Tom Bowker
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tombowk.bsky.social
Tom Bowker
@tombowk.bsky.social
1.5K followers 1.9K following 400 posts
Editor in Chief at Zitamar News, www.zitamar.com

Follow Zitamar here too: https://bsky.app/profile/zitamar.bsky.social

Brit abroad since 2014. Currently living in The Hague.
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tombowk.bsky.social
Long-awaited meeting between Mozambican president Daniel Chapo and the de facto leader of the opposition Venâncio Mondlane took place in Maputo last night
March 24, 2025 at 8:24 AM
tombowk.bsky.social
A friend in Belgrade writes

#Serbia
March 13, 2025 at 7:05 PM
tombowk.bsky.social
This is sad, though understandable as explained by @james.crid.land. For now the new audio feature in the BBC app is hidden away, buggy, and doesn't cast, though hopefully those issues will be fixed.

Mostly I hope they forget to nuke the Sounds app, leaving it up just like Guardian Puzzles 😁
March 8, 2025 at 6:53 AM
tombowk.bsky.social
How it started / how it's going
January 12, 2025 at 8:04 AM
tombowk.bsky.social
I literally am in the app, guys.

Substack has various malfunctions for me (on a Xiaomi). Anyone else have probs with the android app?
January 8, 2025 at 5:20 PM
tombowk.bsky.social
A new one on me, but definitely the mot juste
Danegeld (/ˈdeɪnɡɛld/; "Danish tax", literally "Dane yield" or tribute) was a tax raised to pay tribute or protection money to the Viking raiders to save a land from being ravaged. It was called the - Wikipedia
January 4, 2025 at 1:45 PM
tombowk.bsky.social
Guess I'm in France lads
A pile of magazines in a house. The top magazine is called Philosphie and the headline reads: La vie a-t-elle un sens?
December 28, 2024 at 4:58 PM
tombowk.bsky.social
Mont Ventoux IPA. It's good!
A bottle of beer called 1575, an IPA brewed on Mont Ventoux. ALTITUDE 1575 COL DE LA FRACHE Reconnu réserve de biosphère par I'UNESCO pour la richesse de sa faune et de sa flore, le Mont Ventoux est constitué de 10 cols ou sommets. Le col de la Frache est le belvédère du Ventoux vers les Alpes du Sud et la Haute Provence,Traditionnellement pâturé, il est aujourd'hui le repère de la grande faune du Ventoux.
December 26, 2024 at 8:01 PM
tombowk.bsky.social
Why TF is the UK doing this. Why don't actual clean energy initiatives get this kind of support? Can anyone point to a CCS-power project anywhere in the world which is anywhere close to net zero?

www.source-material.org/bp-equinor-t...
Excerpt from an article by Source Material with the FT: The UK has made a big bet on carbon capture: in October the government promised up to £22 billion in support for the technology over 25 years. That plan will be tested next March when the Court of Appeal hears a challenge by Andrew Boswell, an environmental consultant who argues that the Teesside project is unlawful because it breaches climate commitments. Now confidential documents seen by SourceMaterial show that the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero will underwrite BP and Equinor’s loans if the courts block the development. This support enabled the companies’ final approval of the investment last week. The government guarantee, which could leave taxpayers liable for up to £6 billion,
December 18, 2024 at 8:25 AM
tombowk.bsky.social
Having law enforcement act against corruption following your investigative reporting into said corruption is bad, actually? Who knew.
December 3, 2024 at 11:31 AM
tombowk.bsky.social
Quick, need to post a pic of the tandem for the cargo bike people!
Our "parent-child tandem" with oldest boy on the front seat, baby on the handlebar-mounted seat, me on the pilot seat, and middle boy on the back. On our street in The Hague on a sunny summer day.
November 23, 2024 at 7:16 PM
tombowk.bsky.social
Damn. There goes my night out
November 13, 2024 at 5:31 PM
tombowk.bsky.social
Bit of UK news from my beat: graphite company Syrah is giving up on plans for a new facility to make battery inputs at Teesside Freeport, which would've been along the lines of one it built in Louisiana (with a lot of US state aid)
Growth Strategy Considering challenging market conditions and Syrah’s financial position, the Company is narrowing its focus and allocation of capital to its core operations and capital projects in Balama and Vidalia. Syrah discontinued discussions with Tees Valley Graphite Limited (“TVG”), a wholly owned subsidiary of Alkemy Capital Investments Plc (“Alkemy”) (ALK:LSE) (JV2:FRA), regarding the establishment of a joint venture for a natural graphite AAM facility at Wilton International Chemicals Park (“Wilton”) in Teesside Freeport in north-east England. Market Update Similar to other areas of the EV and lithium-ion battery supply chain, the capacity expansion and oversupply strategy China is currently pursuing has led to relentless price decline in the synthetic graphite AAM industry, which through domestic product substitution continues to dampen overall natural graphite demand. In the export market, the mix of natural graphite AAM and synthetic graphite AAM remains stable. In China, natural graphite production is modest, aligning with current subdued demand levels, and demand for imported natural graphite fine flake remains low. Over the past two months, the first signs of import or ex-warehouse demand have been evident. However, China import prices and domestic prices remain below the reported production cost thresholds for almost all producers globally.
October 30, 2024 at 10:12 AM
tombowk.bsky.social
Wondering if I should've been less blasé about kiddo playing with my computer last night
October 22, 2024 at 10:51 AM
tombowk.bsky.social
Terrible, shocking news out of Mozambique overnight.

Elvino Dias, lawyer and right hand man of opposition leader Venâncio Mondlane, was gunned down along with another senior party colleague, Paulo Guambe.

They were planning to contest fraudulent election results that will keep Frelimo in power.
The bodies of two men having been shot repeatedly in their car. Seen through the smashed window of the driver's door. Still from a video. Elvino Dias is in the grey suit, Paulo Guambe is dressed in white. Image from a Facebook announcement of the news, showing the murdered Elvino Dias (right) with opposition presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane Comment by my colleague at Zitamar News: Elvino Dias, a lawyer and the right-hand man of presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, was shot dead this morning by unknown gunmen in Maputo city. The passenger accompanying him was also riddled with bullets. Dias was a key player in the paperwork that Venâncio Mondlane and the Podemos party are preparing to challenge the fraudulent election results before the Constitutional Council, as well as in the legal organisation of the national strike scheduled for Monday. It was Elvino Dias who, through his appeals in last year's elections, showed for the first time that it was possible to challenge electoral fraud by going to court. Many district judges defied the regime by upholding Elvino's challenges. Elvino's death leaves a huge void, especially for Venâncio Mondlane and his followers at the top. VM may not fear death as such, but Elvino's departure will leave him homeless, since Dias was the mastermind of legal matters and more. The way he was murdered is certainly a message to the entire VM team, which is committed to the initiatives of the protests. Elvino Dias, also a social activist, was very active on social media, where he constantly published criticisms of the Frelimo government.
October 19, 2024 at 12:44 PM
tombowk.bsky.social
Serbia's finest biscuits
October 17, 2024 at 5:01 PM
tombowk.bsky.social
Does anyone know of a machine reading tool that could extract and organise data from a bunch of polling station results sheets like this? Would need some setting up of course.
October 10, 2024 at 8:30 AM
tombowk.bsky.social
I did a (very) little research yesterday and found this alarming but unsurprising take
October 2, 2024 at 8:03 AM
tombowk.bsky.social
Were the special forces going to be wearing clogs and carrying weapons disguised as tulips, by any chance?
September 28, 2024 at 5:51 AM
tombowk.bsky.social
Don't read this article sitting on the loo
Screenshot of section of the article saying: A python bit a man on the testicle in the same province last month as he sat on the toilet on the second floor of his house. He grabbed the snake to prevent it escaping into his home and tried to pull it out of the toilet, hitting its head with his hand and a toilet brush, until a neighbour responded to his calls for help. He was prescribed antibiotics and experienced pain in the area, he told the Thai media outlet Khaosod English, adding that he was traumatised by the attack.
September 18, 2024 at 1:26 PM
tombowk.bsky.social
Ah, those fresh, crusty loo rolls
September 14, 2024 at 8:29 PM
tombowk.bsky.social
Someone has seen me and my midlife crisis coming here. A Honda NTV was my first proper bike. But not as nice as this one...
A Honda NTV modded to be a cafe racer. Black with aluminium frame and a brown seat/grips Cute café racer Honda NTV with a FOR SALE sign stuck to the fairing
September 8, 2024 at 2:16 PM
tombowk.bsky.social
Considering switching for this one though
August 23, 2024 at 9:02 AM
tombowk.bsky.social
Not seeing this?
August 12, 2024 at 1:40 PM
tombowk.bsky.social
The Mozambican opposition should print this quote on t-shirts. Elections ahoy in October...
The judge on the "hidden debts" case in London said: "It is remarkable to note that, in all I heard and read, I was unable to identify a single senior official or office holder who over the period 2011-2015 stood up for Mozambique."
July 30, 2024 at 10:38 AM