Ethiopia: The daunting task of reporting the Tigray conflict

Ethiopia's Tigray conflict erupted in November 2020 and later spread to neighboring regions. Yet, covering the war is a huge challenge, with press freedom severely constrained and journalists facing intense pressure.



A media blackout in Tigray has made it difficult to verify news coming out of there


Since the beginning of this year, Ethiopia's National Defense Forces allegedly carried out airstrikes that killed at least 108 civilians in Tigray. As medical and food supplies run dangerously low, the World Food Program (WFP) has warned of a "humanitarian disaster." About 50,000 children are believed to be severely malnourished, though the figure could be much higher.

But despite the scale of the crisis, comprehensive reporting on the conflict has been made nearly impossible. No journalist has set foot in Tigray for more than six months.

Verifying facts and collecting testimonies from residents on the ground is further prevented by an all-out communications blackout. Instead, information trickles out of Tigray through aid agencies and the scarce satellite communication points in the regional capital Mekele.

Since the declaration of a country-wide state of emergency on November 2, 2021, a climate of media repression has further deepened the information vacuum.

"We have a situation where there is no due process, no fair trial," said Angela Quintal, head of the Africa Program at the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

"Journalists are detained arbitrarily and aren't appearing in court, so this has a chilling effect on the broader media community," Quintal told DW, adding that two journalists had been killed in the past year. "That is the ultimate form of censorship."

Reporters killed

Unidentified gunmen murdered Dawit Kebede in Mekelle on January 19, 2021. He was a reporter for Tigray TV, the state-owned broadcaster. In 2010, Kebede won the CPJ International Press Freedom Award.

According to the AFP news agency and Addis Standard news website, security officers were responsible for the murder. Kebede's case is still under investigation. He was only 41 years old when he was gunned down.

Another journalist, Sisay Fida, who worked for the Oromia Broadcasting Network, was killed in Dembi Dollo on May 9, 2021. The CPJ believes he was targeted because of his journalism.

The climate of repression, especially against Ethiopian journalists, has led to widespread fear and sometimes self-censorship. "I've had meetings with media authority officials. They were saying it's your country. You have to defend the national interest", a journalist based in Addis Ababa who wished to remain anonymous told DW. He complained about harassment on social media, saying it is the worst form of pressure: "I receive threats almost daily. They DM you on Twitter or send you a message on Facebook, sending death threats."
Jailed journalists

In early 2022, the CPJ recorded at least 14 journalists behind bars. The government recently released six of them, but the country remains "the second-worst jailer of journalists in sub–Saharan Africa," according to Angela Quintal.

Ethiopia has a long history of media repression, notably under the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). But some journalists say the current situation is even worse.

"Back in the day, we feared the government might arrest you. But now the whole atmosphere has changed. You fear not only the government. You fear the mobs, the youth. It affects your personal life", explained the journalist in Addis Ababa.

Foreign reporters, too, have faced intimidation and even deportation. Some have had their license suspended temporarily or permanently.

The government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed forced Simon Marks, a freelance reporter working for the New York Times to leave the country. "There was a strongly held but misplaced belief that there was an agenda against the government," Marks told DW.

He was brought directly to the airport after being summoned to the immigration office in early May 2021. "I asked if I could stay an extra night to pack and pick up my belongings, my passport. That was denied," he recalled.

Ethiopia's National Defense Forces have stepped up airstrikes in Tigray

Fleeing into exile

Scared for their safety, dozens of Ethiopian journalists have decided to go into exile. Some face the double-jeopardy of being targeted as media practitioners and ethnic Tigrayans.

Recent months have seen a massive crackdown on Tigrayan residents, especially in the capital Addis Ababa. Thousands have reportedly been forcefully detained without a trial — a procedure rendered possible by the state of emergency stipulations.

"For me, (the situation) becomes more acute because of the persecution my ethnicity is facing," a journalist who fled to a neighboring country told DW.

"(Currently), the government is not even using the law. It's like a mafia state. It can just take your freedom, your property, your everything", he added.

The information war has gone beyond Ethiopia's borders to places like London

Propaganda from all sides

The trend of journalists leaving the country has widened the information gap. "Domestically, what we have now is either state media propaganda or sycophants from the private media," lamented the journalist who had fled. "It has made it impossible not only to cover the Tigray conflict but also the expanding conflict in Oromia".

Independent reporting is a daily struggle of risk-taking, bureaucracy, and accusations for those journalists who stayed. Many are labeled biased, even though obtaining official government reactions to news events is a daily challenge.

As post-conflict territories become more accessible, especially in Amhara, some feel they can cover only those areas when and where the government is willing to allow them.

Others vow to continue working to their best. "You know what you are doing and that what you are reporting on is more important," said the anonymous journalist in Addis Ababa. "So you face the risk, and you do your job."

Pakistan: Is PM Khan's government more corrupt than previous administrations?

Transparency International has ranked Pakistan 140th out of 180 countries in its latest Corruption Perceptions Index report. This deals a blow to Imran Khan, whose party promised to eradicate corruption from the country.


Khan presented himself as an 'alternative' to traditionally 'corrupt' politicians

The perception of corruption in Pakistan has worsened since Imran Khan came to power in 2018, according to Transparency International (TI).

In its Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2021, the Berlin-based watchdog ranked the South Asian country 140th out of 180 countries, with 180th being the most corrupt country in the world.

Pakistan was ranked 124th in 2020, 120th in 2019, and 117th in 2018.

TI has been compiling the corruption index since 1995. It is based on 13 different sources that depict perceptions of corruption within the public sector, including experts and business people.

The sources also include the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, and private risk and consulting firms.

According to the CPI 2021, the "deteriorating rule of law" and "state capture" are the main reasons behind a significant rise of corruption in Pakistan.

Before coming to power in 2018, Khan, a populist politician, regularly cited TI's CPI as an "evidence" to malign his political opponents, mainly former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Khan's politics continue to revolve around punishing "corrupt politicians," who, according to him, are impeding Pakistan's progress.

Tables have turned

But the corruption perception has become starker since Khan took the reins. Thus, the latest TI report presents a chance for opposition leaders to mock Khan.

Shehbaz Sharif, opposition leader in the National Assembly (Pakistan's lower house of parliament), said in a tweet that Khan's government "has broken all records of corruption in the last 20 years," adding that when his brother Nawaz was in power, corruption had decreased in the country.

Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, a former prime minister associated with the opposition Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) party, told DW that corruption is all-time high under Khan's government.

He dubbed it "unprecedented" in Pakistan's history.

Zulfiqar Ali Bader, a spokesperson for the Pakistan People's Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, said the prime minister must step down after the publication of the CPI report.

But Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry played down the seriousness of the issue and told DW that Pakistan's low CPI score was not due to financial corruption in the country. Still he admitted, "Yes, we need reforms in the areas of the rule of law and state capture as mentioned in the report."

Why is corruption increasing in Pakistan?

Analysts cite a myriad of reasons behind rising corruption in Pakistan.

"Transparency International makes a strong case that one can't divorce anti-corruption issues from the broader issue of democracy. When democracy takes a hit, anti-corruption efforts struggle because it's in strong and robust democracies where you can most expect to see transparency and probity," Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, told DW.

"Pakistan's democratic backsliding, in effect for quite some time, has constrained anti-corruption," he added.

Elaborating on the issue of democratic backsliding, Amber Shamsi, a political analyst and journalist, said the CPI reflects the perceptions related to human rights violations, attacks on journalists and deteriorating rule of law in the country.

"There is no across-the-board accountability in Pakistan. Dozens of opposition figures were accused of corruption and put behind bars, but they have not been prosecuted," she told DW.

But Benazir Shah, a political analyst, says the CPI reports are not always accurate.

"The report is limited [in its scope] because it only takes into account the perception of corruption within the public sector, leaving out the private sector. Also, corruption [rates] within a country vary from city to city and sector to sector, which means that one ranking or score for a country can be misleading," she said.

Learning the hard way

Regardless, the Transparency International report has done a lot of damage to PM Khan's reputation as an "anti-graft crusader." Experts say it could even hurt him in the 2023 general elections.

"Khan's political identity is interwoven with the anti-corruption issue. The new TI report, in that regard, is problematic," according to Kugelman.

"The premier and his allies will seek to shrug off the TI rankings as an anomaly, or as a foreign conspiracy to malign Pakistan. In an ideal world, though, he and his party allies would introspect on the implications of these rankings. They say a lot not just about Pakistan's corruption challenge, but also about the democratic backsliding that exacerbates the corruption challenge," he added.

Khan's failure to revive the country's economy is already causing him political problems. Along with tax increases and higher energy prices, Pakistanis are also facing rising inflation, as the purchasing power of the rupee decreases. Pakistan's inflation rate hit 11.5% last November. The rupee also is also trading at record lows against the dollar.

"Khan's government has failed to deliver. There is no rule of the law [in the country], and he is suppressing opposition parties and curbing civil freedoms," said former PM Abbasi.

But Kugelman says there are no quick fixes to Pakistan's economic problems.

"Khan may have a genuine commitment to combat corruption, but the sheer scale of the problem — not to mention the power of vested interests that don't want a change in the status quo — underscores that this continues to be an uphill battle. Anti-corruption is one of those goals that is so much easier to envision when in the opposition than inside the system. Khan has learned that the hard way," he said.

WHO IS IMRAN KHAN, PAKISTAN'S PRIME MINISTER?

Affluent upbringing

Imran Khan was born in Lahore in 1952, the son of a civil engineer. Khan grew up with his four sisters in a relatively affluent part of the city. He received a privileged education, first in his hometown and then in Worcester, England. It was there that Khan's love and talent for the game of cricket became evident. In 1972, he enrolled at Oxford University to study politics and economics.

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Mexico's press protection scheme under pressure after 3 more journalists die

Three journalists have been killed this year so far in Mexico. At least two of those had asked the governnment for protection. Has Mexico's protection scheme for journalists failed?

  

Protesters have asked the government to step up measures to protect journalists

Thousands of journalists gathered all over Mexico on Tuesday afternoon (25.01) to demand justice for their murdered colleagues, as well as respect and protection for their profession.

According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), alongside India, Mexico was the country in which the most journalists were killed in 2021. It is a structural problem that has got worse over the years, as drug trafficking has worsened, and a culture of impunity has fallen into place.

Three journalists have died this year alone. Lourdes Maldonado is the latest. Like her colleague Margarito Martinez Esquivel, who was murdered 10 days before her, she had filed complaints with the police and asked for help.

In 2012, after pressure from civil society, a state mechanism was put in place in 2012 to protect journalists and human rights defenders. Those affected were thrilled. Colombia had been the first Latin American country to introduce such a mechanism. Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Brazil and Peru would follow. But though the program has indeed helped to save lives, it is underfunded and struggles to keep afloat. At least 13 journalists who should have been protected by the program have died.

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Enforced Disappearances in Mexico: Raquel Hernández // english subtitles

A flawed system

"The protection mechanism has many flaws and must be strengthened," said Balbina Flores from Reporters Without Borders in Mexico. "When journalists are threatened and turn to the mechanism, emergency measures are supposed to be triggered within 12 hours. This usually entails providing a panic button or activating the local police force," she told DW.

"But if somebody lives very remotely or in a very dangerous area, the decision might be made to remove them or to provide a bodyguard. […] Generally, it takes 15 to 20 days to put simple measures in place, but it can take up to half a year to provide a refuge or a bodyguard."

Some 1,500 people, including 500 journalists, currently enjoy protection from the mechanism but the mechanism is under pressure. "The applications have risen by 60% since 2019. But the mechanism still has the same staff and almost the same resources as before then."

Itzia Miravete, the prevention coordinator for the NGO Articulo 19 criticized the fact that the mechanism was purely reactive and had failed to coordinate with other federal agencies and to put in place an effective preventative unit. "It is not only the mechanism that has failed but the entire state because for years this mechanism was the only official protection program," she says.

More funds and staff needed

The criticism from human rights organizations does seem to have found some resonance, and last year the Mexican Interior Ministry proposed a reform that would transfer responsibility for protecting journalists and activists to federal states. Though human rights organizations welcomed the move, Balbina Flores from Reporters Without Borders warns that it would be "very difficult to achieve results without economic support and professional staff."

For her part, Itzia Miravete insisted that more political will was needed to implement the necessary changes, such as greater transparency, the participation of victims' organizations, the awarding of damages, as well as the enforcement of sanctions against the authorities should these fail. "All of the prosecutors in the country have the standard protocol for prosecuting crimes against freedom of expression and are obliged to apply it," she explains.

Sometimes the police itself threatens journalists in Mexico

Distrust between press and politicans

One problem, however, is that there is a tradition of suspicion between journalists and the authorities, particularly because threats against journalists frequently come from the police or local politicians themselves.

For her part, Lourdes Maldonado had complained directly to Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador that the threats against her emanated from a party colleague of his, Jaime Bonilla, the governor of the state of Baja California, against whom she had filed a labor lawsuit.

Even if there are some improvements to the state protection mechanism, it cannot work like magic amid a spiral of violence fueled by 96% impunity. "If the Mexican state really wants to improve conditions for the media, a much more comprehensive reform is needed,"Miravete says. "We could, for example, reform the laws that enable compensation suits that are aimed at silencing journalists."

Mexico is a long way from having a comprehensive security strategy. Reforms to establish a more professional police force and ensure greater political independence for the judiciary have stalled. According to the World Justice Project, whose aim is to advance the rule of law around the world, Mexico dropped by nine places in its global index to 113 out of 139 states in 2021.

This story was originally published in German.

Climate emergency: Keeping homes cool on a warming planet

Rising temperatures are leading to a surge in demand for cooling. But, ironically, the more we rely on energy-intensive air conditioners, the more the planet warms. What are the other options?



In summer 2021, heat waves forced many on the US west coast to stay in 'cooling stations' as their homes were unbearably hot

In many places, keeping cool when the mercury climbs isn't just a matter of comfort — sweltering temperatures can affect our health, our productivity, our economies and even our survival.

An increase of just 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels could put 2.3 billion people at risk of severe heat waves. Scientists say we could hit that temperature rise by the early 2030s if we don't cut carbon emissions.

Hot weather is already responsible for 12,000 deaths each year. By 2030, the World Health Organization predicts there could be 38,000 additional deaths annually due to heat exposure in elderly people.

Buying an air conditioner might be a quick and easy fix, but these energy-intensive appliances are only adding to the problem.

"We need to get out of this cycle," Lily Riahi from the United Nations Environment Programme told DW. "The way we currently cool our homes and workplaces is a huge driver of climate change."

The cooling conundrum

Air conditioners leak damaging refrigerants that contribute to global warming. And ACs and fans also account for about 20% of the total electricity used in buildings around the world, much of which still comes from fossil fuels.

As global temperatures, populations and incomes rise in countries like India and China, the number of AC units in operation worldwide could jump from nearly 2 billion today to 5.6 billion by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency.

The agency also estimates that, without improvements to efficiency, energy demand for space cooling could triple by the middle of the century — consuming as much electricity as China and India today.

Riahi, who is also a coordinator for the global Cool Coalition network working to boost sustainable cooling, says this scenario will pile massive pressure on electricity grids and ultimately hamper efforts to meet climate targets.

"By 2050, estimates say that just space cooling will account for 30% to 50% of peak electricity [load] in many countries. Today the average is 15%," said Riahi. "So you're going to have grid failures."
What can be done about it?

Air conditioning plays an important role in prosperity and economic development by allowing people in hot countries to live and work in comfort. But unless ACs become significantly more climate-friendly, the projected explosion in their numbers will pose a huge challenge.


Air conditioners use a lot of energy, accounting for about 10% of global electricity consumption

Riahi says there's a lack of awareness around cooling alternatives, as well as financial barriers that prevent people purchasing energy-efficient ACs with low-emission refrigerants.

"AC doesn't have to mean the cheapest air conditioning on the market," she said. "It should be about how can we design our cities and buildings to reduce the demand for cooling in the first place. And it can also mean finding ways to create incentives to bring the most efficient technologies to market."
Cooling roofs in informal settlements

Surviving higher temperatures while at the same time keeping a lid on emissions will require more than improving AC efficiency. Fitting buildings with exterior shading, green roofs or applying solar reflective paint, for instance, can also limit the heat they absorb. Expanding green spaces, areas with water and wind corridors in cities could help, too.

In India, the Mahila Housing Trust is working with people in slum communities who cannot afford ACs to help them keep their homes cool. The organization focuses on low-cost measures such as painting heat-trapping corrugated tin roofs white, planting trees near homes to provide shade, or installing roofs made of compressed bamboo mats, which absorb less heat.


Corrugated tin roofs can trap heat, sometimes resulting in indoor temperatures that are up to 5 degrees C hotter than outside

Trust director Bijal Brahmbhatt says just coating roofs in solar reflective paint can make indoor temperatures drop by up to 6 C — a change residents reported was almost like having an AC.

"The well-being level has increased quite a lot," she said. "Economic productivity increased by 1 1/2 to 2 hours once the temperature got reduced." People were also able to slash their power bills because they no longer had to use fans, she added.
Lessons from the desert

Another project, this time in the Egyptian desert where summer temperatures can reach almost 50 C, is also tackling heat solely through smart building design.

Architect Sarah El Battouty, founder of green building firm ECOnsult, said they'd managed to reduce building temperatures by around 10 C without mechanical solutions.

Her company is working with the Egyptian government to upgrade 4,000 rural villages, home to some 58 million people, so that they can better cope with extreme heat. But rather than bringing in high-tech solutions, El Battouty says many of the green changes were inspired by local Indigenous knowledge.

"These villages have survived. It's because this inherent knowledge of adaptation to harsh conditions has existed for thousands of years," she said. "We see which of these solutions are viable and we integrate them […] We don't need to reinvent the wheel."

That means using locally available materials like porous limestone and sandstone that allow air to flow through the walls. They also lifted structures slightly off the ground to prevent heat being absorbed from below, darkened entryways, installed reflective roofs, and made use of angled windows and adjustable shading to block heat while allowing light to enter.

The homes ECOnsult built for farmers in Baharyia Oasis, in Egypt's Western Desert, are designed to beat extreme heat

'Cooling is the next frontier'

El Battouty says there needs to be a rethink in the architecture sector so that buildings are designed to address cooling from the get-go.

"The hotter it gets, the longer the summers, the more people will be looking at solutions like air conditioning," she said. "We have to question the housing sector itself. Is it built to mitigate heat or not?"

The role of housing in beating heat should also have a much bigger focus at events like the recent UN climate change conference in Glasgow, added El Battouty.

"We have to look at cooling as something incredibly important — just as much as renewable and clean energy. Cooling is the next frontier." 

CLIMATE CHANGE: ARE WE TRAPPED IN A VICIOUS CIRCLE?

Air-conditioning

Our dependence on air-conditioning is probably one of the most ironic climate change feedback loops we have created: As temperatures rise, we turn up our ACs, which generate more emissions, which leads to warmer temperatures, and so on. Scientists are busy figuring out how to create cool air without electricity. If they succeed, it could hopefully be a game-changer.

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Edited by: Jennifer Collins

Gas: What's the big deal?

Governments and fossil fuel companies have long peddled the idea that natural gas is the "bridge" to a clean energy future. But can gas actually be green?

The Nord Stream 2 pipeline will pump natural gas from Russia to Germany when approved.

We've been cooking with gas for a long time. We also heat our homes and businesses with it, and increasingly use it to produce electricity.

In the US, for example, natural gas made up 34% of the total energy consumption in 2020 and was the main source of electricity generation.

Now, as the world moves to phase out coal-fired power, fossil gas is being touted as a booming three-lettered climate hero.
But is it?

Not really.

It is not, as the European Commission (EC) implied last week when it proposed classifying gas and nuclear energy as climate-friendly, a clean fuel.

True, gas has around 50% lower emissions than coal when producing electricity, but it has also proven to be the fastest growing source of planet-heating CO2 emissions over the last decade — a trajectory that's set to continue.

In the European Union it's the second largest source of CO2 emissions after coal, and it makes up around 22% of global carbon output.
Oh…

Yeah, oh. And that’s not all.

We're increasingly told that we need gas to "transition" to a clean energy future. The theory goes that because it is still cleaner than its fossil friends, gas can help make up the energy shortfall caused by a looming coal power phase-out.

But the reality is that as a fossil fuel, natural gas causes climate change — explaining why the European Green Party says it might take the EC to court over its push to classify some investments in gas as sustainable.

In short, gas is already being described as the "new coal."

And is it?

Natural gas is a combustible hydrocarbon mostly made up of methane — which is around 28 times more polluting than CO2 and is prone to leak from gas pipelines and infrastructure.

It's a non-renewable fossil fuel found deep in the ground amid shale and rock — and often close to petroleum. We use it to make energy but also as a chemical feedstock for plastics and fertilizers, and our current boundless appetite for the stuff means that natural gas reserves could run out in about 50 years.

So all this talk of using gas as a "bridging" fuel to a clean energy future is not long-term thinking. One day, not too far down the line, it will run out. Meanwhile, it's supposed to bring us energy security.
Is gas really that secure?

Gas is difficult to source, explaining why Europe still relies heavily on Russia for the fossil fuel.

As natural gas is pumped and shipped long distances, the massive infrastructure required adds to its cost — and carbon footprint.

Geopolitics is another problem: Just look at the delays getting the Nord Stream 2 Russia to Germany gas pipe connected amid escalating threats of war in Ukraine. It's ready to go but can't flow. Gas prices skyrocket as supply ebbs.

Germany itself is so reliant on gas for fuel and heating that it is open to supplies from the US, and has been planning to build big expensive new terminals to receive shipments in liquified natural gas (LNG) form.

The problem is that these imports would include fracked gas, which is extracted from rock and shale using poisonous chemicals in an environmentally-hazardous process.

Fracking, as it is known, also releases a lot of methane, making it potentially a bigger climate enemy than coal.

Many European countries, including Germany have banned the practice at home, but fracked US LNG might one day replace Putin's gas.

If gas is that bad, can’t we just leave it in the ground?

The EU reckons that down the track we can repurpose new and existing gas infrastructure for "low carbon" gases such as hydrogen and biogas. At least, that was the gist of a recent European Commission (EC) proposal to decarbonize gas markets.

It might sounds okay in theory, but a) it would mean burning a lot of the hydrocarbon in the short term, and b) clean gases like "green" hydrogen remain a pipe dream, partly because they can only be made with renewables that will be needed to power the energy transition.

Which is why critics say talk of the green gas transition is giving fossil fuel companies a pass to greenwash their climate-wrecking business.

"Natural gas is not a bridging fuel. It is a fossil fuel," said one climate analyst, adding that it must be treated like coal and phased out as quickly as possible.
What's the alternative?

Experts told us last year that solar energy was now the "cheapest ... electricity in history," and that by 2050, solar and wind could meet the world's energy demand 100 times over.

So we have alternatives. Yet Australia is talking up a "gas-fired recovery" from the pandemic, and Europe is pushing hard to build its "gas bridge" to our bright and clean energy tomorrow.

Some say all this gas boosterism is a recipe for a "carbon lock-in" that will only delay the energy transition.

Because all the capital and infrastructure that will go into a gas-fired energy transition means the fossil fuel will continue to be extracted to make good the investment.

Meanwhile, that same cash could have gone directly into the renewables that would directly decarbonize the energy supply.

And it would be energy we can still cook with.

Edited by: Tamsin Walker


THE FUTURE OF WIND POWER
Then and now
Wind power has been used for centuries. It pumps water, grinds grain, saws wood and brings sailing ships to their destination. In Europe, there were hundreds of thousands of wind turbines in the 19th century. The Dutch mainly used them to drain marshes. Today, wind power generates clean electricity and is central to meeting climate targets.
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Why are bugs becoming big business in Japan?

Bugs have long been consumed in Japan, but now the market is growing. Insect vendors say this is because of the numerous nutritional and environmental benefits of this form of protein.


Increasing numbers of companies are entering Japan's market for edible bugs

Japan has a long history of consuming insects. Packets of fried or sugared crickets are sold to children as snacks in many rural towns. But companies are now developing insect farms on a larger scale, marketing the insects on their high nutritional value and environmental benefits.

Across Japan, specialist shops sell foodstuffs incorporating everything from spiders to crickets, weevils and cicada. Meanwhile, restaurants stage promotional events with bugs on the menu.
Crickets as a balanced meal

Gryllus Co. is a food technology company set up in 2019 by Takahito Watanabe, a professor of developmental biology at Tokushima University, to raise crickets and develop them into a food source.

The company says its philosophy is to create a "new harmony" that helps solve the problem of protein going to waste, builds a global food cycle and provides healthy food.

"Crickets have long been eaten in Japan, and we see them as potentially an important and useful resource," Fumiya Aokubu, a spokesman for the company, told DW. "Raising crickets is environment-friendly. It requires very little land, water or feedstock, while the food conversion rate is far superior to livestock such as pigs, beef cattle or chickens."

Watanabe and his team are presently carrying out research to determine the exact nutritional values of crickets and the best ways in which they can be incorporated into food, Aokubu said, although much of that data is at present a closely guarded company secret.

The research has so far determined that crickets are high in calcium, magnesium, zinc, iron, vitamins and dietary fiber. Additionally, crickets can be processed into cosmetics and pharmaceutical products, as well as fertilizers.

"At the moment we are turning crickets into oils and powders that can be used in cooking, to make biscuits, curries and other meals, and we are planning to expand our research into other insects in the future," Aokubu said.
Cheap and environmentally friendly

Take-Noko restaurant in Tokyo holds tasting events for insects. "We have seen a really big increase in interest in insects as food in the last couple of years, with people keen to try something different, something unusual," said Ryota Mitsuhashi, who oversees product development for the company. "Crickets and grasshoppers are the most familiar to many people, but we are also selling a lot of silkworms and spiders as food."

Mitsuhashi said his favorite insect was the larvae of wasps, traditionally prepared in the mountain towns of central Japan in the autumn months with miso, ginger and ground peanuts. Mitsuhashi admits that he's not a fan of the edible zebra tarantulas that Takeo stocks, however, as he is afraid of spiders.

The shop's customers are "more adventurous" than most, he said, and are of all ages and genders.

"The most important message that we have to communicate to customers is that the foods we sell actually taste very good," he said. "We can tell people that they are cheap to buy, that they are good for the environment and that they are healthy, but, if people are too worried about the taste, then they are not going to buy them."

Other companies in Japan are also exploring the possibilities of insect-based food products. Bakery Pasco initially began selling home-baking kits with flour made from ground crickets and now making a range of foods that incorporate silkworms under the Silkfood brand.

In the southern city of Kumamoto, a vending machine that sells precooked insects has attracted a good deal of attention from the public. It sells diving beetles, insect pupae and rhinoceros beetles alongside crickets as snacks. For those with a sweet tooth, some of the offerings in the machine are coated in chocolate.

Shoichi Uchiyama is an insect-eating advocate who has published a number of culinary books with recipes such as bug-based sushi. He has called on people to overcome their reservations about what is edible. He points out that insects have for generations provided nutritionally balanced and healthy meals. With the rise of bugs on the menu across Japan, his message may be becoming more palatable.

Edited by: Kate Martyr

India: Why are some men threatening 'marriage strike'?

The proponents of "marriage strike" controversially argue that criminalizing marital rape would make marriage a dangerous institution and result in baseless criminal charges against them.

India is one of more than 30 countries worldwide where a husband cannot be prosecuted for raping his wife

A section of Indian men has taken to social media platforms to lobby against the criminalization of marital rape. This comes as a court in the country's capital Delhi hears a petition against marriage-linked exemptions in the nation's laws against rape.

While India has enacted strict anti-rape laws over the last decade, it finds itself on one of the less sought-after global lists: a list of over 30 countries where a husband cannot be prosecuted for raping his wife.

Under the current criminal code, rape is defined as sexual intercourse with a woman without her consent, against her will or if she is a minor. There are a few exemptions to this, including medical interventions or procedures, no physical resistance, and sexual intercourse between a man and his wife, who is older than 18 years of age.

But lawyer Karuna Nundy, counsel for the petitioners Rit Foundation and All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA), has cited an earlier Supreme Court of India judgment to reiterate: "A rapist remains a rapist, and marriage with the victim does not convert him into a non-rapist."

Men fear possible criminalization

As the court hears petitions filed by the Delhi-based non-profit, AIDWA, and two individuals, several men took to Twitter, threatening to boycott the institution of marriage if marital rape is criminalized.

The proponents of the "marriage strike" used the hashtag #marriagestrike to protest against the possible criminalization by saying that men would face the brunt of baseless criminal charges if the exemption is struck down. They controversially argued that it will make marriage a dangerous institution for men, who they say already face a number of false cases of abuse and dowry under the current laws.

Using the hashtag #NoRepublicDay4Men on Twitter on January 26 as India celebrated the day its constitution came into effect, several men's rights organizations — including the Save Indian Family Foundation — said India was no country for men, who lived like "second-class citizens." Claiming that there were "large-scale violations of civil liberties and human rights in the name of women's empowerment in India," these organizations reiterated their mission to what they see as men's rights.

But women's rights activist Kavita Krishnan believes that this outrage has been orchestrated by groups that receive disproportionate visibility in the media.

"Their argument is based on the premise that men are entitled to sex in a marriage. The whole idea of a marriage strike comes from this: we will withhold marriage if we do not get access to sex," Krishnan told DW. "The idea of this transaction is deeply problematic."

History of legislation on marital rape

India's criminal code, formally referred to as The Indian Penal Code (IPC), was enacted in 1860 under British colonial rule. At the time, the UK upheld the the "doctrine of coverture," where a woman's legal rights and obligations were subsumed by those of her husband after marriage.

It meant women could not perform activities like buying property or entering into a contract against their husbands' wishes. Instead, in return for protection and support, women owed their husbands a "consortium" of legal obligations, including sexual intercourse.

According to experts, the marital rape exemption is an archaic piece of legislation that traces its roots to colonial rule.

Senior lawyer Rebecca John, who is advising the court on the matter, told the bench that the expectation of sexual relations in a marriage cannot lead to a husband having forcible sex with his wife.

'Eroding the institution of marriage'

In 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government's official stance was that criminalizing marital rape would "destabilize the institution of marriage and become a tool for harassment of husbands."

But the petitioners have argued that according to data from the National Family Health Survey in 2015-16, over 83% of married victims of sexual violence (between the ages of 15-49) said their current husband was the perpetrator. For 9%, the perpetrator was a former husband.

"Evidence suggests that a woman is 17 times more likely to face sexual violence from her husband than from others," Nundy said.

Addressing concerns over false cases and harassment of men, she said that "courts have consistently held that the possibility of misuse of any law is not a ground for setting it aside."

Finally, India's criminal justice system imposes strict penalties for putting forth false criminal complaints.

As the court hears the latest petitions in light of changing circumstances, India's federal government has filed a new affidavit, stating that it was adopting a "constructive approach" and was currently in the process of consulting numerous stakeholders on the issue.

The way forward

A major concern cited by opponents is that striking down the marital rape exemption will create a new offense but Nundy says it would simply result in extending "coverage of the statute to those formerly excluded," that is, "to married men who raped their wives."

The men protesting against the removal of this exemption are not worried about saving families; they are more interested in saving the patriarchal norms of society, Krishnan said. "Violence, against women and children, is the real threat to the family institution."

As the court hears arguments from petitioners against the criminalization of marital rape and waits for an official response from the government of India, many women see a flicker of hope.

"This move will democratize the institution of marriage. No institution can survive if it is based on the subordination of one party," Krishnan said.

But it is too early to judge whether striking down this exemption would lead to a more equitable distribution of power within marriages.

Edited by: Srinivas Mazumdaru

Leading Turkish women targeted by Islamists and government

The jailing of prominent journalist Sedef Kabas and threats against famous pop diva Sezen Aksu are stirring controversy in Erdogan's Turkey. It's part of a trend that brings Islamists and government supporters together.



Journalist Sedef Kabas and pop star Sezen Aksu have both been targeted by the government and Islamists

Two well-known women made headlines last week in Turkey, with prominent Turkish journalist Sedef Kabas being one of them.

"There is a very famous proverb that says: A crowned head becomes wiser. But we see that is not true. When the ox enters the palace, he does not become a king; rather, the palace becomes a barn," Kabas said on Tele 1, an opposition television channel. She later tweeted the saying, as well.

The 52-year-old journalist was then targeted by government officials and pro-government groups. Justice Minister Abdulhamit Gul said Kabas will "get what she deserves for her unlawful words."

"The honor of the presidency's office is the honor of our country. I strongly condemn the vulgar insults made against our president and his office," Turkey's Presidential Communications Director Fahrettin Altun tweeted.

On Saturday, security forces detained Kabas in a midnight raid for insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Article 299 of the Turkish Penal Code for "insulting the president" carries a prison sentence of one to four years.
Prosecution for 'insulting the president'

In Turkey, thousands of people have been convicted for "insulting the president" since Erdogan was elected to the office in 2014.

According to Turkish justice ministry statistics, 160,169 investigations have been launched over "insulting the president," with 35,507 cases filed over the last eight years.

The law prosecutes not only journalists, artists and academics, but also ordinary citizens. According to human rights defenders, the article is a serious attack on the freedom of expression.

Watch video05:40 Turkey: Journalists in danger

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has called upon Turkey to change the president insult legislation.

"Such a sanction, by its very nature, inevitably had a chilling effect on the willingness of the person concerned to express his or her views on matters of public interest," the court stated in an October 2021 ruling.
Pop star also targeted

Also last week, Turkish pop singer Sezen Aksu faced criticism from pro-government Islamist groups after sharing a five-year-old song called "How Wonderful to be Alive" on her Youtube channel for New Year's Eve.

Aksu was accused of blasphemy for singing, "We are heading straight to a disaster/Say hi to Adam and Eve, those ignorant ones" in her song. President Erdogan subsequently threatened the legendary singer and songwriter.

"No one can defame our Prophet Adam. It is our duty to rip those tongues out. No one can say those words to our mother Eve," Erdogan said at last week's Friday prayer without mentioning Aksu's name.

Turkey's Directorate of Religious Affairs, or Diyanet, which has been instrumentalized in political affairs during Erdogan era, also made a statement about Aksu's song: "One should be extremely careful and sensitive in every sentence when talking about distinguished holy figures of Islam," Diyanet stated.

Meanwhile, a group of lawyers in Turkish capital Ankara filed a criminal complaint against Sezen Aksu for "insulting religious values."

'A preview of future polarizing rhetoric'

Emre Erdogan is professor of political science at Istanbul Bilgi University

The 68-year-old singer defied threats by sharing a new poem/song "Hunter," which was translated into 35 languages by social media users in one night. In it, she said: "You cannot crush my tongue."

"I have been writing for 47 years, and I'll continue to write," she added in a Facebook post. Like journalist Sedef Kabas, the Turkish pop queen also received massive support from the opposition, including from politicians.


"Artists will speak out, they cannot be silenced," tweeted Istanbul mayor Ekrem Imamoglu from Turkey's main opposition party CHP.

For Emre Erdogan, a professor of political science at Istanbul Bilgi University, as a popular singer for many generations, Sezen Aksu doesn't seem to be a good target for an attack to consolidate AK Party’s conservative voter base.

"Still, it squeezes newly emerging, minor political actors who target the AK Party voter base," he told DW.

"Framing the debate as an attack on Islamic values pushes such actors to advocate for freedom of expression," he pointed out. The president's move prevents such actors from taking a bridge role, he explained.

"This scenario may be perceived as a preview of future polarizing rhetoric until the next elections, in which every single vote will be invaluable," he said.

Social media: Battleground for public controversies

Erdogan's divisive language gained momentum after the Gezi Park protests in 2013, when thousands protested the government's authoritarian policies.

Erdogan began promoting nationalist and Islamist discourse to strengthen his policy of polarization after his party's alliance with Nationalist Movement Party (MHP). Detention of journalist Sedef Kabas and threats against musician Sezen Aksu reflect such dimensions of political polarization.

In Turkey, where society is highly polarized, social media functions as a political battleground. For example, after pro-government groups started tweeting #SezenAksuKnowYourPlace and #SedefKabasKnowYourPlace, supporters shot back with #SezenAksuIsNotAlone and #SedefKabasIsNotAlone hashtags.

As Turkish citizens face severe economic problems due to high inflation, some opposition spheres see the recent developments as a strategic move on the part of the government to divert public attention.

On the other side is the argument that to sustain stability amidst chaos, Erdogan is playing his "religion card" for a more authoritarian Islamist regime in a time of economic crisis.

Anthropologist and journalist Ayse Cavdar

Anthropologist and journalist Ayse Cavdar, however, diverges from this thesis.

"This is not a move to divert the political agenda or change public discussion," she told DW.

"This is President Erdogan saying to his supporters, 'I take prosperity from you, but in return I give you something greater: Your religious sensitivities are defended by the highest political authority.'"

"This is a bargain where the opposition unfortunately remains silent," she concluded.

Edited by: Sonya Diehn

Torture trail raises questions on Kazakh terror claims

As Kazakhstan witnessed its worst unrest in 30 years of independence this month, Aset Abishev was grabbed off a bus and locked away by police who he said tortured him for a week.

© Alexandr BOGDANOV Aset Abishev was held without charge or access to communications and finally released a week later, his body covered in bruises

Abishev -- a longtime opposition activist in the Central Asian country -- was arrested on January 4, just hours before thousands took to the streets of the former capital Almaty, sending a political crisis that authorities said left 225 people dead and thousands injured towards a bloody crescendo.

The 44-year-old was held without charge or access to communications and finally released a week later, his body covered in bruises.

His account to AFP of the violations inflicted on him and other detainees is one of several that call into question a state investigation into the unrest that has seen hundreds charged with terrorism and other serious crimes.© Alexandr BOGDANOV Nurlan Zhagiparov says he found his brother Yerlan's corpse in a city morgue on January 12, bruised and pierced with bullets, his hands poking through handcuffs and broken at the wrists

Abishev said he spent his first three nights "as a hostage" in a room in the police station, including the night of January 5, when police used guns and stun grenades to repel attacks by unidentified assailants during chaos in the city of 1.8 million.

He was then transferred to a formal detention facility where he shared a cell with seven others and, he said, they were severely beaten.

- 'No mercy' -

"The chest they did with fists. On the back and arms it was batons and rifle butts," Abishev said, pointing to purple and greenish-yellow markings on his upper body, just over a week after he was released without charge on January 10.

"With the younger men arrested on January 5 and 6, (police) showed no mercy. Plastic bags over the head, throwing them on the floor, jumping on them. They had broken ribs but received no medical attention," he recalled.© Abduaziz MADYAROV Elvira Azimova, Kazakhstan's state-appointed rights commissioner, told AFP she had received complaints about torture

Officials in Kazakhstan including President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev have blamed unspecified "bandits" and foreign extremists for hijacking protests over a new year increase in the price of car fuel.

The foreign ministry last week described a European Parliament resolution that condemned rights violations during the violence as "not only biased but also based on prejudiced opinions and assumptions".

Elvira Azimova, Kazakhstan's state-appointed rights commissioner, told AFP alleged violations during detentions were "the priority question" in her office's consultations with prosecutors and that she had received complaints about torture.

But the office has no power "to interfere in judicial processes", she added.

The unrest eased after more than 2,000 troops from the Russia-led Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) deployed in the country of 19 million on January 6, staying almost two weeks.

Kazakhstan's allies Russia and China backed the security crackdown.

- Broken ribs -

But neighbour and fellow CSTO member Kyrgyzstan raised concerns after several of its citizens were detained in the "counter-terror operation" that came after strategic sites -- including Almaty's airport -- were seized and looters went on a rampage amid an internet blackout on the night of January 5.

© Alexandr BOGDANOV

 Abishev said the police 'showed no mercy' with the younger men arrested on January 5 and 6

During a media appearance from a hospital bed in Kyrgyzstan's capital Bishkek last week, Kyrgyz citizen Cholponbek Sydykov alleged that police beatings in Kazakhstan left him and another compatriot with broken ribs and legs.

Another Kyrgyz detained in the violence, jazz pianist Vikram Ruzakhunov, said he had suffered multiple injuries including broken ribs, but that he had been asked not to give interviews on his detention.

"All my public statements are made with consideration of those who are still held hostage in Kazakhstan... Every word can affect them," Ruzakhunov said in a post Sunday on Instagram, without saying who had asked him not to speak.

Ruzakhunov was released not long after a video of him -- appearing bruised and dazed and confessing to receiving money to cause violence in Almaty -- was broadcast by pro-government media on January 9.

Fans immediately identified him, moving Kyrgyzstan's government to send an official note of protest to Kazakhstan.

The full picture of what happened in ex-Soviet Central Asia's richest country this month is still clouded by conjecture over a power struggle between Tokayev and the long-ruling strongman who handpicked him as his replacement in 2019, Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Nazarbayev on January 18 made his first appearance since the crisis began to deny having any issues with his successor.

This came even as his relatives were dismissed from top government and corporate posts, and with a former top ally, ex-security chief Karim Masimov, jailed on coup-plotting charges.

- 'Murderers still at large' -

In the absence of official information, activists have created a database to list those missing, killed or detained, and their families are demanding answers.

Yerlan Zhagiparov, 49, ventured outside on the evening of January 6 after hearing gunshots echo around Almaty's city square, and was never seen alive by his loved ones again.

About 8:00 pm that night, Zhagiparov had phoned a close friend to inform him he was being detained by employees of Kazakhstan's national guard, his brother Nurlan Zhagiparov told AFP.

After a long search, he found his brother's corpse in a city morgue on January 12, bruised and pierced with bullets, his hands poking through handcuffs and broken at the wrists.

Thanks to the phone calls, "there is a chronology of events", said Zhagiparov, whose family has appealed to police to investigate the death.

"We want people to know that he was killed, that he was tortured, and that his murderers are still at large," Zhagiparov said.

cr/mm/bp/ah

Honduras leader offers rebel deputy post to end congress crisis

AFP 

Honduras' president-elect Xiomara Castro made a last ditch attempt late Wednesday to solve a congressional crisis with hours left before her inauguration.© - Honduras president elect Xiomara Castro (right) has made an offer to rebel deputy Jorge Calix (left) in a bid to end a congressional crisis ahead of her inauguration

Last week two rival factions within her left wing Libre party elected their own duelling presidents of Congress.

Castro backs the claims of Luis Redondo of her coalition partner Savior Party of Honduras (PSH).

But Jorge Calix, a deputy within her own Libre party, has led a band of close to 20 rebels, with support from the right wing National and Liberal parties, to launch a rival claim.

Late on Wednesday, Castro tried to break the impasse by offering Calix a role in her cabinet.

"I proposed to Jorge Calix that he joins my government in the position of Cabinet Coordinator for the sake of uniting in the Reformation of Honduras," Castro wrote on Twitter.

She did not, however, explain what the role entailed, although it appears to be something akin to a chief of staff.

"Thank you President @XiomaraCastroZ, it was a great pleasure speaking with you," said Calix in a reply to her post on Twitter.



"For me and for anyone, it would be a great honor to form part of the government of resistence and national reconciliation. You will soon receive my answer," he wrote.

The offer came a day after the two rival factions held competing first sessions presided over by their respective presidents.

Redondo took office as president of the Congress in the building that houses the legislative body.

In parallel and via video link, Calix was also installed as head of Congress by his own loyalist faction.

Calix was joined by around 70 deputies while only around 40 were in the parliament building, although the Redondo faction achieved a quorum as substitute lawmakers stood in for those that were absent.

The crisis broke out last week when a group of Libre dissidents ignored an agreement with the PSH, whose support was key to Castro winning the November elections.

Rival lawmakers came to blows in the dispute.

PSH leader Salvador Nasralla had agreed to withdraw his presidential candidacy and support Castro, in return for the position of vice president and a member of his party being named president of Congress.

But the dissidents argued that Congress should be led by the party with the most members -- Libre has 50 deputies compared to just 10 for the Savior party.

Control of parliament is key to Castro's anti-corruption and political reform platform in a country battered by poverty, migration and drug trafficking.

mav/nl/bc/st