Stalled engines? Driverless routes and roboshuttles


By Dr. Tim Sandle
November 27, 2024
DIGITAL JOURNAL

Waymo plans to have its self-driving taxis on the road soon in two more US cities as it cautiously expands operations 

- Copyright GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP MARIO TAMA

How close are we to true driverless vehicles being made available to consumers? The big buzz subject in the automotive world from a decade ago may have slowed; yet there continue to be significant developments in this area. With current developments, automation can vary from level 0 to level 5 within the automotive industry, from sole reliance on driver control, all the way to completely driverless vehicles.

There is also considerable investment. The latest report “Roboshuttles and Autonomous Buses 2024-2044” predicts that the global sales revenue of roboshuttles and autonomous buses is to exceed US$67 billion by 2044.

The report predicts that roboshuttles and autonomous buses will likely strive for level 5 operation as a long-term goal, although at present they are currently aiming for level 4, where driverless operation can take place within specific areas.

Unlike most buses, roboshuttles are designed to be small, with not-too-large capacities, making them suitable to deploy in higher numbers within small areas.

Operating under level 4 driving conditions, these vehicles are driverless and efficient, accommodating up to 22 passengers. Despite being smaller than a minibus, the extra room allowed by having no driver means their 4–6-meter length can hold a greater capacity.

Commercialization, however, is proving tricky for roboshuttles, with many being deployed on trial but struggling to go any further towards mainstream acceptance.

Consequently, IDTechEx reports a decline in the number of players from over 25 to just 12 since 2020, with most companies still in the early stages of development in 2023.

Autonomous buses – mini, midi, and city

Mini, midi, and city buses are among the various types of autonomous buses. These are higher capacity of buses compared to roboshuttles, at around 100 passengers per city bus.

The large number of investments required for autonomous buses to become mainstream is indicated by the limited number of players within the market. The regulatory challenges faced by companies, alongside the increased challenges and slow progress of level 4 systems in larger buses, are also factors slowing down commercialization.

There are some successes, such as the autonomous night bus project in South Korea, where a shortage of taxis might otherwise cause transportation concerns, again highlighting a real-world application for these buses.

Going forwards, the development of autonomous buses and roboshuttles is likely to continue somewhat slowly due to a lack of funding and regulatory challenges.

Is remote working good for the environment?


ByDr. Tim Sandle
November 26, 2024
DIGITAL JOURNAL

Remote working / home working, using a laptop. — Image by © Tim Sandle

Does the post-COVID rise in remote working correlate with an improvement to the environment? This is not a straightforward question to answer, and it depends on the parameters considered. On one hand, remote work eliminates daily commutes, leading to a reduction in transportation emissions; on the other hand, it also increases home energy use and alters lifestyle habits. Assessments also depend on situational factors like home building and local infrastructure.

One academic study has identified that people who work remotely all the time produce less than half the greenhouse gas emissions of office workers – a finding that requires permanent home working in order for the data to support the environmental argument.

Some measures are sufficiently clear, such as transportation. Using this metric coupled with fuel consumption, a survey, from Coworking Magazine (who will have some interest in this topic) has looked at major conurbations in the U.S. to produce groupings of cities that experience the biggest impact on their environment thanks to remote and hybrid work.

The document reveals the top three large cities with the biggest environmental impact to be:Baltimore, MD (198% WFH growth) – 4% drop in commute time; 7% improvement in air quality; 26.9% drop in carbon footprint; 3.4% reduction in gas consumption; 3.8% reduction in electricity consumption.
Washington, D.C. (279% WFH growth) – 1% drop in commute time; 5% improvement in air quality; 23.3% drop in carbon footprint; 13.5% reduction in electricity consumption.
San Jose, CA (288% WFH growth) – 7% drop in commute time; 8.3% drop in carbon footprint; 5.9% reduction in gas consumption; 0.9% reduction in electricity consumption.

Dropping the population down, the report further identifies the top three mid-sized cities with the biggest environmental impact:Newark, NJ (188% WFH growth) – 6% drop in commute time; 6% improvement in air quality; 8.3% drop in carbon footprint; 4.6% reduction in gas consumption; 0.9% reduction in electricity consumption.
Oakland, CA (203% WFH growth) – 6% drop in commute time; 8.3% drop in carbon footprint; 5.9% reduction in gas consumption; 0.9% reduction in electricity consumption.
Irvine, CA (175% WFH growth) – 5% drop in commute time; 8.3% drop in carbon footprint; 5.9% reduction in gas consumption; 0.9% reduction in electricity consumption.

At the lowest end of the scale, the top three small cities with the biggest environmental impact were found to be:Columbia, MD (256% WFH growth) – 2% drop in commute time; 7% improvement in air quality; 26.9% drop in carbon footprint; 3.4% reduction in gas consumption; 3.8% reduction in electricity consumption.
Quincy, MA (421% WFH growth) – 7% drop in commute time; 9.9% drop in carbon footprint; 5.1% reduction in gas consumption; 3.8% reduction in electricity consumption.
Simi Valley, CA (133% WFH growth) – 8% drop in commute time; 8.3% drop in carbon footprint; 5.9% reduction in gas consumption; 0.9% reduction in electricity consumption.

The results are of interest, although how the data connects is not straightforward since remote work is not zero carbon and the environmental impact of hybrid work is not linear.

FAMILIA POLITICKS

Philippine VP denies assassination plot against Marcos

By AFP
November 26, 2024

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte said the government's plot accusations amounted to 'farce' - Copyright AFP JAM STA ROSA

Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte on Tuesday denied she was plotting to kill President Ferdinand Marcos, saying her comments that sparked a government probe only reflected “consternation” with her one-time ally.

The country’s justice department on Monday called Duterte the “self-confessed mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the president and issued a subpoena demanding she appear at a formal inquiry.

The move followed Duterte telling reporters she had instructed one of her security team members to kill Marcos, his wife Liza Araneta-Marcos and cousin Martin Romualdez if an alleged plot to assassinate her was successful.

But Duterte appeared to walk those comments back Tuesday, describing them as an expression of “consternation” at the Marcos administration’s “failure to serve the Filipinos while it masterfully persecutes political enemies”.

She also said the government’s plot accusations amounted to “farce”.

“Common sense should be enough for us to understand and accept that a supposed conditional act of revenge does not constitute an active threat. This is a plan without flesh,” Duterte said in a statement.

“I am confident that an honest scrutiny would easily expose this narrative (of a supposed plot to kill Marcos) to be farce, imagined, or nothing at all.”



– ‘Active threat’ –



The Marcos-Duterte alliance that swept to power in 2022 has collapsed spectacularly in the lead-up to next year’s mid-term elections, with both sides trading allegations of drug addiction.

In the expletive-laced press conference on Saturday, Duterte had named the Marcos couple and Romualdez as targets, saying she had told a security team member: “If I die, don’t stop until you have killed them.”

Hours later, the presidential palace said it was treating the comments as an “active threat”.

Duterte, daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, was Marcos’ running mate in a presidential election that saw their ticket win in a landslide.

She remains his constitutional successor should he be unable to finish his six-year term.

But she is currently facing an investigation in the House of Representatives, led by Romualdez, over her alleged misuse of millions of dollars’ worth of government funds.

Both Romualdez and Duterte are widely expected to run for president in 2028.

Duterte stepped down as education secretary in June as relations between the two families reached a breaking point.

In October, the vice president said she felt “used” after teaming with Marcos for the 2022 poll.

Months earlier, her father had accused Marcos of being a “drug addict”, with the president the next day claiming his predecessor’s health was failing due to long-term use of the powerful opioid fentanyl.

The vice president told reporters Tuesday: “I agree with the assumption that he (Marcos) is a drug addict”.

Neither have provided evidence for their allegations.

Brazil’s top court takes on regulation of social media


By AFP
November 27, 2024

Elon Musk's X social media platform had a run in with Brazil's Supreme Court this year, and lost - Copyright AFP/File Mauro PIMENTEL

Brazil’s Supreme Court on Wednesday started examining four cases that turn on how far social media should be regulated, and what responsibilities platforms have in cracking down on illegal content.

The judicial review comes a month after the same court forced Elon Musk’s X platform to obey rulings aimed at battling online disinformation.

That issue has taken on heat in recent days in Brazil, with federal police accusing far-right ex-president Jair Bolsonaro and allied officials of using social media disinformation as part of a 2022 “coup” plot against Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, then the country’s president-elect.

The alleged plot involved using online posts to undermine public trust in the electoral system to justify Bolsonaro holding onto the presidency after Lula defeated him at the polls. Bolsonaro says he is innocent.

The Supreme Court’s deliberations in the cases are not expected to be concluded until sometime next year.

One key point it is looking at is whether social media platforms can be fined for illegal content posted by users.

Another is whether the platforms should themselves be required to monitor and remove any illegal content without a prior court order to do so.

The court’s rulings will become precedents that will have to be applied generally to all social media platforms operating in Brazil.

Brazil — many of whose 216 million inhabitants are heavy users of WhatsApp and Facebook — does not have legislation in that area.

Global social media networks, however, already have to abide by laws in the EU against illegal online content, under the bloc’s Digital Services Act (DSA), which could guide them in terms of Brazilian compliance.

One of the Brazilian Supreme Court’s judges, Alexandre de Moraes, in August ordered Musk’s X be blocked across the country for failing to comply with a series of court orders against online disinformation.

On October 9, the platform was allowed to resume activities after paying around $5 million in fines and deactivating the accounts of several Bolsonaro supporters accused of spreading disinformation and online hate speech.

The court’s presiding judge, Luis Roberto Barroso, told AFP that “digital platforms… open paths to disinformation, hate, deliberate lies and conspiracy theories.”

He added: “In the whole democratic world there are debates about protecting free speech without permitting everyone to fall into a pit of incivility.”

He pointed to the European Union’s DSA as a form of regulation “that seeks a point of ideal equilibrium”.

Brazil, in his opinion, should carve out its own regulation “with a minimum of government intervention where it comes to freedom of thought, while preventing increased criminality and inciting violence.”

‘It felt like I was invisible’: Melissa Barrera on the aftermath of taking a stand for Gaza


The actor, who was fired from the Scream franchise for calling out Netanyahu, recalled experiencing times when she felt her life had ended.

Images Staff
27 Nov, 2024
DAWN

Melissa Barrera is opening up about the darkest year of her life after facing a major career setback for taking a stand for Gaza. In a candid interview with The Independent, the actor shared her journey of self-discovery following her firing from the Scream franchise.

A year ago, Barrera became known as a staunch advocate for Palestine. She actively called out Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his regime’s atrocities in Gaza.

“Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp,” she wrote in an Instagram story in October 2023. “This is genocide and ethnic cleansing.” In another post, she talked about the struggle to find news stories on Palestinian suffering. “Western media only shows the other side. Why they do that, I will let you deduce for yourself. We don’t need more hate. No Islamophobia. No antisemitism,” she wrote.

Spyglass, the studio behind the latest Scream films, immediately dropped Barrera from the franchise. “We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech,” the company said in a statement following her removal.

Barrera released her own statement, saying she condemned “antisemitism and Islamophobia,” and hate and prejudice of any kind against any group of people. “I believe a group of people are NOT their leadership, and that no governing body should be above criticism.”

Reflecting on that time, Barrera told the outlet, “It was the darkest and hardest year of my life, and I had to reevaluate everything. There were times when I felt like my life was over.”

For nearly 10 months after getting fired, the actor recalled how substantial job offers were scarce. While smaller roles trickled in, the overarching sentiment seemed to be that she was “desperate” for roles.

“It was quiet for, like, 10 months. I was still getting offers for small things here and there — I’m not going to lie and say there was nothing — but the message was, like, ‘Oh, she probably doesn’t have work, she’ll say yes to anything,’” Barrera explained.

“I would get [roles] that I wasn’t excited about, and I’ve never been a person that just wants to work for work’s sake. I give so much of myself to acting that if a part of me feels like it’s not worth it, I’m gonna be miserable,” she added.

The professional lull forced Barrera to reassess her personality beyond her acting career. “For the longest time, I gave myself value as a human because of my work. So when I saw it potentially ending, I was like, who even am I? And I realised that I’m so much more than just an actor — I’m a great sister, a great daughter, a great friend.”

Barrera expressed mixed emotions when reflecting on her time in the Scream franchise. “They gave me a lot in my career. I made really good friends. I have such loyal fans from those movies.” However, the firing and subsequent backlash remain a sore point. Fans also frequently bring up the controversy when they meet her, she said.

The series itself has shifted directions, with the seventh instalment starring Neve Campbell. Barrera also recalled getting sympathy for what happened to her from fans and how uncomfortable that made her, making her feel like she failed at something.

“They’re like, ‘What they did to you is so messed up, I’m so sorry that happened!’ And it’s something, I think, that’s never going to end. Because the franchise is never going to end. So while I still have so much love for [those movies], the reminders of that very sour moment make it a little bit weird,” she said.

Right after Barrera’s dismissal, Campbell agreed to return for the forthcoming Scream VII, which divided fans of the franchise. Some, out of respect for Barrera, pledged to boycott subsequent installments, while others, out of loyalty to the series’ original heroine, pledged full allegiance to Campbell.

View this post on Instagram

When asked if she had any thoughts on the divide, Barrera said, “I think there have always been Scream factions. If they want to go watch the next one? Cool. If they don’t? Also cool. You just gotta act according to how you preach. And that depends on what you value, what your morals are, and whether you can separate them from art or not. Some people can’t listen to R Kelly or Michael Jackson, or watch Woody Allen films anymore. And then there are people who don’t care.”

After months of uncertainty, Barrera is once again finding her footing in Hollywood. She is currently filming an espionage series for Peacock alongside Simu Liu, which she describes as a revitalising experience. “It felt like I was invisible, and then all of a sudden, there was a switch that made me visible again,” she shared.

This new project has helped her regain confidence. As she continues to rebuild, Barrera is focused on aligning herself with collaborators who share her values and vision. “I was stuck in the dunes for a while, and now I feel like my feet are moving, I have an oxygen tank, and I’m, like … going up.”

Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire takes effect, civilians head back to south Lebanon

Reuters | Anadolu Agenc

 November 27, 2024 

A man waves a Lebanese flag as he stands amidst the rubble of a building destroyed in Israeli strikes in Tyre, Lebanon on November 27. — Reuters

A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah came into effect on Wednesday after both sides accepted an agreement brokered by the US and France, a rare victory for diplomacy in a region traumatised by two devastating conflicts for over a year.

At least 55 people were killed on Monday in Israeli attacks on Lebanon, bringing the death toll since October 2023 to 3,823, the Lebanese Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

A total of 160 others were wounded over the past 24 hours, raising the number of injuries to 15,859.

In the hours leading up to the ceasefire, Israeli airstrikes on the Lebanese capital Beirut and its southern suburbs, as well as the southern and eastern provinces of the country, had intensified, resulting in dozens of deaths and injuries.

While the ceasefire largely held on Wednesday morning, Israel said it identified Hezbollah operatives returning to areas near the border and had opened fire to prevent them from coming closer.

Lebanon’s army, tasked with helping ensure the ceasefire holds, said in a statement on Wednesday it was preparing to deploy to the south of the country.

The military also asked that residents of border villages delay returning home until the Israeli military, which has fought against Hezbollah on several occasions and pushed around six kilometres into Lebanese territory, withdraws.

The agreement, which promises to end a conflict across the Israeli-Lebanese border that has killed thousands of people since it was ignited by Israel’s invasion of Gaza last year, is touted as a major achievement for the US in the waning days of President Joe Biden’s administration.

“Force must give way to dialogue and negotiation. This has now been achieved in Lebanon, and it must happen as soon as possible in the Gaza Strip,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told franceinfo radio.

Bursts of gunfire could be heard across Lebanon’s capital Beirut after the ceasefire took effect at 0200 GMT. It was not immediately clear if the shooting was celebratory, as gunfire had also been used to alert residents who may have missed evacuation warnings issued by Israel’s military.

Later, cars and vans piled high with mattresses, suitcases and even furniture streamed through the southern port city of Tyre, which was heavily bombed in the final days before the ceasefire, heading further south.

Some cars waved Lebanese flags, others honked, and one woman could be seen flashing the victory sign with her fingers.

A Lebanese girl gestures as she arrives in the southern Lebanese city of Sidon on November 27 as displaced people make their way back to their homes in the south of Lebanon after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. — AFP

Many of the villages the people were likely returning to have been destroyed. But displaced families renting out alternative housing have been under financial pressure and hoped to avoid paying another month of rent, some of them told Reuters.

Some displaced people said they were still nervous about returning.

Hussam Arrout, a father of four who said he was displaced from Beirut’s southern suburbs and was originally from the southern border village of Mays al-Jabal, said he was itching to get to his ancestral home.

“The Israelis haven’t withdrawn in full, they’re still on the edge. So we decided to wait until the army announces that we can go in. Then we’ll turn the cars on immediately and go to the village,” he said.
‘Permenant cessation’

Biden spoke at the White House on Tuesday shortly after Israel’s security cabinet approved the agreement in a 10-1 vote. He said he had spoken to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanon’s caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, and that fighting would end at 4am local time (0200 GMT).

“This is designed to be a permanent cessation of hostilities,” Biden said. “What is left of Hezbollah and other terrorist organisations will not be allowed to threaten the security of Israel again.”

Israel will gradually withdraw its forces over 60 days as Lebanon’s army takes control of territory near its border with Israel to ensure that Hezbollah does not rebuild its infrastructure there after a costly conflict, Biden said.

He said his administration was also pushing for an elusive ceasefire in Gaza and that it was possible that Saudi Arabia and Israel could normalise relations.

Hezbollah has not formally commented on the ceasefire but senior official Hassan Fadlallah told Lebanon’s Al Jadeed TV that while it supported the extension of the Lebanese state’s authority, the group would emerge from the conflict stronger.

“Thousands will join the resistance … Disarming the resistance was an Israeli proposal that fell through,” said Fadlallah, who is also a member of Lebanon’s parliament.

The front page of the pro-Hezbollah Al-Akhbar paper featured a picture of two men carrying a Hezbollah flag in front of a partially collapsed building with the caption, “Steadfast … and victorious.”

The picture on the front page of the Al-Akhbar paper featured a picture of two men carrying a Hezbollah flag in front of a partially collapsed building.

 — Photo courtesy Al-Akhbar website


Iran, which allegedly supports Hezbollah, Palestinian group Hamas as well as the Houthi rebels from Yemen that have intervened to deter Israel from its invasion of Gaza, said it welcomed the ceasefire.

In a statement, Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei welcomed the development, stressing his country’s “firm support for the Lebanese government, nation and resistance”.

He stressed the international community’s responsibility in maintaining peace and stability in the region, and in pressuring Israel to stop its aggression on Gaza, where it has killed more than 43,000 people since Oct 7, 2023.

Israel has dealt heavy blows to both Hezbollah and Hamas, killing several of their top leaders.

Lebanon’s Mikati issued a statement welcoming the deal. Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said the Lebanese army would have at least 5,000 troops deployed in southern Lebanon as Israeli troops withdrew.

Netanyahu said he was ready to implement a ceasefire but would respond forcefully to any violation by Hezbollah.

He said the ceasefire would allow Israel to focus on the alleged threat from Iran, give the army an opportunity to rest and replenish supplies, and isolate Hamas.
‘Set it back decades’

Hezbollah, which is allied to Hamas, was considerably weaker than it had been at the start of the conflict, Netanyahu added.

“We have set it back decades, eliminated … its top leaders, destroyed most of its rockets and missiles, neutralised thousands of fighters and obliterated years of terror infrastructure near our border,” he said.

A senior US official, briefing reporters on condition of anonymity, said the US and France would join a mechanism with the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon peacekeeping force that would work with Lebanon’s army to deter potential violations of the ceasefire. US combat forces would not be deployed, the official said.

A man sits in front of the rubble of a mosque in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Tibnit on November 27, after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took effect. — AFP

In the hours leading up to the ceasefire, hostilities raged as Israel intensified its campaign of airstrikes in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon, with health authorities reporting at least 18 killed.

The Israeli military said it struck “components of Hezbollah’s financial management and systems”, including a money-exchange office. Hezbollah also kept up rocket fire into Israel in the final hours.

Annual COP-out

Mahir Ali 

Published November 27, 2024 





EVEN the low expectations that preceded the 29th Conference of Parties (COP29), which concluded in the early hours of Sunday, turned out to have been too high.

After the gavel came down in Baku on a deal proposing $300 billion in financial assistance by 2035 to developing nations struggling to decarbonise and cope in other ways with the swiftly mounting consequences of climate change, Indian representative Chandni Raina justifiably decried a “stage-managed” process that had produced “nothing more than an optical illusion”.

A week earlier, Pakistan’s former climate change minister Sherry Rehman had declared: “We’re here for life and death reasons”, demanding “internationally determined contributions” from the biggest historical contributors to global heating, and pointing out the pitfalls of leaving too much to the private sector.

Inevitably, given the timing of the conference, the malevolent spectre of Donald Trump hung over the proceedings. Even at the best of times, the US has hardly stood out as a leader in the combat against devastating climate change, with the majority of its legislators — all too many of them addicted to contributions from fossil fuel firms and lobbyists — turning pale at the prospect of a Green New Deal. But Trump and some of his closest associates are seemingly determined to pump up the volume of oil and gas extraction because all the hullabaloo about climate change is, after all, no more than a hoax.

He may well agree with Argentina’s Javier Milei, a kindred spirit from the loony right who claims to have been hailed by Trump as his “favourite president” — and who withdrew his nation’s delegation from Baku after the first three days — that the climate crisis is just a “socialist lie”.


Can humanity recover from the bungle in Baku?

What is a little more perturbing is that Azerbaijan’s leadership appears to be on more or less the same page, with President Ilham Aliyev hailing oil and gas as a “gift from God”, with no acknowledgement of the various other natural wonders that are at risk because humans insist on burning fossil fuels for energy. Besides, aren’t alternative sources of energy such as sunshine and wind equally gifts from the same source?

There’s no dearth of sunlight in Azer­bai­jan, but 90 per cent of its foreign income comes from fossil fuel exports — which in­­clude nearly 40pc of Israel’s oil imports, cur­­­rently facilitating a genocide. The quid pro quo is weapons supplies from Israel, which may well have facilitated the ethnic cleansing of Armenians in Nagorno-Kara­bakh. It certainly might be worthwhile conducting such conferences in oil- and gas-producing nations genuinely interested in reducing their reliance on fossil fuels. But this year’s host appeared to be even less interested in investigating that path than last year’s previous petrostate venue.

COP28 in Dubai was presided over by the head of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, and swarmed with oil and gas lobbyists. The conference formally acknowledged for the first time the link between fossil fuels and climate change, something that was evident decades earlier. And it did so in the face of staunch resistance from Saudi Arabia, where the crown prince’s now diminished Vision 2030 excludes any inclination towards compensating the victims of its incredibly lucrative oil boom. By all accounts, the Saudis were again desperate to achieve the same outcome at Baku. Their ploy flopped again. But does it matter?

The previous $100bn-a-year finance deal did not add up until well after its 2020 deadline. Its tripling (or doubling, if inflation is taken into account) is likely to meet the same fate. The 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold might be breached as soon as this year, amid an increase in emissions notwithstanding previous COPs, and a near-consensus that 2024 will turn out to be the hottest year on record. Climate scientists are constantly being flabbergasted by what Harold Macmillan might have designated as “events, dear boy, events”. Who knows where the world might be in 2035, by when the $300bn level is supposed to be reached. That’s only a fraction of the notionally required resources, and it may even be too late to make much of a difference with the trillions that no one seriously expects to be doled out.

It is hardly necessary to point out that the UN’s efforts to tackle the climate emergency have been ineffective. But anyone who suggests that a failing process should be abandoned must present a viable alternative. That’s not easy, short of straying into fantasy world. It’s a small mercy that COP30 will take place in Brazil, whose present government is dedicated to thwarting climate change. Perhaps putting the remarkably astute Greta Thunberg and fellow young activists from around the world in charge of working out the way forward might be the ideal option. But I must be dreaming.

mahir.dawn@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2024

On coercive control

Rafia Zakaria

November 27, 2024 

DAWN

IT is not news anymore that women live in a moment where male anger and violence is a constant threat. Everywhere in the world, women are being subjected to violence against their bodies, their minds, their families, and their livelihoods. According to the United Nations, which is currently commemorating 16 days of activism against gender violence, a woman or girl is intentionally killed every 10 minutes by a partner or family member. It is not surprising then that 60 per cent of femicides are committed by partners and relatives.

Further research shows that intimate partner violence causes enduring consequences, such as acute and chronic conditions, physical disabilities, persistent health complications, psychological conditions, and even mortality. It was reported some years ago, that this sort of violence leads to approximately two million injuries and 1,200 deaths in the US alone.

Death and beatings are the most egregious forms of violence but some emphasis must also be put on all other forms of violence that are daily and hourly lobbed at women from all sides. In Pakistan, death or physical violence is often held up as ‘real’ violence against women while other forms of violence are somehow considered permissible or are disregarded. Because physical violence is itself rampant in the country, women who face lesser forms of it are told to consider themselves lucky. Women who face verbal, financial and psychological abuse are told that they are not abused at all.

The truth is that many non-physical forms of violence can cause just as much and just as enduring harm as physical forms of violence. Often, these forms of violence can be even more insidious because they are not very visible to others and can therefore continue unchecked for very long periods of time. Emotional and psychological abuse refers to the emotional distress caused to an individual through verbal aggression, threatening behaviour, intimidation, or coercive tactics that abusers use to exert control, instil fear, and undermine the self-worth of their victims.


Women who face verbal, financial and psychological abuse are told that they are not abused at all.

Unfortunately, there is no standard definition of psychological abuse but it can be understood as intended to belittle and humiliate the victim and to take away their dignity so that they do not protest against continuing abuse. Arguably, in almost all cases, this form of abuse is a precursor to other forms of domestic violence.

One example of this sort of abuse manifests itself in damaging objects belonging to the victim or infusing toxicity into the environment around the victim as a way of frightening and mentally torturing her.

Take, for instance, an angry husband who proceeds to throw out all of his wife’s clothes from an apartment balcony onto the street below. While this is not causing any immediate physical harm to the woman, it is a way of belittling and harming her psychologically and in front of the neighbourhood.

Another case may be one of isolation where the abuser gets so angry every time the victim leaves home to visit her own relatives that she stops making such visits altogether. This isolates the victim so that the abuser can control her sense of reality, thus increasing the extent of control he exercises over her.

Coercive control, then, is a way of controlling the environment, resources and sense of physical, psychological and emotional security of a victim in a way that she can be manipulated into doing just what the abuser wants. Some emotional and psychological abuse is obvious such as name-calling, hurling abuses, isolating the victim, jealousy, monitoring locations, stalking, controlling the victim’s appearance, public humiliation, accusations of unfaithfulness, blaming the victim for the abuser’s actions, gaslighting, or damaging belongings. All these create an environment of coercive control where otherwise benign actions are weaponised to create a web that traps the victim in the abuser’s realm of control.

Although everyone knows that physical beatings are abuse and that abusers have become adept at hiding evidence of them, there needs to be more discussion of these other forms of abuse in Pakistani society. While women are the primary focus of marital or intimate partner abuse, all women in a household are vulnerable and face violence at home. These include older women particularly if they are infirm, disabled or are ill. And as the gruesome case of 10-year-old Sara Sharif, murdered by her Pakistani father in the UK reveals, young female children are just as vulnerable to abuse at home.

Even if women — daughters, wives, mothers, and sisters — do not end up dead they bear the scars of the abuse that haunts their lives. Pakistani women are tough — they have to be in such a patriarchal society — but increasingly, their emotional lives are buried under the weight of scar tissue left by near-constant onslaught of abuse at the hands of the men in their lives.

This means that they are unable to freely enjoy the simple joys that make life worth living — for instance, being able to celebrate their own and their children’s successes, without worrying about repercussions, or being able to call a friend and visit a parent without having to worry about the explanations that would have to be handed to a jealous and abusive spouse and in-laws.

Life in Pakistan is already full of stresses, but the addition of social sanction and approval for this sort of treatment of women and a gross ignorance of all these forms of coercive control that are flourishing unchecked is a ghastly reality. The women who die are killed in one fell swoop and robbed of all the potential within life; the women who are left alive die a slower, grittier death by a thousand cuts, their spirit gone before their body perishes.

The writer is an attorney teaching constitutional law and political philosophy.
rafia.zakaria@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, November 27th, 2024

The women factor in Pakistani politics

While the "politicisation" of Bushra and Aleema flies in the face of Imran’s own opinions about ‘hereditary politics’, it speaks volumes about what compels families of politicians to step up.

Amir Wasim 

Published November 26, 2024

DAWN

THE old adage “what goes around, comes around” has never been more fitting than in the case of PTI founder Imran Khan, who has found himself trapped by the irony of his own words, delivered on a number of occasions as part of the political rhetoric he has used against his opponents.

The recent entry of his wife Bushra Bibi and sister Aleema Khan into the political fray has left many wondering; is it a betrayal of values, or a necessary move in the ever-changing world of politics?

For years, Mr Khan critici­sed traditional politicians for promoting hereditary politics and launching their own family members, particularly wo­­men, into the political arena, specifically targeting the Sharifs for bringing Kulsoom and Maryam Nawaz into politics.

PTI members and workers, in the past, have also run smear campaigns on social media targeting the two Sharif family women over the political roles they had adopted.


While the ‘politicisation’ of Bushra and Aleema flies in the face of Imran’s own opinions about ‘hereditary politics’, it speaks volumes about what compels families of politicians to step up

Both Bushra Bibi and Aleema Khan — who had previously been playing the role of messengers between the incarcerated party leader and the PTI leadership — have now become more involved in the party’s leadership.

The former, who was released from prison following her bail in the Toshakhana case last month, has reportedly presided over a number of meetings in the PTI stronghold of KP. She also surprised many by issuing a political statement on Thursday that caused a storm of “international proportions”.

Many believe that Mr Khan has sought the help of his wife and sister to further his political agenda due to his frustration with the current party leadership.

There is no doubt that Bushra Bibi and Aleema Khan, with little to no political experience or aspirations, were compelled to take on the political mantle due to the prevailing circumstances, given that most of the PTI’s top tier leadership is either in prison, or in hiding out of fear of arrest.

A page from history

This is not a new trend or phenomenon in Pakistani politics. Indeed, the country has seen women family members of prominent politicians playing a similar role in the past, primarily out of necessity.

However, a couple of names on this list stand head and shoulders above the rest, those of Fatima Jinnah and Benazir Bhutto.

The Quaid-i-Azam’s sister, who remained by his side throughout the struggle for independence and thereafter, was a seasoned campaigner. Yet, she formally waded into the political arena some 17 years after the death of her brother. At the time, her hand was forced by Ayub Khan, the country’s first military ruler, and she had to contest a lop-sided election, facing barbs and a malicious campaign that went as far as to dub her a ‘traitor’.

The lady still referred to as Madr-i-Millat (mother of the nation) in contemporary history books was dubbed by some to be an ‘agent of Kabul’ in the 1960s. It sounds hard to believe, but this was part of a high-profile newspaper advertisement campaign, sponsored by the state.

Then, following the imposition of martial law and the rounding up of the PPP leadership after the deposing of then-PM Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, it was the Iranian-born Begum Nusrat Bhutto and her daughter, Benazir, who stepped in to fill the political void.

While her mother jumped into the fray out of necessity, Benazir was already being groomed for leadership by her father as she regularly accompanied him in political meetings and foreign tours.

Following his demise, his spouse and daughter had to tread a thorny road, lined with persecution and exile, before the party could mark a return to power in the first democratic elections held in the post-Zia era.

This wasn’t the end of her struggle, though, and history repeated itself in the 1990s. Dogged by allegations of corruption, the dismissal of the PPP government and imprisonment of her husband, she was forced into exile once again. Although she managed to return to the country in 2007, she wound up paying the ultimate price for championing democracy when she was assassinated after a rally in Liaquat Bagh.

Forced into the limelight

Begum Nasim Wali Khan’s is one of the first names that comes to mind when we look back at women who were forced into the political limelight by circumstance.

The wife of Pashtun nationalist leader Khan Abdul Wali Khan, she waded into politics after the arrest of her husband and the banning of his National Awami Party (NAP) by the then-PPP government in 1975. She led the movement to secure her husband’s release and remained active in politics for many years after his death.

She also made a history by becoming the first woman elected from then NWFP on a general seat in the 1977 elections and later played a crucial role in the struggle against the military dictator Gen Ziaul Haq from the platform of MRD.

Then, it was the turn of Kulsoom Nawaz, the wife of three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, to fight for her husband while he was imprisoned by military dictator Pervez Musharraf. Who can forget those iconic photos of her car being towed by the authorities from Lahore’s Canal Road, with her still defiantly seated inside.

More contemporary examples include the two sisters of President Asif Ali Zardari, Faryal Talpur and Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, who have been active in politics for decades.

While Dr Pechuho has kept a low profile in internal party matters, preferring to concentrate on service delivery as a member of the provincial cabinet, Ms Talpur has risen to occupy a central position in party circles. Known as ‘addi’ (the Sindhi word for ‘sister’), she also entered politics when her brother was facing a long incarceration under the Nawaz Sharif regime in 1990s. But while most of these women had to take on a political role under the yoke of military regimes, Bushra Bibi and Aleema Khan have been pushed into a similar situation under ‘civilian rule’.

Bushra’s role

PTI’s opponents say that Imran Khan’s past criticism of traditional politicians for promoting hereditary politics now seems hypocritical, when the women from his own family have jumped into the political arena.

On the other hand, PTI supporters claim that the two women were compelled to enter politics due to the government’s policy of persecuting its opponents and cracking down on the PTI leadership and workers.

The furore over Bushra Bibi’s recent statement also mirrors the political situation. Although she has been in the news since their marriage, due to her reported influence on Mr Khan’s political decisions, Bushra mostly remained behind the scenes while the PTI was in power.

Following her husband’s incarceration, she was also dragged to court in various cases and only recently secured her freedom. Her latest statement, a rare appearance via video message that sparked controversy, was also necessitated by the confusing messages coming out of the party leadership regarding the protest planned for Sunday.

While it remains to be seen how Imran Khan’s supporters will react to these two women’s role in the party’s decision-making circles, there are already reports of resentment within some sections of the party over the new roles assumed by Imran’s spouse and sister. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before, and Bushra and Aleema are unlikely to be the last women to wade into politics to save the men of their family.

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2024

Hope Lies in a Good Crisis

We need a huge climate crisis to shake us out of our complacency, argues Julian Saunders.

Julian Saunders

Published 08 Nov, 2024 

AURORA/DAWN

“Necessity is the mother of invention” is a proverb that stands the test of time. We saw it in evidence during the pandemic. In normal times, it can take a decade to develop a vaccine, yet it took less than a year to produce one. Governments sacrificed other medical research priorities to do so.

War, that other great and constant crisis in human affairs, acts as an accelerator of innovation. Radar, jet engines, the internet, canned food, atomic fusion, and most recently, autonomous drones are just a few of the innovations war has produced.

The big predictor of whether a society really commits to change is therefore the threat of an existential crisis.

Pandemics and wars have direct and visible impacts on populations. Governments have to act urgently. They have no choice, or they are likely to be chased from office on a tidal wave of public anger. The general public faced with death and/or displacement is also prepared to make sacrifices.

And here’s the rub. For all the talk of the climate crisis, it is unclear whether most populations and governments see it as an existential threat right here, right now. We are not prepared to ban the burning of fossil fuels. The big emitters of greenhouse gases – China, the US and other industrialised societies – are full of good intentions but are not prepared to sell a more rapid switch to green energy to their populations. Solar panels are booming and becoming cheaper, but coal-fired power stations are also being built, especially in China. Politicians in the US dare not alienate ‘Big Oil’.

Not surprisingly, behavioural change at an individual level is lagging. The signalling from the government is not yet for urgent change. People intuit that their individual actions will not stop the planet from frying unless the likes of China and the US cooperate to drastically reduce the burning of fossil fuels. Many people do exercise responsibility by, for example, foregoing plane travel and eating meat, yet others are merrily taking those EasyJet flights, which remain cheap and easy to book. Things are serious, but do I have to give up doing the things that give me pleasure? Not yet.

My apologies to Aurora readers for this dispiriting introduction. Where is the hope, you might ask? Firstly (and paradoxically), it lies in crisis. None of us can foresee the next decade. A huge and sudden climate crisis event (flooding, desertification, fire) will shake us out of our complacency and bring distant terrors near. It will spur action and innovation in a way no amount of sober analysis cannot achieve. Secondly, it lies in the technology dynamic.

Inventions tend to be expensive at first. Then technology – driven by demand and the opportunity for large markets – becomes both cheaper and easier to use. Cheapness and ease are reliable predictors of mass adoption and behavioural change. This dynamic is in play with solar panels. My neighbour is installing them; I will probably copy her. As I looked out of the window of a train this week, I saw a whole field given over to solar panels. This is clearly good business for farmers in the UK. Thirdly, it lies in government commitment to investment and not just relying on market forces. Vaccines and solar panels are both examples of massive government intervention to underwrite production. In 2009, China began offering a nationwide subsidy for solar energy sold to the electric grid, which created a growing domestic market for solar photovoltaic technologies. In July 2024, China announced a subsidy package of over 2.7 billion yuan ($220 million) for solar power.

To understand which ones of the green technologies will take off in the next 20 years, a good question is: what are the technologies being supported by governments and especially by the Chinese Communist Party? The Kiel Institute reports that China heavily subsidises green tech sectors such as electric mobility, solar and wind power. China’s overall subsidies range between three and nine times that of other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Because China is a manufacturing powerhouse, prices collapse quickly. Chinese-produced electric cars are about half the price of US and European brands.

Which brings us to a geopolitical crunch. Do you import these inexpensive Chinese products and transition more quickly to a green economy, or do you slap on big import tariffs to protect domestic businesses? The Trumpian USA has already made up its mind about this. Other countries, unencumbered by the political need to protect their domestic industries, can take advantage, especially sunny and windy places. In the UK, for example, 30% of energy production was from wind in 2023, up from 22% in 2021. That is a rapid transformation. Africa will surely be the solar-powered continent in the next decade. Innovation is bubbling away in many domains. A recent visit to the Design Museum in London highlights two that could become much more important in the next decade, driven by crisis and the need for concerted government-led action:

1 System Built Housing

The volumes of people seeking refuge could increase dramatically due to climate change. Natural disasters destroy homes. As resources become more constrained, we will see more wars. We will need homes (not just tents) that can be quickly erected: predesigned, pre-manufactured and assembled on site at a low cost. We will see the reinvention of ‘the prefab’ that was widely used in the wake of the Second World War in the UK.

2 Data Centres and Energy Recycling

Here is a shocking fact. Data centres are responsible for nearly one percent of all energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in the world – close to the entire aviation industry. They will surely grow and be put under the spotlight by activists. Every time you post a picture on Facebook, you contribute to it. AI will cause it to grow even faster. Yet, data centres produce heat, which, if managed well, can be recycled and reused. Tallaght is the site of Ireland’s first district heating network sourced from the waste heat of an Amazon web services data centre. It is the kind of investment big tech companies are well advised to take to preempt being penalised through fines and taxation.

Crisis, then, can be painful and even deadly. But it seems to me to be the necessary stimulant we will need for more rapid transformation. We have to hope it does not come too late.

Julian Saunders is a strategist, writer and teacher.
julians@joinedupcomy.com