Archbishop calls on Pope to resign over cover-up of sexual abuse

Peter Symonds

In a vitriolic 11-page letter released over the weekend, Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano alleged that Pope Francis was responsible for covering up allegations of sexual abuse by former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick and issued an unprecedented call for the pope to resign. McCarrick was removed as archbishop of Washington D.C. in June over claims that he assaulted a teenage altar boy while a parish priest 40 years ago.

The explosive contents of Vigano’s letter will only intensify the deep crisis in the Roman Catholic Church over the widespread sexual abuse of minors by priests over decades around the world and the ongoing systematic cover-up of these crimes by the church hierarchy. According to the letter, Pope Francis, who was installed in the top post in 2013 in a desperate bid to give the church a more compassionate and caring face, along with a long list of top church officials, was complicit in this criminal conspiracy.

Pope Frances has just completed a visit to Ireland where he performed what has become a standard, dishonest ritual: meeting privately with a select group of sexual abuse victims and asking for “forgiveness” as he presided over a mass on Sunday. On the same day, however, thousands of people protested against the papal visit in centre of Dublin with slogans such as “the Pope is protecting paedophiles” and “Hey Pope Francis you’re outta chances.”

The author and abuse victim Colm O’Gorman, who organised the protest, told reporters that the pope had apologised and met survivors but evaded Vatican responsibility for crimes and cover-ups. “I think [his visit] has made it worse,” he said.

Under siege over allegations of sexual abuse by Catholic priests in a number of countries, Pope Francis wrote a papal letter to all Catholics last week asked them all to help end “this culture of death” and vowing that there would be no more cover-ups. His response to Vigano’s letter will only further undermine his standing and that of the Catholic Church. Speaking on his return flight from Dublin to Rome, he dismissed the document, declaring he would “not say a word” about its claims and simply telling reporters “judge it for yourselves.”

Vigano’s letter is certainly a bitter, subjective document that highlights the backbiting and intense factional feuding inside the Catholic Church that reaches to the very top of the hierarchy. Vigano, who served as papal nuncio or Vatican ambassador to the United States from 2011 to 2016, belongs to the so-called conservative wing that has been deeply critical of the “liberal” Pope Francis. He makes no attempt to conceal his homophobia and deep-seated hostility to any attempt to ease the church’s reactionary injunctions against homosexuality.

The letter itself was clearly timed to embarrass Pope Francis while he was visiting Ireland and signalled the start of a public campaign to undermine and remove him. It was published simultaneously by Catholic conservative mouthpieces and was immediately followed by supportive statements from fellow conservatives. Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas declared that Vigano’s allegations were credible and instructed that the statement be distributed at all church services and through social media.

There is absolutely nothing progressive in any of the factions of the Roman Catholic Church—a wealthy, powerful institution of the ruling classes that has been a bulwark of political reaction down through the centuries. Pope Francis, who postures as a friend of the poor and hypocritically comments on social inequality, was notorious as former Archbishop of Buenos Aires Jorge Bergoglio for his collaboration with the murderous Argentinian military junta and its crimes between 1976 and 1983.

While Pope Francis continues to make empty gestures toward the many thousands of young victims of sexual abuse at the hands of priests and bishops, he has steadfastly refused to make any formal admission of responsibility on the part of the Catholic Church. Such a statement would open the way for legal suits and demands for sizeable compensation payments.

Vigano’s posturing as the moral guardian of the Catholic Church is likewise riddled with hypocrisy. The letter is clearly targeted at Pope Francis and his “liberal” allies but in doing so Vigano traces a history of cover-up and deceit concerning allegations of sexual abuse that, by his account, stretches back until at least 2000. Vigano claims that his letters to Rome and those of two of his predecessors concerning “Archbishop McCarrick’s gravely immoral behaviour” were ignored by the Vatican.

Vigano’s chief accusation against Pope Francis was that he lifted the secret sanctions imposed on McCarrick by the previous Pope Benedict, which banned him from travel, celebrating mass and public meetings, and obligating him to follow “a life of prayer and penance.” Vigano pointedly exonerates the conservative Benedict and apparently believes that it is legitimate to sweep allegations of sexual abuse under the carpet by issuing a secret papal injunction.

Nor does Vigano try to explain why, given that he has known about the accusations for more than a decade, he has remained silent and only chooses to make the allegations public now. In reality, the entire institution is responsible for the systematic cover-up in defence of the wealth and tattered prestige of the church. The pope’s refusal to “say a word” about Vigano’s accusations is symptomatic of the stance of the institution as a whole—stonewalling in the hope the repercussions of its crimes will simply go away.

The determination of the Catholic Church to cover-up wholesale crimes of sexual abuse is a warning that there is no line it will not cross. Pope Francis’s collaboration with the Argentine junta and its murder of an estimated 30,000 workers, students, intellectuals and others is matched by the church’s backing for Franco’s fascist dictatorship in Spain and its cooperation with the Nazi regime in Germany in the 1930s and 1940s.

As the political establishment lurches towards authoritarian rule in country and after country around the world, the Catholic Church will not be found on the side of the poor and oppressed but rather backing the wealthy elites and their governments in the vicious suppression of working people.

Three killed, nine injured in Jacksonville, Florida mass shooting

Matthew Taylor

Three people were killed and at least nine injured on Sunday afternoon in Jacksonville, Florida when a gunman opened fire inside of a crowded bar at the Jacksonville Landing, a popular downtown shopping area along the St. Johns River. The gunman was among the dead, reportedly from a self-inflicted wound.

The entire downtown Jacksonville area was under police lockdown after the shooting, with multiple police helicopters hovering overhead. SWAT teams swept through the Landing, where multiple people went into hiding after the shooting started. The Jacksonville Sherriff's office later announced that they had no further suspects in the shooting.

The bar where the shooting took place, the Good Luck Have Fun Game Bar, was hosting a video game tournament at the time. A live stream of one of the games being played, the popular Madden NFL 19 football game, recorded two players and the audio recording of the shooting.

At least eleven gunshots could be heard in rapid succession on the audio recording. Before the video feed was cut off, a red dot, possibly from a laser gunsight, appeared on the shirt of one of the players. It is unknown at this time if that man was among the killed.

The shooter has been identified by law enforcement as 24-year old David Katz, a resident of Baltimore, Maryland who was a participant in the tournament. Police in Baltimore were preparing to search the suspect's house on Sunday night. His motive remains unknown.

Many of the players participating in the tournament came from out of state. One player from Chicago, Marquise, who lost friends in the shooting, described the melee to Action News Jax:

“Everyone running for their lives. People were being trampled, people were hiding, everyone was screaming in fear. We lost a few good men, men who were leaders in our Madden community … Politicians wake up because the people you are supposed to be representing are dying.”

The shooting at the Jacksonville Landing capped off a violent weekend in the city, which also saw one student killed and two others injured in a shooting at a high school football game on Friday night.

Governor Rick Scott, Senator Marco Rubio and other Florida politicians traveled to Jacksonville on Sunday night, intent on capitalizing upon the tragedy. Scott, who is trying to capture the US Senate seat held by longtime Democratic Senator Bill Nelson in November’s elections, can be counted on to use the killings to call for increased spending on police and the further militarization of public spaces in response to the shooting.

The various Democratic party politicians around the state, including those currently competing for Scott's seat, can also be relied upon to offer hypocritical condolences to the victims while simultaneously advancing their own political agenda. Just as in the aftermath of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando in 2016 and the Parkland school shooting in February of this year the Democrats will, predictably, call for greater gun control measures which will do nothing to address the social and economic problems which contribute to so many mass shootings.

Neither the Democrats nor the Republicans can offer a solution to the plague of mass shootings in the US because the source of this terrifying phenomenon is capitalism itself which has produced endless wars and historic levels of social inequality.

Very little is known about the killer thus far. Whatever psychological damage that drove him to murder and take his own life must have been severe. But he did not come of age in a vacuum. At 24 years old, Katz had spent his entire adult life in a country perpetually at war. He grew up in a society where the routine slaughter of civilians in the Middle East by the US military and its allies is reported on in the same news programs that trumpet the billions of dollars made by ultra-rich investors in the stock market. He grew up in a country where militarized police kill more than three people every day with impunity and the intelligence agencies spy on the entire population with the protection of the courts.

This is the diseased society from which the killer emerged—one that will continue to produce tragedies like the shooting in Jacksonville until capitalism is replaced with a more rational socialist economic and social order.

Manila moves toward major arms purchase from Russia

Joseph Santolan

Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana is currently on an extended official visit to Moscow at the invitation of his Russian counterpart, Sergey Shoygu, where he will discuss “possible areas to further expand or enhance our current defense cooperation and to deepen that relationship,” according to Defense spokesperson Arsenio Andolong.

Lorenzana declared that he was looking into the acquisition of two Kilo-class diesel electric submarines from Moscow, and Philippine military sources stated that the Russian government had offered a “soft-loan,” with below market interest rates, to enable the purchase. Philippine Navy Vice Admiral Robert Empedrad told the press on Wednesday that Manila had asked the Vietnamese Navy, which has six Russian Kilo-class subs, to assist in training Filipino sailors should the purchase go through.

In addition to submarines, Lorenzana is weighing other large military purchases. Along with Defense Undersecretary for Finance and Materiel Raymundo Elefante, he visited the Moscow-hosted International Military-Technical Forum “Army-2018,” where they were reported to be “window shopping” for “big-ticket military platforms.”

Lorenzana’s visit is a further development in the military ties between Moscow and Manila, which formally commenced when Lorenzana and Shoygu signed a Military-Technical Cooperation Agreement in October 2017. The agreement set terms for military cooperation in areas of research, production support, the exchange of experts and the joint training of personnel. The opening of military ties was marked by Moscow’s donation of five thousand assault rifles, a million rounds of ammunition, and 20 army trucks.

Next month, in the wake of Lorenzana’s visit, the BRP Tarlac, the Philippines’ largest amphibious warfare vessel, will sail to Vladivostok for the country’s first official port visit to Russia.

The Pentagon, which has been systematically escalating military tensions with Russia, has not taken kindly to Washington’s former colony improving relations with Moscow. Randall Schriver, assistant secretary for Asian and Pacific security affairs in the US Defense Department, visited Manila last week. During a roundtable discussion at the US Embassy he told reporters that Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte “should think very carefully” about purchasing equipment from Russia. “I don’t think that is a helpful thing to the alliance [between the US and the Philippines].”

Duterte responded angrily in a press conference, “You state your case why you are against my country acquiring submarines. Give me the reason why and make it public. You want us to remain backward.”

Looking to restabilize military ties between Washington and Manila, three leading cabinet members of the Trump administration, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Defense Secretary James Mattis and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross sent a secret, joint letter to Duterte through US Ambassador to the Philippines Sung Kim. In a speech delivered to the Eastern Mindanao Command of the Philippine Military, Duterte made the letter public and ridiculed it.

According to Duterte’s reading, the letter, addressed to “His Excellence Rodrigo Roa Duterte,” opened, “The US-Philippines Alliance is an enduring partnership built on shared history and values.” This “special relationship” would “grow stronger,” as “our nations … do even more to integrate our economic and security concerns.… We hope you share our view that your nation’s selection of US partners for future defense procurement is a mutually advantageous and strategically important way to strengthen and deepen the steadfast bond between our …” Here Duterte cut off.

“It’s hard to say we are friends,” he declared. “Remember we are friends because you made us a colony years ago. Don’t say friend, friend. This wasn’t a friendship we agreed upon. It was a friendship imposed upon us because you won the Spanish-American War. The Philippines was handed to you like chattel.”

In a separate speech delivered on Tuesday, Duterte repeated an earlier claim that the CIA was plotting to assassinate him. “They’ll be the ones to kill me, those sons of bitches.”

The entire situation is marked by profound volatility. While Duterte publicly denounces Washington, in a manner unprecedented in the history of Philippine bourgeois politics, the Philippine military reported that construction began in April at one of five locations for the basing of US forces and material in the country in keeping with the terms of the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA).

At the heart of this volatility are two factors: the global re-emergence of class struggle and Washington’s war drive against China. Duterte is looking to secure arms above all to prosecute and escalate his campaign of domestic repression, which he has carried out in the name of a war on drugs. Of the five thousand assault rifles supplied by Moscow in October 2017, only 10 percent went to the military while the remaining 90 percent were allocated to the police.

From July 1, 2016 to May 15, 2018, the police killed 4,279 people in their anti-drug campaign, according to official government statistics. The death toll from extrajudicial killings is several times larger, although more difficult to calculate exactly. The Duterte administration at the close of 2017, listed as one of its “key accomplishments” in the war on drugs, an estimated 16,355 additional homicides in 2017 alone, openly taking credit for this genocide. In every instance, the target of these killings is the poor.

Washington is perfectly content to fund and arm this fascistic rampage. This was made clear from the beginning by then Secretary of State John Kerry who offered Duterte $32 million in US aid to fund his war on drugs. They would only do so, however, provided that Duterte toed Washington’s geopolitical line and serve as a proxy of US imperialism in its escalating confrontations with China.

Duterte, in a similar fashion to former Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, has sought to secure Chinese investment and improve diplomatic ties with Beijing, rolling back the aggressive policies of his predecessor President Benigno Aquino III, who followed Washington’s every dictate. Arroyo commented on this in a televised interview in March, “When I was President, I focused on closer economic and business ties with China. That is the policy of President Duterte today, very similar to mine.”

Nothing in this situation is stable, however, and certainly not the improving ties with Beijing. Duterte recently has taken to speaking in an increasingly sharp manner regarding the disputed waters of the South China Sea. There were three “red lines” whose violation would lead “to war” with China: Chinese construction on the disputed Scarborough shoal, disruption of supplies to the Philippine-occupied Thitu island in the Spratlys, and any “unilateral exploitation of resources” by China in the South China Sea.

It is with an eye to this possible eventuality, that Manila is looking to secure two submarines which would be used to patrol the disputed waters of the South China Sea.

Nearly 90,000 retail jobs lost in UK in 12 months

Barry Mason

The onslaught on retail jobs in the UK proceeds unabated.

According to the British Retail Consortium—the body representing the retail industry— nearly 90,000 retail jobs have been lost over the year to June. It reported that retail stores laid off 2.8 percent of their combined workforce in the 12 months, with an estimated 89,600 workers made redundant.

Moreover, it found that over the next 12 months, 19 percent of firms planned to shed more staff against 15 percent in 2017. The BRC released figures stating 20 percent of retailers were looking to cut staff numbers over the next three months.

Many firms expect a more thinly populated staff to cover stores. Over the last year, the total number of hours worked in the industry was down by around 3 percent. The figures reflect the cutting of many middle management roles by the likes of retail supermarket giants Tesco and Sainsbury’s.

Currently around 4.5 million workers are employed in the retail industry, representing 15 percent of the total UK workforce.

Analysis by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) highlights the scale of retail job losses. So far this year, it notes, 25,000 retail jobs—many at long-established, well-known stores—have already gone or are under threat. In addition, a further 8,000-plus jobs at retail suppliers are threatened. NEF estimates the cost of these job losses to UK GDP at around £1.5 billion.

Many jobs are to go at two of the big four supermarkets—Morrisons and Tesco. Morrisons will cut around 1,500 shop floor workers as part of a restructuring. Tesco plans to “simplify” its business and shed 1,700 job cuts. According to the New Economics Foundation, up to 2,500 jobs in supply chains could be at risk from the proposed merger of the other two of the big four, Asda and Sainsbury’s.

Meanwhile, the list grows of retail outlets that have disappeared off the high street altogether, with thousands of job losses—including at Toys R Us, Carpetright and Poundworld.

Mothercare is proposing to close 50 of its 137 outlets in an attempt to stem losses. Marks and Spencer plans to close around 100 stores over the next four years.

Among the latest retail job losses to be announced are at Debenhams department stores. Its restructuring plans will mean the loss of around 90 jobs across the company. In a statement, Debenhams said, “We announced our intention to restructure our organisation … reducing complexity and driving efficiency in order to deliver our Debenhams Redesigned strategy …” This would be on top of the 200 jobs at its head office that are slated to go.

Hilco Capital, the current owner of the DIY chain Homebase, announced plans to close around 40 of its stores with the loss of about 1,500 jobs over the next few months. It is also seeking to complete a company voluntary agreement (CVA) to reduce rent on around 50 of its outlets. If a CVA cannot be reached, these stores also risk being closed. Hilco has already cut 300 jobs at the Homebase head office in Milton Keynes and its horticultural buying office in Swindon.

Hilco, a “turn around” operator, bought Homebase from the previous owner, Australian-based Wesfarmers, earlier this year for a £1. Wesfarmers already closed 16 Homebase outlets after buying the chain in 2016.

At the beginning of August, jewellery retailer Pandora announced it would be cutting 400 jobs across the company following a dip in profits and sales in the second quarter. It plans to bring in a centralised operation and supply chain system and up its online presence. Pandora chief executive Anders Coldig Friis, quoted on the retail gazette web site, said, “The adjustments … will reduce complexity and free up resources that we can add to our strategic priorities.” On the day of Pandora’s announcement, its share value fell by 20 percent.

This month, the House of Fraser (HoF) department store chain went into administration after the use of a CVA failed.

It was bought up for £90 million by Sports Direct owner Mike Ashley. Before Ashley took over, 31 of HoF’s 59 stores were earmarked for closure under a restructuring plan, with 6,000 jobs at risk. Also threatened are the jobs of 627 HoF warehouse workers. It is not clear how many stores and jobs Ashley will retain, with him saying only that 80 percent will be kept open and decisions will be made on a “store-by-store basis.”

Thousands of HoF pension scheme members also face uncertainty and possible loss of pension benefits.

Billionaire Ashley ranked 58th on this year’s Sunday Times rich list. The conditions of extreme exploitation at Ashley’s Sports Direct warehouse were exposed by Guardian reporters working undercover in 2015.

Retailers are shifting employees from secure full-time contracts to less secure ones. RBC chief executive Helen Dickinson explained, “Hours worked by employees on full-time contracts dropped more sharply this quarter as retailers seek greater flexibility in their workforce to cope with the pressure felt from the diverging costs of labour versus technology. … Less rigidity and more flexibility … would facilitate more positive change more quickly.”

The impact of the ongoing loss of retail jobs was documented by the Guardian last month. It noted that such losses would hit women disproportionately as they make up 60 percent of the retail workforce. The paper reported the comments of a worker, Michelle Gray, who was employed at Poundworld for five years prior to it going into administration in June. Gray said that since losing her job she had been offered interviews at two shops but neither offered sufficient hours for her to manage. She explained, “The best I could find was 22 hours. … Really, I need at least 30, but hopefully there’ll be overtime.”

A collapse in workers’ purchasing power is a central factor in the loss of so many retail jobs.

Despite falling official unemployment, wages are being held down. Recent Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show that in the three months to May pay rose by an average 2.5 percent, the slowest rate since November last year. For public sector workers the rise was only 2.1 percent.

With annual inflation running at 2.5 percent as measured by the consumer price index (CPI), most workers’ wages are at best only keeping pace with inflation. The inflation rate of the higher retail price index, which includes housing costs, is over 3 percent. Rising utility bills, rents and mortgage interest payments put increasing pressure on the spending power of workers and will impact on high street retail sales.

A Child Poverty Action Group report noted a couple on the national minimum wage with two children were around £50 a week short of being able to provide a basic “no frills” lifestyle.

The Citizens Advice advisory service recently warned many households are being overwhelmed by debt and estimates that nearly £19 billion is owed on utility bills, council tax and overpayment of benefits.

Head of Economics at the NEF, Alfie Stirling, said, “The shape of our economy is beginning to flex and buckle in response to powerful structural forces such as weakening household spending power and a shift in consumer behaviour towards online purchasing …”

As well as the diminishing spending power of many workers, the retail sector is being hit by the move away from spending on the high street towards sales online. A recent Office for National Statistics report showed the share going to online shopping outlets such as Amazon has risen to nearly 20 percent. Some retail stores are trying to compete by expanding their online services, which have nearly doubled over the last five years.

Google shuts down YouTube channels in expansion of state-directed online censorship

Kevin Reed

In a further expansion of state-directed Internet censorship, Google announced Thursday that it had deleted 58 accounts from its social media platforms YouTube, Blogger and Google+. The technology monopoly claimed, without meaningful substantiation, that the accounts it removed were part of a worldwide effort by “bad actors,” “influence operations” and “state-sponsored hacking” linked with the Iranian government. 

In a safety and security blog post, Google executive Kent Walker wrote that 39 YouTube channels, 6 blogs on Blogger and 13 Google+ accounts were identified and removed due to their supposed connection with Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB), the primary Iranian media organization with close ties to the country’s Supreme Leader.

Walker provided no detailed facts supporting the claims of Iranian influenced social media activity. Instead, he wrote: “We can’t go into all the technical details without giving away information that would be helpful to others seeking to abuse our platforms …”

Much of the information used by Google as the basis of its assertion that the Iranian government was behind the accounts was provided by FireEye, a cyber-security firm managed by former military intelligence officers with close ties to Wall Street and the US State Department.

On August 21, FireEye released a report that has been used to bolster a series of censorship moves, first by Facebook and Twitter and now Google, over the past week. The title of the report, “Suspected Iranian Influence Operation,” shows that the new campaign against “coordinated inauthentic activity” is following the pattern of the previous “Russian meddling” and “fake news” initiatives. 

Notably, FireEye said that it had only “moderate confidence that this activity originates from Iranian actors.” The company added that the possibility exists that “the activity could originate from elsewhere” or includes “authentic online behavior.”

As the World Socialist Web Site explained on Wednesday, the shuttering of social media accounts is the latest in a series of censorship trial balloons that are being launched by the technology monopolies, in coordination with US government entities, to test out and perfect, piece by piece, the mechanisms for silencing speech and suppressing political dissent, especially of left-wing, socialist organizations and the struggles of the working class.

The degree of complicity by the corporate controlled media in the expanding censorship operations is significant. One searches in vain to find a single publication or news site that will question, much less challenge, the latest justifications for censoring, deleting content or disabling social media accounts.

The ruling elite is frightened by the potential of the Internet and social media to be used as a means of educating and organizing opposition to the growth of economic inequality, expanding war and attacks on democratic rights. 

A major component of this drive to censor the internet is the targeting of left-wing, anti-war, and socialist political organizations. Google’s efforts to promote “authoritative” news outlets over “alternative” viewpoints has resulted in a major drop in search traffic to left-wing sites, with search traffic to the World Socialist Web Site dropping by 75 percent since April 2017. 

On Monday, Facebook deleted the longstanding account of a WSWS contributor who uses a pseudonym and demanded proof of identity in order to restore access.

Facebook post blocking

On Thursday, readers and supporters were repeatedly prevented from sharing links to WSWS articles from their Facebook accounts. Their posts were deleted and a message from Facebook was displayed saying “We removed this post because it looks like spam to us.”

US-backed Saudi regime set to behead female activist and four others

Bill Van Auken

State prosecutors in Saudi Arabia have called for the execution by beheading of 29-year-old political activist Israa al-Ghomgham, her husband, Moussa al-Hashem, and three others for the “crimes” of peacefully demonstrating against the country’s monarchical dictatorship, chanting slogans against the regime and posting videos of their protests on social media.

The death sentences, including the first for a Saudi woman based on alleged political offenses, are emblematic of a criminal regime that counts as Washington’s closest ally in the Arab world.

The protests that led to the charges took place in the port city of Qatif in the Saudi kingdom’s oil-rich Eastern Province, home to the bulk of the country’s Shia minority population. Beginning in 2011 and continuing since, the protests have challenged the systematic discrimination against and oppression of the Shia population by a monarchy that is bound up with the official, state-sponsored religious doctrine of Wahhabism, an ultra-conservative Sunni sect.

The demonstrations, demanding equality, improved social conditions in a region that remains deeply impoverished despite its oil wealth, freedom of expression and the release of political prisoners, have been answered with a police state crackdown that has seen entire communities subjected to military siege.

Israa al-Ghomgham and her husband were arrested on December 6, 2015 when security forces staged a night raid on their home. They have been imprisoned ever since, held for 32 months, most of that time without access to a lawyer and without being presented with any formal charges against them. From a working class background, Ghomgham’s family did not have the money to pay for a lawyer. It was only after her father began a public attempt to raise funds that an attorney volunteered to defend her.

She and her co-defendants were tried in the Saudi regime’s Specialized Criminal Court, set up in 2008, ostensibly to try terrorism cases. The court’s proceedings, in which the rights of defendants are virtually non-existent, amount to a show trial, with the verdict as well as the sentence determined in advance by the monarchy.

The court is tasked with implementing the notorious 2017 counter-terrorism law, which describes insulting the Saudi king and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the 33-year-old heir to the throne, as an act of terrorism.

The same court in 2014 sentenced to death prominent Shia cleric Nimr al-Nimr and seven other Shia activists. They were put to death in a mass execution of 47 people on the same day in January 2016. The court sentenced 14 others to death on similar trumped-up political charges in 2016.

The regime routinely crucifies the headless corpses of its victims in an attempt to terrorize the population and intimidate any potential opposition to the absolute rule exercised by the royal House of Saud.

It is with the same end that the regime now proposes to execute, for the first time, a woman charged with political opposition. Many other women have been executed after being convicted for other offenses. Women convicted of adultery are routinely stoned to death. A Saudi executioner told the Saudi daily Sabq that he found women more resistant to beheadings than men, and had resorted to shooting them in the head.

Saudi Arabia executes far more people per capita than any other country on the planet. Last year, nearly 150 individuals were beheaded. This year appears destined to top that grisly toll, with the number of beheadings in the first quarter of 2018 increasing by 70 percent compared to the same period last year.

In addition to political opposition to the monarchy, such executions are meted out to those found guilty by Saudi courts of atheism, blasphemy, adultery, homosexuality or witchcraft.

The Trump administration has issued no statement on the impending execution of Israa al-Ghomgham and her co-defendants. The media has been relatively silent. No major editorials have appeared decrying their fate.

The attention paid to this barbaric state crime represents not even a fraction of the coverage lavished by the corporate media in the United States on the “reforms” introduced by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, principally his allowing Saudi women—those who can afford a car—to drive. There has been little mention of the fact that Saudi women activists who advocated equal rights were rounded up by the security forces, with an estimated 14 of them still behind bars.

Figures identified with the #MeToo movement have been noticeably silent about the threatened execution of a Saudi woman for speaking out against oppression. Their supposed defense of women never extends to the victims of capitalism or conflicts in any way with the global interests of US imperialism.

When bin Salman toured the US in April he was feted not only by the Trump administration, but also by the media and an array of American billionaires, from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to Oprah Winfrey, Bill Gates and Apple CEO Tim Cook.

Involved in the lionization of this state criminal and murderer are not only the profit interests of energy conglomerates, arms manufacturers, banks and numerous other corporations seeking to profit off of Saudi Arabia’s oil wealth.

Democratic and Republican administrations alike have for more than seven decades supported the Saudi monarchy, one of the most reactionary regimes in the world, as a linchpin of US policy in the Middle East, arming it to the teeth. This support has only intensified as the Trump administration has ratcheted up US aggression against Iran, seeking to cobble together an anti-Iranian coalition including both Saudi Arabia and Israel for the purpose of rolling back Iranian influence in the region and asserting US hegemony.

Just as the Trump administration has remained silent about the threat to behead a Saudi woman and her fellow defendants for peaceful protest, so the Obama administration made no significant response to the mass execution of political prisoners when it was in office. Instead, both Democratic and Republican White Houses signed hundreds of billions of dollars of arms deals with the regime.

So too, both administrations provided indispensable military support for the near-genocidal war led by Saudi forces against the impoverished country of Yemen, where some 16,000 have been killed and more than 8.5 million have been brought to the brink of starvation.

On Thursday, it was reported that 27 civilians—22 of them children—were slaughtered in a Saudi air strike that demolished a vehicle in which a family was fleeing from an embattled neighborhood in the besieged port city of Hodeidah. This atrocity comes just two weeks after the August 9 strike in which a US-supplied bomb tore to pieces a bus filled with school children, killing 51 people, 40 of them children. These acts of mass murder have also received scant attention in the media and elicited no change in US support for the savage war.

The Saudi royal dictatorship, its monstrous crimes, and US support for them constitute the appropriate yardstick against which all of the “human rights” propaganda pumped out by Washington to justify its predatory aims from Venezuela, to Syria, to Iran, Russia and China should be measured.

Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) Annual National Essay Competition 2018

Submission Deadline: 5th October 2018

Offered Annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Nigeria

About Award: The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) is pleased to announce the commencement of the 2018 edition of its annual Essay Competition.  The NSE Essay Competition, themed “Building a Sustainable Capital Market”, is one of the Exchange’s financial literacy and inclusion initiatives aimed at building a financially savvy generation. 


Essay Topic: Discuss how technology can promote financial literacy and encourage investment habit among youths

Selection Criteria and Eligibility

• The Competition is open to only students in Senior Secondary Schools
• Entries must be written in English and be the original work of the writer
• Entrants must submit essay on the  entry form and complete all the mandatory fields
• The maximum word-counts are 1000 words
• Entries will be disqualified if they fail to meet these requirements

Type: Contest

Number of Winners: Ten
Prizes

1^st Prize – 

• N250,000 worth of shares
• N500,000 scholarship fund for university education
• Laptop
• Certificate of achievement
• Headline daily NSE (Market close) Closing Gong ceremony

2^nd Prize –

• N200,000 worth of shares
• N400,000 scholarship fund for university education
• Laptop
• Certificate of achievement
• Participate in a Closing Gong ceremony

3^rd Prize

• N150,000 worth of shares
• N300,000 scholarship fund for university education
• Laptop
• Certificate of achievement
• Participate in a Closing Gong ceremony

Consolation Prizes: 7 Mini Laptops for 7 National winners
The schools of the winning students will also get Trophy, PCs and Printers

How to Enter:

• Click here to download the 2018 Essay Competition form  ​​
• Send your completed entry form/essay via e-mail to essay@nse.com.ng

View Contest Webpage for More Details

Important notes:

• Entries must be the original work of the writer.  This does not rule out input or assistance from others
• Entrants are encouraged to be creative in their response to the topic
• Award-winning entrants are expected to show originality, focus on topic and competent use of English as a written language.  This includes correct spelling, a good standard of punctuation and neat presentation

Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) Orange Knowledge Programme (OKP) for Students in Developing Countries to Study in The Netherlands 2019

Application Deadline: 18th October 2018.

Offered Annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Afghanistan, Albania, Armenia, Bangladesh, Benin , Bhutan, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Colombia Cuba, , DR Congo, Egypt Ethiopia Ghana Georgia, Guatemala India, Indonesia Kenya  Jordan, Lebanon, Liberia Macedonia, Mali, Mozambique Myanmar Nepal, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories Peru, Philippines, Rwanda Senegal, Sierra Leone Somalia, Sri Lanka, South Africa South Sudan, Sri Lanka Sudan, Suriname, Tanzania Uganda Thailand, Vietnam Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe.

To Be Taken At (Country): The Netherlands

About the Award: On 1 July 2017 the Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP) entered a new phase as a new programme under the name Kennisontwikkelings programma (KOP). KOP aims to advance the development of the capacity, knowledge and quality of both individuals and institutions in higher and vocational education.

Type: Fellowship, Masters, Short Courses/Training

Eligibility: One must be a professional and a national of, and working and living in one of the countries on the OKP Country list valid at the time of application;

• One must have a current employer’s statement that complies with the formal Nuffic has provided. All information must be provided and all commitments that are included in the formal must be endorsed in the statement;
• One must not be employed by an organisation which can be expected to have their own funds for staff development, e.g.: a multinational corporation (e.g. Shell, Unilever, Microsoft) a large national and/or a large commercial organisation; a bilateral donor organisation (e.g. USAID, DFID, Danida, Sida, Dutch ministry of Foreign affairs, FinAid, AusAid, ADC, SwissAid); a multilateral donor organisation (e.g. a UN organisation, the World Bank, the IMF, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, IADB); an international NGO (e.g. Oxfam, Plan, Care).
• One must have a current employer’s statement which complies with the format Nuffic has provided. All information must be provided and all commitments, which are included in the format, must be endorsed in the statement;
• One must have a government statement that meets the requirements of the country in which the employer is established (if applicable);
• One must have an official passport valid at least three months after the submission date of the registration form by the candidate

Selection Criteria: The fellowships are awarded in a very competitive selection to highly motivated professionals who are in a position to introduce the newly-acquired skills and knowledge into their employing organisation.

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: A KOP NFP fellowship is intended to supplement the salary that you should continue to receive during the study period in the Netherlands. The allowance is a contribution towards your costs of living, the costs of tuition fees, visas, travel, insurance and thesis research. If applicable, the fellowship holder is expected to cover the difference between the actual costs and the amount of the personal KOP NFP allowances.

Duration of Program: 

How to Apply:

• Before you apply, make sure you review the eligibility criteria carefully and check whether your employer is willing to nominate you for the scholarship.
• When you are certain that you are eligible for a KOP NFP scholarship, you can start making the necessary preparations for your application.
• It is important to read thoroughly about the application process on the Program Webpage before applying.

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: OKP NFP is initiated and fully funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs under the budget for development cooperation. 

NFP Middle East and North Africa MENA Scholarship Programme (MSP) for Students to Study in The Netherlands 2019

Application Deadline: 18th October 2018

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Morocco, Oman and Tunisia. 


To be taken at (country): The Netherlands

Accepted Subject Areas: You can use an MSP scholarship for a number of selected short courses in one of the following fields of study:

• Economics
• Commerce
• Management and Accounting
• Agriculture and Environment
• Mathematics
• Natural sciences and Computer sciences
• Engineering
• Law Public Administration
• Public order and Safety
• Humanities
• Social sciences
• Communication and Arts

About Scholarship: The MENA Scholarship Programme (MSP) enables professionals from ten selected countries to participate in a short course in the Netherlands. The overall aim of the MSP is to contribute to the democratic transition in the participating countries. It also aims at building capacity within organisations, by enabling employees to take part in short courses in various fields of study.
There are scholarships available for short courses with a duration of two to twelve weeks.

Target group:  The MSP target group consists of professionals, aged up to 45, who are nationals of and work in one of the selected countries.
Scholarships are awarded to individuals, but the need for training must be demonstrated within the context of the organisation for which the applicant works. The training must help the organisation develop its capacity. Therefore, applicants must be nominated by their employers who have to motivate their nomination in a supporting letter.

Selection Criteria: The candidates must be nationals of and working in one of the selected countries.

Who is qualified to apply:

• must be a national of, and working and living in one of the countries on the MSP country list valid at the time of application;
• must have an employer’s statement that complies with the format EP-Nuffic has provided. All information must be provided and all commitments that are included in the format must be endorsed in the statement;
• must not be employed by an organisation that has its own means of staff-development. Organisations that are considered to have their own means for staff development are for example:
  • multinational corporations (e.g. Shell, Unilever, Microsoft),
  • large national and/or a large commercial organisations,
  • bilateral donor organisations (e.g. USAID, DFID, Danida, Sida, Dutch ministry of Foreign affairs, FinAid, AusAid, ADC, SwissAid),
  • multilateral donor organisations, (e.g. a UN organization, the World Bank, the IMF, Asian Development Bank, African Development Bank, IADB),
  • international NGO’s (e.g. Oxfam, Plan, Care);
• must have an official and valid passport (valid at least three months after the candidate’s submission date);
• must have a government statement that meets the requirements of the country in which the employer is established (if applicable);
• must not be over 45 years of age at the time of the grant submission.

Number of Scholarship:  Several

Value: A MENA scholarship is a contribution to the costs of the selected short course and is intended to supplement the salary that the scholarship holder must continue to receive during the study period.
The following items are covered:

• subsistence allowance
• international travel costs
• visa costs
• course fee
• medical insurance
• allowance for study materials.

The allowances are considered to be sufficient to cover one person’s living expenses during the study period. The scholarship holders must cover any other costs from their own resources.

How to Apply: You need to apply directly at the Dutch higher education institution of your choice.

1. Check whether you are in the above mentioned target groups.
2. Check whether your employer will nominate you.
3. The course list for the MSP November 2018 deadline will be published early September 2018.
4. Contact the Dutch higher education institution that offers the course of your choice to find out whether this course is eligible for an MSP scholarship and how to apply.

It is important to go through the application information details on the Scholarship Webpage (see Link below) before applying.

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Sponsors: The MENA Scholarship Programme is initiated and fully funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Important Notes: MSP is not currently open to applicants applying from Syria. Applicants with the Syrian nationality may however apply if they are residing and working in one of the other selected MSP countries.

Obama Foundation Fellowship for Civic Innovators Worldwide 2019/2020

Application Deadline: 18th September 2018

Eligible Countries: International

To Be Taken At (Country): USA

About the Award: The Obama Foundation Fellows will be a diverse set of community-minded rising stars – organizers, inventors, artists, entrepreneurs, journalists, and more – who are altering the civic engagement landscape. By engaging their fellow citizens to work together in new and meaningful ways, Obama Foundation Fellows will model how any individual can become an active citizen in their community.

Type: Fellowship 

Eligibility: 

• Civic innovators: We’re looking for individuals who are working to solve important public problems in creative and powerful ways. We are inspired by a broad vision of what it means to be “civic,” one that includes leaders tackling a range of issues, in both traditional and unconventional ways.
• Discipline diverse: We need people working from all angles and with different perspectives to strengthen our communities and civic life. This fellowship is for organizers, inventors, artists, entrepreneurs, journalists, and more. It is for those working within systems like governments or businesses, as well as those working outside of formal institutions.
• At a tipping point in their work: Successful applicants have already demonstrated meaningful impact in their communities, gaining recognition among their peers for their contributions. Now, they stand at a breakthrough moment in their careers. They’re poised to use the Fellowship to significantly advance their work, perhaps by launching new platforms, expanding to broader audiences, or taking their work to a national or global stage. If you’ve already gained global recognition for your work or if your civic innovation work has just begun, you may not be the ideal candidate for this program.
• Talented, but not connected: We are committed to expanding the circle of opportunity to include new and varied voices. Thus we have a strong preference for civic innovators who are not currently connected to the networks and resources they need to advance their work. If you’re not sure whether you fit this description, feel free to apply — and make sure to articulate how the resources of the Fellowship would uniquely impact your work.
• Good humans: We are building an authentic community. A strong moral character is essential for the strength of this community, the integrity of the program, and the longevity of its value. We’re seeking inspirational individuals who demonstrate humility and work collaboratively with others towards shared goals.

Number of Awards: Not specified

Value of Award: The Foundation will cover transportation and accommodation for the in-person convenings. While the Foundation can provide support in procuring visas, Fellows will be responsible for covering any visa costs.

• The two-year, non-residential Fellowship will offer hands-on training, resources, and leadership development.
• Fellows will also participate in four multi-day gatherings where they will collaborate with each other, connect with potential partners, and collectively push their work forward.
• Throughout the program, each Fellow will pursue a personalized plan to leverage Fellowship resources to take their work to the next level.

Duration of Program: 2 years

How to Apply: APPLY

Visit the Program Webpage for Details

Award Providers: Obama Foundation

Rotary Yoneyama Foundation Undergraduate, Masters and PhD Scholarships for International Students 2019/2020

Application Deadline: 15th December 2018 1:00P.M. Japan time for both April and Fall (September/October) 2019 Enrollment.

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: International

To be taken at (country): Japanese Universities and Graduate Schools

Eligible Field of Study: All courses offered by the Japanese University or Graduate School in Japan

About Scholarship: The Rotary Yoneyama Memorial Foundation awards scholarships to overseas students who aspire to study or conduct research in Japanese universities or graduate schools. Its scholarship fund is supported by the contributions of Rotarians throughout Japan. The Foundation is Japan’s largest private scholarship organization, both in terms of program scale and number of scholarships awarded.
Rotary Yoneyama Scholarship for applicants residing abroad is for international students scheduled to enroll in a Japanese University or Graduate School. Applicants have to find out and apply a Japanese university or graduate school by themselves before they apply for this scholarship. And they are requested to submit the copy of the application for admission for the university / graduated school.

Type: Undergraduates, Master’s and PhD degree

Selection Criteria and Eligibility: The program’s eligibility requirements are as follows:

1. Have already chosen the university or graduate school s/he will apply for
2. Be in the process of applying for admission
3. Be able to submit his/her letter of acceptance (an admission approval or a pre-arrival admission approval) under the schedule below.

• For April 2018 enrollment: Submit the letter of acceptance by the end of January 2019.
• For fall 2018 enrollment: Submit the letter of acceptance by the end of June 2019.

Number of Scholarships: several

Value of Scholarship:

• Undergraduates: 100,000 yen per month
• Masters students: 140,000 yen per month
• Doctoral students: 140,000 yen per month

Only for the first year of the scholarship, a supplemental of 400,000 yen is provided upon arrival in Japan.

Duration of Scholarship: for the period of study


How to Apply
Visit scholarship website for details

Sponsors: Rotary Yoneyama Memorial Foundation

Important Notes: Only for the first year of the scholarship, a supplemental of 400,000 yen is provided after arrival in Japan and attending an orientation. Yoneyama scholars are to arrive in Japan prior to the month of their admission. Irrespective of the reason, if they do not arrive in Japan by the month that their scholarship will begin to be paid, they will lose their eligibility.

Elisabeth & Amelie Grants for Students from Developing Countries Studying in Belgium 2019

Application Deadline: 22nd October, 2018

Offered annually? Yes

Eligible Countries: Students from a developing country studying in Belgium

To be taken at (country): A developing country (Candidate’s home country)

Eligible Field of Study: Master’s level degree (master’s, specialisation master’s or a second bachelor’s degree) that is linked to water management.

About the Award: Here, the Elisabeth & Amelie Fund takes into consideration an integrated approach to water management that includes technical and/or sociological aspects.
The internship will take place in a developing country (the student’s country of origin or another country). It will be tied to a master’s thesis or an equivalent) and under the responsibility of the Belgian academic institution where the student is studying.

Type: Grants, Masters

Selection Criteria: 

• Objective. The internship is linked to the access to water or its management in developing countries and must be clearly part of the subject of the candidate’s end of year project.
• Pertinence. The work undertaken by the candidate at local level and the results that emanate from this deal with important local issues.
• Capabilities. The budget requested must match the candidate’s needs. He/She must have sufficient resources to complete the internship under the required conditions.
• Innovation. The approach that the candidate chooses for his/her internship or the framework within which he/she intends to work is different from the usual approaches or frameworks.
• Impact. The expected results should bring sustainable change for the people concerned at local level.

Number of Awardees: 10

Value of Scholarship: The grant will cover the expenses inherent to the internship, up to a maximum of €5.000.

Duration of Scholarship: The internship, which should last 1 to 2 months, must take place between December 2018 and the end of August 2019.

How to Apply: Complete your Application Form online

• Download the annex(es) that have to be completed for your application form

Visit Scholarship Webpage for details

Award Provider: King Baudouin Foundation

J-PAL/Hewlett Foundation Data, Economics, and Development Policy (DEDP) MicroMasters Scholarships for African Learners 2018

Application Deadline: 27th August 2018

Eligible Countries: sub-Saharan African countries

To be taken at (country): Online

Type: Masters

Eligibility: Scholarships are open to new and existing MicroMasters learners born in sub-Saharan Africa.

Number of scholarships: Not specified

Value of Scholarship: Learners selected for a scholarship will receive a coupon to complete a MicroMasters in DEDP course of their choice for free and receive all the perks of being a paid learner, including participation in a proctored exam to earn the course completion certificate, access to community and job forums, and direct communication with program and teaching staff.

How to Apply: The fall 2018 semester begins September 11, 2018. To apply for a scholarship, complete the three steps below:

1. Create an edX profile, if you do not have one already, at:
   https://courses.edx.org/register.
2. Create a MicroMasters profile, if you do not have one already, at:
   https://micromasters.mit.edu/dedp/.
3. Complete and submit the application form below. Applicants will be judged on the quality of their answers, so take time to carefully consider and read through each response before submitting the form.

Visit scholarship webpage for details 

Award Provider: J-PAL, Hewlett Foundation

Important Notes: Of note: During this round of the program, scholarship recipients who complete the online course in this fall 2018 semester will be awarded a second scholarship to take another MicroMasters course in the spring 2019 semester.