US, Japan promote plans for boosting Tokyo’s rearmament

Ben McGrath

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin recently travelled to Japan for meetings with Japanese officials, where the two sides pledged to deepen their war drive against China while promoting Tokyo’s remilitarization. This is in line with Washington’s goal of building a system of military alliances in the Indo-Pacific region in preparation for war with China.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, right, and Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada, left, review the guard of honor at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo, June 1, 2023. [AP Photo/Franck Robichon/Pool Photo via AP]

The meetings took place on June 1 as part of Austin’s four-nation trip, that also included stops in Singapore for the Shangri-La Dialogue, India, and France. Austin spoke separately with his counterpart Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada and Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi while also paying a “courtesy call” to Prime Minister Fumio Kishida.

During a joint press conference, Austin and Hamada pledged their commitment to the US-Japan alliance with the former declaring that the two countries’ “militaries are operating and training together like never before.” The two denounced China, Russia, and North Korea, including Pyongyang’s failed attempt to launch a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit the previous day.

Two days later, Austin and Hamada also met together with South Korea’s Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue, with the three agreeing to begin sharing real-time intelligence between Seoul and Tokyo within the year, ostensibly aimed at North Korea. This is part of the deepening trilateral relationship between the US, Japan, and South Korea, which Washington considers a vital aspect of its ballistic missile system in the region.

Furthermore, while in Tokyo, Austin and his Japanese allies discussed working together to improve Japan’s ability to launch long-range attacks far beyond its borders. Couched in the language of defense and the supposed need for “counter-strike” capabilities, Japan intends to develop and acquire cruise missiles that would enable its military to strike targets in China, Russia, or North Korea.

The acquisition of such offensive weaponry is banned by Article 9 of Japan’s constitution, which states that it renounces “the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes” and that armed forces “will never be maintained.” While the Japanese ruling class has chipped away at this clause over decades, Tokyo began to pursue a more rapid agenda of remilitarization after Shinzo Abe came to power in 2012, an agenda that the current Kishida government is building upon.

All of this is backed and encouraged by Washington. During the press conference with Hamada, Austin stated, “I strongly support Japan's updated national security policies, including your decision to increase defense spending and to acquire counter-strike capabilities.”

To carry this out, Japan’s Defense Ministry signed four contracts totaling 378.1 billion yen ($US2.7 billion) in April with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries for the development of long-range, or standoff, missiles. These weapons, coupled with support for Washington’s stoking of tensions over Taiwan, make clear that Tokyo is preparing for war with China, not defending itself from Beijing’s supposed “assertiveness” or so-called North Korea “aggression.”

The first contract involves the mass production of an upgraded Type 12 surface-to-ship missile (SSM) beginning in the current fiscal year with delivery expected in 2026. The second is for the development of new ship- and air-launched versions of the Type 12 SSM by 2026 and 2028 respectively. The range of this missile is expected to jump from 200 kilometers to 1,500 kilometers.

The third contract is for the mass production of Hyper Velocity Gliding Projectiles (HVGP), for use against targets on remote islands. This includes the Block 1 and Block 2A and 2B variants, with the Block 1 and 2A missiles expected to enter service in 2026 and 2027 and the Block 2B expected to be deployed by the early 2030s. The Japanese military intends to base them in Kyushu in the south and in Hokkaido in the north. The latter will host the HVGP Block 2B, which will have the longest range of the variants of up to 3,000 kilometers, allowing Tokyo to target the Russian Far East.

Tokyo also plans to develop a submarine guided missile under the final contract by 2027, which would enter into use beginning the following year. The missile range will be greatly expanded over that of the current Harpoon missiles used on Japanese submarines, but full details have not been released.

Tokyo also intends to purchase 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the US while its own weaponry is in production, a decision announced last February.

The development of these missiles is part of Tokyo’s new National Security Strategy released last December and plans to double military spending over the next five years. Already, Japan’s military spending is at record levels, hitting 6.82 trillion yen ($US48.8 billion) this year. Between 2023 and 2027, Tokyo is expected to spend 43 trillion yen ($US308 billion), bringing its spending to 2 percent of GDP, similar to the guideline set for NATO countries.

In addition to these plans, Austin and Hamada also used their meeting to continue ramping up tensions with Beijing over Taiwan. The two provocatively declared “that unilateral changes to the status quo cannot be tolerated, and that Japan and the United States will cooperate more than ever in this regard.” Hamada added that the two “reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”

The language used here is regularly trotted out to denounce Beijing. In reality, it is Washington that has sought to overturn the status quo in the region, provocatively goading Beijing over Taiwan and all but overturning the “One China” policy, which the US had de facto recognized since 1979 when it cut off formal diplomatic relations with Taipei in favor of Beijing.

References to “peace and stability” around Taiwan are meant to place the blame for tensions in the region on Beijing while the US regularly conducts so-called “freedom of navigation” military operations through the Taiwan Strait on China’s doorstep. Washington uses these highly provocative voyages to try to provoke a response from Beijing, which fears allowing Taiwan to declare independence would set a precedent for carving up China and at the same time provide the US with a base for military operations directly adjacent to the Chinese mainland.

These US provocations are growing more dangerous. On June 3, the US sent the USS Chung-Hoon destroyer, alongside the Canadian frigate HMCS Montreal, through the Taiwan Strait. During the transit, Washington claims, a Chinese destroyer supposedly cut across the path of the American vessel. Whatever actually took place, it is ultimately the purposeful recklessness of the US and its allies that is inflaming the overall danger of war in the region.

The war in Ukraine and the fight over raw materials

Gregor Link

“The war in Ukraine is also a battle for raw materials. The country has large deposits of iron, titanium and lithium, some of which are now controlled by Russia.” That’s what the federally owned German foreign trade agency Germany Trade and Invest (GTAI) reported on its website on January 16 under the title “Ukraine’s raw materials wealth at risk.”

There are trillions at stake. According to the GTAI, “raw material deposits worth $12.4 trillion” remain beyond the control of the Ukrainian army, “including 41 coal mines, 27 gas deposits, 9 oil fields and 6 iron ore deposits.” Ukraine has not only coal, gas, oil and wheat but also rare earths and metals—especially lithium, which has been called the “white gold” of the transition to new energy and transportation technologies. The country accounts for around one-third of Europe’s explored lithium deposits.

Iron mine in Poltava (Ukraine)

Only the ignorant could believe that this is irrelevant to NATO’s war aims. It would be the first major war in over 100 years that is not about mineral resources, markets and geostrategic interests. The World Socialist Web Site has pointed out in previous articles that deposits of critical raw materials in Russia and China, which are essential to the transition to electric mobility and renewable energy, are an important factor in the war calculus of NATO states.

Yet they go unmentioned in the media’s round-the-clock war propaganda. The media wish the public to believe that NATO is waging this war to defend “freedom” and “democracy”—and that after bombing Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria back into the Middle Ages under similar pretexts.

Relevant trade journals, industry magazines and think tanks, on the other hand, rave about Ukraine’s mineral wealth and discuss how best to capture it. It was to this end that German Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Green Party) even traveled to Ukraine at the beginning of April with a high-ranking business delegation.

According to the industry magazine Mining World, Ukraine has a total of around 20,000 raw material deposits, of which only 7,800 have been explored. Numerous other articles and strategy papers openly state that this is what the war is about.

On February 24, 2022, the day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the largest German business magazine, Capital, published an article stating that “Europe’s supply of raw materials” was “threatened” by the Russian occupation of eastern Ukraine. Ukraine was not only “the leading grain exporter” but also the largest EU supplier of iron ore pellets and “a linchpin for Europe’s energy security.” Among investors, the magazine said, there is “concern that the war will cut off exports of key raw materials.”

The GTAI article cited earlier reports that European steel mills were sourcing nearly one-fifth of their iron ore pellets from Ukraine in 2021. GTAI goes on to write that Ukraine is among the top ten producers of iron ore, manganese, zirconium, and graphite, and is “among the world leaders in titanium and kaolin.” In addition to “untapped oil and gas fields,” Ukraine’s lithium and titanium deposits, in particular, hold “enormous potential” for the European economy. In 2020, production volumes amounted to 1,681,000 tons of kaolin, 537,000 tons of titanium, 699,000 tons of manganese and 49,274,000 tons of iron ore.

Lithium for electromobility and energy storage

The price of lithium has increased more than eightfold in the last decade and is the subject of intense speculation. The metal is of strategic importance to the major imperialist powers because it is used in lithium-ion batteries installed in electric vehicles and off-grid renewable energy sources, and is also needed for lightweight aluminum alloys in the aerospace industry.

The largest lithium deposit in Europe is located in the Donetsk Oblast in the middle of the embattled Donbas region, only kilometers from the front lines. An article in the Tagesspiegel, published two months after the Russian invasion, points to untapped lithium reserves of 500,000 tons in Shevchenko near Potrovsk and at least two other Ukrainian deposits.

Western companies and Ukrainian oligarchs were already fighting bitterly for control of this “white gold” before the war. As the Tagesspiegel reports, “Ukrainian businessmen” (who stood close to the Ukrainian government of the time under the oligarch Petro Poroshenko) with connections to Western mining companies obtained mining licenses, without a tender process, for the lithium deposit in Shevchenko as early as 2018.

The company in question, Petro Consulting—which was renamed “European Lithium Ukraine” shortly before the war began—is expected to be bought out by the Australian-European mining company European Lithium once its access to Ukraine’s lithium reserves is secured.

In 2018, when the Ukrainian Geological Survey refused to issue a “special permit” for Ukraine’s second largest lithium deposit at Dobra, likewise bypassing the tender process, Petro Consulting went so far as to sue the agency. After the Ukrainian Procurator General’s Office eventually launched an investigation into the allegedly illegal special permits, Petro-Consulting had its Shevchenko mining license revoked by the courts in April 2020 until further notice.

However, a spokesman for European Lithium told Der Tagesspiegel that the company bears “no risk in connection with the Ukrainian deposits.” He expressed confidence that the projects would be “made production-ready” after the end of the war.

Titanium for the Western arms industry

In a September 2022 article titled “Ukraine’s Titanium Can Armor the West,” the transatlantic think tank Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA) wrote: “Support for Ukraine has been driven by strategic concerns and moral-political values. But long-term Western help should also be based on solid material interests.”

“Ukraine’s substantial titanium deposits” are “a key resource critical to the West” because the metal is “integral to many defense systems,” such as aircraft components and missiles. Currently, the raw material for Airbus, Boeing and Co. is extracted “in an expensive and time-consuming six-step process” from titanium ore, which until then had been sourced to a considerable extent from Russia. This “dependence” on “strategic competitors and adversaries” is unacceptable from the West’s point of view and can be ended with the help of Ukrainian resources:

For example, Dnipro-based Velta, the largest private exporter of raw titanium in Europe, has developed a new production system that bypasses the intensive process of producing titanium sponge and could supply the US and European defense and aerospace industries with finished metal. Given there are only five countries in the world actively producing titanium sponge —China, Russia, Kazakhstan, Japan and Ukraine — Velta’s technology could be a game changer for the supply chain by cutting reliance on Russia and China.

CEPA is funded by US and European defense contractors and lists as members of its “scientific advisory board” Donald Trump’s National Security Advisor General H. R. McMaster, former German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt and publicists Anne Applebaum, Francis Fukuyama, and Timothy Garton Ash among others.

The CEPA article continues, “Reorienting titanium contracts to Ukraine would stimulate the country’s economy, even during wartime, not to mention during postwar reconstruction, and simultaneously strike another blow at Russia’s war machine.” The goal, it states, should be “cementing Ukraine’s integration into Europe.”

A January 28, 2023 report in Newsweek reports, “there is a nascent effort underway in the U.S. and allied nations to identify, develop, and utilize Ukraine’s vast resources of a key metal crucial for the development of the West’s most advanced military technology which will form the backbone of future deterrence against Russia and China.” The report adds, “If Ukraine wins, the U.S. and its allies will be in sole position to cultivate a new conduit of titanium.”

“Strategic raw materials partnership” between EU and Ukraine

The US and EU efforts to plunder Ukraine’s lithium and titanium deposits are part of the broader goal of tying Ukraine to the West as a strategic raw materials supplier. In particular, the EU is seeking to free itself from dependence on China—currently its most important raw materials supplier—against which it, especially the United States, is preparing to wage war.

On July 13, 2021, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal and Maroš Šefčovič, Vice President of the European Commission, signed a “Strategic Partnership on Raw Materials and Batteries” in Kiev to “integrate critical raw materials and battery value chains.” Ukraine’s inclusion in the European Raw Materials Alliance (ERMA) and the European Battery Alliance (EBA) serves to “bolster Europe’s resilience and open strategic autonomy in key technologies,” the EU Commission said.

Referring to the list of critical raw materials in the EU’s associated “action plan,” Šefčovič told the press, “21 of these critical raw materials are in Ukraine, which is also extracting 117 out of 120 globally used minerals.” He added: “We’re talking about lithium, cobalt, manganese, rare earths—all of them are in Ukraine.”

Following the signing, EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton, who is also responsible for the defense and space industries of EU countries, praised the “high potential of the critical raw material reserves in Ukraine” that could help in “addressing some of the strategic dependencies [of the EU].”

Speaking at Raw Materials Week in Brussels in November 2022, Prime Minister Shmyhal stressed that Ukraine is “among the top ten producers of titanium, iron ore, kaolin, manganese, zirconium and graphite” and renewed his pledge to make the country an “integral part of industrial supply chains in the EU.”

The EU’s “strategic dependencies” are by no means limited to Russia or China and certainly not to Ukraine. A global race for strategic sources of raw materials has long since begun, in the course of which the US and the leading EU powers are attempting to divide among themselves the mineral resources and other resources of the “weaker” states. Although they are jointly waging war against Russia in Ukraine, this inevitably exacerbates conflicts between themselves as well.

Nepal leader visits New Delhi as China and India compete for influence in South Asia

Rohantha De Silva

Nepalese Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who leads the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre), made a four-day official trip to India starting on May 31 at the invitation of its Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Also known as Prachanda, it was his first visit since he was sworn in as prime minister in December 2022.

Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal and his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, right, jointly remotely inaugurate several projects, in New Delhi, India, Thursday, June 1, 2023. [AP Photo/Manish Swarup]

The trip occurred as the US, India’s strategic partner, increases its military preparations for war against China. The rising geopolitical tensions have added a new dimension to the struggle between New Delhi and Beijing for influence in Nepal, which is sandwiched between China and India. The tiny landlocked country shares a border with Tibet, which is regarded by Washington as China’s “soft underbelly.”

Dahal, who was accompanied by ministers, secretaries and senior government officials, held talks with India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and met Indian President Droupadi Murmu. He also addressed a business summit organised by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Keen to enhance the Nepal-India relationship, Prime Minister Modi told a joint press conference about his trip to Nepal in 2014, shortly after he took office.

“I had given a ‘HIT” formula for India-Nepal relations—Highways, I-ways, and Trans-ways. I said we will establish such contacts that our borders do not become barriers. Today, the Nepal PM and I have taken many important decisions to make our partnership a super HIT,” he said. They would “continue to strive to take India-Nepal ties to Himalayan heights.”

During his tenure as prime minister in 2008, Dahal first visited Beijing, deviating from previously established norms where Nepali prime ministers usually made their first foreign trip to New Delhi. This time, however, he visited India, in an attempt to reassure India and the US.

Dahal said that he and Modi agreed to measures to strengthen bilateral relations and “jointly launched many ground-breaking projects.” They initiated six projects and signed seven agreements, including new train connections and a long-term deal to strengthen each country’s electricity-generating sector.

The Transit Treaty was updated, giving Nepal access to India’s inland waterways for the first time. They also did a virtual opening at border points—Rupaidiha in India and Nepalgunj in Nepal—of integrated checkpoints and signaled the departure of a cargo train from Bihar to Nepal.

Nepal is working to develop its hydroelectricity industry, which has the potential to generate more than 42,000 megawatts of power. Kathmandu hopes this will ease domestic power shortages and boost its crisis-ridden economy by giving it the capacity to sell extra electricity to India and Bangladesh.

India has already built multiple hydroelectric ventures in Nepal. As part of its efforts to control Chinese involvement in the region, India will only purchase electricity from countries that have a bilateral agreement on cooperation in the power industry. This means that Indian companies cannot purchase electricity from Nepal if is tied to Chinese investment or engagement, whether in the form of equipment, people or subcontractors.

As a result, Nepal has awarded four hydropower contracts to Indian companies and barred Chinese developers from participating in six hydropower projects. Two of the plants granted to Indian corporations were originally awarded to Chinese companies.

The Himalayas provide a natural barrier between Nepal and China. The best route from Nepal to the outside world is thus through India. New Delhi uses this to further its economic and political objectives and to pressure Kathmandu. At the same time, China plans to break Nepal’s geographic isolation and establish a rail link from Kerung, a city in southern Tibet, to Kathmandu.

With two more airports built in Nepal in recent years, Kathmandu also wants additional routes for aircraft to navigate through India’s airspace. Currently New Delhi only allows most airlines travelling to Nepal to use a single entrance point in Simara.

Relations between the two countries, however, are not smooth with ongoing border disputes. Aside from the two disputed regions of the 1,850km India-Nepal border at Kalapani and Susta, another border row was sparked in 2020 in the Indian-controlled Limpiyadhura and Lipulekh.

There is also fallout over India’s Agnipath scheme—a new agreement between the two countries for recruiting Nepalese soldiers to the Indian army.

While there is a long standing tradition that Nepalese can be recruited into the Indian army, the new scheme means that the Indian Army will only recruit young soldiers below the rank of commissioned officers and for just four years. Three out of every four Agniveers retire from the Army with a $US15,000 severance settlement after this period. This applies to the Gurkha soldiers recruited from Nepal into the Indian army.

Although retired Agniveers may be given priority over others for various jobs in other Indian government departments, India’s recruitment of Gurkhas from Nepal has been delayed since last year. Kathmandu, which confronts growing poverty and rising unemployment, is concerned about what young Nepalese with military training will do after their retirement.

During last November’s general elections, Dahal’s party was in alliance with a pro-India Nepali Congress-led alliance and in opposition to a political front led by the Stalinist United Marxist Leninist (UML).

Dahal, however, joined hands with the UML and was sworn in as prime minister in December because Congress leader Sher Bahadur Deuba refused to support him. The previous UML government of Prime Minister Sharma Oli built close relations with Beijing, raising concerns in the US and India.

New Delhi and Washington responded to Dahal’s appointment as prime minister by enhancing their relationship with Kathmandu. US Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland made a two-day visit to Nepal on January 29. Her trip was followed a few days later by United States Agency for International Development (USAID) chief Samantha Power who arrived in Kathmandu on February 5. Modi also dispatched his foreign secretary, Shri Vinay Mohan Kwatra, to Nepal on an official visit in mid-February.

Nuland and Power are among the most prominent officials in the Biden administration. Both have been involved in multiple regime-change operations, and other key geo-strategic initiatives. Their personal visits underscore the importance Washington and its regional partners increasingly assign to Nepal.

One of the aims of the visits appears to have been made in order to establish smooth relations between the Dahal administration and the Nepali Congress Party. In March, Congress Party candidate Ram Chandra Poudel was elected as the Nepalese president.

Underscoring a new alliance between Congress and Dahal, the prime minister supported Poudel, against the UML-backed candidate Subash Chandra Nembang. Further strengthening the pro-Indian nature of foreign policy, Prachanda appointed Narayan Prasad Saud as the new foreign minister, a central committee member of the Nepali Congress.

These manoeuvres are all part of India’s efforts to strengthen its political and economic influence over all countries in South Asia. In early May, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh visited the Maldives, a strategically positioned archipelago in the Indian Ocean. Simultaneously, Chief Air Marshal of the Indian Air Force Vivek Ram Chaudhari paid a four-day official visit to Sri Lanka.

While the US is leading NATO’s brutal war in Ukraine against Russia, it still regards China as its major strategic opponent and is increasing military preparations accordingly, while deepening its strategic partnership with India. Nepal is being increasingly drawn into the sharpening geopolitical conflicts.

Deadly wildfire smoke spreads across much of northeast US

Daniel de Vries

A person sells face masks outside a souvenir store in New York City on Wednesday, June 7, 2023. Smoke from Canadian wildfires drifted into the US East Coast and Midwest on Wednesday, covering cities in both nations in an unhealthy haze, holding up flights at major airports and prompting people to wear protective face masks and respirators. [AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura]

Toxic smoke from raging fires in Canada continued to impact large swaths of eastern North America Thursday. Overnight and into the morning, air quality deteriorated to record-shattering levels. In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, the hourly Air Quality Index peaked at 491 Thursday, far surpassing the threshold of 300 considered “hazardous.” In Philadelphia, monitors topped out at 425 overnight, while in the Washington D.C. area, levels reached 315 just in time for the morning commute.

Lower but still highly dangerous levels of smoke prevailed throughout much of the East Coast and Midwest. Officials issued air quality alerts in more than a dozen states Thursday. In New York City, air quality was rated at “very unhealthy” or “unhealthy” levels much of the day, down from the extreme conditions prevailing 24 hours before.

The experience in the New York metropolitan area, the largest in the US and home to more than 20 million people, testifies to the unprecedented intensity of the current wildfire disaster. Air quality was degraded since early in the week, with an acrid, campfire-like scent detectible as early as Monday. By Wednesday, however, what was unfolding resembled a surreal scene straight out of a science fiction film. Around 2:00 p.m., the thick, greenish-gray fog transformed into Armageddon orange. The sky darkened, and a chill set in as the smoke scattered the sun’s light and heat. The ordinarily busy Manhattan streets began emptying.

Air monitors crossed the “hazardous” threshold for the first time since the modern monitoring network was established. The scent, which took on an increasingly stinging character, was perceptible even indoors. The noxious air caused lungs to burn, triggered headaches and irritated eyes. Other, far more severe and lasting maladies, including severe illnesses and deaths, remain to be tallied. But public health researchers know such outcomes are inevitable.

Fine particulate matter found in wildfire smoke is known to have serious impacts on the respiratory system, from triggering asthma attacks to lung cancer. The tiny particles can also penetrate the bloodstream and cause damage to vital organs, including the heart and brain. Even short-term exposure at such levels can mean lasting damage, especially in children and other vulnerable populations.

Despite the known risks, schools in New York City remained open Wednesday at the peak of the disaster. Children and teachers peered out of classroom windows onto a cloud of glowing orange. In schools across the city, educators and students reported unbearable air inundating their buildings, many of which are dilapidated structures with no ventilation system upgrades even after three years of the pandemic. As schools let out, the Air Quality Index rose above 400.

Officials across the region replicated the criminal indifference to children’s health in New York City on Wednesday. Philadelphia and Washington D.C. public schools remained open during their cities’ hazardous peaks on Thursday.

Like schools, most businesses refused to prepare for the extreme conditions enveloping the region. There was no pause in construction, package delivery, transit service or many other jobs that left workers highly exposed. The back-to-the-office push led by figures such as New York Mayor Eric Adams meant that many office workers who could just as easily work remotely were forced to commute in dangerous conditions.

In the absence of any coordinated response, residents were forced to take action on their own. On Wednesday morning, N-95 masks were already a fairly common sight in the city, though by no means ubiquitous. By the afternoon, those with extras on hand were passing them out to colleagues, friends or passersby in need.

Much of New York City shut down on its own by late afternoon. Usually bustling shopping streets in the boroughs went largely vacant. Subway cars during the evening rush were half full. Many evening events were canceled, sometimes more out of necessity than forethought. The Broadway show Prima Facie, for example, ended just 10 minutes after it began, as star Jodie Comer was overcome with breathing problems.

In cities across the region, workplaces were only shuttered when it became apparent that not enough employees were willing to risk their health to come to work.

The refusal of officials to prepare for such a disaster, despite warnings made by scientists about the increasing danger from intensifying wildfires, mirrors the inaction taken with the onset of the pandemic. Then as now, the driving policy considerations were placating the immediate economic concerns of businesses regardless of the risk to public health. Only now, Eric Adams, Kathy Hochul and Joe Biden sit in the chairs once occupied by Bill de Blasio, Andrew Cuomo and Donald Trump.

The present levels of air pollution are unlike anything the area has seen in decades, if ever. While more than 117 million people across the country, including all of the New York metro area, live in areas that do not meet federal air quality standards, the bad old days, where persistent smog and other air pollutants rose to crisis proportions, were thought to be a thing of the past. New York City has not experienced anything approaching the scale of the current disaster since before the advent of modern pollution controls.

Now, even as most high-polluting heavy industries, once located in cities like New York, have shifted overseas, climate change is driving a return to shocking levels of air pollution. The fires raging in Quebec are just the latest in a string of extreme events erupting across the globe. Population centers once spared are now confronted with new deadly threats.

German Chancellor Fellowship 2023

Application Deadline: 15th October 2023

About the German Chancellor Fellowship: We are searching the leaders of tomorrow. Are you a graduate with initial leadership experience? Do you come from Brazil, the People’s Republic of China, India, the Russian Federation, South Africa or the USA? Would you like to implement a self-chosen project that supports your career development, is societally relevant and has a lasting public impact? Are you interested in actively participating in an international network of dedicated leaders? Then come to Germany with a German Chancellor Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation to take the next step of your career.

Type: Fellowship

Eligibility: The German Chancellor Fellowship sponsors future decision-makers, multipliers and thought leaders – regardless of industry. We invite you to apply if you

• hold Brazilian, Chinese, Indian, Russian, South African or American citizenship
• work in a field such as politics, business, media, administration, society or culture and have demonstrable initial leadership experience
• will have completed your first academic degree (Bachelor or comparable degree) no more than twelve years ago when you start your fellowship
• want to conduct an independently developed project with a host of your choice in Germany
• have good knowledge of English and/or German

Eligible Countries: Brazil, China, India, Russia, South Africa, USA

To be Taken at (Country): Germany

Number of Awards:  Up to 60 German Chancellor Fellowships are awarded each year – up to ten per country.

Value of German Chancellor Fellowship: This fellowship for prospective leaders brings you to Germany for one year to implement a project idea you have developed yourself. We will help you network with international future leaders here to find new answers to the global issues of our time. We offer you

• a monthly fellowship grant of 2,170 euros, 2,470 euros or 2,770 euros – depending on your training and career level
• an intensive language course before you begin your fellowship and funding for German courses during your fellowship,
• individual support during your stay in Germany
• additional financial support, e.g. for accompanying family members, for travel expenses, for full private health insurance or for an additional German language course
• joint events where you experience professional and personal intercultural exchange with other fellows from your year group and gain insights into German culture and society,
• networking activities that enable you to collaborate in peer groups and independently organise smaller network formats with other fellows,
• a two-week study tour through Germany as well as a number of events where you can connect with other fellows and meet representatives of German businesses and institutions
• extensive alumni sponsorship, in particular to support long-term connections with your cooperation partners in Germany over the duration of your entire professional career

Your host institution will receive a monthly allowance for research costs of 500 euros.

Duration of Award: 12-month project in Germany

How to Apply for German Chancellor Fellowship: Before applying, you should discuss the details of your project with your chosen host.

Please submit the necessary application documents to the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation online only.

• letter of motivation: Tell us what drives you, what leadership experience you already have and what your career goals are
• project plan: Outline the project you have developed yourself and agreed with your intended host prior to applying. Why is your project of societal significance, and how will you be able to build bridges between Germany and your home country in the future?
• extensive statement including mentoring agreement from your host in Germany
• two letters of recommendation (not more than 12 months old) from individuals who can provide information on your professional, personal and/or academic background

The online application form contains links where the letters of recommendation and statements can be uploaded. Please forward these links to the relevant individuals as soon as possible. We will send you a confirmation e-mail as soon as we have received all the required documents.

If you have any doubts or questions, please contact us (info[at]avh.de) before submitting your application. We are happy to help. Apply now

• It is important to go through all application requirements in the Award Webpage (see Link below) before applying.

Visit Award Webpage for Details

Government Of Mexico Scholarships Of Excellence 2023

Application Deadline: 21st July 2023

Eligible Countries: See list below

To be taken at (country): Mexico

About Scholarship: For decades, the Mexican cultural diplomacy has worked in different successful programs, such as the human capital training through scholarships for academic degrees awarding and research work performing in different areas of knowledge.

The Directorate-General for Educational and Cultural Cooperation, through the Academic Exchange Department, designs and manages the Ministry of Foreign Affairs´ Scholarship Program for Foreigners. The scholarships of the Mexican Government present two programs: the scholarship for academic studies and the scholarship for special programs.

The scholarships for academic studies are offered to take complete programs for Specialization, Master´s or PhD Degrees, and Postgraduate Researches. Likewise, the offer includes academic mobility for Bachelor´s and Postgraduate Degree. On the other hand, the scholarships for special programs are offered to take short-term fellowships addressed to Visiting Professors, Researchers in Mexico´s issues, Media Contributors, Art Production Fellowships, etc.

Type: Specialization, Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD Degrees, and Postgraduate Researches including short-term fellowships

Selection Criteria and Eligibility: The scholarships will be awarded on academic excellence.

• Applicants must hold a Bachelor’s, Master’s or Ph.D. Degree, as required by the program for which the scholarship is requested. Technical and / or commercial degree titles are not accepted. For the cases of mobility at the Bachelor’s level, it will not be necessary to submit a diploma, only proof of studies of the last academic period completed, issued by the institution of origin.
• Candidates cannot be living in Mexico at the time of application.
• Applicants must have achieved a minimum grade point average of
  eighty (80), on a scale of 0 to 100, or the equivalent, for the last academic degree received. Applications with a lower grade point average will not be considered
• The scholarships are not transferable and cannot be deferred to future years.

Number of Scholarships: Several

Value of Scholarship:

-Enrollment fees  and tuition
-Health Insurance
-Transportation from Mexico city to the Host Institution
-Monthly Stipend

Duration of Scholarship:

• -Undergraduate and graduate academic mobility programs- one academic term (quarter, trimester or semester)
• Undergraduate: 4 years
• -Graduate research and postdoctoral fellowships-12 months (1 month minimum)
• -Specialization – 1 year
• -Master’s degree – 2 Years
• -Doctorate- 3 or 4 years
• -Medical specialties and subspecialties- 3 Years

Eligible Countries

• Africa: Algeria ,Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Nambia, Niger, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Saharawi, Arab Rep., Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe
• North America: United States, Canada and Canada / Province of Quebec
• Latin America: Argentina, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela)
• Caribbean: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico (Commonwealth), Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago
• Europe: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and Ukraine)
• Asia: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Kingdom of China, People’s Rep., India, Indonesia, Japan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Democratic Rep., Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, North Korea, Pakistan, Islamic Rep. of Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Thailand, Kingdom of Timor – Leste, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Socialist Rep. of
• Pacific: Australia, Cook Islands, Fiji Islands, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Independent State, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu
• Middle East: Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestinian National Authority, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen, and
• Non-self Governing Territories: American Samoa, Anguilla, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Guam, Montserrat, New Caledonia, Pitcairn, Saint Helena, Tokelau, Turks and Caicos Islands and United States Virgin Islands

How to Apply: Only applicants from Cuba, Saint Lucia, the Dominican Republic, Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, Dominica, Barbados, Suriname, Guyana, Jamaica, Haiti, Nicaragua, Slovakia, Slovenia, Lithuania, Latvia, Turkey, Venezuela, New Zealand, the Palestine and the countries of the African continent may submit paper or online applications.

1. • ELIGIBLE PROGRAMS ( ANNEX 1 )
   • ELIGIBLE INSTITUTIONS ( ANNEX 2 )
   • INTERNATIONAL AIR TRANSPORTATION  ( ANNEX 3 )
   • ELIGIBLE COUNTRIES ( ANNEX 4 )
   • FORM ( ANNEX 5 )
   • LETTER OF RETURN TO THE COUNTRY ( ANNEX 6 )
   • LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS OF THE CALL  ( ANNEX 7 )
   • TRUTH LETTER ( ANNEX 8 )
   • HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE ( ANNEX 9 )
   • APPLICANT’S MANUAL (ANNEX 10)

   ⓘ  LIST OF PARTICIPATING HOSPITALS 

2. Applications must be submitted online through the Academic Cooperation Management System (SIGCA (https://sigca.sre.gob.mx), during the duration of the Call.

• It is important to go through ALL application requirements in the Award Webpages (see Links below) before applying.
• GOODLUCK

Visit Award Webpage for details

Important Notes: Candidates will be informed of the results by the corresponding Mexican embassy or designated Mexican institution.

UK government steps up mass deportation of refugees and asylum seekers

Robert Stevens

The Conservative government is intensifying its war on refugees and asylum seekers, with the announcement this week by Downing Street that two more barges will be leased for their detention.

In March the government announced plans to house 500 isolated and vulnerable male asylum seekers in a 47-year-old “hotel barge”, the Bibby Stockholm. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s announcement Monday brings the potential detainees to at least 1,500. But this is only the start of a system of many such offshore prison camps with migrants stuffed into what have been described as a shoebox-sized space. The Guardian reported “it is understood” that the two vessels announced by Sunak “are expected to be moored in Teesport, near Middlesbrough, and in docks near Liverpool.” It added that “sources have said that discussions over the acquisition of further barges and disused cruise ships so they can house asylum seekers in Tyneside, Essex, Suffolk and near City Airport were already taking place.”

UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak gives a press conference after visiting a Border Force cutter boat in the Dover Strait, June 5, 2023 [Photo by Simon Dawson/No 10 Downing Street / CC BY 2.0]

Once onboard the ships, migrants will only be allowed to leave at specific times and be provided only a few pounds a week to spend.

Two former military bases in Wethersfield, Essex, and Scampton, Lincolnshire will also take in migrants this summer, with the number of occupants rising to about 3,000 by the autumn, according to the Daily Mail.

The government chose Dover on the south coats as the location for Sunak to make his announcement. At the invitation of the pro-Tory Telegraph, he boarded HMC Seeker, one of the Border Force vessels tasked with stopping boats in the Channel.

Sunak spoke at Western Jet Foil, an asylum seeker processing centre in Dover, and behind a podium emblazoned with the slogan “Stop the Boats”, one of his five promises for 2023, made to satisfy the most rabidly anti-immigration of his parliamentary party and wider Tory constituency. Sunak declared in Dover that the introduction of the barges was “really important” to reduce the use of hotels to house asylum seekers, which is costing £6 million a day. He promised that the Bibby Stockholm barge would arrive to dock at Portland Port in Dorset in the next fortnight.

As well as clearing hotels being used by thousands of asylum seekers as a precursor to many being expelled from the country and never allowed to return, another sadistic plan has been devised to cut the number of hotel rooms being used in the immediate period ahead. The prime minister said, “My basic point of view is if you’ve come here illegally and you’re here because you fear persecution, death, torture, any of these things, in the place that you’re coming from, then I think it’s entirely reasonable to ask you to share a room in a taxpayer-funded hotel room in central London. And by doing that, we think we will free up over 10,000 places over the next few months, which will save the taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds.”

Sunak made his statement after around 40 asylum seekers were told last week to stay in a hotel in Pimlico, London, which they refused to enter after being asked to sleep “four people per room”. The refugees mounted a protest outside the hotel, with their sleeping bags and suitcases strewn across the pavement, holding signs reading, “Help us” and “This is a prison, not a hotel”. The government refused to resolve the crisis, with Westminster Council’s rough sleeping teams instead intervening to support the refugees.

Throwing more “red meat” to the Tory hyenas, Sunak boasted that arrests in places where migrants were employed “illegally” had doubled. He announced that measures put in place had reduced small boat crossings of the English Channel by refugees “by almost a fifth this year,” pledging, “We will not rest until the boats are stopped and with grit and determination we will stop this.'

Sunak announced that since signing an anti-immigration deal, 40 percent more small boats were being stopped by France than last year. Last year a third of crossings came from Albania, but since signing a deal with the Albanian government last December Channel crossings from Albania had fallen by 90 percent.

Sunak stated, “The message is if you come here illegally you can't stay. You will be detained and removed to your own country or a safe country such as Rwanda.”

Under the Illegal Migration Bill, a duty will be placed on ministers to remove refugees “as soon as reasonably practicable” to a third country. A deal has already been signed with the Rwanda government to facilitate the mass deportation to that poverty-stricken country where desperate refugees will be forced into hovels. Last October, Home Secretary Suella Braverman made a speech to the Tory’s annual conference declaring it her “dream” and “obsession” to see asylum seekers put on deportation flights to Rwanda.

Her predecessor Priti Patel began the Rwanda deportation policy, and went as far as to organise flights. But last-minute legal challenges stopped the plane on the runway last year. The government has been involved in legal challenges and talks with the European Union ever since to modify Rule 39 of the European Court of Human Rights Rules of Court, which were the basis for the UK having to halt the flights to Rwanda.

According to a Sun newspaper report Tuesday, “The Home Office is secretly preparing for a controversial Rwanda deportation flight as soon as late September… Hopes are growing in Government they will win in the Court of Appeal—and avoid a Supreme Court showdown on the small Channel boats deterrent scheme.

“Ministers believe if judges throw out the appeal lodged by unions and human rights groups, it is unlikely that there will then be a legal justification for sending the case to the highest court in the land.”

The Illegal Migration Bill, dubbed by Downing Street as the “Stop the Boats” Bill passed its readings in the House of Commons where the Tories have a working majority of over 60 seats, but is now being scrutinised in the House of Lords, where the government don’t have an overall majority. The Telegraph noted that “asked twice [by the newspaper] if he is prepared to use the Parliament Act to force through the Bill should the Lords vote it down, Mr Sunak indicated willingness to do just that.”

The 1911Parliament Act removed the power for the Lords to veto a Bill proposed by the Commons. In the more than 90 years since the Act was legislated it only been used seven times.

Nothing announced by the government in its crackdown can ever be enough for the most right-wing sections of the political elite and their media echo chamber. Their ravings invariably provide the government with justifications to deepen their offensive against immigrants and asylum seekers. This was the case when Braverman engineered a rebellion by the most right-wing sections of the party in order to then proceed with toughening the already vicious Illegal Immigration Bill

Following Sunak’s visit, Tory MP for Dover Natalie Elphicke, who was at the Jet Foil listening to Mr Sunak’s speech, said, “The prime minister specifically commented about the impact of the small boats crossings on our area, referencing my meetings with him and other Ministers to highlight pressures on local services and our community… It’s good news that overall numbers of arrivals are down 20 percent so far this year, and Albanian numbers 90 percent down. However, it’s early days and too many boats are still making the dangerous crossing and it is costing too much.”

Such is the acceptance of the media and the opposition Labour Party of the necessity to fight off what is regularly described by the Tories as “an invasion” of the UK that the only questioning Sunak faced from reporters in Dover were on where exactly the new offshore vessels would be moored. A reporter from ITV Meridian asked if the reduction in the number of crossings able to reach Britain was not due to government policies, but recent windy conditions in the Channel making small boat sailings more difficult.