Google Africa PhD Fellowship Program 2022

Application Deadline: 27th April 2022 by 11:59:59pm UTC-12 (AoE)

Eligible Countries: African countries

About the Award: Nurturing and maintaining strong relations with the academic community is a top priority at Google. The Google Africa PhD Fellowship Program has been created to support and recognize outstanding students pursuing or looking to pursue PhD level studies in computer science and related areas.

Fields of Study: Computer science and related areas

Type: Fellowship

Eligibility: Students and professionals are welcome to apply to the PhD Fellowship program.

For current PhD Students

1. Applicants must be enrolled into a full-time PhD program at a university in Africa. Applicants who are currently in their first year of a part-time PhD program and transferring to full-time positions are also welcome to apply.
2. Students should be early PhD students, i.e., should not have been into more than 1 year of their PhD. Applicants for the 2022 Fellowship must have started their program on or after 1-Jan-2022.
3. Students must remain enrolled in the PhD program for the duration of the Fellowship or forfeit the award.
4. Applicants must be pursuing a PhD in Computer Science or related areas.
5. Google employees and family members of Google employees are not eligible
6. Students who are already receiving another corporate fellowship are not eligible.

For current Undergraduate/Masters students and Professionals

1. Grant of the fellowship to this category of applicants is contingent on them joining a full-time PhD program at a university in Africa within the calendar year of the award.
2. Student applicants must be full-time Undergraduate or Masters students enrolled at an African university. Professionals must be employed/affiliated with an organization registered in Africa.
3. The Google Fellowship award shall be contingent on the awardee registering for the full-time PhD program at an African university, in Computer Science or related areas, within the calendar year 2022, or the award shall be forfeited.
4. Grant of the Google Fellowship does not mean admission to the PhD program of a university. The awardee must also complete the PhD admission process of the respective institute/university where he/she wishes to register for PhD.
5. Grant of the Google Fellowship will be subject to the rules and guidelines applicable in the institute/university where the awardee registers for the PhD program.
6. Google employees and family members of Google employees are not eligible.

Number of Awards: Not specified

Details of Google Africa PhD Fellowship: 

• Successful students receive named Fellowships, which include a $10,000 award per year over 3 years.
• The funds are given directly to the university to be distributed to cover the student’s expenses and stipend as appropriate.
• The funds are given as an unrestricted gift, and it is Google’s policy not to pay for overhead on unrestricted gifts.
• In addition, the student will be matched with a Google Research Mentor who we hope will become a valuable resource to the student.
• There is no employee relationship between the student and Google as a result of receiving the fellowship.
• Fellowship recipients are not subject to intellectual property restrictions unless they complete an internship at Google.
• Fellowship recipients serving an internship are subject to the same intellectual property and other contractual obligations as any other Google intern.
• If a Fellowship student is interested, an internship at Google is encouraged, but not guaranteed or required.

How to Apply: 

• Applications are accepted directly from students. There is no limit to the number of students who may apply from each university.
• Applicant’s areas of research interest must be one of the areas listed at https://research.google.com/.

Instructions for Applicants

• Gather the following documents:

• 1. Applicant’s resume with links to publications (if available).
  2. One-page resume of the student’s PhD program advisor.
  3. Available transcripts (mark sheets) starting from first year/semester of Bachelor’s degree to date.
  4. Research proposal (maximum two pages).
  5. Three letters of recommendation from those familiar with the applicant’s work (at least one coming from the thesis adviser in case of current PhD students). If the recommendation writers want to send the letter separately, they can mail it directly to research-africa@google.com with the subject “Recommendation for [applicant-name]”.

Submit your applications by clicking on this link.

Visit Program Webpage for Details

AfDB Japan Africa Dream Scholarship (JADS) 2021/2022

Application Deadline: 22nd April 2022 (OCTOBER enrollment)

Eligible Countries: African countries

To Be Taken At (Country): Japan

About the Award: The Japan Africa Dream Scholarship (JADS) Program – capacity building in energy sector through skills development for sustainable development– is a joint initiative by the AfDB and Japan that aims at providing two-year scholarship awards to highly achieving African graduate students to enable them to undergo post-graduate studies (i.e. a two-year Master’s degree program) in priority development areas on the continent and abroad (including in Japan). This Japan Africa Dream Scholarship programme is funded by the Government of Japan.

The overarching goal that the AfDB and the Government of Japan seeks to attain is to enhance skills and human resources development in Africa in a number of priority areas pertaining to science and technology with a special focus on the energy sector. JADS’s objectives are aligned with the Bank’s High 5 agenda (i.e. Light up and power Africa, Feed Africa, Industrialize Africa, Integrate Africa and Improve the quality of life for the people of Africa) and key Japanese development assistance initiatives to Africa and the 6th Tokyo International Conference for African Development (TICAD VI) outcomes.

Upon completion of their studies, the beneficiary scholars are expected to return to their home countries to apply and disseminate their newly acquired knowledge and skills, and contribute to the promotion of sustainable development of their countries.

Type: Masters

Eligibility: The Japan Africa Dream Scholarship is open to those who have gained admission to an approved Masters degree course at a Japanese partner university. Candidates should be 35 years old or younger; in good health; with a Bachelor’s degree or its equivalent in the energy area or related area; and have a superior academic record. Upon completion of their study programs, scholars are expected to return to their home country to contribute to its economic and social development.

Details on Eligibility Criteria are provided in that call’s Application Guidelines, and these detailed eligibility criteria are strictly adhered to. No exceptions are made.

Broadly speaking, nationals of African countries must:

• Be a national of a AfDB member country;
• Be in good health;
• Hold a Bachelor (or equivalent) degree in the energy area (or related field) earned at least 1 years prior to the application deadline date;
• Have 1 years or more of recent development-related experience after earning a Bachelor (or equivalent) degree;
• Be accepted unconditionally to enroll in the upcoming academic year in at least one of the JADS partner universities for a Master’s degree;
• Applicants living or working in a country other than his or her home country are not eligible for scholarships.
• JADS does not support applicants who are already enrolled in graduate degree programs.
• Not be an Executive Director, his/her alternate, and/or staff of all types of appointments of the African Development Bank Group or a close relative of the aforementioned by blood or adoption with the term “close relative” defined as: Mother, Father, Sister, Half-sister, Brother, Half-brother, Son, Daughter, Aunt, Uncle, Niece, or Nephew.

Selection Criteria: The Japan Africa Dream Scholarship programme uses the following four main factors and the degree of cohesion, to review eligible scholarship applications, with the aim of identifying the candidates with the highest potential, after completion of their graduate studies, to impact the development of their countries.

1. Quality of Education Background
2. Quality of Professional Recommendations
3. Quality of Professional Experience
4. Quality of Commitment to your Home Country
5. Quality of Statement of Purpose

Japan Africa Dream Scholarship (JADS) awards scholarships to applicants who have had at least 1 year of paid employment in the applicant’s home country or in other African countries acquired after receiving the first Bachelors (or equivalent university) degree within the past 3 years.

The JADS Secretariat uses the following criteria to select the finalists:

• Maintaining a reasonably wide geographical distribution of awards, that takes into account the geographic distribution of eligible applications;
• Maintaining a reasonable distribution of awards across gender that takes into account the distribution of eligible applications across gender;
• Giving scholarships to those applicants who, other things being equal, appear to have limited financial resources
• Unusual circumstances / hardships, when assessing the employment experience and other aspects of an application.

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: The scholarship program provides tuition, a monthly living stipend, round-trip airfare, health insurance, and travel allowance.

How to Apply:

1. Applicant requests for information and application forms and procedures from the chosen JADS partner university. For any inquiries, please contact JADS@AFDB.ORG(link sends e-mail)
2. Applicant completes required documents and sends them to the university.
3. University evaluates and selects applicants.
4. University sends selected candidates to the AfDB.
5. AfDB reviews submissions from universities, prepares and approves the final list.
6. AfDB contacts selected awardees, and informs the universities.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Destination Australia Scholarship 2022

Application Deadline:

June 2022

Tell Me About Destination Australia Scholarship:

The Destination Australia scholarship is funded by the Australian Government Department of Education. It aligns with the National Strategy for International Education 2025. 

The scholarship’s objective is to:

• attract and support study in regional Australia
• grow and develop regional Australian tertiary education providers
• offer students a high-quality learning experience.

Which Fields are Eligible?

Agriculture and animal sciences, Science and mathematics

What Type of Scholarship is this?

Undergraduate, Postgraduate coursework

Who can apply for Destination Australia Scholarship?

You’re eligible if you:

• are an international student
• hold a student visa for the scholarship’s duration
• are a new UQ student
• are UQ alumni commencing a different program (for example, Master’s after completing a Bachelor’s degree)
• have a full offer to study an eligible program delivered entirely at the UQ Gatton campus in 2022 (you don’t need to accept your full offer by the scholarship application deadline).

And you:

• will study full-time via Internal study mode at UQ’s Gatton campus for the scholarship’s duration
• reside in a regional area of Australia for the scholarship’s duration as defined by the Australian Statistical Geography Standard Remoteness Structure 2016 (Australian Bureau of Statistics)

And you’re starting any of the below programs in 2022:

• Bachelor of Agricultural Science
• Bachelor of Equine Science
• Bachelor of Veterinary Science (Honours)
• Bachelor of Veterinary Technology
• Bachelor of Wildlife Science
• Master of Agribusiness (#24)
• Master of Agribusiness (#32)
• Master of Agricultural Science (#24)
• Master of Agricultural Science (#32)
• Master of Animal Science (#24)
• Master of Animal Science (#32)

Dual degrees with the Bachelor of Agribusiness and Master of Agricultural Science (Plant Protection Major) are not eligible because they are not delivered full-time at UQ Gatton.

How are Applicants Selected?

We’ll consider:

• eligibility under the program guidelines
• academic merit
• your personal statement

UQ values diversity and inclusion and may consider this when we review your application.

Which Countries are Eligible?

International

Where will Award be Taken?

Australia

How Many Scholarships will be Given?

May vary

What is the Benefit of Destination Australia Scholarship?

Up to AUD $15,000 per year of study

How Long will the Program Last?

For the program’s duration (maximum 4 years)

How to Apply for Destination Australia Scholarship:

Complete the online application form. 

You will need to submit:

• a personal statement (limit 300 words)

Use our tips for putting together a great application to help you through this process.

Visit Award Webpage for Details

Pan-African School for Emerging Astronomers (PASEA) Alumni Research Program 2022

Application Deadline:

26th March 2022

Tell Me About Award:

The Pan-African School for Emerging Astronomers (PASEA) is hosting a fully-online educational program for ~60 STEM-interested university-level students. Guided by career astronomers, participants in our program will foster their scientific curiosity and gain hands-on research experience and scientific computing skills via a number of exciting activities!

What Type of Scholarship is this?

Training

Who can apply?

STEM-interested university-level students.

Where will Award be Taken?

Online

How Many Scholarships will be Given?

60

What is the Benefit of Scholarship?

Guided by career astronomers, participants in our program will foster their scientific curiosity and gain hands-on research experience and scientific computing skills via a number of exciting activities!

How to Apply for Scholarship:

To apply, click on this link or scan the QR code below using the camera app on your mobile device.

Visit Award Webpage for Details

Ex-Japanese Prime Minister Abe suggests Japan host US nuclear weapons

Ben McGrath

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on, August 31, 2020. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara)

In a February 27 television appearance, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made several inflammatory statements directed above all at China. Abe, who remains highly influential in Japanese politics and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), is seizing on the current crisis in Ukraine to further the right-wing nationalist agenda of remilitarization.

Abe appeared on a Fuji Television Network program calling for Tokyo to discuss hosting US nuclear weapons. “In NATO, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy take part in nuclear sharing, hosting American nuclear weapons,” Abe stated. “Japan is a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and has its three non-nuclear principles, but it should not treat as a taboo, discussions on the reality of how the world is kept safe.”

Taking advantage of the anti-Russia war hysteria, Abe claimed that if Ukraine had kept some of the nuclear weapons on its soil after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, it could have used the weapons as a deterrent to the current Russian invasion. Abe went on to say that hosting nuclear weapons in Japan was one possible way to deter supposed threats from China and North Korea.

In reality, the spread of nuclear weapons, far from preventing war, only increases the danger of their use in a conflict that does break out. In the case of Japan, the permanent placement of American nuclear weapons on its territory will only heighten tensions with China in conditions where successive administrations have been engaged in an aggressive military build-up throughout the region against Beijing over the past decade.

The placement of US nuclear weapons in Japan would likely begin an arms race in the Indo-Pacific, increasing the risk of conflict. Abe’s purpose is not to provide for the defense of Japan, but to prepare it for a US-instigated war against China.

Abe did not stop there. He called on Washington to further challenge the “One China” policy and firmly state that it would come to Taiwan’s aid militarily in a conflict with the mainland. In establishing diplomatic relations with China, the US tacitly acknowledged that Beijing was the legitimate government of all China and broke off formal ties with Taipei.

At the same time, Washington called for peaceful reunification and declared it would oppose the use of armed force. Its policy of “strategic ambiguity” left open the question as to whether the US would support Taiwan in a conflict with China. On the one hand to act as a deterrent to an invasion by Beijing, and on the other to discourage Taipei from declaring independence—a move that would provoke a war. For the US to openly abandon that policy would greatly heighten already sharp tensions with China.

Wang Wenbin, China’s foreign ministry spokesman, responded to Abe’s comments, saying “Japanese politicians have frequently spread fallacies related to Taiwan and even blatantly made false remarks that violate the nation’s three non-nuclear principles. We strongly ask Japan to deeply reflect on its history.” He urged Tokyo to “be cautious in words and deeds on the Taiwan issue [and] to stop provoking trouble.”

This is not the first time Abe has made inflammatory statements since leaving office. Last December, Abe called for a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics, which concluded last month, citing US allegations of “human rights” violations in Xinjiang. In separate remarks the same month, Abe also stated that any emergency in Taiwan would constitute an emergency in Japan, essentially declaring that Japan should be prepared to go to war over the island.

As prime minister from 2012 to 2020, Abe pushed through record annual increases in military spending and laws to implement a “reinterpretation” of the Constitution to allow for “collective self-defense.” The laws were another breach in Japan’s so-called pacifist constitution allowing the Japanese military to support other countries—particularly its US ally—in conflicts.

Abe is also notorious for his whitewashing of the crimes and atrocities committed by the Japanese military in the 1930s and 1940s in China and Korea in particular. These crimes include the 1937–1938 Rape of Nanjing and the exploitation of approximately 200,000 “comfort women” as sex slaves. The aim is to condition the population especially young people for imperialist war on overseas battlefields.

However, the Japanese working class remains deeply opposed to remilitarization and hostile to nuclear weapons in particular, as the only country in the world that has suffered a nuclear attack. The US took the criminal decision to drop atomic bombs on the civilian populations of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, despite the fact that the Japanese government had already offered to surrender.

Well aware of the widespread opposition to nuclear weapons, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida quickly dismissed Abe’s suggestion as “unacceptable given our country’s stance of maintaining the three non-nuclear principles.”

Abe’s comments, however, indicate that the issue is being more widely discussed behind the scenes in ruling circles. Abe maintains a great deal of influence in the LDP. He remains a member of the National Diet’s House of Representatives and leads the Hosoda faction the largest in the LDP. Prime Minister Kishida is from the rival Kochikai faction.

The three non-nuclear principles, first outlined in 1967, are not legally binding and have been violated in the past. These principles state that Japan will not possess, produce, or allow nuclear weapons on its territory. A 1969 memorandum declassified by the US in 2017 confirmed that Tokyo officially gave Washington its consent to bring nuclear weapons into Okinawa on an “emergency basis.” The agreement helped pave the way for the end of the US occupation of Okinawa and its return to Japan in 1972.

As with the current crisis in Ukraine, the growing danger of war in East Asia is the result of years of US efforts, working in concert with allies like Tokyo, to subordinate China to the demands of American imperialism.

Even though Japan and the US are allies, the interests of the Japanese bourgeoisie ultimately differ from those in the US. For the time being, Tokyo views its alliance with Washington as a stepping-stone towards remilitarization and reasserting itself militarily on the Asian continent, even at the risk of a catastrophic war.

Australian workers face closure of Eraring coal-fired power plant by 2025

Patrick Davies

On February 17, Origin Energy announced that the closure of the largest single power station in Australia would be brought forward from 2022 to August 2025.

The coal-fired Eraring plant in the Lake Macquarie, New South Wales (NSW) region, north of Sydney, has produced electricity for four decades and has a workforce of around 500, including permanent employees and contractors. The early closure further threatens the livelihoods of many more workers in the region, including those in nearby mines that supply the plant.

Eraring Power Station [Source: Wikimedia]

Origin chief executive Frank Calabria said the closure was being brought forward due to increased market pressure from “lower cost generation, including solar, wind and batteries.”

As the market increasingly shifts away from fossil fuels, energy companies are compelled to adjust, not out of concern for the environment, but in defence of profits.

Origin reported a net loss of $2.29 million in 2021, following a net profit of $83 million in 2020. The company attributes this decline to lower demand due to COVID-19, greater rooftop solar uptake and increased output from large-scale renewable energy plants. These factors have pushed down the wholesale price of electricity, even as energy bills for individuals have soared.

NSW Energy Minister Matt Kean has been in discussions with Origin management about the early closure for several months, but the plans were hidden from workers and the Lake Macquarie community. Workers at the Eraring plant were given no advance notice of the company’s plan and only found out through the media or in meetings called by management on the day of the announcement.

Unusually, Origin has encouraged workers to speak to the media about the shutdown, likely in an attempt to lobby for government subsidies to prolong the profitable operating life of the plant.

The Australian Energy Market Operator has indicated it will approve the closure and claims there will be “enough electricity generation” to meet its targets at the time of the closure. Origin’s proposal relies on new capacity being built by 2025, including a 700-megawatt battery facility, far less than the 2,880-megawatt capacity of Eraring.

Origin claimed it would provide “reskilling, career support and redeployment into new roles, where possible.” In other words, any redeployment opportunities, should they arise at all, would be offered to a small number of workers, hand-picked by management.

The company’s retraining plan will not be shown to workers until the end of July, further shortening the time they would have to search for other work before the plant closes.

The Construction Forestry Maritime Mining Energy Union (CFMEU) and the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), which cover workers at the Eraring plant, claim they were “shocked and surprised,” and Origin had “blindsided” workers.

AMWU NSW secretary Cory Wright told the Australian Financial Review: “What this announcement shows us is the importance of workers and unions having a seat at the table in discussions around the closure of power stations.” The CFMEU issued a statement calling on Origin to “engage in genuine two-way consultation.”

The demand for a “seat at the table,” is not aimed at giving workers a voice, but at placing the union bureaucracy in the ideal position to prevent workers from organising a genuine, independent opposition to Origin’s dictates.

Wright claimed: “The AMWU will hold Origin to its stated aim of providing reskilling, career support and redeployment to impacted workers. We will not let any worker be left behind.”

The reality is, Origin’s statement commits it to nothing. The company has treated its workforce with utter contempt, yet both unions claim they will hold the company to its worthless promise.

The promise of alternative arrangements by companies seeking to eliminate production is a fraud promoted by the trade unions and governments to facilitate closures and shut down opposition.

Closures of major industrial sites have been carried out for decades, forming a distinct blueprint of union-management-government collusion. These previous experiences stand as a warning for workers at Eraring and throughout the energy industry.

During the 2017 shutdown of Victoria’s Hazelwood power station in the Latrobe Valley, the CFMEU collaborated with France-based multinational ENGIE, fully accepting the plant closure on the basis of the company’s bogus promise that “alternative arrangements” would be made for workers.

The Victorian state Labor government used a $22 million “transfer scheme partnership” to generate acceptance for the closure. The CFMEU and the Australian Council of Trade Unions hailed this as a model to be emulated elsewhere. In fact, by 2019, two years after the closure, fewer than half of the 850 participants in the Victorian government’s worker transition scheme had found full-time employment.

Those living in the Latrobe Valley were impacted severely by the loss of more than 1,000 direct and indirect jobs. Many workers were forced to retire early or leave the area. Coal-fired plant closures have transformed the region into a “poverty basket,” with high unemployment rates and disastrous socio-economic outcomes, such as increased substance abuse and violence.

The unions and consecutive Labor and Liberal governments since the 1990s have presided over a wave of privatisation. Previously state-owned electricity production and distribution networks in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland were sold off cheaply to private companies, destroying thousands of jobs in the process.

Origin purchased Eraring Energy from the NSW state government in 2013 for $950 million as part of a $3.25 billion sale of state-run electricity retailers Integral Energy and Country Energy. With the Eraring plant providing as much as a 20 percent of NSW’s electricity, the sale gave Origin a 33 percent stake in the National Electricity Market (NEM).

In 2019, Hunter, the federal electorate containing the Lake Macquarie and Hunter coal mining areas, saw a 14 percent swing against Labor in a seat held by the party for more than 100 years. A primary concern for working-class voters was Labor’s record on industrial closures and privatisation. The NSW Labor government of Kristina Keneally sold off the first tranche of the state’s electricity assets in 2010.

The impending closure of fossil fuel industries has huge implications for the working class. If the transition to renewable technology is left in the hands of corporations and capitalist governments, energy industry workers and their communities face severe losses to their livelihoods.

Climate change is an existential threat to society and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions must be drastically reduced, including through the closure of coal-fired power stations and other fossil fuel industries. But workers in these industries, who have created massive amounts of wealth for many of the richest people in Australia and the world, often at great risk to their health and lives, must not be forced to pay for the necessary transition to clean energy through the slashing of jobs.

The NEM is currently supplied by 16 coal-fired power stations. Sevenare slated to close by 2035, and the rest by 2051. Earlier this month, energy giant AGL announced that Loy Yang A, in the Latrobe Valley, and Bayswater, in the Hunter, would close at least three years ahead of schedule, by 2045 and 2033 respectively.

Under the revised plan, Eraring would shut before the Snowy Hydro 2.0 pumped hydro storage scheme comes fully online in 2026. Industry experts expect a loss of capacity will put upward pressure on prices.

With every development in technology the working class confronts the obstacle of the capitalist mode of production. In the hands of the financial elite, new technologies mean new ways to exploit workers and extract ever-increasing profits. In the hands of the working class however, these developments can be harnessed to reduce working hours and eliminate arduous tasks, with no reduction in pay.

Under the democratic control of workers, the vital transition to clean energy production would provide secure, safe and well-paid jobs for energy workers and an increased standard of living for the entire working class.

Eastern European governments at forefront of NATO war drive against Russia

Andrei Tudora & Tina Zamfir

A Ukrainian serviceman runs to deliver ammunition to an armored fighting vehicle during a live fire exercise in a Joint Forces Operation controlled area in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

As the imperialist war drive against Russia intensifies, Eastern European regimes that have been turned into NATO strongholds in recent years are playing a leading role in the NATO proxy war in Ukraine.

Romania and Polish bourgeois classes, ruling over the largest countries on NATO’s eastern flank, are recklessly seeking to fan the flames of the conflict and advance their own predatory local interests.

On February 25, the leaders of the two countries organized a meeting of the so-called B9 format to denounce Russia. The B9 format is a military bloc that includes the Baltic countries, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria. It was formed on the initiative of Poland and Romania in 2015 under US auspices and on an explicitly anti-Russian basis. One of the main objectives since its formation has been further expansion of direct imperialist control eastwards, especially into Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia, either through the B9, the EU or NATO in order to weaken and destabilize Russia.

The B9 bloc and its economic and logistical arm, the Three Seas Initiative (3SI or TSI), is a continuation of the Polish Intermarium, a predatory interwar project of the Polish bourgeoisie against Soviet Russia.

The two countries held a joint Government Meeting in Warsaw on Thursday to reinforce their direct collaboration. A Polish military contingent, it was announced, will be participating in the newly formed Romanian NATO Battle Group.

Romania President Klaus Iohannis maneuvered feverishly in the past week to be recognized by the imperialist powers as an important player in the Ukrainian conflict. On Thursday European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen confirmed that Romania will open a so-called “humanitarian hub” in Romania that will be used to funnel weapons into Ukraine, similar to an existing structure in Poland.

The two countries are also hosting the components of the US “anti-missile shield.” The launch pad in Deveselu, Romania, which became operational in 2016, has since been repeatedly denounced by Russia as a threat to its security.

Iohannis is working closely with Maia Sandu, the president of neighboring Moldova. Moldova is a former Soviet republic, landlocked between Romania and Ukraine, and sharing linguistic and cultural ties to Romania. The territory has in the past been the scene of violent conflicts, including a brief war in the 1990s in which Romanian-backed Moldova fought Russian forces over what would become the breakaway territory of Transnistria.

Since independence from the USSR, the country’s internal life has been dominated by the attempt of US and EU imperialism to enlist it against Russia. This has included a color revolution in 2009, as well as internal turmoil in recent years. The regime now headed by Maia Sandu is a staunchly anti-Russian one. The country has in recent years moved to closer integration of its army with NATO forces stationed in the region, as well as to deepen its energy and logistic connections to Romania.

Iohannis has repeatedly suggested in recent months that Romania will “stand by” Moldova and offer its full support. Sandu has declared a state of alert in Moldova at the beginning of the war and has, together with Ukraine, cut off its energy links to Russia on the eve of the military conflict. Moldova continues to assert that the small Russian garrison in Transnistria constitutes an occupation force on its territory.

Moldova and Georgia officially announced their bid for EU membership on March 3.

In February Iohannis announced the formation of a Romanian NATO battle group, after talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, who insisted on France being a “framework nation” in it. In a statement that is revealing of the way in which the population is kept in the dark of what are essentially military conspiracies, Iohannis stated, after explaining that all the details are in place and that “we know where it will be positioned” and that “in the end, when all is clarified and resolved, we will be able to make public statements about who is participating, where they will be positioned and other interesting details for the Romanian audience, but for the time being, no.”

French troops, part of NATO’s Response Force, have already made their way to Constanta County’s Mihail Kogălniceanu airbase, part of an initial contingent of 500 troops.

The SPD German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht met on March 3 with her Romanian counterpart Social Democrat Vasile Dincu on the Kogălniceanu airbase to inspect the German deployment there. According to the Romanian government’s sources, the German contingent comprises 75 servicemen and 6 Eurofighter Typhoon fighters.

At the end of February, Italy sent for more planes and now has 8 fighters based on the airfield. Spain has sent 4 fighters and 130 servicemen to Bulgaria.

Romania essentially serves as a launching pad for the U.S. Air Force at the Black Sea, with important US bases and installations dotted around the country.

Romania itself has acquired, since the 2016 intensification of anti-Russian actions, 17 F16 fighter jets to complement its fleet of older MiG-21 Lancers.

The “Enhanced air police” operations that these forces are engaged in, even before the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, consist of constant shadowing and harassing Russian planes and vessels in the Black Sea.

The Bulgaria government is also signaling its full support for the imperialist push against Russia. The country is now ruled by a staunchly anti-Russian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov. His pro-EU party is heading a shaky coalition which includes the BSP for Bulgaria. BSP for Bulgaria is an alliance of Stalinist, Green and pseudo-left organizations, dominated by the Bulgarian Socialist Party, successor of the ruling Bulgarian Communist Party.

Petkov sacked his Defense Minister Stefan Yanev over his insufficient condemnation of Russia. Yanev had suggested that Bulgaria abstain from adopting a “pro-Russian, pro-American or pro-European position.” A retired general and former prime minister of the country, Yanev was no doubt giving voice to sections of the Bulgarian oligarchy who believe Bulgaria would benefit more from taking on the role of a mediator between the NATO powers and the Russian regime.

Socialist Party MPs have sparred with the government in recent weeks over the exact nature and wording of Bulgaria’s direct aid to Ukraine, but nevertheless the party maintains full support for the government.

Turkey ends remaining pandemic measures as over 200 die every day

Ulaş Ateşçi

Children wearing face masks for protection against the coronavirus, walk in Kugulu public garden, in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, May 13, 2020. (AP Photo/Burhan Ozbilici)

On Wednesday, as President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government lifted remaining measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the Turkish Medical Association (TTB) and public health experts denounced this decision.

Health Minister Fahrettin Koca announced the decision at a press conference after the government’s so-called “Science Board” meeting. “I would like to say that corona affects Turkey less at the moment,” he claimed, before adding, “For a while, we have announced to you that the corona was off the agenda. We removed some restrictions when we realized that the epidemic was going to be over.”

Koca’s statement and the recent decisions are based not on science or protecting public health but on the profit interests of the capitalist ruling class and aim to divert public attention from continuing mass infections and deaths.

While the Erdoğan government declared that “coronavirus is off the agenda,” echoing similar statements from governments worldwide, the daily official number of new cases is over 60,000, and the daily death toll has not fallen below 200 for more than a month.

The total number of deaths that could have been prevented by taking necessary public health measures during the pandemic now exceeds 95,000, and excess deaths have reached 269,000, according to a calculation of Güçlü Yaman, a member of the TTB Pandemic Working Group. While political responsibility for this policy of mass infection and death lies firstly with the government, Turkey’s bourgeois opposition parties and trade unions support this policy and are also politically implicated.

The government’s declaration of the “end of the pandemic” comes as Russia has invaded Ukraine, and NATO is moving towards war against Russia. Turkey risks being quickly drawn into the war: A NATO member state, it neighbors both countries and controls the straits between the Mediterranean and Black Seas.

Alongside the war crisis, the Erdoğan government faces growing working class opposition to surging living costs and social inequality at home. As of February, official annual inflation reached 54 percent, while the independent Inflation Research Group (ENAGroup) announced that the real rate is 123 percent. As dozens of wildcat strikes erupted in 2022 involving about 25,000 workers, doctors and other health care workers repeatedly struck for higher wages and benefits. Health care workers are to mount a three-day nationwide strike starting March 14.

According to the new regulations, while the outdoor mask mandate is removed, “if the ventilation is sufficient and there is [social] distancing, it is no longer necessary to wear a mask indoors.” According to Health Minister Koca, the obligation to mask in closed areas will be limited to airplanes, buses, theaters, health institutions and schools. As there is no official monitoring of ventilation, this step paves the way for de facto abolition of the masking requirement in all indoor places.

Koca also announced that the official contact tracing application (HES) has been removed and that people who do not show signs of illness will not be tested. Accordingly, the HES code control will no longer be possible anywhere, and infected or exposed people will be able to travel everywhere.

Removing the remaining measures in schools puts children at greater risk. According to the health minister, “In cases where two infections are detected, there is no need to close a classroom. Students testing positive will be isolated, and education will continue.” Keeping schools open amid a deadly pandemic is seen as critical so that parents continue to go to factories and workplaces to create profits for the corporate and financial elite, whatever the cost in lives.

Denying all objective scientific fact and the World Health Organization’s (WHO) insistence that the pandemic is continuing, Koca said: “When a person says the pandemic is not over or the pandemic is over, the concrete reality does not change. The pandemic has lost its effect, this is a visible truth. We must stop the pandemic from being the main criterion of daily life.”

He declared: “We must move from the period of combating the pandemic through restrictions as a society to the stage of individual protection from the disease,” effectively announcing that his government had stopped pretending to be fighting the pandemic.

The Turkish Medical Association (TTB) sharply condemned the government’s new regulations in a press conference on Thursday. “The announced decisions are a harbinger of more infection and death,” it said, adding: “This step is the continuation of the state policies that have ignored public health since the beginning of the pandemic, but prioritized economic concerns.”

It noted that an average of 251 people lost their lives from COVID-19 in February, according to the official data, which is a gross underestimate. Fully 40 percent of all deaths in Turkey in the two-year pandemic occurred in the last six months.

The TTB stated that despite Minister Koca’s claim to “fight with vaccination” against COVID-19, daily vaccination rates fell to record lows (less than 100,000 per day). It added, “It should be answered how many preventable deaths of our citizens are considered acceptable in our country, where there is no adequate vaccine protection.”

While only 32 percent of the population in Turkey has had a booster dose, vaccination permission has not yet been issued for children under the age of 12.

Emphasizing that “the Health Ministry violates the right to life with these decisions,” the TTB urged the public to complete their vaccinations, take necessary measures, such as masking, social distance and ventilation, and “raise the demands for taking steps [against the pandemic] based on science.”

After Koca’s announcement, Prof. Dr. Mehmet Ceyhan, chair of the Infectious Diseases Association, wrote on Twitter, “We are trying a new way in the fight against the pandemic: the period without measures. Our rate of third dose vaccination is 32 percent, the number of active cases (number of people with a potential for transmission) is 616,964.” Ceyhan claimed the daily number of cases was 60,000, but only 10 percent of the cases could be detected because there was no mass testing.

Yesterday Ceyhan also pointed out that the abolition of the measures in New Zealand has led to a public health disaster. He wrote: “New Zealand, an island country. While they were one of the countries that had the best control of COVID with very strict measures, they relaxed the measures. The result: They break new case records every day.”

In New Zealand, with a population of 5 million, more than 23,000 cases were detected on March 3, and at least 146,000 people are currently infected. Until October 2021, when the New Zealand government began to lift public health measures, the total number of cases did not exceed 4,300, and only 27 people had died in total. As of March 3, the total number of cases exceeded 166,000, and the death toll reached 63.