtext of local, vernacular and multilingual media. Undertones also offers an entry point into the public datasets that underpin our Observatory work.
Whereas death tolls have decreased in Europe and the United States, Russia has been grappling with the country’s highest number of COVID-related deaths since the start of the pandemic.

More than half of the population have refused the Sputnik vaccine and resisted measures such as a QR code-based COVID passport system, in large part due to deep-seated mistrust of the government. Lev Gudkov, head of the renowned sociological research foundation Levada-Center, also attributes this mistrust to the use of coercive tactics in the promotion of vaccines and QR codes. The prevalence of misinformation further exacerbates the public’s reservations.
Mass protests erupted throughout the country in late 2021 and polarization is deepening, as government members and state media label anti-vaxxers “enemies of the people,” a term loaded with negative historical connotations.
About 67% of the Russian population opposes the introduction of QR code-based COVID-19 passports, a measure the Duma, Russia’s parliament, adopted in mid-December 2021 for entry to cultural institutions, restaurants, and retail outlets. The law will come into effect on February 1, 2022.
In late 2021, about 270 protests erupted across the country in response to the news of these stricter measures. The scale of these demonstrations, especially outside of major metropolitan areas, was even more remarkable considering the government’s brutal repression of political protests in 2019 and 2020.
Opposition to vaccines and COVID-19 passports spans diverse groups, including as “mom groups” on social media, Facebook pages that are anonymous, well-known actors and bloggers, as well as members of the Orthodox Church and established political parties.
Leaders of “approved” opposition parties such as the Fair Party (Spravedlyvaya Rossiya) and the Communist Party have also shared their skepticism about the measures on social media. Gennady Ziuganov, leader of the Communist Party, tweeted that the introduction of QR codes “is tantamount to the introduction of an ‘electronic concentration camp’ regime.”
President Vladimir Putin has vacillated around the issue. He first openly supported the QR code measure, then said “no rash decisions” should be taken.
The channel Tsargrad TV, close to the Orthodox Church, published a popular video on Facebook in December 2021 stating that unvaccinated people will be allowed into churches – going against COVID-19 passport measures – and that prayer is an absolute necessity for healing. People commented that the QR code is a “sign of Satan” and “the mark of the beast.” More analysis here.
A screenshot of the item published by Tsargrad TV.
Possible impact:
Growing anti-vax movements, which lead to sluggish vaccination rates and higher risks of COVID-19-related complications, healthcare system collapse, and deaths.
In late 2021, government members, government-controlled media, and Kremlin-friendly journalists began labeling anti-vaxxers “public enemies” on Facebook pages, official Telegram channels, and in YouTube documentaries.
In a popular December Facebook post, TASS, Russia’s leading news agency, quoted Sergey Novikov, a high-level official in the Office of the President, as saying that “anti-vax statements are really a strategy to destroy the Russian people.” The item elicited comments defending people’s right to express themselves freely.
In Russia, the term “public enemy” had previously been reserved for opposition members and independent media, especially in the context of the new “foreign agent” legislation.
During the Stalinist era, naming a political opponent a “public enemy” could result in a death sentence or hard labor in a penal colony.
After renowned Russian actress and anti-vaxxer Maria Shukshina suggested that COVID-19 vaccination policies had exacerbated Kazakhstan's recent unrest, the pro-Kremlin Telegram channel Metodichka (“Instruction”) threatened her with a probe by Russia’s top Investigative Committee. Metodichka’s statement served as a warning that people could be penalized for expressing anti-vax views. More analysis here.
Possible impact:
Measures limiting freedom of speech in the context of the foreign agents’ law and further polarization among the Russian population.
A peek at the most interesting narrative frames and analysis from across the Observatory:
INDIA: Hindu nationalist accounts on Instagram are spreading communal hatred and mobilizing support for Hindutva
A group of Hindu nationalist pages on Instagram are spreading communal propaganda and hate speech through memes, comments, manipulated videos, and fake news.
MYANMAR: “The Tatmadaw (Burmese Military) is the true and only guardian of Myanmar”
The belief, allegedly by historical precedent, is that the Tatmadaw is the only entity capable of properly governing Myanmar, and that the military should resume its role as leaders of the country.
AFGHANISTAN: “The Taliban have changed”
Many Taliban members and their supporters allege that the current incarnation of the Taliban is different than the Taliban that ruled Afghanistan in the 90s. Some call it “Taliban 2.0”.

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Civic Media Observatory


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A 2019 Kazakh song about Nur-Sultan reads like news commentary in January 2022 · Global Voices
Filip Noubel

A screenshot from the Alibek Narimanov's YouTube channel displaying some of the lyrics of the song “Я умираю в Нур-Султане (I am dying in Nursultan”). The lyrics captured here read as “Отпусти меня из этого рая” (Let me out of this paradise).
In June 2019, the Kazakh band Opia x Kisa v kolese released a song called “I am dying in Nur-Sultan,” referring to the capital of Kazakhstan but also to the cult of personality surrounding its historical leader Nursultan Nazarbayev. Less than three years later, the lyrics of the song sound prophetic in view of the turmoil and violence affecting the country.
The current capital of Kazakhstan has changed its name four times already: from Akmolinsk under Tsarist Russia, to Tselinograd under Soviet rule, to Astana (meaning capital in Kazakh) after independence in 1998, to Nur-Sultan (which can be translated as “radiant sultan”) on March 23, 2019, after the first name of Nursultan Nazarbayev who had led the country for three decades. Nazarbayev stepped down as president in March 2019 but remains a key figure in Kazakh politics and recent history. He was given the title of Elbasy, “Leader of the Nation,” and is the chairman of the ruling Nur-Otan party.
The original band Opia was founded in 2019 by siblings Ilya Menshikov and Yekaterina Zagorovskaya, who now operate under two separate labels, hence the double name Opia x Kisa v kolese. According to their producer Ruslan Yakupov, who created Qazaq Indie, a label for alternative Kazakh music, and was interviewed by Global Voices over WhatsApp, the intent of the song is not political but rather ironic.
As the lyrics show, the message is one of mockery:
Мой Елбасы, отпусти меня из этого рая
Мой народ никогда не востанет
Я не знаю серой степи края
Я умираю в Нур-султане
Заблокируй интернет, вдруг я выложу это в сеть
Арестуй меня, я не должна была петь
Нарожу десять детей, назову их Нурсултаны
И пускай они правят в Нур Отане
Это мой газ и моя нефть
Из путей для нас здесь только смерть
Я пытался найти смысл жизни, но не смог
Черт бы побрал Алматинский смог
Скорей свяжите вы меня уже на площади
Мои слова так много значат, но не слышно их
Вывешу и напишу на своем чистом плакате на мосту
My Elbasy, let me out of this paradise
My people will never rise in revolt
I do not know the end of the gray steppe
I am dying in Nursultan
Block the internet, in case I would post this
Arrest me, I am not supposed to sing
I will give birth to ten children, will call them Nursultan
And let them guide the Nur Otan party
It is my gas and my oil
The only way out for us is death
I tried to find meaning to this life, but couldn't
To hell with the smog in Almaty
Just tie me up on the square
My words are so meaningful  they can't be heard
I will write them up on a clean poster and hang it on the bridge
The song does strongly echo the general feeling of many Kazakhs who have experienced corruption and an increasingly authoritarian government for decades now. Thus it comes as no surprise that it seems to describe the January 2022 events that rocked Kazakhstan and did lead once again to internet shutdowns, arrests, and censorship.
As the internet is gradually restored in Almaty where she lives, media expert, Gulim Amirkhanova started a long Facebook post on January 11 by quoting the line of the song that says “Elbasy, let me out of this paradise.”
As she told Global Voices:
Ну эта песня как раз передает настроение и атмосферу нашего состояния. «Отпусти нас из этого рая». Только рай в кавычках тут должен быть, и вместо Нур-Султана – Алматы. Состояния сегодня – после всего, что мы пережили и как прожили эти дни.
This song precisely conveys the mood and atmosphere of our current situation. “Let us out of this paradise.” But here paradise must be written in quotation marks, and instead of Nur-Sultan, we have Almaty. It is our situation today, after all we went through, how we made it through those days.
The song is also available on Spotify:
Find more song recommendations and playlists on Global Voice's Spotify collection.

author: Filip Noubel


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Death of a student sparks debate on religious community-run housing in Turkey · Global Voices
Arzu Geybullayeva

“turning in on myself” by creating in the dark is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
Content notice: This article contains mentions of suicide, murder, and mental health issues.
Enes Kara, 19, was a second-year medical student at Elazığ Fırat University Medical Faculty. On January 11, Kara committed suicide. In a video recording the 19-year-old left behind, he explained the unbearable compulsory indoctrination at the student housing his family sent him to live in, and the lack of hope for his future. “I have lost my entire joy for life and enthusiasm in the situation that I have found myself in,” Kara said in the video.
His video went viral on social media and reminded viewers of previous cases of violence, abuse, and murder at religious community-run student housing in recent years.
In December 2021, an 18-year-old computer engineering student was beheaded by a cook who worked at the dorm which was run by a religious cult. With Kara's death, controversy over private religious community-run housing has emerged with critics calling on the ruling Justice and Development Party to abolish these dormitories altogether and turn them into public student housing. As private institutions, there is little government regulation or oversight into these communities, compared to government housing.
Kara lived in brotherhood (tarikat) housing of the Islamic, Nur movement. There are numerous religious housing communities in the country, “run by the religious orders known as the ‘tarikats’ and brotherhoods known as the ‘cemaat,'” explains journalist Amberin Zaman in her reporting for AlMonitor.
According to researcher Salim Çevik, the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) “maintains a special relationship [with these communities] based on a policy of carrots and sticks.” This policy is largely dominated by the ruling party making “state resources available to these religious communities in an exchange for electoral support,” opines Çevik. He added:
One typical aspect of such government support is providing land and direct financial support for formal institutions built up by religious organisations. These include a wide range of institutions, including schools, universities, dormitories, Quran schools, and media organisations. A second type of support involves opening up state cadres exclusively to certain religious organisations.
There are approximately 30 religious communities and sects in Turkey according to Dokuz Eylül University professor, Esergül Balcı, who published a research paper in 2018 on how religious communities, religious sects, and cults influenced Turkey's education system, with over 400 branches and 800 madrassas (an Islamic religious school) spread out across the country. According to Balci's findings, these religious sects flourished under the ruling AKP party.
Meanwhile, journalist Amberin Zaman reported that under the former head of the religious education department, Nazif Yilmaz, who was recently appointed deputy minister for education and served in his former position since 2014, the number of Islamic clerical-training middle schools rose from 1,036 to some 3,427.
At the time of her research, Balcı found over 2.5 million Turks had some kind of affiliation with these religious sects and that a “third of Turkey's 10,000 private schools had links with at least one fraternity. So did 2,800 of the country's 4,000 private dormitories.” The exact number of housing units operated by these groups is still unknown. As a result, “cults are said to operate thousands of [dormitories] in the country,” and “cannot be inspected,” reported Gazete Duvar.
In his 2019 book on the topic, investigative journalist Timur Soykan said these groups have enjoyed a “golden age” under the ruling party.
These dormitories are also the cheapest. Students from families with less financial means, who cannot find accommodation at government-run dormitories often have no choice but to stay in religious community housing.
But the low price comes with strings. There are specific classes residents must take, and rules and duties they must adhere to. In an interview with Gazete Duvar, the president of the All Dormitory and Private Housing Services Employers’ Union (TÜYİS), Umut Gezici, said, “families are not aware of the dangers awaiting their children at these dormitories, but left with no option as they offer relatively cheap means of accommodation.”
In his video, Kara said he was forced to pray five times a day and attend religious classes. He spent his little free time studying for his own classes.
Lots of anger and sadness in Turkey after 20-yr-old university student #EnesKara committed suicide after detailing the anguish he encountered living in a dorm run by a religious sect. According to the poll below, 82% of people in Turkey would not send their kids to such dorms. https://t.co/RLVFmAAIH4
— Paul Benjamin Osterlund (@Paul_Osterlund) January 11, 2022
The Psychiatric Association of Turkey (PAT) said in a statement, “it is a public obligation to ensure that young people benefit from quality education, housing, food and psychosocial support services,” reported online news platform Bianet.
Kara's university friends read out a letter expressing their sadness. “How many mores losses must we suffer until we do something? How many more young people's laughs should fade away? We demand that this situation be addressed and families, teachers and the administration do something about this situation. We are here today as the students of Fırat Medical Faculty and as friends of Enes. You will always be 19 years old.”
Opposition parties have also criticized the lack of government-funded student housing and options for students forced to live in private dormitories or religious housing. The leader of Deva Party, and former ruling party politician Ali Babacan tweeted:
Bu ülkenin gençleri kendi akılları ve inançları doğrultusunda hareket edebilene dek, onların fikri ve ekonomik bağımsızlıklarını sağlayana dek hiçbirimiz özgür olamayacağız.
Çok üzgünüm. Başımız sağ olsun.#EnesKara pic.twitter.com/8VWogeT60G
— Ali Babacan (@alibabacan) January 11, 2022
Until this country's youth can act based on their own beliefs and decisions and until we can ensure their intellectual and economic freedoms, none of us will be free.
Meanwhile, the ruling party accused the opposition of intentionally calling for “ideological revenge and division.” During the September 2021 housing crisis protests, the ruling party accused students of lying about accommodation shortages. Interior Minister Suleyman Soylu reportedly described them as “professional provocateurs,” accusing them of being affiliated with various terrorist groups and the LGBTQ+ movement, reported journalist Nazlan Ertan for AlMonitor.
According to a report released by SODEVA GENC — the youth branch of the Foundation for Social Democrats — public dorm capacity declined drastically in Turkey since 2020. “Between 2020–2021 at least 20 dorms operated by the Ministry of Education's Higher Education Credit and Boarding Institution (KYK) were shut down.”
In an interview with AlMonitor, Selim Cankara, SODEV GENC spokesperson and a student of international relations, said, “In the last decade, we have seen a strong rise in the number of dormitories or student houses run by religious foundations. Our report has made a conservative estimate that 17% of all dorms belong to these religious sects, but even this may be understated.”

author: Arzu Geybullayeva


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How e-bikes can promote cycling in Tbilisi · Global Voices
Hans Gutbrod

“eBike inside the Greenwich Foot Tunnel” by londoncyclist is licensed under CC BY 2.0
This article was first published on Investor.ge. An edited version is republished here with the permission of the original website.
After years of construction, Tbilisi is now abundant with bike paths and trails — but where are the cyclists? There is still only a trickle of commuters moving on spokes, rather than the steady flow city planners were hoping for.
One factor that could soon change this is the increasing availability of e-bikes. Bike aficionados note that Tbilisi’s many hills might be deterring potential cyclists. E-bikes could make all the difference by helping when the going gets tough.
Jeffrey Kent, the honorary consul of the Republic of Ireland, is an early e-bike adopter in Tbilisi. While his drilling work often takes him outside the city, he says that once in town, he usually leaves the car at the office and returns home by e-bike: “I mostly enjoy not being frustrated by traffic,” he says, adding that biking past card stuck in long traffic jams offers a special thrill. Jeffrey is one of several million who have taken up e-bikes around the world — no wonder the CEO of Bosch eBike Systems estimates that half the bikes sold in the EU in 2025 will have a motor, according to a report by the Financial Times.
So what inhibits the uptake of e-bikes in Georgia in 2021? Some of the factors preventing their wider adoption may be about to melt away. For a few years now, premium bike shops such as Bikes.ge have offered quality e-bikes as part of their selection. Bikes.ge says they have sold 25 e-bikes in the last two years. Local availability is critical, as airlines do not permit e-bikes as sports equipment because their batteries are a fire hazard.
While e-bikes remain expensive, proponents say that their cost should be seen in the context of them replacing a car for most urban trips: half the wheels and double the fun. While midmarket e-bikes are priced at USD 2,000–4,000 (GEL 6,150–123,00), a steep cost even inside the EU, these remain more affordable than cars.
Volto Bikes, a Tbilisi-based company, converts existing bikes into e-bikes as a less expensive alternative. Used e-bikes, or budget versions with limited ranges, are available at upwards of USD 1,200 (GEL 3,690).
With such an investment, protection from theft is a major concern: “I can leave my house with a bike,” comments one cyclist, “but then I don’t know where to park it once I reach the destination and the risk of somebody just taking it away is quite big.” Here, too, some solutions are now finally making progress. Several startups have developed viable GPS trackers. Users can set an alarm to receive a notification once the bike changes its GPS position. An e-Bike battery can power a tracker for weeks and send signals via GSM/mobile phone networks. Tracker company PowUnity claims that it has assisted in the recovery of more than 160 stolen e-bikes in recent months. It is likely that once these systems catch on in Georgia, a few bike thieves will be surprised to find their pursuers so close on their heels.
The tracking systems don’t, however, solve the overall difficulties of parking the e-bike. Due to the heavy battery and engine, many mid-range models weigh more than the luggage limit of even generous airlines. Add in some shopping, and the weight becomes a major challenge for upper-level apartment dwellers.
There will be a need for new urban solutions. With video cameras, locking stations, and possibly even electrical charging, e-bike owners may well become enthusiastic clients for underground parking. London has pioneered neighborhood bike hangars, which replace street-side car parks and can house six bikes at a time, with yearly rental fees offsetting the municipal subsidy. The hangars are locked, in addition to the bike lock, giving extra protection also from the elements.
Bike lifts are another potential solution. In this popular storage solution, bikes are lifted out of reach,  under a balcony, for example.
Sustainability is a key feature of e-bikes. Some studies have suggested that cycling could have ten times the positive impact towards reaching net-zero than a comprehensive switch to electric cars. While e-bikes need to charge, one Tesla could power an entire fleet of them.
Bikers in Tbilisi, Georgia, ride during a 350.org campaign against Climate Change. 350.org Flickr used via (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Yet the parking conundrum illustrates that increasing cycling in Tbilisi requires more than just an infrastructure boost. Many still see the roads as too fraught, despite the many new bike paths. Vakho, a local student, says that he “thought about cycling as a way to get past the terrible Tbilisi traffic, especially on big crowded streets. But I can’t do it because the roads are too dangerous.”
Reducing speeding and reckless driving is essential to make more space for more vulnerable bikers. Here, too, the actions of a few hundred or thousand men (and it’s almost exclusively men) with misdirected testosterone greatly constrain what everyone else can do and enjoy in the country. There is still a long way to go (and a few extra-reckless drivers to be removed from the road) before many parents will be comfortable strapping their children onto a Cargo e-Bike to wheel them to school.
For safety reasons, too, it would make sense for Georgia to adopt regulations similar to those in many other countries: bikes that offer assistance up to a maximum of 25 km/h are free to use. Faster bikes, with assistance up to 45 km/h, require registration, insurance, and a helmet.
For many in Georgia, another basic building block is missing: “I would never cycle because I do not know how. They [parents] never taught me,” says Iva. Another student comments that while they cycle in their village, they don’t think they have enough practice to navigate mean city streets.
Social contagion is likely to lead to dynamic change. “I don’t have anyone to cycle with,” a student said. Bringing a friend out to bike, and showing them safe paths to cycle, may thus be one of the single best ways Tbilisi’s cyclists can help people switch. The Caucasus Cycling Network, a group of cycling enthusiasts, regularly organizes community rides, with increasing popularity.
With regards to taking safe paths, e-bikes could be a game-changer. There are many back roads in Tbilisi, some of them with potholes that make them thoroughly unattractive for anyone in a low-seated BMW. Douglas Morris and other local cyclists created a detailed map showing such paths, available here. These scenic back alleys could indeed contribute to a greater flow of cyclists, but they often require that bit of extra uphill muscle. As the old adage goes, “sweat saves blood,” and now, that friendly e-bike motor can take care of the sweat, too.

author: Hans Gutbrod


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In Georgia, six months after the tragic death of journalist, authorities blame drug overdose · Global Voices
Arzu Geybullayeva

Aleksandre Lashkarava, screenshot from DW report on journalist's death.
Georgian authorities have finally released an autopsy report for TV Pirveli journalist and cameraman Aleksandre Lashkarava, 37, known as Lekso to his colleagues, who was found dead in his apartment on July 11 in Tbilisi. Lashkarava was among some 50 journalists who sustained injuries while covering the Tbilisi Pride March on July 5.
The report claims that death was caused by drug overdose, a conclusion questioned by Laskharava's colleagues, government critics, and watchdog organizations. “The day after Lashkarava was found, before the cause of death was fully established, the authorities publicly alleged he had died from a drug overdose, based on what they called ‘interim forensic results’ of a blood test,” said Giorgi Gogia, Associate Director for Europe and Central Asia Division at the Human Rights Watch, in an interview with Global Voices.
After the death, authorities took the journalist's body from his home against his family's wishes and prevented them or their lawyer from seeing the body for several hours. Authorities quickly released preliminary conclusions that Laskharava died of a drug overdose, which “[raised] serious questions as to the motives of the authorities, and whether they were trying to manipulate the public opinion, considering that the Georgian Law does not recognize the notion of ‘interim forensic results,'” explained Gogia.
In December last year, Lashkarava's family lawyer, Beka Takalandze confirmed the family was still waiting on autopsy results. The same month, Jeanne Cavelier, the head of the Eastern Europe and Central Asia Reporters Without Borders office, decried the lack of progress in the investigation as “an alarming situation” and a sign of a “lack of political will.”
It took local authorities another month to release the autopsy results. On January 7, authorities in Georgia concluded that the journalist died of “severe cardiovascular and respiratory failure caused by heroin intoxication,” reported OC Media.
“The 4 of 37 pages of the report released to the press also state that several other drugs were found in Lashkarava’s body,” said OC Media. The same day, local authorities released the autopsy results, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) added Laskharava's name to its observatory of killed journalists in 2021 — a move the local ruling government severely criticized. The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it will send the final autopsy report to UNESCO to update the observatory.
Georgian civil society groups are unsurprised that the autopsy report concludes Laskharava died of a drug overdose. When Laskharava was found dead, the state quickly pushed a narrative that he was an addict, and police seized Laskharava's body, despite his family's refusal of a state-led forensic autopsy and examination. “His body was literally snatched by the law enforcements from his house before the arrival of the family. It took over five months for the authorities to publish fragments of the final forensic exam results,” Gogia told Global Voices.
A day after the journalist's body was taken from his home, the director of the interior ministry’s central criminal police department, Mamuka Chelidze, said that a preliminary toxicology report had found traces of a number of drugs in Lashkarava’s system, including the painkillers morphine, codeine, and gabapentin; as well as tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the active substance in cannabis; and monoacetylmorphine, one of the active ingredients in heroin. In the same statement, the Ministry of the Interior claimed the authorities had evidence of Lashkarava buying drugs on July 10, in the form of CCTV footage of Laskharava in Ponichala district of the capital, Tbilisi, an area known for its drug activity, according to Agenda.ge reporting.
On July 11, thousands of Tbilisi residents gathered outside the parliament building in silent protest to express support for the journalist and the crackdown on independent civil society over the recent months. At least 19 local civil society organizations signed a letter demanding Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili and Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri's resignation.
There were no resignations. The only action that did take place was a fine issued against the Ministry of the Interior. Following the released CCTV footage, the State Inspector’s Office, a government agency set up in 2019 tasked with investigating grave crimes by state officials, fined the Ministry GEL 2,000 (approximately USD 640)for violating personal data. The State Inspector Office is now at risk of being closed.
Another regressive law passed in the Caucasus today, a day before the New Year’s. #Georgia🇬🇪 overhauls the State Inspector’s Office in charge of investigating official abuses. Lack if transparency, consultations & rushed bill likely indication of retaliatory nature. Alarming! https://t.co/IOVmWNQXw8
— Giorgi Gogia (@Giorgi_Gogia) December 30, 2021
The autopsy report publicized on January 7, claimed that the late journalist's family members were informed about the final autopsy results, a claim the family's lawyer Takalandze rejected. According to OC Media, “Takalandze told OC Media that he and the family had found out about the results from media reports and that no one from either the interior ministry or National Forensic Bureau had contacted him or the family.”
In a tweet, Reporters Without Borders called for the release of a full forensics report and a transparent probe.
#Georgia : the Parliament Speaker criticized the @UNESCO for adding cameraman Aleksandr Lashkarava on its list of journalists killed in 2021. Although the authorities still defend he died from overdose, RSF demands the full release of the forensic report & a transparent probe. pic.twitter.com/uwlj0KG5Qo
— RSF (@RSF_inter) January 7, 2022
Over the course of the last year, Georgia's media environment experienced some serious setbacks according to the most recent Human Rights Watch country report for Georgia.


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‘Our activism won’t stop’: The Oyan movement recounts the January protests in Kazakhstan · Global Voices
Paolo Sorbello

Inside a police kettling circle, Darkhan Sharipov with a placard “1986 don't forget 2011″ in relation to two historic events of state repression in Kazakhstan: “Zheltoksan” and “Zhanaozen.” Photo from Sharipov's personal archives. Used with permission.
The internet works again after a blackout of five days in Almaty, theater of the bloodiest urban clashes in  Kazakhstan's history. Activists are thus back online trying to make their voices heard, posting their accounts of the days of protests that shook the country and the days of violence that frightened Almaty.
Global Voices spoke to Darkhan Sharipov, an activist of the youth group Oyan, Qazaqstan! (Kazakh for “Wake up, Kazakhstan!” henceforth just Oyan), which was born in 2019 after the resignation of long-time President Nursultan Nazarbayev. For almost three years since its formation, Oyan organized demonstrations, civil rights walks (in defiance of the restrictive regulations on peaceful assembly), and art performances of protest.
On 16 December 2021, Oyan activists performed as peaceful targets of a bloody repression, mourning the 10th anniversary since the police shootings in Zhanaozen, an oil town in the west of the country. Photo from Sharipov's archives. Used with permission.
After the January protest rallies, which were hijacked by violent groups, Oyan activists were targeted as the instigators of the riots. “It's clear to all that Oyan Qazaqstan and the unregistered Democratic Party of [Zhanbolat] Mamai were the accomplices of the terrorists and looters,” said Marat Shibutov, a political analyst close to the country's leadership, in his Telegram channel.
Oyan activists reject this claim as baseless and possibly driven by Shibutov's political agenda against them, especially given that Shibutov was not on the streets with them.
During his January 7 address to the nation, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev accused civil activists of abusing the freedoms they were given.
Some so called “defenders of human rights” and “activists” put themselves above the law and believe that they have the right to gather where they want and say what they want.
While Tokayev didn't name names, it was clear that Oyan was among those targeted by his words.
During a phone interview, Sharipov, a 32-year-old accountant living in Almaty, explained how they gathered in peaceful rallies, how they were met by strong police resistance, and how they witnessed the destruction of Almaty from the sidelines.
GV: Let's go in order. On January 4, Oyan activists were rallying along the streets of Almaty.
Sharipov: Yes, we wanted to show our solidarity with the people of Zhanaozen, who came out in protest the days before for the increase of the price of fuel. We remembered what happened the last time there was a mass protest in that city: in 2011, the state ordered the shooting of unarmed citizens; we did not want that to repeat. We first gathered in the Park of the First President [in the south-western part of the city] and walked north. We started with a few dozen, and we were joined by hundreds of people as we walked. On the other side of the city, at Almaty Arena, members of Oyan joined another peaceful rally, which directed the crowd to the city center. The city was already cordoned off with hundreds, maybe thousands of police forces.
GV: You were chanting “Oyan, Qazaqstan!” and voicing your political demands. How did the police react?
Sharipov: We have our own political demands, which we have expressed for the past three years in all our actions. We want reforms, a multi-party system, and a parliamentary republic. After a long walk, the first crowd was met by special security forces, which stopped us and dragged us into their vans. Eighteen of our members were among the detained people that were transferred to a nearby police station. Our activists then went to the station to request the release of our comrades. Those who were taken in for questioning were treated fairly respectfully. Finally, at 3 a.m. we were told that we could only be released if we left our phones in the station for the night. The police understood that the demonstrators in the protest were communicating via Telegram, WhatsApp, and Instagram, and the crowds were growing. We agreed and left our phones, moving to join our second group, in the city center. The tension there was higher, as the police was pushing back against the demonstrators.
GV: The peaceful protest of January 4 transformed into a riot on January 5. How did this happen?
Sharipov: We went back to the Republic Square in the city center on January 5, late in the morning. We found a different crowd. The akimat [the city government building] was already in flames. Three fire trucks appeared, but with people draped with Kazakh flags on the top. The crowd followed them. Then a tractor appeared, directed to the presidential residence, not too far from the burning akimat. The crowd had pushed back against the police. There were already shootings, we saw wounded people in a pool of blood.
GV: What happened then? And what happened the following day?
Sharipov: We left the square. The chaos was unbearable and we were scared. The following day, other activists rallied peacefully with banners begging the police not to shoot. “We are simple people. We are not terrorists!!!” but bullets were flying. At this point we had nothing to do with the protest.
A post shared by Oyan, Qazaqstan! (@oyanqazaqstankz)
GV: Once the internet connection came back a few days later you found yourself between the attacks of a political analyst and a direct attack by Tokayev, who placed the blame of the riots on activists, as well as on human rights advocates and journalists. What do you think will happen next?
Sharipov: Our activism won't stop for sure. We heard the accusations and reject them. We have never broken the law since our formation almost three years ago. Tokayev's speech has already had consequences: journalists across the country are being detained and questioned for having reported on the protests. We are scared that they could come after us now. The authorities know us well. When I was in the square, I was spotted because I had a red jacket. They knew who I was.
For us, now, the goal is to continue being active and try to be even more transparent about our objectives and vocal in our rejection of violence. We don't know what is happening to the elites and to the system itself. But we don't expect our lives to become easier.

author: Paolo Sorbello


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Syrian survivors of torture rejoice over German court indicting ex-intelligence officer · Global Voices
Okba Mohammed

Screenshot from video by Omar Alshogre, a Syrian activist who endured three years of torture in a secret prison, who said the ruling renews hope that the Bashar al-Assad regime will fall.
Survivors of torture in Syrian prisons celebrated a verdict made at 10 a.m. on Thursday, January 13 by Koblenz Court in Germany, convicting former officer in the Syrian regime Anwar Raslan of crimes against humanity. Many also demanded the end of torture for their loved ones still held in Syrian prisons.
After nearly two years of trial, former colonel Raslan was sentenced to life imprisonment after being found guilty of murdering over 30 people, and sexually assaulting and torturing over 4,000 opposition activists in the notorious Branch 251 of the state's intelligence service, known as Al-Khatib branch, between 2011 and 2012.
Fadwa Mahmoud, a Syrian woman based in Germany, wrote on Twitter:
انا اليوم اتيت الى كوبلنز لاحضر جلسة حكم مجرم من المجرمين في سوريه ولكن هل هذا يحقق لي العداله انا كأم وكزوجه لا تعر ف مصير عائلتها من تسع سنوات .خطوه جيده ولكن نحن بعيدون عن العداله كما بعدي عن احبابي . بدنا العداله للمعتقلين
— فدوى محمود (@fadwa_mahmoud) January 12, 2022
Today I came to Koblenz to attend the sentencing of one criminal from among the criminals of Syria, but does this bring justice to me as a mother and as a wife who does not know the fate of her family for nine years? [It's] a good step, but we are as far away from justice as I am from my loved ones. We want justice for the detainees.”
Anwar Raslan is a Syrian intelligence officer until 2012, and a political refugee in Germany since 2014, where he was active in the political opposition after his defection from the Syrian regime and participated in the Geneva negotiations in 2014.
However, this did not protect him from a warrant issued against him by the German public prosecutor, and did not prevent his arrest on February 13, 2019, along with another lower ranking intelligence officer, Iyad Gharib. Nearly a year ago, Gharib was sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison for complicity in crimes against humanity.
#سماء_محمود تحمل صورة عمها حيان محمود الذي اعتقل في فرع الخطيب عندما كان أنور رسلان مدير التحقيق. :”العدالة أنو ما يشم الهوا والعدالة أنو (أنور رسلان)
ما يطلع طول ما في معتقلين” #الاسد #سوريا #سورية pic.twitter.com/lfDLmIPMHk
— Fattum Abdulfattah (@fattumabdulfat1) January 13, 2022
#Samaa_Mahmoud holds the photo of her uncle Hayyan Mahmoud who was arrested in Al-Khatib branch when Raslan was head of investigations: “Justice is for him not to breathe air, and justice is for him [Anwar Raslan] not to come out for as long as there are prisoners” #Assad #Syria
The sentence, described by the Human Rights Watch as “historic,” is the first against a high-ranking official from the Bashar al-Assad regime for torture and human rights violations.
Omar Alshogre, an activist who survived three years of torture in a secret Syrian prison, said in a video he published on Twitter that the ruling renews hope among Syrians that the regime will fall:
مبروك للشعب السوري الحكم “السجن مدى الحياة” بحق مجرم الحرب أنور رسلان. #مية_وردة pic.twitter.com/MDrhS3kJwH
— Omar Alshogre (@omarAlshogre) January 13, 2022
Congratulations to the Syrian nation the life sentence handed to the war criminal Anwar Raslan.
According to media reports, the German court drew its verdict against Raslan from 100 testimonies of torture survivors in Branch 251who came face to face with the head of the investigations department at the branch, Anwar Raslan, and gave detailed accounts of physical and verbal abuse.
After a complete denial, Raslan amended his statements in his closing arguments and admitted the existence of torture and the killing  ofdetainees inside the branch, but he denied responsibility.
Yassin Al Haj Saleh, a Syrian activist, wrote:
الحكم على أنور رسلان شيء كويس، من أجل الضحايا المباشرين، ومن أجل تجريم مخابرات النظام عموما. وربما يساهم في جعل التطبيع مع النظام أصعب.
لكنه ليس خطوة نحو العدالة للسوريين.
ما في داعي للتهويل، ولا للتهوين.
— Yassin Al Haj Saleh (@Yassinhs) January 13, 2022
Sentencing Anwar Raslan is a good thing, for the sake of the direct victims, and for criminalizing the regime's intelligence services in general. It may contribute to making normalization with the regime more difficult.
But it is not a step towards justice for the Syrians.
There is no need to exaggerate, nor to underestimate, it.
Meanwhile, Mansour al-Omari, a human rights activist and former detainee, wrote on Facebook:
The Koblenz Supreme Court: Life imprisonment for Anwar Raslan for crimes against humanity including torture, 27 murders, and sexual violence. Torture is among the most serious international crimes. Al-Assad’s institutions of torture must ended, not normalized and rehabilitated.”
Journalist Nour Al-Huda Murad, wrote on Twitter:
أهم مافي محكمة #كوبلنز هو الأمل بأن عدالة ما من الممكن تحقيقها، عشرات الشهادات، وآلاف التفاصيل التي توضع في محكمة لأول مرة عما يحدث داخل السجون السورية.
قلوبنا مع كل شاهد اضطر لاستذكار مسلسل من الألم والإفصاح عنه ومواجهة سجانه.
وبانتظار خطوات قادمة ضد مجرمي النظام الطلقاء!
— نور الهدى مراد (@Nour_H_Murad) January 13, 2022
The most important thing in the Koblenz court is the hope that some kind of justice can be achieved. Dozens of testimonies, and thousands of details that are put in court for the first time about what is happening inside Syrian prisons. Our hearts are with every witness who was forced to recall a series of pain, reveal it and confront their jailer. [We are] waiting for the next steps against the regime's criminals who are at large!

author: Okba Mohammed


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Typhoon Rai overwhelms the Philippines’ Queen City of the South · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

A passenger ship ran aground the Cebu Coastal Road while the tower of a shopping mall in the background is badly damaged. Photo by Karlo Mongaya
Nearly a month after Typhoon Rai, locally known as Odette, rampaged through the Visayan Islands and parts of Mindanao, residents of these parts of the Philippines continue to struggle to overcome the devastation brought by the storm on December 16, 2021.
Authorities estimate Typhoon Rai caused USD 548 million (PHP 28 billion) of damage to the region's infrastructure and agriculture. Up to 3.6 million people were affected by the storm with over 76,000 families compelled to stay in evacuation centers as late as December 24, 2021. The death toll reached 405 people with 82 still missing as of January 1, 2022.
Cebu City was hit hard by Typhoon Rai with residential damages reaching USD 33.2 million (PHP 1.7 billion), according to the city's mayor Michael Rama. Electricity is still unavailable in parts of the city and isn't expected to be fully restored until the end of January 2022. The destruction brought on by the typhoon adds stress to an economy already reeling from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Renowned as the Philippines’s “Queen City of the South,” Cebu City is a major commercial, tourist, and cultural hub in the Southern Philippines. It is at the heart of Metro Cebu, which is the country’s second-largest urban center outside the national capital, Manila. In January 2015, the city played host to the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit.
During the height of the storm, some big malls and government offices like the Cebu Provincial Capitol opened their doors to accept evacuees. Netizens captured Typhoon Rai pummeling one of Cebu City’s upscale business districts:
Trees uprooted in IT Park, Apas Cebu City as of 8 pm. Photos by Patrick Lewis Arboneda via @artlubiano who adds, “this is near JP Morgan Chase & Co building. Puno yan ng trees before #OdettePH came.” @rapplerdotcom pic.twitter.com/9RQtkfwkyZ
— inday espina varona (@indayevarona) December 16, 2021
LOOK. In this video, Patrick Lewis Arboneda records what he described to @artlubiano as an “ipo-ipo” (water spout) at the IT Park, in Apas, Cebu City, just before 10 p.m., December 16. @rapplerdotcom #OdettePH pic.twitter.com/lTlFmZBxqu
— inday espina varona (@indayevarona) December 16, 2021
I was visiting my parents and siblings in Talisay City, the suburban sprawl south of Cebu City, when Typhoon Rai struck on the eve of December 16. A power outage immediately ensued that night as strong winds felled trees and damaged homes in the neighborhood including our own.
The next few days were spent cleaning up debris and clearing roads that had become impassable while securing food and necessities for our middle-class household. We got water from a neighbor's manual water pump and charged gadgets in commercial establishments with electric generators. Others are less fortunate.
Fallen trees and debris block a residential street around the author's neighborhood in Talisay City, Cebu. Photo by author
Metro Cebu roads were strewn with fallen trees, power lines, and debris from damaged homes and properties. Local residents endured long lines at gas stations for fuel, water supply shops, cash dispensers, and grocery stores amidst a general blackout and loss of telecommunications signal.
LOOK: Tungkop, Minglanilla, Cebu in the aftermath of #OdettePH as of December 19, 2021. Long lines are also seen at a gas station.
📸 AMA Sugbo-KMU pic.twitter.com/F5Ia9YZ1An
— Aninaw Productions (@AninawProd) December 20, 2021
Ryan Macasero of Philippine news site Rappler's Cebu bureau wrote about his team's experience covering Odette's impact on Cebu City. While going around the city on the morning of December 17, he observed ordinary people helping each other re-establish order amidst the virtual absence of government aid:
There were no authorities in sight. No one manning the chaos at the intersections.
The general mood, however, was hardly lawless. There was no looting. Cebuanos waited for their turns in line at the convenience stores, supermarkets, gas stations once they opened. They waited for their water rations.
There was no violence, only uncertainty – and fear.
While there was news of Typhoon Rai’s looming approach, the lack of warning about its intensity left some residents inadequately prepared for the storm. Some netizens expressed frustration over the lack of national media coverage during the typhoon’s immediate aftermath:
Is it just me or the national media coverage for the onslaught of Super Typhoon Odette in Visayas and Mindanao is not as wide and intense as it should be? People urgently need help and a disaster like this is of national concern. #OdettePH
— Shiella (@shiegotreal) December 18, 2021
Yet local journalists and correspondents themselves weathered the extreme situation to provide coverage of Typhoon Rai:
We're typhoon victims as well but we're on the field, sending as much as we can with what little signal and power we have.
Please bookmark our developing story page especially dedicated to Odette coverage: https://t.co/TYFPZRs6Xg https://t.co/c6omRHBdyt
— Lorraine Ecarma (@lorraineecarma) December 18, 2021
Grassroots-based alternative media like Aninaw Productions, for example, highlighted marginalized sectors and communities.
LOOK: Residents at Sitio Bato, Barangay Ermita and nearby Carbon Public Market receive ‘pospas’ from cause-oriented groups. This is in response to the low food supply in Cebu as a result of Super Typhoon #OdettePH. (1/4)
📸 Alibyo Cebu-Ayuda Network pic.twitter.com/HkbvMS0VRt
— Aninaw Productions (@AninawProd) December 20, 2021
While typhoons are a regular occurrence in a tropical country like the Philippines, stronger typhoons have battered the nation in recent years. Some older residents recall that the last time a storm caused the same level of destruction in Cebu was by Typhoon Mike (locally known as Ruping) in 1990.
Environmentalists say this should be a wake-up call for the government to take measures to concretely address climate change: “These typhoons will get worse, more unpredictable, and more destructive should [government] remain merely reactionary to the climate crisis.”
Conditions are slowly improving for residents in many parts of Metro Cebu as relief and rehabilitation efforts continue in affected areas. But more help is needed, especially in more remote provinces in Visayas and Mindanao which have been similarly hard-hit.
This is especially true with the recent surge of COVID-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant now threatening to spread to parts of the country still reeling from the devastation caused by Typhoon Rai.

author: Karlo Mongaya


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Excitement, misgivings over Japan’s newest bullet train · Global Voices
Nevin Thompson

Map of Kyushu's JR rail network from 2017. The new West Kyushu shinkansen route, which partially links the western city of Nagasaki with the rest of island's high-speed rail network, is not pictured. Photo by Nevin Thompson. Image license: Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)
In early January, devoted railfans in western Japan welcomed the country's newest bullet train (known in Japan as the shinkansen, or super express). As spectators lined up to catch a glimpse of the new N700S train cars as they left the factory, others questioned the utility of the new West Kyushu shinkansen line itself, which remains only partially completed.
西九州新幹線「かもめ」です。背後の古ぼけた工場は、下松の日立製作所　笠戸工場です。 pic.twitter.com/t14uzCrDDm
— Bb go home (@Bbgohome) January 3, 2022
Here's the new West Japan shinkansen (bullet train, or super express), the ‘Kamome’ (seagull). The weathered old buildings in the background make up the Hitachi Kudamatsu plant.
The N700S’s rolling stock (train cars) already travel on the Sanyo and Tokaido shinkansen lines that connect Fukuoka and Kyushu island in western Japan with Tokyo about 1,000 km to the east, at speeds of up to 300 km/h. The train will travel at 265 km/h on the new West Kyushu route.
The new train cars were manufactured by engineering giant Hitachi at its facility in Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi, on the western end of the island of Honshu, north-east of Kyushu. Hitachi's Kudamatsu plant is already a major destination for railfans, partly because newly completed train cars are paraded through town from the factory on their way to the port.
【鉄道】【話題】
JR九州、西九州新幹線･かもめ向けN700S基地への海上輸送を実施。
JR九州･西九州新幹線向け車輌･N700Sが、日立製作所笠戸事業所(山口県下松市)～大村車両基地(長崎県大村市)へ向けて海上輸送される。01/05(水)に車輌を船へ積込む作業が行われ、…続きは↓https://t.co/P3bcKfwGnc
— TNB📺TV D101 ㊗拠点移転二周年㊗ 次回地方撮影日変更 (@tnb_tv_d101) January 6, 2022
Loading the West Kyushu shinkansen cars for sea transport at Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi. The N700S rolling stock, manufactured at the Hitachi facility in Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi, will be transported to Omura, in Nagasaki, by barge starting on January 5, 2022.
Linked article: Loading the West Kyushu shinkansen cars for sea transport at Kudamatsu, Yamaguchi
The new West Kyushu shinkansen line, with its “Kamome” (seagull) N700S rolling stock, promises to link the western city of Nagasaki with the existing high-speed rail network on Kyushu when service begins in fall 2022. Currently, it takes nearly three hours to travel by conventional limited express train to relatively isolated Nagasaki from Fukuoka, Kyushu's main city.
After the new train cars were loaded onto barges at Kudamatsu, enthusiastic trainspotters continued to track their progress through the Inland Sea and on to the neighboring island of Kyushu, and Nagasaki.
西九州新幹線「かもめ」が海を渡ってやってきたよ～。#海上輸送#西九州新幹線#かもめ pic.twitter.com/b6nvhvwL7r
— JR九州長崎支社公式ハッケン君 (@NTKiJRnagasaki) January 12, 2022
Here comes the ‘Kamome’, the new West Kyushu shinkansen!
#marine transport #West Kyushu shinkansen #kamome
針尾送信所を背に走る西九州新幹線かもめ号は胸アツでした☺ pic.twitter.com/6bMrkr78q3
— たいちょー (@Cloudy_hermit) January 8, 2022
The ‘Kamome’ passing by the Hario radio transmission towers in Sasebo (quite near the final destination of rail cars, at Omura, just outside the city of Nagasaki).
The new West Kyushu shinkansen route, which will connect Nagasaki with Kyushu's existing high-speed rail network, is not without controversy. When the route comes on stream sometime in fall 2022, only 66 km of track will be in service, with just three stations, according to the Asahi Shimbun. A journey on the new high-speed route will last just 25 minutes before passengers will need to transfer to slower limited express trains.
The new route has nevertheless been hailed as an economic revitalization tool for Nagasaki prefecture, which is experiencing the sharpest economic decline of all prefectures in Kyushu.
In front of JR Nagasaki Station in August 2019. The entire station complex has been demolished, and a new shinkansen station has since been built. Trams are part of the city's electric light rail network. Photo by Nevin Thompson. Image license: Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0)
With traditional industries such as shipbuilding being phased out, Nagasaki is pinning its hopes on increased tourism. For now, however, the new route potentially saves only 30 minutes in travel time, while increasing the number of transfers to other trains and modes of transportation.
Map of new West Kyushu shinkansen route (red line) that provides service to Nagasaki. The route is still unfinished, so travelers will need to transfer one or two times to reach Fukuoka (green line).
Currently, travelers can transfer from a super-express rail line from Fukuoka or even Tokyo to an existing limited express service that travels directly to the Nagasaki terminus.
With the new, unfinished West Kyushu shinkansen route, travelers will need either make two transfers, or travel on a longer limited express route, as the West Kyushu shinkansen will replace the existing direct service to Nagasaki.
Nevertheless, many Nagasaki residents were waiting to welcome the new train cars to Kyushu and posted their photos to Twitter and other social media platforms.
西九州新幹線かもめ号が千綿駅を通過しました！ pic.twitter.com/PJtsriLYCW
— たいちょー (@Cloudy_hermit) January 9, 2022
The (new) West Kyushu shinkansen ‘Kamome’ cars are passing through our neighborhood!
Suzukawa Ayako, popular YouTube vlogger and railfan, made the trip to Nagasaki from her home just outside of Tokyo to greet the new shinkansen cars.

author: Nevin Thompson


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‘I didn’t ask for it!’: Four women fighting against gender-based violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina · Global Voices
Balkan Diskurs

Illustration based on photo by Pixabay user Geralt, used with permision based on Pixabay license.
This article by Samira Trešnjo was originally published on Balkan Diskurs, a project of the Post-Conflict Research Center (PCRC). An edited version is republished by Global Voices as part of a content-sharing agreement.
The initiative “Nisam tražila” (“I didn’t ask for it”) began when four art students from Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) — Mateja Mavrak, Asja Krsmanović, Ana Tikvić, and Nadina Mičić — reacted to revelations of rape cases in neighboring Serbia. Previously, Serbian actress Milena Radulović and several other women reported the owner of the Belgrade acting school, Miroslav Mika Aleksić, for rape and sexual harassment.
When the four women started talking and sharing their private experiences, they concluded that each of them had been in at least one situation in which they were victims of sexual abuse. They decided to launch the Facebook page Nisam tražila at three o'clock in the morning on January 18, 2021.
Ana Tikvić, one of the leaders of the initiative, recalled in a statement for Balkan Diskurs:
“That Facebook page is just proof that victims have more confidence on an anonymous Facebook page than in the system and organizations that are responsible for dealing with this problem. We received hundreds and hundreds of messages in the first few days. Victims are not ready to report sexual abuse because they do not trust the system, because they do not feel protected, and because they do not think that would solve anything. They don’t trust that the perpetrator would be properly punished, that they will eventually be protected and get justice and at least a little peace that they absolutely deserve.”
She points out that it was a very stressful time for them because they began the page spontaneously without thinking about how it could escalate.
“At some point, we really thought, ‘what do we need this for?’ and then a person messaged us and said, ‘You encouraged me, I feel better, I decided to report my abuser.’ These kinds of messages gave us strength — if we even help one woman, everything is absolutely worth it.”
Since then, the initiative has garnered support across the region of former Yugoslavia, from women and men alike.
For instance, after their page popularized the hashtag #NisiSama (“[Woman,] you are not alone”), the Bosnian band Bombaj Štampa released the eponymous song “Nisi sama” made in cooperation with Serbian rock star Bajaga as expression of support for the movement.
The four young women from the campaign continue publishing cases of violence against women on their Facebook page and post reactions to injustice daily.
Tikvić recalled:
“It was interesting how surprised everyone was and how much they see the rape of this actress as an isolated case — but these things are happening to a much greater extent than we think. Of course, rape is somehow the last degree of sexual abuse and the most extreme, but there are many levels of sexual abuse and harassment that lead to that last most heinous act.”
Social media graphics from the UN Women campaign “Violence is not a private matter.” The text reads “We demand enactment of a new Law on Protection from Domestic Violence in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in line with the recommendations of the Istanbul Convention.”
UN Women in Bosnia and Herzegovina, initiated the public campaign “Violence is not a private matter,” emphasizing that half of all women and girls over the age of 15 in BiH have experienced serious violence, most often at home, and that the perpetrator is almost always a man. All this becomes a serious problem because there is no adequate psychological help for victims of violence.
“There is no legally regulated form of psychological help that a person can receive when reporting sexual violence. Many organizations provide free legal and psychological advice, but again, nothing is regulated at the state level. Our Facebook page has about 40,000 followers, and we also have a closed group on FB that has about 13,000 members where people continue to write about their experiences with sexual abuse. Finally, at least a space has been created, even if it’s only online, where a person can really write about what bothers them without being judged by others.”
Tikvić explained, emphasizing that they report every form of discrimination shared on their website.
Apart from the citizens of BiH, the initiative was supported by numerous politicians and public figures, but, as she says, that is not enough for change.
“We need to start solving concrete problems. We have also written an open letter to the Federal Parliament, specifically asking for an amendment to the Criminal Code. We recently received a response from the Federal Ministry with permission to form a working group for a preliminary draft amendment to the Criminal Code. I think the most important thing right now is to clearly define sexual abuse following the Istanbul Convention and move it to the Criminal Code.”
However, to fight against violence, the violence itself must be reported, which often does not happen due to societal pressure and patriarchal norms in our society. Tikvić added:
“We live in an extremely patriarchal environment where the word of a man is still the law and the absolute truth, and women are, of course, afraid of society’s condemnation — whether someone will believe them, what the first neighbor will say. Unfortunately, we still live in such an environment where it is not a man’s shame, but, in the end, a woman’s shame.”
However, the four activists who run the platform do not have enough power to protect other women because they are neither the police nor the court. They consider those who receive a salary for this type of work responsible for finding a solution to the problem and changing the law. Tikvić demands accountability from competent institutions:
“Ultimately, it is the state authorities and institutions that must protect the people who contact them. So, they have had a duty to do that for years, but unfortunately, it has not been done yet. We as an organization constantly make calls to action and warn others about these issues, but that’s it. I think that we must unite and that we mustn’t stop talking about it.”
She is pleased that their initiative has encouraged a regional public discourse on sexual abuse.
“Sexual abuse happens to absolutely everyone, every day, regardless of the level of education, regardless of profession, religion, nation, and any other reasons. Violence happens to us, not because of who we are, not because of what we wear or do not wear, and I think it is very important that this topic continues to be talked about every day,” Tikvić concluded.

author: Balkan Diskurs


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Bulli Bai, Sulli Deals cases highlight rising communal misogyny in India · Global Voices
Ananya

Image via Pxhere. CC0 – Public domain.
More than a hundred Muslim women in India woke up to find themselves up for auction on an app on the morning of January 1, 2022. The women were well-known lawyers, journalists, writers, activists and social workers who are prominent on social media. Their photos and images were reportedly lewdly edited and listed on a website claiming the women were for sale.
Ismat Ara, a journalist at The Wire, tweeted on January 1:
It is very sad that as a Muslim woman you have to start your new year with this sense of fear & disgust. Of course it goes without saying that I am not the only one being targeted in this new version of #sullideals. Screenshot sent by a friend this morning.
Happy new year. pic.twitter.com/pHuzuRrNXR
— Ismat Ara (@IsmatAraa) January 1, 2022
In the first week of January, police arrested four men in connection to the Bulli Bai app case. Niraj Bishnoi, Shweta Singh, Vishal Kumar Jha and Mayank Rawal were arrested as the main conspirators. All four are students. Police sources have also pointed out that the four perpetrators used Sikh aliases on online platforms while sharing the app in a deliberate attempt to mislead people about the identity of the app creators and perhaps to also vilify the Sikh community.
This is not the first time such an incident, where Muslim women were auctioned online has occurred in India. In July 2021, an app named “Sulli Deals” made national headlines for sharing photographs and social media profiles of more than 80 Indian Muslim women. The open-source app was hosted on the GitHub platform, and displayed profiles of Muslim women as “for sale,” calling them “deals of the day”. The information on the app said that the users could “claim a sulli” through the platform. The app was taken down by GitHub following complaints.
The Bulli Bai app followed the same design and pattern as its predecessor and targeted women with similar profiles i.e. well known female Muslim journalists, writers, activists, etc. It was hosted on GitHub and contained photos and profiles of more than 100 Indian Muslim women. “Sulli” and “Bulli” are both slanderous derogatory terms used by right-wing trolls in India to denote Muslim women. They both are distortions of the word “Mulli”, a Hindi slang used to refer to Muslim women. The only difference in the latter app is that it auctioned Muslim women as maids (the word “Bai” means maid in Hindi). With no real intention of selling, the app was created just to degrade, humiliate and harass Muslim women.
Apart from religion and gender, one common thread that ties most of the victims together is that many of them have been vocal critics of intolerance, Islamophobia and Hindu nationalism in India, which has increased under the guidance of current Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who leads the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Hindutva or Hindu nationalism is a political ideology that seeks to ensure Indian governance, culture and law are shaped by Hindu religious values.
All four individuals arrested in relation to the app are students, which shows how deep the ideas of communalism and misogyny have seeped into Indian society.
The “ringleader” of the group, Niraj Bishnoi, 21, is a second-year graduate student at Vellore Institute of Technology and is a repeat offender who had been accused of harassing people, leaving inappropriate comments on photographs, and also sending threats online. Another co-conspirator, Shweta Singh, 19, used fake Twitter handles to share hateful tweets and post offensive photos and comments online. The other two, 21-year-old engineering student Vishal Kumar Jha and 21-year-old grad student Mayank Rawat, each shared screenshots from the app to social media platforms.
Through information received during the Bulli app case, police were able to arrest the creator of the Sulli Deals app, six months after the incident had come to light. Aumkareshwar Thakur, 26, from Indore was arrested on January 9 by Delhi Police.
The Bulli Bai app case did not emerge in a vacuum. It was built against the backdrop of rising attacks on Muslims in India. Religious hate crimes against Muslims have been on the rise in India, including lynchings; the destruction of mosques and houses; attacks on Muslim comedians, actors, and directors; and the imprisonment of Muslim activists, journalists and human rights defenders. Hindutva groups and organizations perpetrating these attacks have enjoyed complete impunity and support from members of the leading right-wing BJP party.
However, the Bulli Bai incident brought in two strands of hatred together: communalism and misogyny. The app was created to humiliate Muslim women and also silence their voices. It was meant to scare them away from social media platforms. The Sulli deals and Bulli Bai cases are not one-off incidents but part of a larger pattern of online harassment of Muslim women by various troll groups and meme pages where they are regularly mocked, harassed and threatened for expressing their opinions.
With the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns preventing in-person gatherings, social media is often the only space for discussion, dissent and socio-political mobilization today. Yet the presence of rampant online trolling, harassment, attacks against voices of dissent — particularly against women from marginalized identities — ensures that these digital spaces remain unsafe and inaccessible to many.
Media spaces in India were abuzz with the news of this case. While many editorial media channels like Maktoob media condemned the incident, criticizing the police and government for their inaction over the previous Sulli Deals incident and their larger silence over rising crimes against Muslim minorities in the country, others took a deliberately neutral stance. Right-wing news outlet OpIndia released a report claiming “Khalistani supporters” were behind the Bulli Bai app. The Khalistan movement is a political movement demanding the creation of a separate homeland for Sikhs.
Right-wing Hindu nationalist pages and their supporters claimed that the perpetrators were Khalistani Sikhs or Muslim men. Once that claim was proven wrong by investigations, posts defending the accused in both cases, and posts downplaying the severity of the incident increased.
A prime example is this tweet by a user who has 1.3 million followers. The tweet was later deleted.
The public defence of the Hindu perpetrators and larger sympathy for the young men appears in stark contrast to the active vilification of people from minority communities in India, who are attacked and threatened for expressing their opinions.
Social media posts also tried to steer attention away from the case by engaging in counter-accusations.
Rais Pathan who is the Chairperson of the Planning and Finance committee in India's Ministry of Minority Affairs tried to shift attention away from the Bulli Bai crime by drawing attention to instances of harassment against Hindi women. He tweeted:
I have seen several Instagram & FB pages running from WB where they morph pictures of Hindu girls & goddesses to degrade them.
Such a degradation & #BulliDeals, both are disgusting. I protest against both but liberals only talk about the latter, because they care about none.
— Rais Pathan (@PathanRaisKhan) January 2, 2022
The larger narrative in the media ecosystem in India only highlights how the severity of the crime is determined by the identity of the victim and perpetrator.

author: Ananya


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Twitter’s deal with Nigerian government sacrifices digital rights · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

Two young Nigerians smile as they read from their smartphones. Image by iamdavidrotimi via Iwaria, Oct. 5, 2021. Free to use. No attribution required (CC0)
On Jan. 13, the Nigerian government lifted the suspension of Twitter, ending a seven-month embargo of the microblogging site in Africa’s most populous nation. However, it appears that the lifting of the Twitter suspension came with a rolling back of freedom of expression, as demanded by the government and with the acquiescence of the tech company.
The reinstatement came after Twitter “agreed to meet all the conditions” made by the Nigerian government, according to a statement by Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, the government’s lead in the Nigeria-Twitter negotiations. The conditions included Twitter’s legal registration in Nigeria, the payment of taxes, and the agreement to abide by Nigerian law to manage prohibited content.
The tech company has neither denied nor confirmed the deal with the Nigerian government that led to Twitter’s unblocking in the country. Rather, the company tweeted an evasive diplomatic statement stating that their mission in the country is “to serve the public conversation.” The tech company, while keeping silent about the specifics of the agreement with the Nigerian government, emphasized that they are “deeply committed to Nigeria.”
Some users on Twitter criticized the company's response.
This tweet is evasive. @Twitter has to specifically address the claim of FGN (Federal Government of Nigeria) that agreement on access right to your backend (to delete citizens’ tweets) has been reached. Address this and stop being evasive https://t.co/zLRUOUVFb5
— Great Oracle (@AbdulMahmud01) January 13, 2022
Media reports supported the Nigerian government's version of events that the government did not back off from the fight against Twitter without gaining some concessions from the tech company. Rather, Twitter agreed to the conditions made by the government, which will further clamp down on Nigeria’s citizens’ digital rights.
On Jan. 13, a report by the BBC stated that it “understands” that Twitter “has largely agreed to the government demands.” Similarly, journalists Abubakar Idris and Peter Guest of Rest of the World affirmed that “Twitter had agreed to all of the government’s demands in November 2021.” However, government bureaucracy delayed the announcement until January.
It remains to be seen the effect of Twitter's deal with Nigeria in these three areas: legal registration in Nigeria, taxation, and co-management of prohibited content according to Nigerian laws.
Specifically, Twitter has enrolled the Nigerian government in both its Partner Support Panel (PSP) and Law Enforcement Portals (LEP). These two “taken together” were described by government negotiator Abdullahi as “a comprehensive compliance apparatus.”
The PSP is Twitter’s dedicated reporting channel for the tech company’s global partner organizations that allows the organizations to rapidly report suspected violations of Twitter community rules directly to the company. As of July 2019, Twitter had over 80 European Union partners — election monitoring or research organizations, universities, and academics — on the PSP. Hence, Nigeria’s inclusion on the PSP is not so unique.
Similarly, Nigerian law enforcement agencies will now be able “to submit a report with a legal justification where it suspects that content violates Nigerian laws.” Twitter already has detailed guidelines for law enforcement and a publicly available portal for law enforcers or government officials to submit a legal request for an “account information or content removal,” and Nigerian law enforcement will now have access to this portal.
In the past, Twitter has struggled to adequately protect and stand up for the digital rights and freedom of speech of its users, especially in countries with a form of digital authoritarianism.
In India, even though Twitter promised to defend freedom of speech, it took down accounts that belonged to media organizations, journalists, and activists. The tech company, at the request of the Indian government, removed more than 500 accounts, including accounts from journalists and media outlets, for protesting against the Indian Prime Minister’s policies that affected Indian farmers. In a similar incident, Twitter succumbed to requests from the government of Russia and removed about 60 percent of specific tweets “banned” in Russia, after the government slowed down the speed of Twitter’s services in the country.
Twitter vaguely agreeing to the Nigerian government’s request, via Twitter’s Law Enforcement Platform, to take action against content its suspects violates the country’s laws, is certainly worrying and affects the democratic framework of Nigeria. Nigeria’s journalist Tola Owoyele fears that this deal grants the government “a degree of access to Twitter, such that tweets that are deemed unpalatable or unfriendly to the government can be monitored and filtered. This would enable the government [to] track down Twitter users.”
The final call on account information and content removal requests remains with the tech company. But in practice, considering Twitter's compliance with the Indian and Russian government's demands, a similar occurrence in Nigeria is most probable.
This Nigerian government has consistently worked to stifle citizens’ ability to use online platforms to participate in governance. In 2019, the Nigerian government proposed a controversial social media bill that legalizes internet blackout and criminalizes any criticism of the official narrative.
With the Nigerian government’s temperamental past, the violation of citizens’ online freedom of expression will be much easier because Twitter is now a company registered under Nigerian laws and taxable in the country. In addition, this agreement made between Twitter and the government, without any civil society organization involvement, gives the Nigerian government enormous power to control the social media platform.

author: Nwachukwu Egbunike


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Typhoon Rai aftermath highlights Duterte’s sluggish disaster response · Global Voices
Karlo Mongaya

Fallen trees block streets around the author’s neighborhood in Talisay City, Cebu. Photo by author
The prolonged aftermath of Typhoon Rai (local name Odette) highlights the Rodrigo Duterte government’s sluggish response to the storm, which wreaked havoc across the Visayan Islands and parts of Mindanao in the Southern Philippines on December 16, 2021.
Affected communities and local governments have been appealing for help after the typhoon-ravaged agricultural zones across Samar, Leyte, Bohol, Cebu, and Negros Islands and even overwhelmed Cebu City, a major commercial and cultural hub in the Visayas-Mindanao regions.
From @paghimutad: With 14confirmed deaths, Bais City has become an area most affected by Typhoon #OdettePH in Negros Oriental. Roads inaccessible due to the destruction the storm left in its wake have made relief efforts difficult. pic.twitter.com/2fN96XSKnO
— AlterMidya (@altermidya) December 19, 2021
Typhoon Rai destroyed thousands of homes while the damage to agriculture, infrastructure, and other properties displaced people’s livelihoods and left many more without electricity, internet connectivity, or access to water.
IN PHOTOS: Super Typhoon #OdettePH displaced an estimated 33,000 out of 35,000 residents of Trinidad, Bohol, LGU confirms. These are some of the houses of the members of the Trinidad-Talibon Integrated Farmers Association (TTIFA) in Brgy. San Vicente. (1/3)
📸 HUMABOL-KMP pic.twitter.com/zrg73pum8W
— Aninaw Productions (@AninawProd) December 27, 2021
Various civil society groups and private sector actors are leading relief and donation drives to provide immediate assistance to affected communities.
Nakarating na sa Surigao City ngayong araw ng Pasko ang paunang relief goods at iba pang tulong na nakalap ng Balsa Mindanao at Sisters’ Association in Mindanao (SAMIN). Maraming salamat sa lahat ng volunteers at sa mga nag-ambagan para sa relief mission na ito. (1/n) https://t.co/gAKmfRmLrp
— Rauf Sissay (@raufsissay) December 25, 2021
Initial relief goods and other assistance gathered by Balsa Mindanao and Sisters Association in Mindanao arrived in Surigao City on Christmas Day. Thank you to all volunteers and those who donated for this relief mission.
Yet Duterte and his officials have failed to respond to the crisis, using excuses such as depleted governmental funds, media underreporting, and impassable roads to deflect blame for the government’s delayed disaster response and garner public sympathy.
The impending arrival of Typhoon Rai did not merit any public statement from President Duterte.
When the president spoke in a televised government briefing a day after the typhoon amid calls for immediate government response, he claimed he was still looking for funds to assist typhoon survivors as the government’s money had been “depleted” because of the pandemic:
This COVID really emptied our coffers. So we’re trying to screen how much we can raise so that we can marshal it to the areas affected.
On December 22, Duterte announced that he would be directing USD 199 million (PHP 10 billion) for typhoon relief. Yet his budget department would not commit to expediting the funds to provide immediate assistance to affected areas.
Duterte’s claim of “depleted” funds was challenged by left-wing opposition legislators who pointed out that the Philippines was, in fact, the biggest borrower from the World Bank in 2021. Bayan Muna (People First Party) chairperson Neri Colmenares commented:
The country has a history of being ravaged by typhoons, and it should have the budget to mitigate and provide immediate relief even while responding to the pandemic.
Later that week, on December 27, Duterte would draw criticism for suggesting the government should use the relief funds to purchase “trapal” or tarpaulin sheets as temporary shelters for typhoon survivors.
He's the President. Why can't I demand for something better than trapal especially since more than a week na dumaan dito sa amin si Odette? This is an exact quote. It's not taken out of context. The President literally said bili tayo ng trapal 2 weeks after Odette hit the PH
— Sansa Stark – Lugaw Stan in The North (@starkverse) December 29, 2021
He’s the president. Why can’t I demand for something better than tarpaulin sheets especially since more than a week has passed since Odette? This is an exact quote. It’s not taken out of context. The President literally said let’s buy trapal 2 weeks after Odette hit the Philippines.
Indeed, for many Filipinos, Typhoon Rai’s aftermath once more highlighted the Duterte government’s lack of adequate disaster preparedness and delayed response that had been the subject of scathing public criticism in the past.
Kara Ahorro, a resident of world-renowned surfing paradise Siargao Island, shared that before the storm, she felt confident that Typhoon Rai would not be as strong as Typhoon Haiyan (local name Yolanda) in 2013, in an interview with SunStar news:
It was forecasted to be just 150 kph at its peak, We were here during Yolanda and that was 300 plus kph, though Yolanda did not made landfall in Siargao, we just thought ‘ah, kaya lang’ [we can handle it].
The economic impact has been especially dire on Siargao Island, where resort and business owners had been prepping to open for visitors again after coronavirus travel restrictions were eased during the Christmas holidays.
Residents line up to buy drinking water in General Luna, Siargao Island on Thursday (23 December 2021). MindaNews photo by ROEL N. CATOTO pic.twitter.com/OGhj3RAuIZ
— MindaNews.com (@mindanewsdotcom) December 24, 2021
Speaking to the Guardian, marketing coordinator Elka Requinta shares how the strength of Typhoon Rai caught everyone by surprise in Siargao:
We didn’t expect it to be this bad. You have locals who were hit because I don’t think there was a call for any evacuation from the government.
But a top Duterte official, Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino, blamed the national media for the slow disaster response, claiming they failed to adequately report about the typhoon beforehand.
Journalists pushed back on these accusations, noting the constant steam of coverage in the aftermath of the typhoon amidst great challenges, as Rappler’s Head of Regions Inday Espina-Varona underlines:
From Siargao and Dinagat in Mindanao, Silago, Sipalay, and Ubay in the Visayas, all the way to Palawan, officials and residents waded for hours through mud and water, inching their way through on motorcycles, bangkas, and on foot, just to get their first scratchy messages out into the world. Media reported that.
Ironically, government itself now controls the most extensive regional media network after it denied ABS-CBN, the country’s biggest broadcast network, the right to operate in 2020:
The newsrooms with better resources now are actually government media, especially in the communities. National Government and LGU PIOs have more people, better equipment, and better networks than private media, especially community and regional media. 1/https://t.co/t9VxkUAvzF
— Max Limpag (@maxlimpag) January 3, 2022


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Women weavers in Assam weather the pandemic and climate change through community groups · Global Voices
Moushumi Basu

Jonali Pegu from Major Chapori village weaving in her household loom. Image credit: North East Area Affected Development Society (NEADS). Used with permission.
The interviews of the characters in the story were conducted in-person as a part of the field research between October–December 2021.
The northeast state of Assam has been more impacted by climate change than nearly any other place in India. Women across 210 villages in Assam have created a network of self-help groups to promote traditional skills such as weaving and gardening to supplement their family income during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Priyanka Pegu weaves an intricately designed purple chador (scarf) in the covered backyard of her home. Her nimble fingers deftly interlace multi-hued yarns, amidst the clatter of her wooden loom and the tapping of her feet. And what she churns out is a visual treat of colour and eye-catching motifs.
She is not formally trained and the loom she works on is more than 70 years old. “Weaving comes naturally to us, the skill being traditionally passed on by our mothers and grandmothers,” says Priyanka from Bholukaguri village in Golaghat district of Assam.
Until recently, her loom lay unused and dusty.
National studies have determined Assam is the most vulnerable to the destructive impacts of climate change among the twelve Indian states in the Himalayan region. Erratic rains, flash floods and erosion have chipped away at traditional livelihoods in the region, such as agriculture and fishing. Since March 2020, this uncertainty around their livelihoods has worsened due to repeated surges of the COVID pandemic.
These factors have compelled women such as Priyanka to leave their homes for the nearest cities in search of daily wage work to support their families.
Priyanka Pegu from Bholukaguri village weaves a Mekhla chador (scarf) in the backyard of her home. Image Credit: NEADS. Used with permission.
“To cope with such unpredictable crises, we have been reviving the traditionally acquired weaving skill of our women folks to make it a sustainable source of their livelihood,” says Jamini Payeng from Assam’s Majuli district. She is the 2015 recipient of the Shanta Prasad Award for Excellence in Handloom Weaving, given by the Crafts Council of India.
For the past two decades, her women’s initiative, the Rural Economy Development Society (REDS), together with grass-root based non-profit North East Area Affected Development Society (NEADS) has organised about 6,000 women into weaving self-help groups in the districts of Majuli, Golaghat and Jorhat.
According to Jamini, their initial aim was to support women who had been impacted by erosion and flooding to supplement their family income, without having to leave their homes. But over the last two years, it has also helped sustain families during COVID and the economic slowdown.
Today there are 200 self-help groups (SHG) of weaver women across 210 villages selected based on their vulnerability to climate impacts, according to Ibhimni Singh, the Coordinator, Livelihood Restoration for NEADS.
The Finished products created by Priyanka are being displayed by her group members from Bholukaguri village. Image credit: NEADS. Used with permission.
Each self-help group has about 30 members. As start-up support, NEADS provides 90 kilos of yarn to a group, with each woman receiving three to five kilos depending on their output. Jamini and her associates from REDS initially mentor them on the latest market trends in color combinations, designs, motifs, etc. to make their outputs marketable.
“Three kilos of yarn can make three to four Mekhla chador [a traditional Assamese dress resembling a long skirt and stole],” says Ranu Doley the head of the Birangona SHG in Bonkuwal Balichapori village in Golaghat. It takes her seven to ten days to weave a set, with each fetching between INR 2,000 (USD 27)  to INR 3,000 (USD 44), depending on the designs.
To enable them to earn a fair price for their products, NEADS has linked the SHGs to Women weavers’ cooperative groups. Jamini also provides marketing support through an outlet in her home village of Kamlabari, where their products are displayed and sold. Majuli is a popular tourist destination that attracts buyers from across the country.
Ranu Doley working in her loom in the Bonkuwal Balichapori village. Image credit: NEADS. Used with permission.
According to Ranu, each member on average manages to weave three to five sets in a month, devoting about three to four hours per day. Part of the earnings of each member is pooled together in a bank account opened in the name of the respective group. This money is used to buy yarn and may even be used to take out bank loans in the future.
“This way, a group becomes self-sufficient within about three to four months and we move on to our next selected village,” says Ibhimni.
After contributing to SHG, Ranu manages to contribute INR 2,000–2,500 (USD 27–34), to her family each month, helping them reach their INR 8,000–9,000 (USD 108–122) monthly goal. “The best part is that this income comes after managing our home, hearth and children, and is even minimising our stepping out of homes during COVID,” she says.
In 2019, Rupali Morang along with a dozen other women from their Morangaon village in Assam’s Jorhat district pooled together 0.5 hectares of land, to work out a unique concept — developing a “Nutri garden,” comprising multi-colored beds of diverse fruits and vegetables. For instance, red and orange beds would contain tomatoes, carrots and papayas; then brinjal and onion would be in a purple bed; and green beds would contained cucumber, gourds, spinach, broccoli, limes, etc.
A Self help group of women photographed near their community garden in Morangaon village in Jorhat during COVID times. Image credit: NEADS. Used with permission.
These gardens, according to Rupali, were initially targeted to fulfil the health needs of expecting and lactating mothers and malnourished children in the villages. However, little did they know then, that they would be able to savour their sweet fruits of labour during the pandemic.
“Colors in fruits and vegetables are indicators of different nutrients, minerals, trace elements, etc. that we need to stay healthy and fight diseases,” says Ashaporna Borah, Programme Manager of Health & Nutrition, NEADS.
Ashaporna Borah (extreme left) discusses the setting up of a Nutri garden with a self-help group in Phesual village in Jorhat. Image credit: NEADS. Used with permission.
“Our gardens producing between 15 kilos to 18 kilos of various fruits and vegetables daily saves us from pushing through crowded markets to get our daily needs during the COVID crisis,” says Moni Doley, another villager.
They also sell off their surplus to other villagers. Today nearly 400 families from across 40 villages have worked together to create these community gardens, through seed and sapling exchanges.
Some families are also collectively growing patches of “cultivated wilderness” with medicinal plants. According to a folk healer and village elder Jyotirmoy Doley from Nikori village of Golaghat district, such plants come in handy to treat fevers, body aches, coughs and colds with a decoction prepared from its fresh leaves.
“One major way to stay protected from COVID is to have a strong immunity system,” says Dr. Jahanara Khanam, an Ayurvedic medicine practitioner in the Government-run health centre in Dhula village of Assam’s Darrang district. She has been treating corona patients with herbal medicines.
According to her, traditional medicinal plants are rich in antioxidants and have multiple therapeutic properties and nutrients. “So why visit a hospital when there’s a herbal dispensary in your backyard?”

author: Moushumi Basu