DRULAP

ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s hard-line Taliban authorities publicly flogged 20 men and women Monday on charges of adultery, rape, and engaging in “illegitimate relations.” 

The Taliban’s Supreme Court reported that all defendants received sentences of 39 lashes each and prison terms ranging from one to seven years. 

The punishments were carried out in the eastern Khost and central Parwan provinces, with residents, judicial, and government officials among the spectators.

Since regaining control of Afghanistan in 2021, the Taliban have publicly flogged hundreds of men and women. Most were charged with offenses such as adultery, sodomy, eloping, having illegitimate relations and robbery.  

The number of Afghans subjected to flogging this month alone has reached 86, with 17 women among the victims, according to data from the top court.  

The United Nations has condemned corporal punishment being conducted by the Taliban as a violation of international law and human dignity, calling for the practice to be halted immediately.  

The Taliban government, which is not recognized by any country, defends its criminal justice system and overall governance by stating that they are aligned with Islamic law or Sharia and dismissing foreign criticism as misguided. 

The de facto Afghan leaders have placed sweeping restrictions on women’s access to education and employment, effectively erasing most of them from public life in Afghanistan and drawing persistent calls from the U.N. to reverse what it condemns as “gender-apartheid.”
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Islamabad — Pakistan and Azerbaijan have signed agreements and memorandums of understanding (MOUs), chiefly about trade and energy, during a visit to Azerbaijan by Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Sharif arrived Sunday in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, for a two-day visit to hold talks with President Ilham Aliyev and other top officials.

In a post on social media, the Pakistani leader said he had an “excellent meeting” with Aliyev, saying the two worked on finalizing a portfolio of investments Azerbaijan plans to make in Pakistan.

Aliyev promised a $2 billion investment during a visit to Pakistan last July.

“This will be the first quantum jump in our trade and investment relations and will be a huge reflection of our fraternal ties,” a statement from the Pakistani prime minister’s office quoted Sharif as saying.

This is Sharif’s second visit to the Central Asian country since taking office in February of last year.

Aliyev is expected to sign final agreements for investment during a visit to Pakistan in April.

“We received concrete projects from Pakistan, and Azerbaijani representatives are evaluating them. Today we put ambitious and realistic targets to finalize all the discussions within one month and by the beginning of April, the documents will be prepared for signing,” the Pakistani statement quoted Aliyev as saying.

Agreements on pipeline, LNG delivery

During Sharif’s visit, Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company, SOCAR, exchanged several MOUs with Pakistan’s oil trading and refining companies, including one to complete a pipeline in the South Asian country, Pakistan’s state-run news agency reported.

The Machike-Thallian-Tarujabba White Oil Pipeline Project is designed to transport oil within Pakistan.

Both sides also signed updated agreements and MOUs on the delivery of liquified natural gas, or LNG, from Azerbaijan to Pakistan.

Prior to the trip, Pakistan’s Economic Cooperation Committee approved a three-year extension of the LNG Framework Agreement between SOCAR and Pakistan LNG Limited Thursday.

Signed in 2023, the agreement allows Pakistan to procure one shipload of LNG per month when required, without any financial commitments, according to the statement from Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance.

Such an agreement allows Pakistan to purchase energy products as needed rather than using precious foreign exchange reserves to pay for unused cargo.

According to Sharif’s office, Aliyev also discussed joint defense production with Pakistan.

“Azerbaijan has already acquired defense equipment from Pakistan and we are satisfied with the quality of this equipment and we will continue to do it,” the Azerbaijani leader was quoted as saying.

Last September, the Pakistani military signed a deal to sell JF-17 Thunder block III fighter jets to the Central Asian country. The jets are jointly produced by Pakistan and China.

The visit, aimed at bringing more foreign investment to Pakistan, comes as the country prepares for a review of a three-year bailout program with the International Monetary Fund when the lender’s team visits in March.

Pakistan reached a $7 billion loan agreement with the Washington-based lender last September to avoid a balance-of-payment crisis.

In a push to further deepen ties with Central Asian countries, Sharif heads to Uzbekistan Tuesday.
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Beijing — China’s rising demand for food calls for increased efforts to boost grain production even after record-high output in recent years, China’s Central Rural Work Leading Group said on Monday.

“More than 1.4 billion of us want to eat, and we want to eat better and better,” Han Wenxiu, a director from China’s Central Rural Work Leading Group told a news conference.

More people eat meat, eggs and milk in greater volumes, which requires a large-scale increase in grain for feed, Han said.

China is the world’s largest agriculture producer and importer, bringing in more than 157 million metric tons of grain and soybeans last year, when it also reported record grain production of 706.5 million tons.

In its annual rural work policy blueprint released on Sunday, known as the No. 1 document, the State Council sharpened China’s focus on self-sufficiency and supply stability to counter potential disruptions to agricultural trade with the United States, the European Union and Canada.

Last year’s bumper harvest helped to stabilize prices and relieved consumers’ concerns, Han said.

But he cited “the current complex and severe domestic and international environment,” and said the need to buffer shocks from extreme weather conditions called for increased output.

“The central government’s policy is clear: grain production can only be strengthened, not relaxed. We must not say that grains have passed the test just because of a momentary downturn in prices,” he said.

China has further potential to develop and integrate biotechnology, strengthen equipment support and build a diversified food supply system to ensure food security, he said.

The agriculture ministry aims to increase grain production by 50 million tons by 2030, which would be a 7% increase over 2024’s grain harvest.
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GWADAR, Pakistan — With no passengers and no planes, Pakistan’s newest and most expensive airport is a bit of a mystery. Entirely financed by China to the tune of $240 million, it’s anyone’s guess when New Gwadar International Airport will open for business.

Located in the coastal city of Gwadar and completed in October 2024, the airport is a stark contrast to the impoverished, restive southwestern Balochistan province around it.

For the past decade, China has poured money into Balochistan and Gwadar as part of a multibillion dollar project that connects its western Xinjiang province with the Arabian Sea, called the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor or CPEC.

Authorities have hailed it as transformational but there’s scant evidence of change in Gwadar. The city isn’t connected to the national grid — electricity comes from neighboring Iran or solar panels — and there isn’t enough clean water.

An airport with a 400,000-passenger capacity isn’t a priority for the city’s 90,000 people.

“This airport is not for Pakistan or Gwadar,” said Azeem Khalid, an international relations expert who specializes in Pakistan-China ties. “It is for China, so they can have secure access for their citizens to Gwadar and Balochistan.”

Caught between insurgency and the military

CPEC has catalyzed a decadeslong insurgency in resource-rich and strategically located Balochistan. Separatists, aggrieved by what they say is state exploitation at the expense of locals, are fighting for independence — targeting both Pakistani troops and Chinese workers in the province and elsewhere.

Members of Pakistan’s ethnic Baloch minority say they face discrimination by the government and are denied opportunities available elsewhere in the country, charges the government denies.

Pakistan, keen to protect China’s investments, has stepped up its military footprint in Gwadar to combat dissent. The city is a jumble of checkpoints, barbed wire, troops, barricades, and watchtowers. Roads close at any given time, several days a week, to permit the safe passage of Chinese workers and Pakistani VIPs.

Intelligence officers monitor journalists visiting Gwadar. The city’s fish market is deemed too sensitive for coverage.

Many local residents are frazzled.

“Nobody used to ask where we are going, what we are doing, and what is your name,” said 76-year-old Gwadar native Khuda Bakhsh Hashim. “We used to enjoy all-night picnics in the mountains or rural areas.”

“We are asked to prove our identity, who we are, where we have come from,” he added. “We are residents. Those who ask should identify themselves as to who they are.”

Hashim recalled memories, warm like the winter sunshine, of when Gwadar was part of Oman, not Pakistan, and was a stop for passenger ships heading to Mumbai. People didn’t go to bed hungry and men found work easily, he said. There was always something to eat and no shortage of drinking water.

But Gwadar’s water has dried up because of drought and unchecked exploitation. So has the work.

The government says CPEC has created some 2,000 local jobs but it’s not clear whom they mean by “local” — Baloch residents or Pakistanis from elsewhere in the country. Authorities did not elaborate.

People in Gwadar see few benefits from China’s presence

Gwadar is humble but charming, the food excellent and the locals chatty and welcoming with strangers. It gets busy during public holidays, especially the beaches.

Still, there is a perception that it’s dangerous or difficult to visit — only one commercial route operates out of Gwadar’s domestic airport, three times a week to Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, located at the other end of Pakistan’s Arabian Sea coastline.

There are no direct flights to Balochistan’s provincial capital of Quetta, hundreds of miles inland, or the national capital of Islamabad, even further north. A scenic coastal highway has few facilities.

Since the Baloch insurgency first erupted five decades ago, thousands have gone missing in the province — anyone who speaks up against exploitation or oppression can be detained, suspected of connections with armed groups, the locals say.

People are on edge; activists claim there are forced disappearances and torture, which the government denies.

Hashim wants CPEC to succeed so that locals, especially young people, find jobs, hope and purpose. But that hasn’t happened.

“When someone has something to eat, then why would he choose to go on the wrong path,” he said. “It is not a good thing to upset people.”

Militant violence declined in Balochistan after a 2014 government counterinsurgency and plateaued toward the end of that decade, according to Pakistan Institute for Conflict and Security Studies.

Attacks picked up after 2021 and have climbed steadily since. Militant groups, especially the outlawed Baloch Liberation Army, were emboldened by the Pakistani Taliban ending a ceasefire with the government in November 2022.

An inauguration delayed

Security concerns delayed the inauguration of the international airport. There were fears the area’s mountains — and their proximity to the airport — could be the ideal launchpad for an attack.

Instead, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and his Chinese counterpart Li Qiang hosted a virtual ceremony. The inaugural flight was off limits to the media and public.

Abdul Ghafoor Hoth, district president of the Balochistan Awami Party, said not a single resident of Gwadar was hired to work at the airport, “not even as a watchman.”

“Forget the other jobs. How many Baloch people are at this port that was built for CPEC,” he asked.

In December, Hoth organized daily protests over living conditions in Gwadar. The protests stopped 47 days later, once authorities pledged to meet the locals’ demands, including better access to electricity and water.

No progress has been made on implementing those demands since then.

Without local labor, goods or services, there can be no trickle-down benefit from CPEC, said international relations expert Khalid. As Chinese money came to Gwadar, so did a heavy-handed security apparatus that created barriers and deepened mistrust.

“The Pakistani government is not willing to give anything to the Baloch people, and the Baloch are not willing to take anything from the government,” said Khalid.
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Bangkok — In a record year for internet shutdowns, countries in the Asia-Pacific region imposed the most restrictions, according to a new report. 

Myanmar is the worst-affected country worldwide, with 85 shutdowns last year, research by the digital rights group Access Now found. 

Its report, released Monday, Feb. 24, shows authorities worldwide imposed at least 296 shutdowns in 54 countries. Conflict — followed by protests, school or university exams and elections — was the biggest trigger, Access Now found. 

For the Asia-Pacific region, the report finds 202 shutdowns in 11 countries or territories. It is the highest number ever recorded by Access Now in a single year for the region.

The three countries with the worst record are all in Asia: 190 cases in Myanmar, India and Pakistan accounted for around 64% of all recorded shutdowns in 2024. India, often referred to as the biggest democracy in the world, had 84 recorded cases.    

VOA contacted Myanmar’s military administration, and the Washington embassies for India and Pakistan for comment. As of publication, VOA had not received a reply. 

Raman Jit Singh Chima, the Asia Pacific policy director at Access Now, warned of a rise of digital authoritarianism in Asia.

“Shutdowns destabilize societies, undermine digital progress, put entire communities at risk, and provide a cloak of impunity for human rights abuses,” he said in a statement. “Authorities from Myanmar to Pakistan are isolating people from the rest of the world with impunity, reflecting the rising digital authoritarianism in Asia.”

Access Now collects data on shutdowns, which include cables being cut, equipment confiscated, platforms being blocked, and orders to telecommunication companies. 

‘Rebirth’ of radio

Since seizing power in a coup in February 2021, the junta in Myanmar has regularly blocked access to the internet. The junta says the blocks are to maintain “stability” and prevent what it calls the spread of disinformation and fake news. 

At the same time, the junta has jailed dozens of journalists and revoked media licenses. 

Out of the 85 shutdowns imposed in Myanmar last year, 31 coincided with documented human rights abuses and at least 17 correlated with airstrikes on civilians, the Access Now report found.

The record puts the country among the worst for digital rights for the fourth consecutive year, the report found. 

Toe Zaw Latt, a veteran journalist from Myanmar, told VOA it was “no surprise” that the country tops the list.

“Myanmar has one of the worst censorship [records] on digital platforms,” he said. “[The military does this] so most of the people can’t access independent information or internet mainly, especially young people. They just want one version of truth, the army’s version of truth.”

Zaw Latt said the junta is trying to prevent “independent access of information on the internet.”  

A journalist for decades, Zaw Latt is also secretary of the Independent Press Council Myanmar. He said the internet blocks have seen a “rebirth” in radio. 

“Globally, radio is dying but it’s having a rebirth in Burma because it’s cheap and accessible,” he said, using the country’s former name. “Even some people go back, very primitive, back to print because of these internet shutdowns.”

Still, Zaw Latt said, it is not possible to completely cut off the internet, “because people will find a way.”

Alongside shutdowns the junta has passed laws to further control the information narrative.

On Jan. 1, a cybersecurity law was enacted in Myanmar, banning the use of Virtual Private Networks, or VPNs, that people use to access blocked or censored content. The law penalizes those who share information from banned websites. Experts say it’s another attempt from the junta to suppress public information.

Two other Asian countries — Malaysia and Thailand — also made the list for the Southeast Asia region for the first time.

Thailand was included after it shut electricity and internet connections on its border with Myanmar following an attempt to crack down on scam centers that have lured thousands into forced labor and scammed billions from internet users worldwide.

Overall, press freedom in East Asia continues to see a decline, according to Reporters without Borders. The global watchdog reports that 26 out of 31 countries in the Asia-Pacific region have seen a decline in press freedoms between 2023 and 2024.
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Sydney — Australia’s online safety regulator fined messaging platform Telegram about $640,000 on Monday for its delay in answering questions about measures the app took to prevent the spread of child abuse and violent extremist material.

The eSafety Commission in March 2024 sought responses from social media platforms YouTube, X and Facebook to Telegram and Reddit, and blamed them for not doing enough to stop extremists from using live-streaming features, algorithms and recommendation systems to recruit users.

Telegram and Reddit were asked about the steps they were taking to combat child sexual abuse material on their services. They had to respond by May, but Telegram submitted its response in October.

“Timely transparency is not a voluntary requirement in Australia and this action reinforces the importance of all companies complying with Australian law,” eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant said in a statement.

Telegram’s delay in providing information obstructed eSafety from implementing its online safety measures, Grant said.

Telegram said it had fully responded to all eSafety’s questions last year, with no outstanding issues.

“The unfair and disproportionate penalty concerns only the response time frame, and we intend to appeal,” the company said in an email.

Australia’s spy agency in December said one in five priority counterterrorism cases investigated involved youths.

The messaging platform has been under growing scrutiny around the world since its founder Pavel Durov was placed under formal investigation in France in August in connection with alleged use of the app for illegal activities.

Durov, who is out on bail, has denied the allegations.

Grant said Big Tech must be transparent and put in place measures to prevent their services from being misused as the threat posed by online extremist materials poses a growing risk.

“If we want accountability from the tech industry we need much greater transparency. These powers give us a look under the hood at just how these platforms are dealing, or not dealing, with a range of serious and egregious online harms which affect Australians,” Grant said.

If Telegram chooses to ignore the penalty notice, eSafety would seek a civil penalty in court, Grant said. 
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SUSONO — Woven City near Mount Fuji is where Japanese automaker Toyota plans to test everyday living with robotics, artificial intelligence and autonomous zero-emissions transportation.

Daisuke Toyoda, an executive in charge of the project from the automaker’s founding family, stressed it’s not “a smart city.”

“We’re making a test course for mobility so that’s a little bit different. We’re not a real estate developer,” he said Saturday during a tour of the facility, where the first phase of construction was completed.

The Associated Press was the first foreign media to get a preview of the $10 billion Woven City.

The first phase spans 47,000 square meters (506,000 square feet), roughly the size of about five baseball fields. When completed, it will be 294,000 square meters (3.1 million square feet).

Built on the grounds of a shuttered Toyota Motor Corp. auto plant, it’s meant to be a place where researchers and startups come together to share ideas, according to Toyoda.

Ambitious plans for futuristic cities have sputtered or are unfinished, including one proposed by Google’s parent company Alphabet in Toronto; “Neom” in Saudi Arabia; a project near San Francisco, spearheaded by a former Goldman Sachs trader, and Masdar City next to Abu Dhabi’s airport.

Woven City’s construction began in 2021. All the buildings are connected by underground passageways, where autonomous vehicles will scuttle around collecting garbage and making deliveries.

No one is living there yet. The first residents will total just 100 people.

Called “weavers,” they’re workers at Toyota and partner companies, including instant noodle maker Nissin and Daikin, which manufactures air-conditioners. Coffee maker UCC was serving hot drinks from an autonomous-drive bus, parked in a square surrounded by still-empty apartment complexes.

The city’s name honors Toyota’s beginnings as a maker of automatic textile looms. Sakichi Toyoda, Daisuke Toyoda’s great-great-grandfather, just wanted to make life easier for his mother, who toiled on a manual loom.

There was little talk of using electric vehicles, an area where Toyota has lagged. While Tesla and Byd emerged as big EV players, Toyota has been pushing hydrogen, the energy of choice in Woven City.

Toyota officials acknowledged it doesn’t expect to make money from Woven City, at least not for years.

Keisuke Konishi, auto analyst at Quick Corporate Valuation Research Center, believes Toyota wants to work on robotic rides to rival Google’s Waymo — even if it means building an entire complex.

“Toyota has the money to do all that,” he said.
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Moscow — Myanmar and its close ally Russia signed a memorandum on investment cooperation in a special economic zone in Dawei, including construction of a port and an oil refinery, Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development said on Sunday.  

The document was signed by the head of the Russian ministry, Maxim Reshetnikov, and Myanmar’s minister for investment and foreign economic relations, Kan Zaw, during a visit of a Russian delegation to the Southeast Asian country.  

“The text of the memorandum contains the basic parameters of several large infrastructure and energy projects that are being implemented jointly with Russian companies in Myanmar,” the Russian ministry cited Reshetnikov as saying in a statement.  

“We are talking about projects to build a port, a coal-fired thermal power plant and an oil refinery.” 

He added that “oil refining is still the most complex element,” and there was no final decision on construction of a refinery. 

“As for the refinery — there is a desire of the Myanmar side to have a refinery. Our companies are still studying the economics of such a project, it is very complicated from the point of view of economic feasibility,” Interfax news agency cited Reshetnikov.  

According to the Russian ministry, the Dawei special economic zone is a 196 square-kilometer project in the Andaman Sea which is planned to house high-tech industrial zones and transport hubs, information technology zones and export processing zones.  

Russia has become Myanmar’s closest ally since the military coup that overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected civilian government in February 2021. 

Moscow and Naypyidaw have been discussing a deeper energy cooperation, including Russia’s participation in the construction of a gas pipeline to the Myanmar’s main city Yangon. Russia has also had plans for a nuclear research reactor in the country. 
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MANILA, PHILIPPINES — A village in the densely populated Philippine capital region launched a battle against dengue Wednesday by offering a token bounty to residents for captured mosquitos — dead or alive.

The unusual strategy adopted by the Addition Hills village in Mandaluyong City reflects growing concern after the nearby city of Quezon declared an outbreak of the mosquito-borne illness over the weekend. Eight more areas reported an upsurge in cases of the potentially deadly viral infection.

At least 28,234 dengue cases have been recorded in the Philippines this year up to Feb. 1, a 40% increase compared to the same period last year, according to health department statistics. Quezon City declared a dengue outbreak Saturday after deaths this year reached 10 people, mostly children, out of 1,769 residents infected.

A urban village of more than 100,000 residents living in crowded neighborhoods and residential condominium towers, Addition Hills has done clean-ups, canal declogging and a hygiene campaign to combat dengue. But when cases spiked to 42 this year and two young students died, village leader Carlito Cernal decided to intensify the battle.

“There was an alarm,” Cernal told The Associated Press. “I found a way.”

Residents will get a reward of one Philippines peso (just over 1 cent) for every five mosquitos or mosquito larva they turn in, Cernal said.

Critics warned the strategy could backfire if desperate people start breeding mosquitoes for the reward. Cernal said that was unlikely because the campaign would be terminated as soon as the uptick in cases eases.

As the campaign began, about a dozen mosquito hunters showed up at the village office. Miguel Labag, a 64-year-old scavenger, handed a jug with 45 dark mosquito larvas squirming in some water and received a reward of nine pesos (15 cents).

“This is a big help,” Labag said, smiling. “I can buy coffee.”

Dengue is a mosquito-borne viral infection found in tropical countries worldwide. It can cause joint pain, nausea, vomiting and rashes, and in severe cases can cause breathing problems, hemorrhaging and organ failure. While there is no specific treatment for the illness, medical care to maintain a person’s fluid levels is seen as critical.

Officials in another village in Quezon City were considering releasing swarms of frogs to eat mosquitoes.

Health Secretary Teodoro Herbosa said it’s crucial to clean up mosquito breeding sites, and for anyone who might be infected to seek immediate medical attention. Despite an increase in dengue infections, the Philippines has managed to maintain low mortality rates, he said.

Dengue cases surged unexpectedly ahead of the rainy season, which starts in June, likely because of intermittent downpours that have left stagnant pools of water where dengue-causing mosquitos can breed, Health Undersecretary Alberto Domingo said, adding that climate change was likely contributing to off-season downpours.
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