Ukania: the Land Where the Queen’s Son Has His Shoelaces Ironed by His Valet

Kenneth Surin

I’ve just left Ukania, where I attended the Historical Materialism conference in London. After some much needed psychological decompression, I’m now back in the Land of Caged Toddlers.

In the UK at the same time was the UN Special Rapporteur on poverty and human rights, Philip Alston, travelling to some of the UK’s poorest areas to investigate the impact Tory austerity has had on the UK’s indigents.

Ukania has been misruled for decades, indeed for centuries (if the truth be told). The sole possible exception to this was the immediate postwar Labour government, which created the welfare state.

The all-party consensus around the NHS lasted for three decades, but every government after that, Tory and Labour alike, acquiesced in the slow whittling-down or outright gutting of the welfare state. Only Corbyn’s “old” Labour seems to be an exception to this trend.

So what will Professor Alston find?

The UK’s highest paid executive got the boot while I was there, but will keep his £75million/US$99 million bonus. Such is the state of corruption in Ukania that he might well have received a knighthood if he lasted another year or two, and would probably have been able to keep that as well.

Indeed, Ukania’s super-rich are doing immensely well. The Sunday Times Rich List for 2017 found that the total wealth of Britain’s richest 1,000 individuals and families surged 14% in that year alone, to £658 billion/$854 billion.

As for the rest, it’s a different story.

To mark Alston’s visit The Times (of London) conducted a surprising investigation into poverty in the UK–  surprising because The Times is owned by Rupert Murdoch, who has thrown his support behind the Conservatives, whose austerity agenda is overwhelmingly responsible for the UK’s poverty crisis.`

This is what The Times (2018-11-08) found:

“There are about 14 million people in relative poverty (defined as 60% of median income after housing costs) in Britain, representing 22% of the population. More than 4 million children are growing up poor, a rise of 500,000 in the past five years. An estimated 1.5 million people lived in destitution, meaning that they could not afford two or more essentials such as food, housing, heating or clothes, at some point in 2017, including 365,000 children.

Nearly half of the children in lone-parent families live in poverty. Last year the number of rough sleepers increase by 15% to 4,751, double the figure in 2012. According to the Trussell Trust, food bank use has risen by 13% in a year. Between April and September, the charity’s food banks gave out 658,048 three-day emergency food supplies, 232,761 of them to children”.

The Times goes on:

“Health service data reveals that malnutrition has tripled in a decade and Victorian diseases associated with hunger have risen. Last year 474 people had rickets diagnosed, including 335 under ten, and 167 had scurvy, according to the analysis by NHS data services”.

The Prime Minister, Theresa “the Maybot” May, has pledged to fight “burning injustices”, but since her track record when it comes lying and issuing misleading statements is a close second to that of the unhinged Orange Creepoid, this pledge needs to be taken with several wheelbarrow-loads of salt.

Her voting record in parliament shows that the Maybot is in truth fully signed-up to the Tory austerity agenda.

One person Professor Alston won’t be interviewing will be the heir to the throne (though he really should), the egregious Prince Charles. According to Amazon Prime’s new documentary “Serving the Royals: Inside the Firm”:

“His [Charles’s] pajamas are pressed every morning, his shoelaces are pressed flat with an iron, the bath plug has to be in a certain position and the water temperature has to be just tepid,” Princess Diana’s former butler, Paul Burrell, revealed in the documentary.

The Page Six article which reported thus on the multi-millionaire Pampered Prince went on to say that “Apparently Princess Diana’s ex brings his own toilet seat with him when he travels, changes outfits five times a day, only recently discovered what Saran wrap is and never shows up to a dinner party without his own food”.

Mediaeval monarchs travelled with their own cooks and food to safeguard themselves from being poisoned by a rival—so, is this what our bonnie Prince Charlie fears?

That, say, Diana’s son William may have it in for his adulterer-father by employing a potential food poisoner to avenge his late mother so he in turn can become king as soon as the aged Queen kicks the bucket?

Stranger things have happened where royalty is concerned, and not just in fiction.

I’ve not seen the Amazon Prime documentary, but I hope it also features Charlie’s requiring a flunkey, when His Highness was in hospital after a polo injury, to hold a specimen bottle up to his schlong while he produced the requisite urine sample.

My fantasy is that the flunkey, understandably not thrilled with having to hold a pee-bottle up to the princely pecker, found a way to add a stiff shot of gin to the royal urine sample before handing it over to the hospital staff for analysis.

“Jeeves, for this visit to Lord Ponsonby-Struthers’ country estate and my dinner that evening, make certain the kitchen has packed what I ordered– the Scottish salmon ceviche, that smoked venison, that partridge rillette, the organic aubergine terrine, that farm-made Blue Stilton cheese, and the artisanal gin. Oh, and don’t forget my toilet seat. And, pray, what the fuck is Saran wrap?”.

Given the way Ukania is, the paupers visited by Philip Alston would have little or no inkling of their future king’s uber-deluxe tastes and somewhat peculiar habits.

Israel to Police European Coastlines – Protecting the Continent from Refugees?

Peter Koenig

This sounds like a bad joke. It ain’t. Its real. One fascist government helps another fascist government. Yes, I have written about fascism invading the west before – warning that the European Union (non-union) is being gradually, but ever faster turned into a fascist dictatorship under the guise of democratic protection of ‘Democracy’; and this by her unelected European Commission (EC) leaders (sic). EU citizens are being brainwashed with neoliberal lie-propaganda into believing that they are living in the heart of democracy – that they are free and protected by police and military, 24×7.

Indeed, such protection can be seen at almost every street corner in France’s major cities; France, the country that had the audacity to make the permanent state of emergency part of her Constitution. And others are dutifully following Macron’s example. No wonder, EU member country governments have all been ‘put in place’ by fake elections, with the help of Cambridge Analytica and other social media tricks, by now well-known around the globe – and even the myriad MSM (mainstream media). It would be a strange coincidence, if practically all of the heads of EU states are following either neoliberal or neonazi doctrines. In any case, the difference are a few details. Most obvious neonazis are depicted with the denigrating term of populists, disregarding the fact that a populist is someone who is liked by the people. Wouldn’t that be democracy?

The PM of Hungary, Victor Orbàn, and Poland’s far-right Andrzej Duda, fall into this category and soon Italy’s government, basically led by the far right, deputy PM, Matteo Salvini, who calls the shots in Italy, to the detriment of the Five-Star lead party, will follow suit. Everybody who refuses to bend to Brussels’ rules is a ‘populist’. It’s that simple. And it’s no coincidence.

Back to the head-story: An Israeli private military contractor, Elbit Systems Ltd, has been awarded a contract by the so-called EU, to Monitor European shores, as reported by the Palestine Chronicle. Israel’s private defense contractor has “won” a 68 million dollars two-year contract, renewable by another two years, to survey the Mediterranean Sea and most of European coastlines and to report to Brussels and the countries’ authorities. Universal surveillance and fascism are on the march – and running ever faster. This ‘bidding process’ was for sure not an open competition. This was ‘one fascist hand washing the hand of another fascist. Yes, that’s as bad as we have become in Europe. And the populace has no clue, because they are comfortably seeing their freedom, their civil rights, their human rights, being eroded, ‘floated’ away, under the pretext of national security – and of course their own, the people’s security. – That’s what a few ‘false flag’ terrorist attacks can achieve – people scream for help, for police protection. The more the better. And who is better suited than a fascist state to respond to that call of desperation – to fulfill that fake role of protector?

Israel is known having armed the fascist Ukraine government. Israel’s purpose of policing the European coastlines is to prevent Palestine Gaza prisoners from escaping their horrible, horrible fate. Two million Palestinians need to be forcefully kept locked into this open-air concentration camp, being tortured, bombed, starved and finally killed. That’s what Zionist-Israel is all about. Mind you, that is not at all an anti-Semitic statement. There are millions of Israelis who disagree with this fascist policy. But they are being shut-up, they have no right to speak out – plus they are, like Europeans, constantly drip-by-steady-drip indoctrinated by lies, falsehoods and deceptions – that Palestinians are a danger for the survival of Israel.

This is simply NOT TRUE. It is a flagrant lie – a lie sustained by the United States, whose interest is permanent conflict in the Middle East to control the Middle East’s rich resources – and Israel is an important ally – more than an ally. Thanks to Israel’s and AIPAC’s (American Israeli Public Affairs Committee, the strongest Washington lobby) endless flow of money to Washington’s politicians – Israel, as the paymaster of political campaigns of both parties of the US-One-Party system – calls the shots. By Israel, is meant Zionist-led Israel, not the common people who want nothing more than peace and a friendly and harmonious relationship with Palestine; Israelis who are aware that they are actually camping on Palestine land – Israelis, who have not been blinded by those who have since 70 years purposefully distorted history, altered schoolbooks and pretend that this Holy Land is theirs, rather than a piece of land of mutual ownership, to be shared equally and with equal rights.

These Israelis, the vast majority, are not targeted with this article, or with the accusation of being fascists. It’s their dictator leadership, those who are in lock-step with the neofascist Trump Administration – and, well, those who call the shots in Washington, in all the so-called thinktanks (sic) that make US foreign policy. Neoliberal, cum neonazi Israel wants to eradicate Palestine, Iran, Syria, but they are in bed with the murderous Saudis – with the killers of tens of thousands of Yemeni children, with the brutal murderers of the entire Yemeni population through famine, destruction of water supply and sanitation systems, of lack-of-hygiene induced cholera and a myriad of other diseases.

Israel’s private defense contractor announced having won this monstrous surveillance contract, with the EU Maritime Safety Agency. They will patrol the Mediterranean Sea and Europe’s coastlines with drones and inform Europe’s authorities of ‘irregularities’, of refugee ships, of last-hope vessels carrying desperate people, escaping from western created misery in their lands. And Palestinian refugees are on the rise. They can no longer stand their abject fate under Israeli’s inescapable rules governing the Gaza Extermination Camp. Yes, that’s what Gaza has become. They seek refuge in Europe, paradoxically, they go to their hangman seeking shelter. But where else to go?

So, these unmanned Israeli military aircraft will automatically signal the defense forces of Israel to intercept any attempt of escaping Palestinians – to bring them back to Gaza, to their open torture chamber, and – with for sure – further punishment to follow. – Gaza’s terror conditions have become the utter “normality” seen from the western populace, especially Europeans. They will just watch Palestinians being slaughtered into fear of escaping from their open-air prison, called Gaza. – This past weekend’s latest Gaza military incursion, instigated by Israel’s War Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, a neonazi hawk of the worst kind, followed obviously by a Hamas response – which then triggered what was planned from the very beginning – Israeli batteries of rockets launched from Ashkelon and mass bombing of what’s left of the ruins called Gaza. – did you know that 6 out of ten children in Gaza have amputated limbs? – What a future, even if peace was to break out one day.

All the while Netanyahu conveniently was celebrating the Hypocrisy of the Century – the end of WWII with a bunch of hypocrites like him, Netanyahu – except for Putin, whose attendance of this fake celebration and naval-gazing I don’t understand.

That’s what the west has become, or as my friend, Andre Vltchek, would say, they have colonized, enslaved and raped Asia, Africa and Latin America for at least a thousand years – why would you expect them to change? They have gotten away with murder for so long – why would they change? Today, they continue with different, more sophisticated methods – its financial slavehood. It’s the epitome of shameless criminal neo-colonialism. The “two to four- year contract” of Israel’s defense contractor serves as a mere proxy for EU’s terror, inhumanity and lack of compassion. Mind you, the United States is just the heritage of Europeans migrated across the Atlantic.

The company, Elbit Systems Ltd, will provide European Union countries with maritime unmanned aircraft patrol services and in theory with nothing more -which is, of course, a flagrant lie. They will ex-contractually confiscate refugee boats, as miserably rickety as they may be, contributing to more refugee deaths. By September 2018, UNHCR, Mediterranean refugee transfers have been deadlier than ever this year, having reached more than 1,600 so far.

“Rocket News” reports, “in October, Israeli companies signed purchase agreements with the United Nations for the provision of water and security service to UN forces in Africa. Israel also “won” [quotes by author] a $777 million contract for the supply of India’s missile defenses, as well as [Israel] being revealed as a lead exporter of tools for spying on civilians being used by dictatorships or authoritarian governments around the world.”

Rocket News continues, “Such deals and multi-million-dollar contracts over a variety of regions are seen as not only a benefit to the Israeli economy but also [as proof for] the reliability of its [Israel’s] services and the subsequent potential increase of its international credibility.”

Whatever Zionist-Israel does, the Chosen People, it’s for the good of Mother Earth. How long will it take until the populace inhabiting Mother Earth wakes up, screaming for fear and agony, bringing an end to this farce, this criminal Anglo-Zionist farcical dictatorship?

Kidnapping, rape and murder by US border patrol agents

Norisa Diaz & Meenakshi Jagadesan

Numerous migrants, mostly women and girls, have been victims of murder, attempted murder, kidnapping or rape at the hands of Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) agents. In the past four years at least 10 cases, primarily in the South Texas region, have come to light, while there is every indication that many more go undiscovered.

The agents who carried out these horrifying crimes have been described as having “violently snapped.” However, their actions reflect a more terrifying reality about the institutionalized disregard for the lives of migrants.

Whether it is the deliberate destruction of water supplies and other forms of humanitarian aid left for migrants traversing unfriendly terrain, or the abuse of immigrants in detention centers, the actions of the Border Patrol are expressions of the dehumanization of immigrants that has become routinized in their daily work.

In a report published earlier this week, the New York Times interviewed three Honduran women who were assaulted, raped, abducted and in two cases left for dead after their encounter with a Border Patrol agent. Their horrific experiences and the sadistic actions of CBP agents have come to light only years later in legal proceedings filed by the victims.

The victims interviewed for the report chose to be identified only by their initials. J.E., now 18, was 14 years old at the time. She was headed for the Rio Grande on her way from Honduras to join her parents, who were already in the United States. On the way, she met and joined forces with a teenage friend and the friend’s mother, who were also from the same region. The three planned to surrender to the Border Patrol and apply for asylum in the US.

Shortly after crossing the border, they saw a Border Patrol agent and immediately surrendered to him. The agent, Esteban Manzanares, piled them into his vehicle. But instead of taking them in for processing, he drove the girls and the young woman to an isolated, wooded area 16 miles outside the border city of McAllen, Texas. He then proceeded to assault J.E’s friend and viciously attack both her and her friend’s mother, “twisting their necks and slashing their wrists.”

Leaving the mother and daughter to die in the desert, Manzanares drove J.E. to another area, tied her to a tree and put duct tape over her mouth before coming to obtain her hours later after his shift ended.

Manzanares then drove J.E. to his apartment where he used shoelaces to tie her hands and feet to the bed. He took naked pictures of her and sexually assaulted her multiple times while she remained tied to a bunk bed in a bedroom.

“He behaved like he had done it before… In that moment, it felt like my life was over,” J.E. recalled.

Manzanares would have gotten away with the attempted murders had a CBP officer not happened upon J.E.’s friend and the friend’s mother. When asked who had done this to them, the mother told the agent it was a man “dressed just like you.”

FBI agents and Mission police worked to identify the agent and showed up at Manzanares’ apartment shortly after 1 a.m., when J.E. was still tied to the bed.

Manzanares shot and killed himself upon realizing that officers were at the door. Officials found a two-page suicide note from Manzanares explaining that he had been disturbed since he returned from his deployment in Afghanistan. “I am a monster,” he wrote.

The Times piece chastises the CBP for not taking more thorough measures to check on the work and mental state of officers, making it “easy for troubled agents to go unnoticed.”

However, the newspaper ignores more fundamental issues, including the fact that the job of hunting and caging desperate men, women and children tends to attract backward and right-wing individuals and dehumanizes the psyche of those not already crippled when they sign up. And the fact that US administrations, both Republican and Democratic, have for the past several decades systematically militarized the border and turned border areas into death traps for thousands of impoverished workers fleeing death and violence in countries devastated by US imperialist exploitation and intervention.

This includes both the Bill Clinton administration in the 1990s and the Obama administration, the latter of which deported far more migrants than any previous US government, and whose attacks on immigrants paved the way for the fascistic policies of Trump.

Not surprisingly, several other violent crimes involving CBP agents have begun to come to light in recent days.

In April, Ronald Anthony Burgos Aviles, 29, an agent in the 116-county Laredo sector, stabbed and killed his girlfriend and their one-year-old son. In September, another Laredo sector agent, Juan David Ortiz, 35, confessed after being caught by investigators that he had gone on a 12-day killing spree, fatally shooting four people working as prostitutes and trying to abduct a fifth.

These instances of gruesome violence are in addition to the systematic abuse of migrants, particularly migrant children, carried out by immigration officers in various detention centers. An American Civil Liberties Union report published in May exposed widespread mental, physical and sexual abuse in detention facilities.

In the past few years, immigration enforcement agencies have become even more powerful than before, granted expansive powers as well as resources. Customs and Border Protection, the Border Patrol’s parent agency, is now the largest law enforcement organization in the United States, with more than 60,000 employees and a fiscal year 2018 budget of $16.4 billion. The agents have the official imprimatur of the president of the United States, who last year told an audience of police, “Please don’t be too nice.”

The culture of violence is not limited to the CBP or its agents. The treatment of immigrants is very much linked to the brutal violence and killings visited on civilian populations abroad in the course of unending imperialist wars.

It is not only the CBP agent Manzanares who found a monster within himself after a stint in Afghanistan. The Thousand Oaks shooter, Ian David Long, was heavily decorated for his service as machine gunman. During his formative years of 18–23, Long fought in the largest joint operation in Afghanistan, in Helmand Province.

Sri Lankan parliament rejects Rajapakse as prime minister

Wasantha Rupasinghe 

Bitter factional in-fighting continues in Sri Lanka’s ruling elite after the parliament yesterday passed a no-confidence motion against Mahinda Rajapakse as prime minister. He was unconstitutionally appointed to the position on October 26 by President Maithripala Sirisena.

Former Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has claimed that 122 members of the 225-seat legislature endorsed the no-confidence motion. It was the first time the parliament had met since Sirisena prorogued it on October 28. Sirisena had shut down the legislature to give Rajapakse time to garner the backing of various MPs via deals, including their elevation into lucrative ministerial posts.

When it became clear, however, that Rajapakse could not secure majority support when the parliament reconvened on November 14, Sirisena dissolved it completely and announced a general election to be held on January 5.

The constitutionality of the president’s unilateral and anti-democratic action was challenged in the Supreme Court on November 13. The court handed down an interim order blocking the president’s dissolution order and opening the way for the parliamentary session.

Yesterday, parliament Speaker Karu Jayasuriya suspended standing orders to allow the no-confidence vote. Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) leader Anura Kumara Dissanayaka and another JVP MP moved the resolution. Under the bogus claims of “defending democracy” the JVP is colluding with Wickremesinghe and his right-wing United National Party (UNP).

The motion, endorsed by UNP and JVP members and supported by the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress and Tamil National Alliance (TNA), also declared no-confidence in Rajapakse’s cabinet and government.

The craven character of the parliamentary horse-trading was indicated by the manoeuvres of five ministers. Several had deserted Wickremesinghe to join Rajapakse’s camp and then moved back to Wickremesinghe yesterday to endorse the no-confidence vote.

Certain of defeat, Rajapakse left parliament before the vote. His supporters, however, tried every trick to disrupt proceedings and prevent a vote. The Speaker eventually used procedural means to allow a voice vote and hurriedly announced that the no-confidence motion had been carried. The parliamentary sitting was then abruptly ended.

From the outset, Rajapakse’s supporters denounced the reconvening of parliament. Former minister and National Freedom Front leader Wimal Weerawansa, a close Rajapakse ally, told a press conference there was “no legal recognition” for parliament to sit. He made no attempt to elaborate on his claim.

Speaker Jayasuriya praised the Supreme Court’s ruling, declaring: “After several days of political uncertainty, the public can take pride in our judiciary, which has risen to the occasion and treated this matter of grave national importance with due urgency and deliberation.” Considered against the judiciary’s long and sordid record, Jayasuriya’s claim is transparently false.

Following yesterday’s no-confidence vote, Jayasuriya announced that parliament would again meet today and that a copy of the motion and the vote result would be given to President Sirisena to take action in line with the country’s constitution.

While Sirisena is yet to make any comment about yesterday’s events, Rajapakse’s loyalist and minister Dinesh Gunawardane declared that the faction would not accept the vote because the motion was “not taken to a proper debate.”

Given Sirisena’s unconstitutional moves over the past two and a half weeks, it is unclear what he will do. Irrespective of what he decides, or the Supreme Court’s final ruling, all factions of the ruling elite stand squarely for more authoritarian forms of rule.

Wickremesinghe proclaimed yesterday’s vote to be “a historic day” and added that any attempt to challenge the Speaker’s decision would be defeated in another parliamentary vote. Wickremesinghe’s comments are based on his trust that the JVP and other opposition parties will continue backing him in parliament.

Joining the demagogic “defence of democracy” posturing, TNA leader R. Sampanthan said: “The sovereignty of the legislature prevailed today. Now is the time for the country to return to normalcy and for good governance to prevail.”

Sampanthan’s “democratic” claims are a contemptuous fraud. The parliament has a notorious record of passing numerous draconian laws against the working people, and in particular the Tamil minority.

The “normalcy” promised by every bourgeois faction—the UNP, SLFP, JVP and TNA and all their hangers-on in the pseudo-left groups and the trade unions—is a mirage. Such claims are being used to politically disarm workers and youth as Colombo prepares even harsher austerity measures and anti-democratic laws in line with Washington’s dictates and its geo-political operations against China.

All the major powers are monitoring the developing political and constitutional crisis, and firing off warning signals.

US imperialism and the Indian government were directly involved in the 2015 regime-change operation that ousted Rajapakse as president and installed the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government because of Rajapakse’s close ties with China. Hostile to the democratic rights of the masses, Washington and its allies are determined to prevent any government aligning itself with China.

The October 31 Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) statement explained the underlying tensions: “The US has transformed the Indo-Pacific region into a diplomatic, economic and military battleground, coercing countries to line up against China in preparation for war. For its part, China has no progressive solution and is seeking to use its economic influence to counter the US, while engaging in its own arms build-up. In Sri Lanka and throughout the region, the ruling classes are placing their peoples on the front line of a war between two nuclear-armed powers that can only end in a catastrophe for humanity.”

US ambassador to Sri Lanka Aliana B. Teplitz, who was present at yesterday’s parliamentary session, said she was, “honored to attend the reconvening of Sri Lanka parliament to see democracy in action.” The session, she declared, was “very lively but [I am] glad this institution is once again fulfilling constitutional role.”

European Parliament MPs likewise called on “all relevant parties in Sri Lanka to find a peaceful and democratic solution to the current impasse and to respect the democratic institutions.”

These developments underscore, once again, the urgent need for the working class to be mobilised on the internationalist and socialist program of the Socialist Equality Party, in political struggle against all factions of the bourgeoisie and their pseudo-left and trade union satellites.

At least 200 soldiers in German Army neo-Nazi terror network

Christopher Lehmann & Johannes Stern 

The neo-Nazi terrorist cell in the German Army associated with Lieutenant Franco A. is much larger than previously revealed. This revelation was included in an article in the current edition of the news magazine Focus titled “The Conspiracy.”

Based on investigations by the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), the magazine reported on a network of at least 200 active duty and retired soldiers, including members of the special forces command (KSK) and Military Intelligence Service (MAD).

The following was already publicly known about the case of Franco A:

The lieutenant was arrested on February 3, 2017, at Vienna’s airport while trying to retrieve a weapon he had previously concealed there. Subsequent investigations revealed that he had collaborated with two other accomplices, Maximilian T. and Matthias F., to carry out attacks on high-ranking politicians, among them former president Joachim Gauck, Justice Minister Heiko Maas and Left Party Minister President of Thuringia Bodo Ramelow. They were also planning to attack institutions such as the Central Council of Jews and the Central Council of Muslims.

Despite this, Franco A. has been a free man since the end of last year. In November 2017, Germany’s Federal Court cancelled his arrest warrant. According to the official explanation, there was insufficient evidence at that point in the investigation to indicate the immediate threat of a criminal act in connection with a serious act of violence.

The Frankfurt am Main Court of Appeals argued along similar lines this year. In a decision on June 7, it confirmed that Franco A. would not be charged for the preparation of a serious act of violence.

In light of the latest revelations, the decisions by the two courts raise serious questions. In their article, authors Josef Hufelschulte and Alexander Rakkow paint a picture of a close-knit terrorist network, which, like the Black Wehrmacht during the Weimar Republic, is preparing the murder of politicians and the violent suppression of revolutionary struggles. Even though the charges against Franco A. were thrown out, the BKA investigation already provided evidence of the existence of a shadow army.

The Focus article begins with the summation of the BKA interrogation of former Air Force officer and major in the reserves Horst S. on July 13, 2017, as part of the BKA’s investigation into the Franco A. case. According to the statements of Horst S., a group chiefly composed of elite soldiers was “preparing at the general staff level for an ominous ‘Day X.’ ” Asked by the investigator what was meant by this, the 48-year-old soldier answered that ‘Day X’ would come during an extreme crisis caused by “attacks on women and children by refugees, rapes, terrorist attacks or slum German cities.”

In a transcript of the witness’s testimony printed in Focus, the statement continues: “Associated with this is I believe also the fear that the state will lose its monopoly on violence and cannot fulfill its tasks as a result.” This has “led to consideration being given to what can be done if such a case occurs.”

The result of these considerations was that “we would have to take precautions in different aspects of life for such a case. That means we would need to procure, for example, diesel to power emergency generators, radios and long-lasting foodstuffs. Munitions should also be stored so we could fight.”

The plans for attacks were apparently far advanced. In concrete terms, Horst S. “named individual participants, who, in their deeply rooted ‘hatred of the left’ and refugees, had organised ‘a folder with addresses and pictures’ of targeted persons, who had to ‘go.’ ”

Two acquaintances of Horst S. saw the lists and “also have a well-stocked weapons cabinet.” According to the transcript, discussions took place in a small circle about bringing the targeted people to one location “where they would be killed.”

The “allegedly conspiratorial squadron” included members of the elite KSK force, according to Focus. For this reason, the authorities kept “secret the initial evidence of a potential underground network ready to commit violence.”

There were also connections to the Uniter organisation, which is mainly made up of KSK combatants, but also included paratroopers, reconnaissance troops, members of special forces police units, lawyers and doctors. An employee of the Bavarian state intelligence agency is also a Uniter member.

Focus wrote that within the association, “according to witness testimony, a conspiratorial network of around 200 active duty and former soldiers has formed.” Testimonies “in the file numbered GBA 2 Bjs 205/17-5a” painted a picture “of conspiratorial soldiers, who apparently were even willing to consider targeted killings of political opponents.”

According to information obtained by investigators, the soldiers “had secret locations for weapons, munitions, fuel, and food,” and established so-called “safe houses” on the borders with Austria and Switzerland. These arrangements were made in chat groups.

Uniter published a statement on its website distancing itself from the allegations and accusing Focus of “disinformation.” In a threatening tone, it said that since the article was published, it had “made direct contact with all named representatives of the authorities, including the police and military, as well as the responsible state prosecutor.”

It declared that it can be “established that the information in the article is drawn from several proceedings, creating an overall picture that would not stand up to any research.” The chat groups mentioned in the Focus article were “certainly not authorised or operated by Uniter,” the statement asserted.

The World Socialist Web Site does not possess any independent information in this case, but it is obvious that widespread right-wing extremist terrorist networks are operating in Germany and are being concealed by sections of the military, the police and the intelligence apparatus. The domestic secret service, in particular, has deep roots in the neo-Nazi scene and has been implicated in a series of right-wing extremist violent acts.

Several dozen informants from the secret service and police operated around the right-wing terrorist group NSU, which was responsible for the murders of nine immigrants and a police officer. The latest revelations surrounding the sacking of the long-standing president of the domestic intelligence agency, Hans-Georg Maassen, have confirmed that the intelligence service was led by a self-acknowledged right-wing extremist.

A lieutenant from the Military Intelligence Service (MAD) is currently appearing at the Cologne District Court on a charge of betraying secrets in the Franco A. case. The officer is accused of having warned suspects associated with him about imminent investigations by the state prosecutor, according to a court spokesperson. The man was a contact point for the BKA and the state prosecutor at the military intelligence service, added the court spokesperson, thereby indirectly confirming Focus ’s information.

According to the news magazine, the MAD lieutenant is 42-year-old Peter W., who last autumn “warned a KSK member about raids on Uniter members.” Prior to his work with the intelligence services, W. was a member of the KSK.

“According to the investigators’ findings,” the main beneficiary of the tip-off was staff sergeant Andre S., “a strict KSK trainer who is responsible for the unit’s military security.” According to testimonies, S., who now heads Uniter, was an “informant” to Uniter about MAD and had presented “the only credible information about the KSK’s internal processes.”

A report in the TAZ daily newspaper also suggests that S. had contact with Franco A. Under the pseudonym Hannibal, S. was the administrator of chat groups in which Franco A. was “allegedly also a member.” The newspaper reported that “the authorities responsible” did not want to “share” whether Franco A. and S. “knew each other personally or only virtually.” The Cologne District Court suggested that they might have moved in each other’s “orbit.”

The explosive character of these disturbing revelations stands in stark contrast to the response in the political establishment and the media. The major daily newspapers have barely reported on the terrorist network, and spokesmen for the government and military have remained silent.

At the federal government’s press conference on November 9, Defence Ministry spokesman Jens Flossdorf confirmed that proceedings “against a member of the MAD” were underway, but added that he could “provide no further information.” A “report by the MAD” would be provided only to “the appropriate intelligence committees in Germany’s parliament.” He would not, was not permitted, and could not “provide any more specifics on this.”

Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership to End Malaria 20th Anniversary Media Fellowship 2019 (Fully-funded to Geneva, Switzerland)

Application Deadline: 31st January 2019

Eligible Countries:  Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, India, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania

To be taken at (country): Geneva, Switzerland

About the Award: For the first time, the RBM Partnership invites print/online and broadcast journalists based in the 11 countries with the highest burden of malaria to apply for the RBM Partnership to End Malaria Media Fellowship.
The fellowship is designed to support the deepening and expansion of print, broadcast, and/or multimedia news coverage that engages citizens and/or policy makers in the 11 highest burden countries on issues related to malaria and its impact. Topics could include best practices for protecting citizens from malaria, policies needed to prioritize funding for universal coverage of life-saving malaria interventions, and partnerships and innovations that are accelerating the end of malaria.
The award offers an opportunity for journalists to learn from leading global health and malaria experts the key challenges and opportunities to eliminate malaria within our generation, as well as to investigate malaria-related issues in their country.

Type: Fellowship, Training

Eligibility: If you are a journalist from one of the 11 high burden malaria-affected countries (please see list above) with a passion for improving health and a hunger to learn more about malaria and the difference you can make in your country and/or region, we would like to hear from you.

Number of Awards: A minimum of 5 and a maximum of 11 journalists will be selected for the fellowship

Value and Duration of Award: For a duration of one year, the RBM Partnership will support selected fellows with projects and features relating to malaria. The Media Fellowship will comprise:
• A compulsory workshop taking place in Geneva, Switzerland in May 2019, led by leading global malaria experts, where selected fellows will learn about challenges, opportunities and initiatives focused on ending malaria;
• Introductions and meetings organised between fellows and global, regional and national organisations working to end malaria;
• Limited financial support for approved in-country or in-region projects proposed by individual participants; and,
• Continued support with coordination of relevant projects and updates on new developments.
Travel-related expenses will be covered and a per diem provided for the trip to Geneva. In addition,limited financial support will be provided for project-related travel or research.

How to Apply: Apply here
Selected fellows will be notified by Thursday 28 February 2019.


Visit Programme Webpage for Details

Symantec Graduate Fellowship Program 2019 for Outstanding PhD Students

Application Deadline: 30th November, 2018 (Pacific Time Zone).

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: All

To be taken at (country): USA

About the Award: Symantec will award Symantec Research Labs (SRL) Graduate Fellowships to outstanding Ph.D. students who meet the eligibility criteria listed below. A key goal of the program is to fund innovative research that has real-world value, in areas where Symantec conducts business. We are soliciting applications for the following areas:

• Next Generation Security: Security, cryptography and cyber-risk assessment and modeling, in the areas of networks, information security, big data analytics, data center, privacy, cloud, etc.
• Network and Cloud Security: Advance the state of the art in digital certificates, high throughput network security, securing public/private Cloud infrastructure, applications, and services, etc.
• Machine learning and data mining: Extend and apply predictive-analytics and anomaly-detection algorithms at scale, in support of the security and systems areas mentioned above.

Award recipients are strongly encouraged to take a separate salaried internship with Symantec that we plan to offer to all fellowship recipients.  Interns will usually work directly with Symantec Research Labs at one of our locations (Culver City, CA, USA; Mountain View, CA, USA; Dublin, Ireland; Sophia-Antipolis, France) or with another group within Symantec. Each recipient is paired with a mentor from Symantec. A mentor is a top researcher or engineer who can provide ongoing technical guidance on the recipient’s research during graduate training as well as during an internship at Symantec.

Type: Fellowship

Eligibility: 

• Applying students must be enrolled in a Ph.D. program.
• Preference will be given to students with a desire to work in an industrial research lab and those working on innovative research projects in areas related to Symantec’s businesses such as host-based and network security, cloud computing, virtualization, machine learning, data mining, etc.
• Recipients will also be selected based on their overall potential for research excellence and their academic progress to date as evidenced by publications.

Number of Awardees: Not specified

Value of Fellowship: The SRL Graduate Fellowship provides up to $20,000 USD that may be used to cover one year of the student’s tuition fees and to reimburse expenses incurred by the student to engage into research collaboration with Symantec, such as conference registration fees, travel expenses, hardware, etc. If the fellowship is to cover tuition, this portion of the award will be made through the university.

How to Apply: Application materials must include the following:

• Resume or C.V.
• Personal statement of research interests not to exceed 500 words. Applicants are strongly encouraged to articulate the value and novelty of their research.
• Two letters of recommendation from professors or industry researchers who can evaluate the applicant’s scientific aptitude and potential for research.  Letters of recommendation may be sent separately and confidentially.

Application Dates and Process:

• Fellowship applications, including Resumes or C.V.’s, personal statements of research, and letters of recommendation, must be received no later than 5:00pm on November 30th, 2018 (Pacific Time Zone).
• As part of the application process, some candidates may be contacted for telephone interviews.
• Final award decisions will be announced in January 2019.
• Applications and letters of recommendation may be sent to us via email

Email to: SRLFellowship@Symantec.com

Visit Fellowship Webpage for details

ICANN65 Policy Forum 2019 (Fully-funded to Marrakesh, Morocco)

Application Deadline: 14th December 2018 at 23:59 UTC                                                                                              
To be taken at (country): Marrakesh, Morocco

About the Award: The goal of the ICANN Fellowship Program is to strengthen the diversity of the multistakeholder model by fostering opportunities for individuals from underserved and underrepresented communities to become active participants in the ICANN community.
Fellows are exposed to the workings of the ICANN community, are assigned a mentor, and receive training across different areas of knowledge and skill building before, during, and after an ICANN Public Meeting. Travel assistance to attend the meeting is also provided.
Fellowship participants come from a variety of backgrounds.

Type: Fellowship

Eligibility: Participants of the Fellowship Program must:

• Be at least 21 years of age
• Be interested in, or already engaged in, the various components of ICANN‘s work in policy building, the operation of the Domain Name System and the security and stability of the global Internet
• Complete mandatory ICANN Learn course(s);
• NOT be involved in or associated with other ICANN supported travel programs at time of selection
• If a Policy Forum, have successfully completed an ICANN Fellowship
• Second and third time fellows must prove their involvement and engagement in one of the ICANN communities; learn more here

Number of Awards: Up to 45 fellows

Value of Award:

• Travel will be booked by ICANN via its travel service provider.
• A stipend not to exceed USD 500.00 will be provided to offset reasonable individual expenses (such as meals, transport to/from the airport and incidentals). One half of the allotted stipend will be provided to each participating fellow prior to the meeting; the second half of the stipend will be provided via wire transfer by ICANN upon successful completion of the ICANNFellowship Program and submission of the post-meeting survey two weeks after the ICANN Meeting.
• ICANN will defer costs incurred by fellows to obtain a visa, up to the USD 200.00
• ICANN will only cover the cost of a hotel room directly using an ICANN meeting partner hotel as established by ICANN‘s Constituency Travel Support Guidelines and implemented by ICANN‘s travel service provider.

Duration of Programme: 24-27 June 2019

How to Apply: Apply in the link below

Visit Programme Webpage for Details

Important Notes: Only those who have successfully completed an ICANN Fellowship (Fellowship Alumni) are eligible to apply for a Policy Forum fellowship.

International Program in Public Health Leadership (IPPHL) 2019 for Mid-career African Leaders (Fully-funded to short study at University of Washington, USA)

Application Deadline: 6th December, 2018 (5 pm PST).

Eligible Countries: African countries

To be taken at (country): University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA; Nairobi, Kenya.

About the Award: Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and hosted by the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy & Governance in collaboration with the Center for Creative Leadership, IPPHL focuses on individual coaching and mentoring, peer sharing and learning, and the development of a community of practice to give participants access to a wider network that can help them design solutions to the unique policy and program implementation challenges they face.

Type: Short course

Eligibility:

• Mid-career public health professional from Africa, working in government, for a government initiative/partner, or entity at the federal, regional, state, or provincial level
• Responsible for managing public health program(s) with supervisory responsibilities, either individual staff or a team; Accountable for the performance of public health programs and/or for managing front-line health workers
• Holds either an advanced degree related to public health, development, policy, or a medical professional
• A citizen and resident of a country in Africa
• Strong English-language skills, and the ability to articulate the various policy or program implementation challenges that they deal with in public health

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: IPPHL makes every effort to cover direct costs associated with the program, including lodging and airfare for the two-week Seattle Residency and Capstone Seminar, however the participant is responsible for covering certain costs, such as visa fees and internet, and will receive financial support for these expenses either during or after the completion of the program. 

Duration of Programme: 

• April 15 – June 6 (8 weeks):  Preliminary Course Work and Skill-Building Online, Distance Learning Format including two hours of live course sessions per week
• June 17 – 28 (2 weeks): In-Person Class Sessions, Mentoring, and Professional Networking, In-residence at the University of Washington in Seattle, Washington, USA (all accommodation provided)
• July 1 – September 6 (10 weeks): Post-Residency Enrichment Intersession, Distance Learning Format
• September 9 – 12 (4 days): In-Person Class Sessions, Capstone Seminar, Nairobi, Kenya

How to Apply: Apply here

Visit Programme Webpage for Details

Study in Denmark: FIG Foundation PhD Scholarships 2019 for Developing Countries

Application Deadline: 15th February 2019.

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Developing Countries

To be taken at (country): Denmark

Field of Study: Surveying and other related fields

Type: PhD

Eligibility: Applicants shall:

1. be studying for a PhD degree and registered solely in a surveying/geomatics academic programme that teaches surveying in a country listed by the World Bank as a low-income, lower-middle or upper-middle income economy,
2. must have had a paper accepted by a peer reviewed international journal based on their doctoral research project; applicants should be the lead author, and the paper should be co-authored with their supervisor,
3. should not have submitted their final thesis at the application deadline.

Selection Criteria: Applications will be judged on the quality of the application and need. In the event that two excellent applications are judged to be of equal quality, applications from low-income and lower-middle income countries will be preferred.

Value of Scholarship: The FIG Foundation will be providing scholarships of up to 4,000 euros to PhD students. Successful applicants will qualify for a further grant of up to 3,000 euros to attend and present a peer reviewed paper at a FIG conference.

How to Apply: Applicants should submit the following set of documents in English in the order set out below as a single file in PDF format on A4 paper:

1. A cover sheet showing the candidate’s personal details and those of his/her institution.
2.  A 200 word abstract. This should be written in terms understandable to the lay person; similar to a press release and which the FIG Foundation could actually use as a press release in the event of a successful application.
3. A one page research proposal as per the template below on A4 size paper. Note that the one page limit will be strictly enforced; material that extends beyond one page will be deleted.
4. A copy of the paper that has been re-submitted to the journal after corrections have been completed.
5. A letter from the editor of the journal indicating that the paper has been accepted and that the necessary corrections have been completed satisfactorily.
6. The journal paper’s referees’ reports.
7. A list of peer reviewed journal publications over the last 6 years using the International Journal of GIS reference list format. See Notes for Authors on the IJGIS website.
8. A list of research funding obtained over the past 5 years, indicating which grants are peer reviewed or not.
9. A description of research compliance, the research account and activity auditing structures and processes in their institution. For example, if a scientist spends money inappropriately, are there structures in place to refund the granting agency?
10. A copy of the ethics approval notice for the research from the institution if that is relevant to the grant application. If ethics clearance is not required, then this should be stated in the application.
11. A budget indicating how the funds will be spent and a one page justification of the budget. Note that as a general rule, equipment will not be funded. Travel to FIG Conferences to present results and tuition fees may be included in the budget. Per diems for field work will not be funded, but reasonable actual costs of field work are refundable.

Applications are to be sent to fig.foundation@fig.net with “FIG Foundation PhD Scholarship Application” shown in Subject Line.
or by post:
The FIG Foundation
c/o FIG
Kalvebod Brygge 31-33
DK-1780 Copenhagen V
DENMARK
Tel. + 45 3886 1081
Fax + 45 3886 0252
E-mail: fig.foundation@fig.net

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Important Notes: Applicants are not to contact Foundation directors individually. Decisions are final. No correspondence will be entered into during or after the competition.

TWAS/Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) President’s PhD Fellowships 2019 (Fully-funded to China)

Application Deadline: 31st March 2019

Eligible Countries: International

To be taken at (country): China

Eligible Fields of Study: 
01-Agricultural Sciences
02-Structural, Cell and Molecular Biology
03-Biological Systems and Organisms
04-Medical and Health Sciences incl. Neurosciences
05-Chemical Sciences
06-Engineering Sciences
07-Astronomy, Space and Earth Sciences
08-Mathematical Sciences
09-Physics

About the Award: According to an agreement between the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) for the advancement of science in developing countries, up to 200 students/scholars from all over the world will be sponsored to study in China for doctoral degrees for up to 4 years.
This CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship Programme provides students/scholars that are non-Chinese citizens an opportunity to pursue doctoral degrees at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS), the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) or Institutes of CAS around China.
Under the terms of the CAS-TWAS agreement, travel from their home countries to China will be provided to the fellowship awardees in order to begin the fellowship in China (one trip only per student/scholar). TWAS will select 80 awardees from developing countries to support their international travel, while CAS will support the other 120. Visa fee will also be covered (once only per awardee) as a lump sum of USD 65 after all the awardees are on site in China. Any awardee on site in China, the host country, at the time of application will NOT be eligible for any travel or visa reimbursement.

Type: PhD

Eligibility: Applicants must:

• Be maximum age of 35 years on 31 December 2018;
• Not take up other assignments during the period of his/her fellowship;
• Not hold Chinese citizenship;
• Applicants for doctoral study should also:
• Meet the admission criteria for international students of UCAS/USTC
• Hold a master degree before the beginning of the fall semester: 1 September, 2019.
• Provide evidence that he/she will return to their home country on completion of their studies in China according to CAS-TWAS agreement.
• Provide proof of knowledge of English or Chinese language.

Number of Awardees: 200

Value of Fellowship: 

• Thanks to generous contribution of CAS, fellowship awardees will receive a monthly stipend (to cover accommodation and other living expenses, local travel expenses and health insurance) of RMB 7,000 or RMB 8,000 from CAS through UCAS/USTC, depending on whether he/she has passed the qualification test arranged by UCAS/USTC for all doctoral candidates after admission. All awardees will also be provided tuition and application fee waivers.
• Under the terms of the CAS-TWAS agreement, travel from their home countries to China will be provided to the fellowship awardees in order to begin the fellowship in China (one trip only per student/scholar). TWAS will select 80 awardees from developing countries to support their international travel, while CAS will support the other 120. Visa fee will also be covered (once only per awardee) as a lump sum of USD 65 after all the awardees are on site in China.

Duration of Fellowship: Up to 4 years

How to Apply:

•  It is important to go through the Application Process on the Fellowship Webpage (see Link below) before applying.
• Goodluck

Visit Fellowship Webpage for details