Please scroll down for a map showing the location of Niger in Africa, and statistics. ________________________________
[MortarBoardCULong] CU Postings to Whatsapp, 22 October 2017 Click the links to connect to full text Communist Urge Boycott of Mswati III's Sham Poll Communist Party of Swaziland general secretary Kenneth Kunene, urging a boycott, said new elections were only to "provide an aura of credibility to the nasty, brutal dictatorship of [King] Mswati and his elite in the tinkhundla semi-feudal system." The Swazi House of Assembly has 55 MPs elected from the 55 tinkhundla or tribal communities. The king appoints 10 more members, and 20 in the 30-member Senate. The main opposition, PUDEMO, was banned in 2010, and its president, Mario Masuku, was jailed in 2014. - https://tinyurl.com/y96w6mfl Vladimir Putin's speech at the Valdai International Discussion Club Qualitatively new processes are simultaneously unfolding across all spheres. The fast-paced public life in various countries and the technological revolution are intertwined with changes on the international arena. Many past recipes for global governance, overcoming conflicts as well as natural contradictions, often fail, and new ones have not been worked out yet. All disputes must be resolved in a civilised manner. Russia has always favoured such an approach. We are firmly convinced that even the most complex knots must be disentangled rather than cut. - https://tinyurl.com/ych78cov President Zuma to host Senegal President Sall on a State Visit President Jacob Zuma will on Tuesday, 24 October 2017, host the President of the Republic of Senegal, His Excellency President Macky Sall for a State Visit to South Africa, in Cape Town. South Africa and Senegal enjoy cordial bilateral political, economic and social relations underpinned by strong historical ties dating back to the years of the liberation struggle. - https://tinyurl.com/yalvjsek SITREP Kurdistan: Pepe Escobar and Alexander Mercouris The Battle of Kirkuk lasted less than 24 hours. In a lightning - and mostly bloodless - offensive, the Iraqi Security Forces (ISF) retook control of oil companies, the K1 military base, the Bai Hassan oil field, most of the Kirkuk oil field on Monday. - Escobar Iraq's effortless recovery of Kirkuk, and the rapid collapse of Peshmerga resistance came to me and others, as it certainly did to the US and to the Kurds themselves, as a total surprise. - Mercouris - https://tinyurl.com/y9ymv9v8 FBI moves against Dr Nkosazana Dlamini The ANCWL calls upon society not to be distracted by attempts of Lord Peter Hain, FBI, UK authorities and their agents trying to cast aspersions against Cde Dr Nkosazana. In ANC BGMs, members must participate in policy discussions and nominations of candidate for the NEC, plus strengthening BRICS, and a BRICS trading currency and BRICS rating agencies. Cde Dr Nkosazana champions land expropriation, free education and fundamental change of the structure, systems, institutions and patterns of ownership, management and control of the economy in favour of all South Africans, especially the poor. - full statement will be at: - https://tinyurl.com/ya4v6zxa 'Why Is the US Even There?' Critics Question American Presence in Niger After a bloody militant attack in Niger that killed 4 US soldiers and 5 Nigerien service members earlier in October, US foreign policy critics have questioned why the US has a troop presence in countries like Niger in the first place. Niger is not the only African nation to have a hidden US troop presence. According to anti-war activist and former US Army Ranger Rory Fanning, the United States has been "conducting military operations in 49 of the 54 African countries since 2011 alone." - https://tinyurl.com/ydxv4z85 Reporting from Korea during the 2013 'crisis': 5 key facts the West ignores In 2013 I did 17 reports in Korea in 19 days. Almost every single report has been wiped clean from the internet. This process started this year, and it has affected top leftist sites like the World Socialist Web Site, The Greanville Post and many others. The DPRK dismantled its nuclear programme, but Obama ramped up militarism; War games are not 'games' when YOU are the prey; North Korea as not a poor country - it is staggeringly rich; Fake-leftists have shamefully abandoned Koreans. - Ramin Mazaheri - https://tinyurl.com/yauj3s2j 5-minute summary of Xi Jinping's 3-hour Communist Party congress speech Xi is expected to further consolidate his power at the weeklong leadership reshuffle event, held every five years. His speech outlines China's policy direction in all major fields until the next congress, or even longer. The first centennial goal is to build a "moderately prosperous society" by wiping out poverty by 2021, the 100th anniversary of the party's founding. The second and more challenging goal is to turn China into a "fully developed nation" by 2049, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic. - https://tinyurl.com/yap4z7kr What China's "new era" looks like, in Xi Jinping's own words "The Chinese nation, which in the modern era has endured so much for so long, has achieved a tremendous transformation-it has stood up, grown rich, and become strong, and it now embraces the brilliant prospects of rejuvenation." "China's development does not pose a threat to any other country. No matter what stage of development it reaches, China will never seek hegemony or engage in expansion... No country can alone address the many challenges facing mankind; no country can afford to retreat into self-isolation." - https://tinyurl.com/y7waqkyf Xi's road map to the Chinese Dream Xi has clearly understood that global leadership implies being a top provider, mostly to the global South, of connectivity, infrastructure financing, comprehensive technical assistance, construction hardware and myriad other trappings of "modernization". Beijing will do everything to stay as independent as possible from the Western Central Bank system, with the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) to be avoided in as many trade deals as possible to the benefit of yuan-based transactions or outright barter. - http://thesaker.is/xis-road-map-to-the-chinese-dream/ "School Without a Party" Wants to Erase Paulo Freire from Brazilian Education An online petition, started by legislator Steffany Papaiano, already has the necessary signatures for the Federal Senate of Brazil to discuss the withdrawal of the title of Patron of Brazilian Education given to educator and philosopher Paulo Freire." Freire was posthumously given this title by President Dilma Rousseff. Papaiano's organisation, Escola Sem Partido, meaning roughly "Education without politics", wants a public rejection and virtual banning of Paulo Freire from education in the land of his birth and working life. [Note: CU follows Paulo Freire.] - https://tinyurl.com/yd5w6lyy Niger raid highlights US forces' growing Africa role The killing of four US special operations soldiers in Niger has highlighted the increasing role elite units are playing across Africa, which is rapidly becoming a major centre of US military action. More than 1 300 special forces "operators" are deployed in Africa. On any given day, the operators are deployed across about 20 nations. These troops are grouped in teams of 12, working for 2 to 3 months as instructors to classes of 300 soldiers from an African nation. - https://tinyurl.com/y899vh23 Emma Sky - British 'Mother of Daesh' Wants to Reoccupy Iraq Emma Sky is the person most responsible for messing up Kirkuk. She is also a 'Mother of ISIS'. She was part of the small inner circle that initiated the "surge" and the relabelling of al-Qaeda insurgents into the "Sunni Awakening". While the cadre of al-Qaeda leaders (later the elite of the Islamic State - ISIS were groomed in U.S. prisons in Iraq, its past and future fighters were trained as "Sunni Awakening" by U.S. special forces. - https://tinyurl.com/y7sy4evq Liberation of Raqqa a Puppet Show Allowing US to Extend Influence in the Region Military activities in Raqqa have been theatrical, with the US manipulating both the SDF and Daesh (ISIS) like puppets. Washington wants a Kurdish enclave. On Friday, the SDF announced that they had taken Raqqa, later raising a flag with the portrait of Abdullah Ocalan. "The US are making attempts to set up new Middle East order with the support from terrorist organizations in Syria, such as Daesh and the Syrian affiliate of PKK," Koray Gurbuz told Sputnik. The US supplies arms to both Daesh and YPG. - https://tinyurl.com/y89fsunu "Above All" - The Junta Expands Its Claim to Power In his October 20 press briefing White House Chief of Staff General John Kelly, former commander of the Guantanamo Bay torture camp, tried to explain why U.S. soldiers are in Niger: "So why were they there? They're there working with partners, local - all across Africa - in this case, Niger - working with partners, teaching them how to be better soldiers; teaching them how to respect human rights ..." The U.S. military sent a highly qualified WMD specialist on a "routine patrol" in Niger to teach local soldiers "to respect human rights"? - https://tinyurl.com/ybw29s4p Most CU topical postings are now made to Whatsapp via the Whatsapp-style link with a caption. The above is a collection of the latest postings. Items that have already been sent by e-mail through this channel are not included. Please ask for Whatsapp if you want it. [cid:[email protected]] Niger in Africa (above, in yellow; below, in stats) Area Population Niger 1,267,000 km2 20,672,987 South Africa 1,221,037 km2 54,956,900 ________________________________ [http://imageshack.com/a/img32/381/6b28.png] E-mail Disclaimer: The information contained in this communication is confidential and may be legal privileged. It is intended solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom it is addressed and others authorised to received it. If you are not the intended recipient you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or taking action in reliance of the contents of this information is strictly prohibited and may be unlawful. The views and opinions expressed in this e-mail are those of the sender unless clearly stated as those of South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU). SADTU accepts no liability whatsoever for any loss or damages incurred or suffered arising from the use of this e-mail or its attachments. 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