National Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) for South African Students 2018

Application Timeline: 30 November 2017.

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: South Africa

About the Aid: The National Student Financial Aid Scheme of South Africa is offering Financial aid to all 2017 first year students in need of financial support. All the above mentioned students – including those who were previously on a government funded bursary programme not offered by NSFAS – can apply for NSFAS financial assistance for the 2018 academic year .

Type: Undergraduate

Eligibility: First year students

Number of Awardees: Several

Value of Aid: Dependent on the awardee

How to Apply: To apply on the NSFAS website, fill and submit the application form online. You must also have scanned copies of the following required attachments:

• A signed consent form
• Your South African identity document/card or, an unabridged birth certificate
• IDs of parents and/or guardian (or death certificate where applicable)
• IDs of each person living with you in your home
• Pay advice/letter of employment/pension advice (not older than three months)

Visit Program Webpage for Details

Award Provider: National Student Financial Aid Scheme

Important Notes: to all current university/ TVET college students already funded by NSFAS:

NSFAS is in a process to receive all your information and details from the university/college where you are currently enrolled. You will be automatically migrated to the student-centred model, and will be notified by SMS/post once NSFAS has received and registered your details.

WAAW Foundation Undergraduate STEM Scholarships for Young African Women 2018

Application Deadline: 15th October, 2017.

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Women from all Africa countries

To be taken at: Applicants home country

Fields of Study: Courses in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)

About the Award: The Working to Advance African Women (WAAW) foundation aim to increase the pipeline of African women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) related disciplines, and work to ensure that this talent is engaged in African innovation. WAAW has announced the next round of its scholarship program for African women, offering $500/year for need-based female African students admitted to a University, College or institute of higher learning in Africa. Scholarships are renewable annually, following proof of the student’s continued academic performance.

Type: Undergraduate

Selection Criteria and Eligibility: WAAW foundation’s annual scholarship initiative is aimed at supporting need based African female STEM-focused college education. Please read the eligibility criteria before you apply. All non qualifying applications will be automatically deleted! Criteria for eligibility includes:

• Female students of African origin, living and studying in Africa.
• Currently enrolled in undergraduate B.S.degree program.
• Studying STEM related courses in a University or college in Africa.
• Demonstrable financial need, and
• Excellent Academic Record.
• Below the age of 32 years.
• Graduation date is after December of award year

Number of Scholarship: Several

Value of Scholarship: Scholarship recipients will receive an award of $500 for the academic year, or the equivalent in their country’s local currency. Scholarship recipients may reapply for renewal the following year, with proof of continued excellent academic performance.

Duration of Scholarship: Scholarship is a onetime fund but is renewable annually, following proof of the student’s continued academic performance

How to Apply

Complete all sections of the application form and submit all required materials to WAAW foundation by the deadline. Application may be completed online.

Visit the WAAW foundation web site at www.waawfoundation.org/ and complete the application form online.

Sponsors: WAAW- Working to Advance African Women

Important Notes: WAAW will only accept online application this year. Scholarship applications are reviewed by the WAAW Scholarship Committee, and awards are announced by February.

Only shortlisted candidates will be asked for recommendation letters or University transcripts during the verification process.

MTN – Solution Space Scholarship Program for Young Africans to Study at University of Cape Town 2018/2019

Application Deadline: 31st October 2017

Offered annually? Yes

Offered Since: 2014

Eligible Countries: African countries

To be taken at (country): University of Cape Town, South Africa

Eligible Areas of Study: 

• Education: How might we use digital technologies, adaptive learning tools and analytics to enable personalised learning that leads to improved learning outcomes for the majority in Africa? How can digital technologies, devices and blended learning pedagogy be used for impact in school environments?
• Health and Wellbeing: How might we use digital technologies to address challenges in Africa across healthcare, nutrition, mental health or safety and violence for the majority? How might data deliver more advanced tools for health prevention, participation, diagnosis and treatment?
• Smart Cities: How might we use the Internet of Things (IoT), civic tech and open data to address the challenges of urbanization in African cities, such as traffic congestion, waste disposal and rising energy usage?
• Open Imagination: We are open to outside-of-the-box technology-enabled ideas. So if you believe you have an idea and project that we will want to hear about, submit your application under the category Open Imagination.

About the Award: The MTN Solution Space seeks to support problem solvers – doers, makers, thinkers and creators – who continually seek to advance and leverage technologies for the well-being of Africans.

The Solution Space Scholarships were created to nurture a new generation of leaders that move beyond “business as usual” to envision, develop and test new models that will shape our future. The scholarships were created to support bold and visionary African mid-career professionals and entrepreneurs who are committed to local innovation and for whom a postgraduate qualification is an essential step in their journey of shaping the future of our continent.

Type: MBA or MPhil

Eligibility: To be considered for a MTN Scholarship, candidate must:

1. be a citizen from an African country and a Permanent Resident for at least 1 year.
2. apply to pursue either the MBA or the MPhil in Inclusive Innovation programme at the UCT GSB. Applicants will only be able to take up the MTN Scholarship if successfully admitted to the UCT GSB programme. For full details about the MBA programme or MPhil programme, criteria and how to apply to the business school click here
3. Financial Need Criteria
   Financial Need must be illustrated as follows:
   • Full declaration of all details required must be recorded in the space provided on the Affidavit for the MTN Scholars Program at the University of Cape Town
   • Details fo all property and assets of any nature must be declared on the Affidavit provided.
   • UCT reserves the right to request that applicants furnish evidence of answers/statements on the application form. If it is found that the provided information is false or untrue, the University further reserves the right to disqualify an application and/or to cancel and recover any scholarship funds that may have been paid out to an awardee.

Selection Criteria: MTN Scholars are known for their professional integrity, bold and visionary leadership, a spirit of innovation and inquisitiveness, active collaboration, entrepreneurial drive and track record of action.

The following criteria apply in the selection of MTN Scholars.

1. Applicant has started or worked in an entrepreneurial venture, or demonstrated entrepreneurial and innovative strategies within an organisation for at least one year. Applicants should be able to demonstrate experience or strong interest in their chosen focus area (education, health, smart cities). A track record of exploring or initiating innovative approaches in these sectors is preferable.
2. Applicants must demonstrate professional integrity, bold and visionary leadership, a spirit of innovation and inquisitiveness, active collaboration, entrepreneurial drive and a track record of action.
3. Applicants must demonstrate some need for the scholarship, through either previous work experience, personal background or demonstrated commitment to start a venture, which make self-funding the programme a significant burden.

The University of Cape Town reserves the right to disqualify ineligible, incomplete and/or inappropriate applications.

The University of Cape Town reserves the right to change the conditions of award or to make no awards at all.

The succesful candidate will be required to:

• be registered for full or part-time study on the MBA/MPhil at the UCT Graduate School of Business;
• comply with the University’s approved policies, procedures and practices for the postgraduate sector; and
• take an entrepreneurial route in their studies (via research and elective choices) and contribute to the GSB’s Entrepreneurship or Technology Club.

Number of Awardees: Several

Value of Scholarship: An MTN Scholarship covers the full cost of tuition and registration fees at UCT GSB, as set by the business school.

The Scholars can also apply for several types of funding on a discretionary basis. For example an economy-class travel allowance for Scholars travelling from their home country to the business school at the beginning and back home at the end of their degree programme, a stipend, or to attend additional conferences or workshops, or conduct fieldwork and pilots.

Duration of Scholarship: one or maximum of two years

How to Apply: We advise that you begin your application as early as possible and do not wait until the deadline. Applications should be submitted by midnight on the evening of 31 October 2017.

It is not possible to apply for a MTN Scholarship without applying to the business school.

Applicants must first be eligible and apply for the academic programme at the UCT GSB (via the Admissions Office). For full details about the MBA programme or MPhil Inclusive Innovation programme, criteria and how to apply to the business school click here.

1. Applicants must submit the MTN Scholarship Application online form together with their UCT application number received from the UCT GSB Admissions Office. Required supporting documents include a CV and completed Affidavit.
2. Applicants are then notified if they are selected for an interview.
3. The final decision and award of the MTN Scholarship will be made by a Scholarship selection panel, following which applicants will be informed by mid December 2017. Applicants will only be able to take up the MTN Scholarship if successfully admitted to the UCT GSB programme.

It is the applicant’s responsibility to ensure they submit all documents required so they can be considered for both admission and a MTN Scholarship.

Once your application has been received, a shortlisting committee will evaluate your application using our selection criteria for the Scholarship, to produce a final interview list.

We hold interviews in late November. If you are unable to attend in person we will interview you by Skype or phone. We aim to tell you within a week of the interview whether you have been successful.

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Award Provider: MTN, University of Cape Town

Czech Government Scholarships for Developing Countries 2018/2019 – Undergraduate, Masters and Doctorate

Application Deadline: 30th September 2017.

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Developing Countries. See list below

To be taken at (country): Public Universities in Czech Republic

Eligible Fields of Study: Students who are applying for study in Economics, Agriculture, Informatics, Environment and Energetics at public universities in the Czech Republic.

About the Award: Thanks to a generous contribution from the Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, the Faculty of Social Sciences is able to offer a limited number of partial scholarships for students of all fee based programs in academic year 2016/17. A total of five scholarships are available, ear-marked for students from developing countries and/or countries going through a process of political and economic transition.

Upon a Decision of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, scholarships of the Government of the Czech Republic are granted to promote specific Bachelor’s, Master’s, follow-up Master’s and/or Doctoral study programmes in the full-time mode of study of a specific study programme pursued by a university (or its Faculty) for a period that equals the regular duration of studies. Scholarships are not transferable to other persons or other academic years. Once a scholarship is granted, neither the university nor the study programme and/or field of study may be changed.

Type: Doctoral, Undergraduate and Masters studies

Selection Criteria and Eligibility

• The scholarships are intended solely to promote the studies of adults who are foreign nationals from developing third countries in need. Neither a citizen of the Czech Republic, nor a citizen of a member state of the European Union, nor any other foreign national with a permit to permanent residence on the territory of the Czech Republic may, therefore, be granted this type of scholarship. Furthermore, the scholarships may not be granted to persons under 18 years of age. (The applicants have to turn 18 as of 1 September of the year when they commence studies in the Czech Republic at the latest.)
• In Bachelor/ Master/ Doctoral Study Programmes plus one-year Preparatory Course of the English language (Which is combined with other field-specific training): Government scholarships of this category are awarded to graduates from upper secondary schools, or Bachelor’s / Master’s degree courses, as applicable, Who can Enroll only in Study Programmes in which instruction is given in the English language. Depending on the subject area, Applicants are normally required to sit entrance Examinations at the higher education institution Concerned. Successful passing of Entrance examination constitutes a precondition for the scholarship award; or
• In follow-up study Programmes Master or Doctoral Study Programmes: Government scholarships of this category are awarded to graduates of Bachelor or Master Study Programmes, respectively, Enroll in the WHO study Programmes with instruction in the English language.

In addition, the Scholarship Review Board will take into consideration applicants’ results from their earlier studies. Priority will be given to students who have not previously had the opportunity to study abroad.

Number of Scholarships: A total of seven scholarships are available.

Duration of Scholarships: These Government Scholarships are designed to cover the standard length of study plus one-year preparatory course of the Czech language(which is combined with other field-specific training).

Value of Scholarships: 

• The scholarship covers the necessary costs related to staying and studying in the Czech Republic. The scholarship amount is regularly amended.
• Currently the amount paid to students on a Bachelor’s, Master’s or follow-up Master’s study programme stands at CZK 14,000 per month
• Whereas the amount paid to students of a Doctoral study programme stands at CZK 15,000 per month.

The above scholarship amounts include an amount designated for the payment of accommodation costs. Costs of accommodation, food and public transport are covered by scholarship holders from the scholarship under the same conditions that apply to students who are citizens of the Czech Republic. Should health services exceeding standard care be required by the student, s/he shall cover them at his/her own cost.

Eligible Countries: The students from the following developing countries are eligible: Afghanistan, Gambia, Mozambique, Bangladesh, The Guinea, Myanmar, Benin, Guinea-Bisau, Nepal, Burkina Faso, Haiti, Niger, Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Cambodia, Korea, Dem Rep., Sierra Leone, Central African Republic, Kyrgyz Republic, Somalia, Liberia, Tajikistan, Comoros, Madagascar, Tanzania, Malawi, Togo, Congo, Dem. Rep, Eritrea, Mali, Uganda, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Zimbabwe, Albania, Indonesia, Samoa, Armenia, India, São Tomé and Principe, Belize, Iraq, Senegal, Bhutan, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Bolivia, Kosovo, South Sudan, Cameroon, Lao PDR, Sri Lanka, Cape Verde, Lesotho, Sudan, Congo, Rep., Marshall Islands, Swaziland, Côte d’Ivoire, Micronesia, Fed. Sts., Syrian Arab Republic, Djibouti, Moldova, Timor-Leste, Egypt, Arab Rep., Mongolia, Tonga, El Salvador, Morocco, Ukraine, Fiji, Nicaragua, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Nigeria, Vanuatu, Ghana, Pakistan, Vietnam, Guatemala, Papua New Guinea, West Bank and Gaza, Guyana, Paraguay, Yemen, Rep., Honduras, Philippines, Zambia, Angola, Ecuador, Palau, Algeria, Gabon, Panama, American Samoa, Grenada, Peru, Antigua and Barbuda, Iran, Islamic Rep., Romania, Argentina, Jamaica, Russian Federation, Azerbaijan, Jordan, Serbia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Seychelles, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Latvia, South Africa, Botswana, Lebanon, St. Lucia, Brazil, Libya, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Suriname, Chile, Macedonia, FYR, Thailand, China, Malaysia, Tunisia, Colombia, Maldives, Turkey, Costa Rica, Mauritius, Turkmenistan, Cuba, Mexico, Tuvalu, Dominica, Montenegro and Uruguay

How to Apply: All applicants shall fill in the electronic application form available on the website and successfully register (i.e., obtain an application identification number by sending a completed application form to the pertinent authority electronically). The applicant shall send the completed application form to the Mission in electronic form, i.e., by completing online registration.

Visit scholarship webpage for details

Sponsors: Czech Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, the Faculty of Social Sciences

Acumen East Africa Fellows Program (Fully Funded Leadership Program for Young East African Leaders) 2018

Application Deadline: 1st September, 2017

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Countries in East Africa

To be taken at (country): Fellow’s Home country

About the Award: The program equips 20 extraordinary individuals from across East Africa with the knowledge, support system and practical wisdom to unlock their full potential and drive positive change in society. Fellows are bright minds and big thinkers who dare to do what’s right, not what’s easy, to create positive change in their country. Fellows can come from diverse cultural, geographic and socioeconomic backgrounds and work in any sector, and they must be committed to ending poverty in their community through their work.

Type: Fellowship

Eligibility: 

• Innovators who either started an organization or enterprise, or who are driving change within an existing organization or company.
• Men and women of all ages and education levels who are able to participate in a program conducted in English.
• East Africans who demonstrate a commitment and concrete connection to the region.
• Leaders with strong personal integrity, unrelenting perseverance and moral imagination.
• Committed individuals ready to undergo an intensive yearlong personal transformation and leadership journey.

Selection Process: The selection process for this program is very rigorous and highly competitive. Here is a general timeline of the process:

• Applications open: August 1, 2017
• Applications close: September 1, 2017
• Telephone Interviews: September 2017
• In-Person Selection Conference:
  • East Africa – November, 4th (Nairobi)

Number of Awardees: 20

Value of Fellowship: Over the course of a year, Fellows remain in their jobs while taking part in five week-long seminars, where they receive the tools, training and space to innovate new ideas, accelerate their impact, build a strong network of social leaders from across their region and around the world.

Duration of Fellowship: 1 year

How to Apply: The online application consists of:

• Background information
• Resume/CV
• Short & long answer questions

It is important to go through the Application instructions on the Fellowship Webpage before applying.

Visit Fellowship Webpage for details

Award Provider: Acumen East Africa Fellows Programme

Going Soft on Corporate Crime a Bipartisan Affair

Russell Mokhiber

Donald Trump is not a fan of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), the law that says it’s illegal for any person — corporate or human — to bribe overseas.

Trump has called the FCPA “a horrible law” and has said that the law “puts us at a huge disadvantage.”

And you could argue that the Trump Justice Department’s first two FCPA enforcement cases reflect Trump’s point of view.

Both were declinations — despite the fact that the companies disclosed illegal overseas payments and agreed to disgorge illegally gained proceeds.

Some are using the cases to ask the question — is Trump soft on corporate crime?

As the lawyers say, let’s stipulate for the record that he is.

But let’s also remember that going soft on corporate crime was perfected by the Democrats.

The Obama Justice Department, for example, regularly used declinations — five in Obama’s last year in office — and non prosecution agreements — 22 over the eight years of his administration — to settle corporate FCPA matters.

And since September 2015, when the Obama administration put out the Yates memo calling for more prosecutions of individual executives, there have been 20 FCPA corporate prosecution agreements — yet not one individual has been charged in connection with those cases.

There are those in the get tough on corporate crime camp — like David Uhlmann, former head of the Environmental Crimes Section at the Justice Department and now a University of Michigan Law professor — who argue that if a corporation commits a serious crime, then a corporation should be convicted.

We’re talking guilt — as in guilty pleas.

For environmental crimes, that has been the practice.

Over the past fifteen years, 93 percent of major corporate criminal environmental cases ended with public companies pleading guilty to their crimes.

Same for antitrust corporate crimes.

Over the past fifteen years, 74 percent of major corporate criminal antitrust cases ended with public companies pleading guilty to their crimes.

But only 29 percent of corporate criminal FCPA cases were settled with guilty pleas.

And only 8 percent of securities fraud cases have been settled with guilty pleas.

Why?

You might ask — maybe these corporations weren’t guilty?

Not likely, because in almost every one of these cases — no matter the type of soft settlement — deferred prosecution, non prosecution, declination — the company admits to illegal wrongdoing.

The companies admit to their criminal wrongdoing in documents that are now publically available on a new web site — the Corporate Prosecution Registry — created by University of Virginia Law School Professor Brandon Garrett.

And what do we learn from this comprehensive corporate crime database?

That there is a two tier system of corporate criminal justice — one for the smaller, politically less well connected companies — which generally are forced to plead guilty to their crimes — and one for large, politically well connected public companies — which generally enter into softer alternative resolutions — declinations, non prosecution agreements and deferred prosecution agreements.

Or if they are forced to plead guilty, it’s not the parent forced to plead guilty but some unit that won’t be adversely affected by any debarment or other collateral sanction that might follow.

The dominant corporate narrative —  driven by the corporate crime defense law firms — is that big public companies — especially banks and financial institutions — even if they commit the crimes, can’t withstand the brunt force trauma of a guilty plea.

They say — the company will be driven out of business. Innocent shareholders will lose money and innocent workers lose their jobs. A corporate guilty plea is the equivalent of the corporate death penalty.

Not true.

Top corporate crime prosecutors and defense attorneys — they’re interchangeable and regularly swap places via the revolving door — are expert at crafting guilty pleas that avoid these consequences.

That’s why when prosecutors want to, they can get guilty pleas — even for big banks — who for years dodged any personal or corporate criminal liability for causing the 2008 financial collapse.

Burned by that public criticism, the Obama Justice Department in May 2015, thought it was necessary to throw the public a bone.

And they did just that by forcing Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase, The Royal Bank of Scotland, UBS and Barclays to plead guilty to felonies in connection with a conspiracy to fix foreign exchange markets.

Why doesn’t the Justice Department demand felony guilty pleas from parents in more big corporate crime cases?

Power and money. The big companies don’t want to plead guilty even when they are guilty. They have corporate reputations to protect. And they have the power and money to hire the best corporate criminal defense law firms to get the job done.

The lawyers’ marching orders?

For the corporate parent, anything but a guilty plea.

Move down the corporate crime ladder from guilty plea to deferred prosecution to non prosecution to declination.

In the parallel Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) case, move down the ladder from admission to no admission with a neither admit nor deny consent decree.

In a World Bank proceeding, move down the ladder from a debarment to a reprimand or a conditional non-debarment agreement.

Some say that it was Obama’s slippery slide down the corporate crime ladder — he hit bottom with not one executive or bank criminally charged for the 2008 financial meltdown — that fueled the populist revolt that helped Trump take the White House.

We don’t want to become Brazil, a country battered by wave after wave of corporate crime and corruption.

It’s time to restore a modicum of corporate criminal justice that will deliver tangible deterrence.

Let’s start by moving back up the ladder of corporate justice.

If a company commits a felony, it should plead guilty to a felony.

No more deferrals, non prosecutions and declinations in major corporate crime cases.

Brutality of Israeli Regime on Full Display in Video

Richard Hardigan 

The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) published a shocking new video (see longer version here) on Sunday, July 30. ISM is an organization of activists, both international and Palestinian, devoted to standing in solidarity with the Palestinian people against the Israeli occupation. The video, filmed in Hebron in the West Bank, was taken on Saturday during a demonstration of solidarity with the protestors at Al-Aqsa mosque.

In the video, there are scenes of soldiers kicking a prone teenager, appearing to shoot the driver of a passing car, and slamming a small child onto the ground before attempting to arrest him.

“There is more than is shown in the video,” a British ISMer told me. “The army seemed out of control at times, vandalizing shops, beating children and assaulting journalists.”

“The soldiers broke into and trashed a small shop, left a note in Hebrew saying ‘Israel lives,’ followed by an expletive,” said a Danish activist.

“The scary thing is that the presence of internationals usually has a moderating effect on the army. The IDF is very conscious about its image. What would they have done had we not been there?” the British activist wondered. “I don’t even want to think about it.”

Venezuela on the Cuban Road

Manuel E. Yepe

“Venezuela may be marching along the Cuban road, according to congressmen” is the title given by NBC-News to Suzanne Gamboa’s article dated Washington D.C. On July 19, 2017, citing words from New Jersey Democratic senator Bob Menendez, a vehement promoter of the genocidal blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba for more than half a century.

“Castro has condemned his own people to poverty, hunger and immense suffering, while accumulating wealth and power,” this corrupt politician declared, without blushing. He’s had a criminal trial for corruption pending since 2015 that has seriously disturbed his political career in U.S. The trial against Menéndez is scheduled for the period in which the election process will take place that will elect his replacement in a Senate seat the Democratic party does not want to lose. This has led Menéndez to conceal, as far as possible, his legal situation.

Many of the members of the US Congress who are now focusing their attention on the situation in Venezuela are of Cuban descent. It is not that they were born on the island but that they were formed in the heat of hatred for the island’s national independence and socialism. The extreme right of the United States and the oligarchies across the continent have played a key role in this struggle. Many are from Florida, Texas and New York, where the largest population of Venezuelan immigrants can be found.

Another American politician who has a leading role in the development of the current US right-wing campaign against Venezuela because of it’s winning back positions won in recent decades by the continent’s anti-imperialist left. That is Marco Rubio, a Republican senator from Florida.

Rubio played a significant role in the maneuver of the Venezuelan pro-imperialist opposition –which ended in failure two weeks ago– to call on Venezuelans to participate in an illegal “plebiscite”, which –except in the extremely pro-imperialist milieus– was totally obscured by the effort by the Venezuelan government which confirmed broad popular support for the process of choosing the Constituent Assembly on July 30.

Marco Rubio gained notoriety for his participation in the show recently starring President Trump in Miami to announce the implementation of new US government provisions against Cuba.

He gave those of Cuban for several years to take financially approve the U.S. establishment’s multi-million dollar campaign of hatred against Cuba. With this, he moved up in the ranks of his party and gained strong economic support until arriving at the first ranks of national policy like the “Cuban-American of extreme right”. He was among the possible Republican candidates for the presidency and lost in a hard race against the current president, Donald Trump.

Rubio had a serious setback when, at a certain moment in the representation of a false native identity, it was discovered that not only had he not been born in Cuba, but that he had not even been in his alleged country of origin.

Marco Rubio was born in Miami, Florida, in May 1971, when the Cuban revolution had been in power for more than a decade. His parents were Cuban immigrants who left Cuba in 1956, under the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, and were naturalized as US citizens in 1975.

From a Catholic family, Rubio made an abrupt switch of faith. After his first Catholic communion in 1984, and his marriage, also Catholic, he became a Mormon, soon afterwards became a Catholic again and later he went to the Baptist church until he returned to Catholicism.

Rubio is in the conservative wing of the Republican Party. In 2010, he won a position in the United States Senate as a favorite candidate of the Tea Party movement, a political formation that is located to the right of the political spectrum, but is not formally linked to the Republican party.

His candidacy for the Senate has been tarnished by unfinished investigations into embezzlement of Republican party funds.

He competed for the Republican presidential nomination during the 2016 primaries, until he finally decided to withdraw from the race because of his defeat by politician and tycoon Donald Trump in Florida, the state from which he is a senator.

It is quite logical that in the struggles for its definitive independence there are many similarities between the current political processes of Venezuela and Cuba, as well as between the independence aspirations of all the Latin American countries that have in common the objective of liberating themselves from the condition of semicolonies of the United States.

Al-Qaeda, A CIA by-product, Is Antithetical to Kashmiri Struggle

BASHARAT SHAMEEM

Regarding the newly found Al-Qaeda and Daesh fantasy of some “charged up” Kashmiris, it is important for Kashmiris to know that aligning with groups like these is to essentially do what their oppressors have been wanting them to do rather failingly–to deny and malign the primacy of their historical struggle and sacrifices which date back to several centuries. These groups are the illegal products and binaries of the dirty world of US imperialism whose aim is to maintain its hegemony and to crush all its opponents. It is for those misled youth to think that the authenticity of Kashmir’s political struggle needs to be maintained. For all those stirred up youth who fantasize Al-Qaeda and Daesh, this article is a small intro on the genesis of Al-Qaeda which must lay bare certain delusions that the extremist propaganda proliferates in the young minds.

In 1979, when USSR had done the mistake of invading Afghanistan, a person named Zbigniew Brzezinski, the then US National Security Advisor and a very astute political scientist, is said to have conceived the plan of American proxies going to hit USSR and defeat the Communist bloc by turning Afghanistan into USSR’s “Vietnam”. Brezinzski is sometimes regarded as the Godfather of Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda. He is reported to have told the US establishment then, “We now have the opportunity of giving to the USSR its Vietnam War.” Zbigniew Brzezinski visited Afganistan in the same year and met with Osama Bin Laden, the pictures of which are still preserved. Brzezinski is reported to have conveyed to the mujahideen: “We know of your deep belief in God, and we are confident your struggle will succeed. That land over there is yours, you’ll go back to it one day because your fight will prevail, and you’ll have your homes and your mosques back again. Because your cause is right and God is on your side.” Imagine the ludicrousness of American imperial interests coinciding with sacred Jihadi goals; it is nothing but pure rubbish.

To hurt USSR, the CIA along with help from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, funded, organized, armed and trained radical recruits to fight the Soviet Army in a manufactured holy war in Afghanistan. In this way, the foundation of Al-Qaeda, was laid by CIA and its head was none else but one of the more trusted CIA operatives, Osama Bin Laden. Al-Qaeda was created to serve as a CIA proxy in Afghanistan and as such, it had got nothing to do with Islam as such. A former British Foreign secretary, Robin Cook has said: “Bin Laden was, though, a product of a monumental miscalculation by western security agencies. Throughout the 80s he was armed by the CIA and funded by the Saudis to wage jihad against the Russian occupation of Afghanistan.”

Many informed analysts, authors, journalists, secret agents, intelligence chiefs, and leaders have substantiated the claim that Al-Qaeda was funded, armed and trained by the CIA to fulfill the US imperialist objectives–the first of which was to destroy the Communist bloc and later on, when this goal was achieved, to create a binary enemy among Muslims which will allow the US to perpetuate and justify wars in the Muslim countries.It was the CIA which trained Al Qaeda in special terrorist operations for which it is now known. These include car bombs, assassinations, hijackings, kidnappings which are now dubbed as terrorist acts. Eminent US journalists and authors like Alex Jones and Webster Tarpley have expressed serious doubts over the official US narrative on 9/11 attacks. In his book, “9/11 Synthetic Terror: Made in USA”, Tarpley alludes to it as another dirty operation done by rogue CIA elements in collusion with their manufactured proxies like Al-Qaeda so as to achieve the long term strategic goals in the world. Further, in an interview with Press TV, Tarpley, quoting various US defense sources, refers to Ayman Zawahiri, the so-called current Al-Qaeda chief, as a double agent of CIA and MI 6. In 2010, Washington Post carried a report in which it was revealed that it was CIA which had created several fake Osama videos in order to perpetuate its enterprise of lies and deception regarding Al-Qaeda.
It is no surprise that as the 1997 official US government security document titled “Project for the New American Century” revealed, the US will strike and invade any country at will at any time because the US has a God given right of destroying any power that challenges its hegemony in any way. Since much of US attention is focused on the oil resources of Middle East, it thinks that where it can, it will invade directly and where it cannot, it will use its satellite state Israel and also other well nurtured proxies like Al-Qaeda and ISIS. As Tariq Ali says, the role of such groups is also to create widespread destabilisation and destruction of progressive people and governments within the Islamic world. A case in study is Syria and much of the Middle East. What is intriguing is that despite being only some distance away from Israel, the ISIS hasn’t carried one attack against it and that too when it believes in the complete annihilation of the so-called “infidels”. But still, the ISIS goes and strikes deep into the heart of Europe.

There has indeed been a whole lot of analysis about the dirty linkages between CIA and the international terrorist organizations, but perhaps, the most startling revelation about Osama Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda in the recent times has come from the former CIA/NSA officer Edward Snowden. In an interview with the Moscow Tribune in May 2016, Snowden reveals rather astonishingly:

“The so-called leader of Al-Qaeda, Osama bin Laden, who was supposedly killed in Pakistan in 2011 by U.S. special forces, is still alive and well, living in the Bahamas, on the payroll of the CIA…I have documents showing that Bin Laden is still on the CIA’s payroll. He is still receiving more than $100,000 a month, which is being transferred through some front businesses and organizations, directly to his Nassau bank account. I am not certain where he is now, but in 2013, he was living quietly in his villa with five of his wives and many children… The CIA orchestrated the fake death of the former leader of Al-Qaeda who was one of the CIA’s most efficient operatives for a long time. What kind of message would it send their other operatives if they were to let the SEALs kill him? They organized his fake death with the collaboration of the Pakistani Secret Services, and he simply abandoned his cover. Since everyone believes he is dead, nobody’s looking for him, so it was pretty easy to disappear. Without the beard and the military jacket, nobody recognizes him.”

Edward Snowden further states that he will talk about the documents which prove Bin Laden is alive in his soon-to-be-released book. Even though Snowden’s claims have not been substantiated and confirmed by other sources, there are enough reasons to believe the dirty fiddlings of CIA in creating imaginary binaries in terrorist groups and individuals from time to time. The sad part is that disaffected and disenchanted youth (like Zakir Moosa, for instance)in the Muslim societies do fall prey to this dirty trap which is meant only to bring ruin to their own cultures and societies. The need is to delink the social and political struggles from these terrible imperialist traps from Morocco to Indonesia and Kashmir is no exception.

There is no need to get trapped into radicalism or the so called Caliphate glory even if a right wing frenzy is fast overtaking Indian polity and society alike. In these circumstances, maintaining political authenticity will make the Kashmir struggle morally more credible. On the contrary, efforts should be made to broaden its scope by making it more plural and comprehensive. That can be done by forming solidarity consensus with other struggling people in India and elsewhere. There is also a need to recalibrate the different social movements of different sections like peasants, workers and students within the broader political movement. While all the focus has been on politics, it is imperative to note that the effect of the Land Reforms of 1950s is now waning to a significant level and consequently, new challenges have erupted for the Kashmiri peasantry. The floods of 2014 have also ravaged them; they are now under a heavy burden of bank loans. The turmoil of the last two and a half decades has also given rise to a kleptocracy of its own in Kashmir, primarily because of a blind patronage to the loyalist elites by the Indian state. This has resulted in a large scale corruption and plunder of the state’s resources with simply no accountability at all. All this has come at the cost of the exploitation of the working class masses. The Daily Wage system/ Casual Labour system in vogue in the state is one of the most repressive. The plight of these labourers is terribly bad; they face severe circumstances while undertaking difficult jobs for a very meagre biological minimum. For instance, every week, a story comes about the death or serious injury to a PDD Daily wager. These labourers are exploited by almost every government department. Till this day, nobody has shown any serious concern towards their plight. Another serious issue is the gradual privatisation of the state’s education sector and a complete lack of attention towards the government sponsored education due to the paucity of funds. This is proving highly detrimental as the children of the disaffected populations are being deprived of the quality education. There is a total alienation among these social classes. Instead of falling into the trap of an illusionary enterprise of global fundamentalism, there is ample scope to calibrate and the energize the political struggle by incorporating these class based struggles to make it a truly mass movement aimed to deliver political and social emancipation in real and concrete terms.

Australia: Official figures continue to cloak jobs crisis

Terry Cook

Figures released last month by the Australia Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that unemployment in June stood at 5.6 percent, up 0.1 percent on the previous month. While 62,000 full-time jobs were added over the month, this was largely offset by the loss of 48,000 part-time positions.

Even so, the outcome was immediately heralded by Liberal Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as proof that his promise of “jobs and growth” made repeatedly during last year’s federal election campaign was “not just a slogan” but “an outcome.” Federal Employment Minister Michaelia Cash also seized on the result to claim the economy was creating about 27,000 full-time jobs a month. “That is a fantastic thing for Australian people,” she asserted.

However, a closer examination of the report shows there is little to celebrate for the hundreds of thousands of people engaged in the daily search to find a job, or those who are still forced to accept part-time or casual employment. Even on ABS official figures—which always cloak the real level of joblessness by counting anyone who worked as little as one hour a week as employed—there are currently some 730,000 people without work.

A more realistic assessment of the job situation is provided by the Roy Morgan Research Institute survey, which shows real unemployment in June was 8.9 percent (1.2 million people) while underemployment—people employed but looking for more hours—stood at 10.7 percent. That is, it showed that over 2.6 million people, or 19.6 percent of the country’s workforce, were either without a job or looking for more work.

For young people, the official (ABS) unemployment rate is far above the national level, standing at 13.1 percent in June, up from 12.7 percent the month before. In some regional areas, the rate is as high as 41 percent. Official youth underemployment stands at 18 percent, the highest level in 40 years.

While Cash waxed lyrically over the ABS’s estimation of full-time job creation over the last five months, this result in no way reverses the long-term trend to ever greater levels of casualisation. Full-time employment currently accounts for just 68 percent of the workforce, down from around 72 percent just 10 years ago. Moreover, Australia has the third highest proportion of part-time workers in the industrialised world.

At the same time, major employers across major sectors are continuing to push for greater casualisation of their workforces. Company demands for the lifting or weakening of restrictions on casual and contract hire now feature centrally in negotiations for a plethora of new enterprise work agreements.

Coal miners employed by mining company Glencore in the Hunter Valley in New South Wales are currently taking industrial action against the company’s refusal to accept restrictions on casualisation. Workers at Glencore’s Oaky North underground coal mine in Queensland have been locked out since June 9 over the same issue.

While the official unemployment rate has edged down slightly over the last few months, there are indices pointing to a worsening of the jobs situation across a number of key sectors over the next period.

The just released mining sector’s national job index by recruitment firm DFP Recruitment Services shows that the number of vacancies across the sector has started to stall, amidst weakening commodity prices.

The DFP report states that while the number of job vacancies in the industry during June was up almost 38 percent from a year ago, the rate was actually down 0.1 percent from May and was up just 0.2 percent for the entire June quarter. Moreover, the job vacancies were mainly for temporary and contract roles, which increased 3.5 percent during the June quarter while permanent vacancies fell 2.1 percent.

Aggregate bulk commodity prices fell by almost 30 percent over the first six months of this year. The benchmark price of iron ore fell from $US94.86 a tonne in February to as low as $US53.36 a tonne last month and now stands at just $US65.74.

In three of the past four months, retail spending has slumped, recording month-on-month declines for the first time in almost six years.

According to a National Australia Bank (NBA) report last month based on about 4 million daily customer transactions, growth in spending on consumption-based goods and services by bank customers slowed to 2 percent over the year to the first quarter of 2017, down sharply from 3.1 percent over the year to the fourth quarter of 2016.

Speaking to the results NAB chief economist Alan Oster declared: “I think retail itself is in a recession. It is basically deteriorating and not contributing much to growth at all and we don’t see it improving in the short term.”

At the end of May, the Australian arm of British fashion chain Topshop went into administration, joining a string of recent retail failures, including Herringbone, Rhodes & Beckett, David Lawrence, Pumpkin Patch and Payless shoes.

Large-scale job cuts have been announced over the last three months. In early June, Australia’s largest communications carrier Telstra announced it will shed 1,400 jobs nationally while giant transport company Toll Holdings revealed plans to slash 1,700 jobs over the next 12 months. Rail haulage company Aurizon announced it will cut 300 jobs and the Commonwealth Bank will axe 150 jobs over the next months.

The federal budget brought down in May includes the shedding of another 4,500 jobs public service positions, including 244 from the Health Department and 245 from the Immigration Department. The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies will lose 20 percent of its 150 staff. A major restructure of the Western Australia’s state public service was announced in May, which will reduce 41 existing departments to just 25 and could result in the shedding of around 3,000 jobs.

At the same time, hanging over the jobs situation is the looming closure of the Australia’s car manufacturing sector. Toyota will close its Altona plant in Victoria in October this year, completing the destruction of 2,600 jobs. GM Holden will also end all production in Australia in October, destroying 2,300 remaining jobs.

Australian Automotive After­market Association released a report at the beginning of February this year estimating that 25,000 jobs would be lost in the automotive supply chain businesses in the next 18 months as a consequence of the car plant closures. More than half of the 117 remaining tier-one component suppliers are expected to close.