News Thread [Kylaris|Canon|IC]

by **Poshyte** » Mon Mar 08, 2021 10:00 am

Campaigning begins for National Assembly elections
The Progressive Alliance have a clear and consistent lead over the National Bloc and are expected to win on April 4

ANS Staff (@ANSOnline)
March 8, 2021 | Yndyk

According to the most recent polls the Green-Socialist Party would emerge as the largest party in terms of vote share. Photo courtesy of ANS.

Yndyk, Alsland -
With less than one month until Alsland goes to the polls again, parties have begun their campaigning for the National Assembly, the upper chamber of the Folkssenaat. Over 20 parties are contesting the elections in April, most notably the Weranian Separatist party the OVP which gained headlines after taking control of Garz in last year's regional election.

All 80 seats across Alsland are up for grabs. The National Bloc are currently the largest group in the National Assembly however polls suggest they will lose seats to the Progressive Alliance who hold a 7% lead over the Centre-right. The Green Socialists are also expected to do well with their support averaging in the high teens and early twenties. The Greens however are not expected to make up a large force in the National Assembly due to the use of First past the post (FPTP) and not the more proportional system used in the House of Representatives.

'The Centre' have lost support according to polls since their 2016 high of 25%. The party's membership fractured over their support of the Progressive Alliance in January's vote of no confidence against Elliott's government. Their leader Drewes Brandsma will be fighting to keep his seat in South Yndyk with early polling suggesting that he is facing a tough competition between him and Green-Socialist candidate Farduw Van Der Werf. Brandsma's popularity as leader has been low following his past support of the now disgraced National Rally party during his time in University.

On February 28, the Progressive Alliance launched their campaign in Werdau with Premier Möller, SDYD leader Bonne Zijlstra, SP leader Harriet Cooke and KR leader Ahto Malk all deliversing speeches in their native languages. Whilst their manifesto hasn't been launched yet according to sources within the Alliance they are planning to introduce radical new left-wing policies spearheaded by Zijlstra to improve Alsland. Early reports suggest that the manifesto will focus on Education, Health and Welfare although other reports suggest more moderate policies favoured by Möller and Cooke will appear more prominently on the manifesto when it launches.

The Progressive Alliance need to win with a convincing majority to makeup for their losses in 2019. As of today they rely on 'The Centre' to pass bills through the Assembly. Currently they hold 34 of the 80 seats. With support from the Green-Socialists, Worker's Party and The Centre, their support increases to 41 seats in the Assembly. The National Bloc have 35 seats in the Assembly and with support from the libertarian UDU they have a total of 39 seats. Premier Möller said during her speech she believes the Alliance will win enough seats for a majority in the Assembly allowing her government to pass reforms promised by her.

According to former representative Aite Groeneveld and ally of of Möller. She will be using the election as a statement of her legitimacy as Premier of Alsland. In an interview with ANS he said: "(Moller) doesn't want to be seen as temporary or a brief Premier. She wants to have a chance to prove that her Government is stable and is the best way forward for Alsland."

"The polls look good for her so far, I wouldn't be surprised if after the election she reshuffles her cabinet to fit what she wants her government to look like instead of making compromises with the left-wing. She's a strong candidate and I think she, not Zijsltra or Elliott is the best person to lead the country."

Former Premier and EC President Bonne Zijlstra is likely to play a key role in the election. Zijlstra who was only recently elected as the leader of the SDyD has the highest approval rating of any modern politician in Alsland. His popularity is highest in Yndyk, Wottested and Delland. Wottested and Delland are likely to be heavily contested between the SDyD and the Conservative Party. If Zijlstra's popularity can push the SDyD ahead as polls in Delland suggest it is probable that the Progressive Alliance will gain a majority in the Assembly next month.

Yesterday, the National Bloc launched its election campaign with a large rally on the outskirts of Wottested. Former Premier Lilliana Elliott featured prominently during the campaign launch. The ex-Premier said in her opening speech that Alsland needed popular, Liberal policies and it must avoid extremist rhetoric. Also giving their speeches at the launch were Conservative Party leader Jolke Dekker, Sotirian Union leader Karin Raupach and Justice Party leader Ullo Mand. Mand is the only National Bloc leader to be participating in this election as he tries to win re-election in the traditionally left-wing Martiland.

A key takeaway from the National Bloc's campaign launch is their attempts at reconciliation with the Alslandic people, many who still feel angry at Elliott for her decision to include the National Rally in her brief coalition government. The National Bloc are polling at their lowest since the fallout of the resignation of Jochen Schünemann and impeachment of Onne Monsma after Schünemann pressured Monsma to remove then Premier Jabik Nieuwenhuis from office in late 2007.

Historically, the National Bloc has done better in Assembly elections than House elections however for the National Bloc to win they would need to have an Unprecedented surge in polls to overtake the Progressive Alliance.

The Green-Socialists, who were the most recent party to launch their campaign after launching it last night are enjoying an unprecedented level of support. In a recent poll conducted just two days ago it suggested that the Green-Socialists would gain enough votes to overtake the Progressive Alliance and make them the largest party in terms of vote share in Alsland. The Green Socialist leader Bene Feitsma and other high-level party officials are seeking to defend their one seat in the Assembly and gain seats particularly in Yndyk, Wottested and Werdau.

Also notable in this election is the Weranian minority party the OVP. The OVP after being formed in the late 80s has historically stayed out of Federal politics instead contesting elections in Garz and Zittau. However fresh off their victory in Garz last year and with growing support in Garz and Zittau, an announcement was made by party officials to state that they would contest the upcoming elections. Support for the OVP is sizeable particularly in Garz where they won control of the Province's Regional Assembly last year. The party's leader and Minister-President of Garz Matilda Rheingold told reporters that she will be helping the OVP campaign for the upcoming election.

Also notable in the upcoming election is the UDU. The UDU are seeking to defend their 4 assembly seats after being entirely wiped out in last year's House elections. Their leader Klara Fabel has gained notoriety for her Anti-EC stance. Support for the UDU has dropped after a series of controversial leaders and a lack of reforms within the party. Fabel says that they are confident they will win all of their seats in April but polling suggests they may lose all of them including her own seat in Fawkhamshire.

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by **Empire of Falconia** » Wed Mar 10, 2021 2:34 pm

Ravnian National News
Prime Minister steps down as president meets with Avramenko

Novigrad - Prime minister Joseph Bondor, who has been running the country in president Pytor Abramov for the last several weeks, has officially stepped down from his position. Mr. Bondor gave no comment when asked why he did this, though many speculate that the growing calls for his removal in parliament are to blame for his sudden resignation. Bondors resignation coincides with an unexpected meeting between president Abramov, who is set to leave hospital in the coming days, and his former opponent Andiry Avramenko. No one is quite sure why the president wanted to meet with Avramenko, though there are speculations. Some have speculated that Abramov has called Avramenko to work out a solution to the unrest in the country, while others believe that the president may give Avramenko a position in his government.

Whatever the case may be, Ravnia is, and will remain, effectively leaderless until president Abramov is discharged from Novigrad hospital at the end of the week.

by **Xiaodong** » Wed Mar 10, 2021 4:13 pm

"WE WILL BE FREE" - In his first speech to the Seimas as Minister-President, Navikas sets out a challenge to Westbrücken
^{Ieva Fledzinskaite}
^{10 March 2021|Lipliškės}

Šilokrautė - In his first speech to the Ruttish legislature since taking power in February Minister-President Žygimantas Navikas has vowed to oversee the implementation of a "new partnership" between Ruttland and Werania as a whole.

"We will be free," the 49-year old Navikas said. "Ruttland for too long has been under a system that has not benefitted the Ruttish people and made a mockery of the notion of equality between citizens that we have been told is fundamental to the Euclean project. We in the Ruttish government - as the servants of the people - will seek to alter that to help put the citizens first."

"To do that we need to oversee a new partnership with Werania, one that recognises that Ruttland is a distinct nation. The form of this new partnership can vary of course depending on the political issues we will be presented with. But mark my words my administration will ensure that the dream of a Ruttish nation - proud, free and equal - will be realised".

The minister-president's words reflect that his administration will be focused on the sovereignty issue. Representing the main patriot party in Ruttland, the National Coalition for Independence (NNK) Navikas led the NNK to it's first majority government in the province in January defeating the incumbent federalist coalition of the SDRP-DS and SDT under Raimundas Monkevičius. Navikas is seen to represent the more moderate, progressive wing of the NNK compared to longtime NNK leader and former minister-president Arvydas Ražauskas who currently sits as the NNK's leader in the federal diet. Navikas was seen as being chosen to lead the NNK in the 2021 regional election due to his less controversial reputation then Ražauskas and perceived ability to win over soft-patriot votes, a move credited with ensuring the NNK achieved it's first majority in the legislature.

In outlining what he sees as prerequisites for a "new partnership" Navikas called for a renegotiation over federal policy regarding healthcare and education, stating he believed that outside funding that the provincial government should have "full autonomy on those areas", in particular calling for a reversal on the controversial Healthcare Choice and Provision Law which both the previous and current Ruttish provincial governments have vowed not to implement.

Navikas also has stated that he believes that the provincial government should have greater powers over the setting of income taxation as well as more influence in immigration policy with the ability to deny non-EC migrants the ability to work and live in Ruttland. Navikas also floated around the idea that official bilingualism in the federal government particularly to departments focused on Ruttish issues should be enforced.

"We are a unique society, a nation, within Werania. We deserve to be recognised as such and failing that will fight for our freedom to be recognised as such" Navikas declared near the end of his speech to applause from his NNK colleagues.

Some who voted for the NNK hoped that in lieu of the hardline stance of Ražauskas that Navikas would focus on other issues the NNK brought up in the 2021 campaign such as housing affordability, an overstretched healthcare service and high rates of social deprivation. Navikas and his team however have insisted that their strategy for solving these problems can only be implemented with a shift in Ruttland's constitutional setup.

"Everything that we want to do on the social and economic side rests on the implementation of a new partnership" government spokesperson Vidmantas Kanapinskas stated. "We can't get the funds for building more affordable homes without tax reform. We can't sort out the healthcare system whilst the central government imposes diktats on us. The new partnership is not just a matter of improving the dignity of the Ruttish people but also about giving us the space to allow for more innovative social policy."

However not all are convinced. Remigijus Balčiūnas, the leader of the largest opposition party in the Seimas the SDT, stated that Navikas's "new partnership" was just a coverup for a push to independence.

"Navikas talks of a "new partnership", of a "Ruttish nation within a Weranian state". But we know that he's not the real boss, Ražauskas is. And that means a hardline patriot agenda which seeks to reopen the contentious independence question at the detriment of focusing on the serious issues that affect us."

Balčiūnas warned that the new partnership scheme was designed to fail. "The red lines the NNK are saying as part of this agreement are unacceptable to Westbrücken. They want talks regarding a new partnership to fail, so they can blame it all on the Westbrücken government and present independence as the only option. It's an approach taken entirely in bad faith".

It's likely Balčiūnas is telling some truth. The federal government hasn't responded yet, although the Minister of Regional Governance and Development Melanie Bätzing-Lichtenthäler stated after the NNK's victory in January that the government "does not seek to alter the current constitutional arrangement existing in Werania" and called the nation "indivisible". The current Weranian government has been noted to be firmly centralist in its approach making talk of a new partnership seem naïve.

That said, support for independence remains a minority. 58% of respondents in a recent Weranian Politics Review stated they favoured continued union with Werania compared to 34% who favoured independence and 7% undecided. If Navikas is angling for "independence through stealth" it's a risky strategy - but with this federal government with it's tendency to ride roughshod over provincial opinion it might just work.

by **Nuvania** » Thu Mar 11, 2021 4:33 am

Banned Chemical Still In Widespread Use

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Simon Dyers (@SimonDyers)
11 March (12:00pm)|PIETERSBURG

A helicopter spraying a banana plantation in central Kanäan.

Die Vrytsaat can reveal that a chemical insecticide that was banned internationally more than a decade ago is still in widespread use in Nuvania.

According to documents given to Die Vrystaat by an unnamed employee of a significant chemical manufacturing company through environmental watchdog EnviroWatch, at least 300 farms based primarily in the northern provinces of Etten, Kanaän, and Rand, with less use in Mahaika, based on orders for an insecticide sold under the brand name Pestex. These orders included receipts detailing the farms involved, quantities ordered, among other details.

EnviroWatch spokesperson Damian Quinn said testing of Pestex, which is sold as a commercial aerosol spray to protect crops against damaging insects, showed that part of the mix that is produced contained the insecticide kepone as the active ingredient.
"We had six examples sent to an independent laboratory who confirmed the presence of kepone in the mixture," he said. "This testing was verified by the laboratory and subsequent toxicologists and chemists who also examined the laboratory results."

Quinn said that this represented a significant environmental and health risk to the general public and for farm workers who applied pesticides to crops.
"We know that kepone is one of a number of banned insecticides that bioaccumulates," he said. "Continuous exposure means that the chemical builds up within the bodies of any organisms that ingest it. It is obviously lethal to insects but it can also kill other organisms that ingest sufficient amounts of it, such as fish." He said that evidence from overseas pointed to elevated cancer risks in both men and women.
"This risk is present at both low and high levels of exposure."

Kepone, known internationally as chlordecone, and known in Nuvania by the trademarked product name Insekdo, was banned in 2010 by the Spálgleann Convention on Organic and Synthetic Pollutants as it was discovered to be a confirmed carcinogen, responsible for causing prostate cancer in men, and also linked to increased rates of stomach and pancreatic cancer in women, these effects a result of ongoing low-level exposure to the chemical.

Long term exposure to high levels of kepone caused what was previously labelled as "banana sickness", a colloquial term for a wide-ranging series of severe neurological effects whose onset was marked by convulsions. The first cases of banana sickness were noted among workers who sprayed the chemical on banana plantations on islands in the West Arucian Sea during the 1980's and 1990's, as DDT had become replaced by kepone by that time. The insecticide was still in widespread use in these island nations until it was banned internationally in 2010.

First developed in the 1950's, kepone's use in agriculture was limited owing to widespread use of DDT until the 1970's, when the effects of DDT became well known and the chemical was banned from use in agriculture as well as some civilian use. Kepone was believed to be a safer alternative to DDT and other pesticides. Use of the chemical began to peak in the late 1990's and early 2000's until kepone itself was banned in 2010. Kepone was manufactured and sold under the Insekdo brand by United Chemicals PLC (now part of Chevalier International, a Gaullican multinational chemical manufacturer) between 1985 and 2010, with licencing rights also issued to Hewitt Agricultural Chemicals PLC, itself part of Hewitt Agrarian, and Bowell International PLC, which manufactured Insekdo for export, mainly to the island states in the West Arucian Sea.

In Nuvania, all extant stocks of kepone were mandated to be disposed of by June 2012. An request for information from the Ministry of Agriculture obtained a report from November 2015 that stated that of the estimated 21,000 tonnes in use or in storage at the time of the chemical's ban in 2010, only nine thousand tonnes had been disposed of. The report outlined that special dispensations had been issued to more than 500 farms to use what remained of the stock of Insekdo. Another report from the same month stated that there were at least 300 farms that had soil testing that demonstrated significant contamination from kepone.

A spokesperson from the Ministry of Agriculture said that the ministry had stopped issuing dispensations for the use of kepone-based products in January 2011, and that what dispensations that had been issued were for farms that had small amounts of Insekdo or other kepone-based products.
"Those that maintained larger stocks were given a period of time to dispose of their stocks," the spokesperson said. "The Ministry is still working with these farmers to remove and dispose of all remaining stocks of kepone-based products."

The spokesperson said that no current insecticide products were based on kepone, and said that Insectex was a generic brand name that was currently licenced to more than six different companies. They said that the testing it had undertaken to approve the product for manufacture and commercial sale did not show the presence of kepone in the chemical mixture.
"These tests are required for approval before any pesticide, insecticide, or herbicide can be sold in Nuvania," they said. "The Ministry would not knowingly approve the sale of any kind of pesticide, insecticide, or herbicide if it contained a banned chemical component."

The test results obtained by EnviroWatch called into question whether or not the Ministry of Agriculture's testing regime was adequate in detecting banned chemicals inside formulas for herbicides, insecticides, and pesticides that were seeking approval for commercial sale in Nuvania. The spokesperson said that the tests themselves were in accordance with international standards and that they were performed at independent laboratories to improve transparency throughout the approval process.
"We do not conduct the tests ourselves because of the obvious vulnerabilities that would undoubtedly compromise and undermine the approval process," the spokesperson said. "It is much more difficult to otherwise influence independent laboratories, which have reputations and international accreditation to protect, to approve the sale of chemical formulas with banned chemical components."

The spokesperson would not confirm whether or not an investigation into the company that currently holds the patent and manufacturing certificate for Insectex, stating that an investigation could only be approved by the Minister of Agriculture. In addition, the spokesperson said that the Ministry was currently developing a plan to increase the rate at which extant stocks of kepone are disposed of.

Quinn said that the revelations were "unsurprising and somewhat expected" of a system that was ineffective in enforcing its own regulations, and that years of disinterest in disposing of dangerous chemicals had created a regime in which extant enforcement was discouraged through a lack of financial and resource support, or through blatant corruption.
"Such a lack of enforcement of these regulations means we will be dealing with the health effects of these dangerous chemicals for decades to come."

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by **Caltarania** » Thu Mar 11, 2021 12:11 pm

by **Poshyte** » Fri Mar 12, 2021 10:52 am

Assembly Election 2021: The fight for Martiland
Alsland's Kirenian speaking province is gearing up for what could be one of the tightest elections in recent memory.

ANS Staff (@ANSOnline)
March 12, 2021 | Rahu

The historically dominant KPP is facing a resurgent Conservative movement and attempts by The Centre to expand its influence. Photo courtesy of ANS.

Rahu, Alsland -
Despite only holding 7 seats out of the 80 seats in the National Assembly, the province of Martiland is expected to gain more media attention on the 4th of April than it has seen in recent electoral history. The province is facing a 3 way race between the historically dominant and Progressive Alliance backed Kirenian People's Party, the National Bloc backed Justice Party and the The Centre as all three fight to expand or retain their influence in the Province.

Martiland's nearly 700,000 voters will have to decide whether to continue their long standing support of the KPP led by Martiland's Minister-President Ahto Malk or instead throw their support behind the Justice Party led by Ullo Mand or The Centre led by Drewes Brandsma. Malk and Mand are Martiland's highest profile politicians and Mand currently represents Martiland's 7th Assembly district in the National Assembly and he is facing a tough fight by KPP challenger Hendrik Laas. Mand is also the oldest member of the Assembly at 81 but has made no sign of any intention to stand down.

The KPP which has dominated Martiland's politics since the 1970s when it overtook the now defunct Martimaa Sotsialistlik Partei. Originally founded as a separatist party following the Great War, the KPP was banned briefly in 1947 by Laas Keuning's government after it was associated with the Vaba Martimaa armee which had carried out a bombing campaign across Martiland in the 40s. However after Samuel Hudson became Premier the party was unbanned and won its first seats in Martiland's provincial assembly in 1950. Support for the KPP grew after the party ended it's advocacy for reunification with Kirenia eventually winning the 1975 Martish assembly election. Since then the party has consistently been the largest party in the province and today holds 5 of Martiland's 7 assembly seats.

The party launched it's 2021 campaign alongside other Progressive Alliance parties with a vow to support Möller's government and deliver for Martiland. Ahto Malk's first speech of the campaign in Rahu spoke of more funding for the Province's health system and more funds for Kirenian language schools which had their funding cut by Aachtsje Wieringa in 2016.

Opinion polls show the KPP ahead in the province with most polls showing the party with between 49% and 58% support among voters. One problem that the KPP must overcome is Martish voters desire for a new direction. Despite being more left-wing than voters in most other provinces, voters in Martiland have slowly been trending towards the political centre electorally.

On the other side of the political divide is Ullo Mand's conservative Justice Party. Mand is the son of Alsland's wartime Premier Villem Mand and founded the Justice Party in 1992 after splitting from the Conservative Party which at the time still ran candidates in Martiland. The party was able to win in Martiland's 7th assembly district in the 1996 National Assembly elections. Mand was re-elected in 2001 by a margin of less than 100 votes, since then the district has been regarded as "safe" for the Justice Party. The party was able to win a seat in last year's general election after a notable debate performance between Mand and Malk.

Support for the Justice Party has never been higher at a federal level although the party hasn't been able to make inroads into the traditionally left wing Provincial legislature where it only has 2 seats. Mand is also a controversial politician. As a member of the provincial assembly in the 80s Mand told a female member of the KPP to "go home and look after your kids." In 2010 Mand refused to meet with Jonathan Fraser and called him an embarrassment in private with an aide. Mand refused to apologise or deny that his words were influenced by Fraser's sexuality. When asked about it during last year's campaign Mand refused to answer the question.

The Justice Party is focusing its efforts on two districts. Martiland's 6th Assembly district which is currently held by Epp Tamm of the KPP and Martiland's 5th Assembly district which is represented by Koit Malk, the brother of Ahto Malk. Both districts are expected to be close with both parties fighting to win either. Mand visited Martiland's 6th Assembly district with the Justice party's candidate and social media influencer Kevin Piip. Piip represents the 'new wing' of the party which seeks to remodel the party as the party of the Martish and fight the KPP for the role as the largest party in Martiland.

Speaking to members of the press earlier today. Piip said they were confident they would win both districts from the KPP. When asked if the Justice Party could sustain their momentum until election day, Piip was interrupted by Mand who in his usual bullish tone said that suggestions otherwise were KPP talking points.

Also contesting the election is The Centre, traditionally the 3rd party in the province the party's Martiland wing has been working hard to appeal to suburban and urban voters in the province's second, third and fourth Assembly districts in and around Rahu. The party already holds the province's First assembly district which has the largest Dellish population in the province which likely contributed to their victory.

The party's leader in Martiland is Ester Rummo. Rummo is the only female leader of a political party in Martiland and represents the First assembly district. She's notable in her party for being against their support of the Möller government, instead she voted to support Elliott in January's confidence vote. Rummo is also facing a tough battle in her district as her vote against Möller has turned many liberal, centrists away from her and towards the KPP which launched an attack ad against Rummo in one of Martiland's largest newspapers calling her an "Alverist" referring to former MSP leader Ken Alver who supported Urseltsje Van Der Hoek even after she resigned following the Rahu Massacre when several protesters were shot dead in Rahu.

Also contesting the election is Martiland's separatist parties. Martimaa led by Udo Olesk and Bread and Roses led by Urmo Koiv. Both parties support reunification with Kirenia. Martimaa is the larger party and is the largest opposition party in Martiland's provincial assembly. Whilst not predicted to win any seats in the election they may hand victory to the Justice party in the Fifth assembly district. Bread and Roses is the more controversial of the two. It split from ASAI in 2016 and it's leader Urmo Koiv has been called "the most Pro-Kirenian politician in Alsland". Koiv has frequently called for the immediate reunification of Martiland with Kirenia if Bread and Roses were to win power.

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by **Norcandy** » Fri Mar 12, 2021 12:57 pm

by **Union of Akoren** » Sat Mar 13, 2021 7:16 am

Union-Government to take action over unsustainable fishing in the Gulf
Response comes as traditional fishermen condemn the use of super trawlers in the Gulf of Parishar

The Union-Government has responded to growing anger over the use of super-trawlers in the Gulf of Parishar. Since 2019, the government has received over 12,500 complaints from small local fishing businesses, often family-run over the disruption caused by these vessels. The Union-Government has promised to “investigate and find solutions beneficial to all sides.”

Traditional fishing communities hope the government takes action against the super trawlers
"decimating" fish stocks in the Gulf.

The office of the First Minister issued a statement confirming that it was “looking to investigate and find solutions beneficial to all sides, in relation to the ongoing debate around Gulf fishing.” The statement further said that the First Minister was personally invested in finding a solution, “the First Minister himself will be directing the Union-Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries to investigate the complaints thoroughly, efficiently and effectively.”

The statement follows a letter written by 84 MPs who represent constituencies along the Union’s northern coast, which was sent to the UMAF and the First Minister. The letter described a “serious situation in the Gulf of Parishar, in which super trawlers and aggressive fishing by domestic and foreign corporate entities are both disrupting and diminishing fish stocks in the Gulf.” Overfishing according to the letter “has been a consistent issue that has been ignored consistently by both government at the union level and union republic level.”

Daryush Fakhreddin (PDU) who led the group in producing the letter told Khorshid, “there are two issues arising in the Gulf, the first is overfishing outright, we’re seeing a significant number of super trawlers operated by Zorasani corporations and foreign in the Gulf, essentially decimating fish stocks. The other issue is related to the first, in that these super trawlers and industrial-scale catching is disrupting and damaging the more traditional local and family-run fishing companies along the gulf coast. These fishing communities are being driven toward destitution by these mega groups.”

Last year the UMAF released a report showing an 11% decline in “community fishing”, which they define as individual crews, often from the same family operating one or two vessels. These community fishing groups also include communal groups in small coastal villages or towns. Last year, a leading poet, Majid Majidi warned, “soon we may never see the dhow fishing again, for it shall vanish in the wake of the metal monstrosity.”

The UMAF report also issued a warning about overfishing in the Gulf. The report called for action by the Union-Government to “ensure the sustainability in fishing across the Gulf of Parishar, if there is little to no action then there is very much a risk that fish stocks in the Gulf will be irreparably destabilised if not destroyed.”

Anger among the community fishing groups erupted in protests in November. Several hundred fishermen protested outside the Riyadhi administration building in Izidhar al-Mina, demanding a ban on super trawlers off the coast of Ghalilah. Communal groups have established numerous pressure groups to push the issue, with the Local Association of Communal Fishermen purportedly having over 20,000 members as of this year. The LACF has been assisted by several coastal MPs in organising itself, notably drawing in politicians from across the political spectrum.

Khorshid spoke to Mahmud al-Merri, the leader of the Local Association of Communal Fishermen, he told us, “We have received a lot of help from members of the Assembly, nor I or my friends can complain about that. But the issue is getting worse day by day, our members go out on the waves to make the catches necessary to feed, house and clothe their families only to find the day’s catch is barely enough. Time and time again, we sit in our boats as these huge vessels consume thousands of fish from the sea.” He said further, “this is not just off the Riyadhi peninsula, this happens along the entire coast of the country. We have members in Pardaran, Khazestan and Irvadistan, all complaining that these super trawlers are destroying their livelihoods and the stocks, we need government action to protect our way of life and the Gulf.”

Anger over the issue has been limited to the forming of pressure groups, with several hundred protesters taking to the road outside the Pardarian government building in Javanrud last year over the situation in the Gulf. The peaceful protests prompted promises of solutions from Governor Adavazdar Rahimi. The Rahimi administration established a working group at the start of the year to investigate the issue but has yet to produce any proposals.

The debate over the super trawlers has also been picked up by ecological groups in the Union, who have listed the overfishing crisis alongside the supposed “water crisis” and Zahedan’s air pollution. The United Society for Zorasani Ecological Concern posted on social media, “the brave communal fishermen are making clear to all Union citizens the dangers of unsustainable industrial-scale fishing in the Gulf of Parishar. We have for years warned that the disregard for sustainability could turn the entire Gulf into a desolate dead zone – destroying thousands of Communal fishing groups and their businesses.”

The Union-Government which has proven highly adept at meeting concerns of the Union’s people, in a way not seen since unification saw some indications it was aware of the problem last year. A source close to the Office of the First Minister told us, “the Union-Government has been aware of the situation in the Gulf, however, the hope was that Union Republics would work to find a solution, but this has not happened. The government is going to do its job now and expect quick results, this government doesn’t ignore the people.”

The Union Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries Ali Akbar Abbasi in 2019, told the Assembly Committee for Rural and Coastal Affairs, “there are two concurrent cultures in fishing in the Union today, the communal traditional means that employs thousands of people and the modern industrial-scale process that is mostly corporate in nature. The Union-Government is prepared to take action that mediate and benefit both sides while preserving the eco-systems of the Gulf, on which our entire fishing industry relies. But time is necessary to fully understand what needs to be done.”

by **Caltarania** » Mon Mar 15, 2021 6:59 am

by **Union of Akoren** » Tue Mar 16, 2021 5:07 pm

Tsabaran rebels making shocking gains before advance is halted
Operation Irfanic Revenge leaves Bayadha and its peninsula besieged and the ILR advancing on Qa'ah from two directions

The prior stalemate has returned to the Tsabaran Civil War, ending a period that saw shocking rebel gains in the south and west, including the capture of territory that has resulted in the Bayadha peninsula and its titular city cut off from government territory. The rebel offensive beginning last November has left an estimated 13,400 civilians killed, and a further 800,000 displaced from their homes.

Results of Operation Irfanic Revenge

As of yesterday, the rebel offensive launched last November was universally declared over and not just by analysts. In a series of social media posts (the separatist authorities operate a savvy digital propaganda machine), the offensive, dubbed “Operation Irfanic Revenge” in reference to the horrific Mazar attacks in late 2019, was declared “over and imbued with victory after victory.” The separatists said, “Operation Irfanic Revenge has gifted the puppet regime a slap in the face as they witnessed their frontlines collapse under the weight of the Irfanic Liberation and Resistance, who triumphed over their resistance and the aid of their Euclean masters from the air.” Over the course of the past five months, separatist social media has been awash with images of “liberated” towns and villages, destroyed or abandoned government vehicles and tanks, and images of dead government soldiers.

ILR troops celebrating atop a tank as they advance westward north of Bayadha

Over the period the offensive, we at the Tsabaran Conflict Monitor have corroborated the hundreds of social media posts and televised headlines in separatist and government outlets. We can now confirm that the situation has settled as follows:

• ILR forces have captured 78 towns and villages, predominately in the west and south (areas of conflict). The ILR have captured several villages in the north, but while failing to seize oilfields are continuing their efforts.
• Government forces were able to retake 19 towns and villages from ILR forces. In one such counter-attack, the ILR confirmed that Brigadier General Mohsen Saadek was killed.
• The capture of Kerrenkul and Tamimah has severed the M2 Coastal Highway, connecting the Bayadha peninsula and the city of Bayadha from government-held territory.
• The capture of Armala has enabled the ILR to deploy artillery against the city of Bayadha.
• ILR forces have captured the Al-Qasir Plastics Factory and several villages west, the town of Adar and its surrounding satellite villages have been captured, enabling the artillery bombardment of the M3 Highway connecting Qa’ah with Bayadha to the south.
• ILR forces captured 35% of Baksariya, with heavy fighting still being reported inside the town north of Qa’ah.
• ILR attempts to seize the K2, K3 and K4 Oilfields were repulsed by the government. We estimate that 2,495 separatist fighters were killed and a further 6,000 injured as a result.
• ILR forces have launched six successive missile and drone attacks against the Atudite-majority city of Zahana, since 10 December 2020.
• Three Tsabaran Federal Air Force Mirage 2000 aircraft were shot down during the November-March period.
• One TFAF Mirage 5 was shot down on 11 January 2021.
• ILR advances directly toward Qa’ah, classified as “probing attacks” were repulsed with heavy losses.
• At least six Zorasani made SAI Dabr and SAI Jarrereh loitering munitions (“kamikaze drones”) have been discovered along the front. These types of drones have been credited with government tank and artillery losses.
• On March 13, Qa’ah was struck by eighteen 155mm rockets, killing 4 civilians and injuring 12 others.
• We estimated that 8,509 separatists were killed and 13,888 injured or captured.
• We estimated that 6,987 government soldiers were killed and 15,002 injured or captured.
• According to government and local sources, at least 13,400 civilians were killed during the same period and a further 800,000 have been internally displaced.

Key Events

When the offensive was launched last November following the formal declaration of secession by the so-called “United Irfanic Republic of Hamada”, it was slow and often at times, appeared to be a failure before it had truly begun. However, utilising local social media posts, sources both on the front and in Adunis, it appeared that the ILR utilised a twin-track approach to undermine the government’s numerical superiority. Lightly armed insurgent like groups attacks government lines at night, attempting to probe weak points, which were then struck by the regular units (which defected prior to the war), using drones and loitering munitions to both destroy fortified positions and vehicles. This enabled the ILR to breakthrough at several points, notably, in the south in Trifaoui province, and in the west, where ILR forces north-west of Qusayir and west of Al-Qasir. There, they relied upon the presence of urban areas to avoid limit the effects of government and allied airpower.

Government forces have been downing a growing number of Zorasani-produced drones since December.

In the north, where the ILR was clear in its intent to capture the remaining on-shore oil fields in Ain Yagout and Ain Djasser provinces, it was markedly less successful. The terrain of this region is mostly flat and open, with limited vegetation or urban areas from which they could cover their advances from airpower. Despite repeated attempts, it appears the ILR has failed to seize any oil facility and suffered heavy losses in both men and equipment.

Government attempts at counterattacks in the Qusayir and Al-Qasir regions were repulsed by the ILR. At least 360 government troops were killed in a regiment-sized ambush north of Al-Qasir, though this has been denied by the Adunis government. According to sources the separatists made adept use of anti-tank missiles, some of which may have been Zorasani-produced, though we could not find any corroborative evidence to support this.

Analysis

The near four-month-long separatist offensive will leave Adunis and the Euclean capitals backing it, equally disturbed. Not only have the separatists managed to seize ground, they’ve been able to inflict sizeable losses in some areas, while also placing the 650,000 people of the Bayadha peninsula under siege. This was achieved in spit of government and allied air superiority and the widely held belief that government forces held the technological and quantitative edge, the former has been consistently false owing to a vast majority of ILR units being defected regulars.

We spoke to a series of retired military officers from several Euclean militaries for their analysis of the offensive; the universal answer was that it should worry Adunis profoundly, as their air dominance means little if the ILR is able to break through their lines and gain territory. What also worried these retired officers was the ILR’s adept use of surface-to-air systems and loitering munitions.

The loss of four aircraft over a five-month period may appear small or minute, but with each loss is one difficult to replace, especially the pilots. Of the four downed by ILR units, only one pilot landed in government-held territory. One retired Estmerish officer stated, “the ILR appears to be confident in its use of short-range and medium-range air defences, and while more advanced systems would have posed a greater danger to the government and allied aircraft, they’re inflicting losses, which will always force planners and commanders to alter their operations.” No aircraft belonging to Estmere or Etruria were reportedly damaged during the same time period.

Another issue will concern our associates is the use of loitering munitions, relatively small drones that are difficult to detect and shoot down. Buzzing above targets, these drones, which carrying explosives inside them, then nosedive into vehicles, fortifications and personnel and explode. These drones have proven effective and knocking out government tanks and other armoured vehicles, but what concerns our analysts is that the rebels, nor the government posses such systems. Over the course of the offensive, social media posts revealed crashed drones, which have since been identified as being Zorasani in origin, meaning the Union is supplying rebels with these weapons, though the number of drones in use with the rebels is not known.

“What I think has happened is that the myth or at least the preconception that the civil war in Tsabara is on one side, the able, professional, and dutiful government forces and on the other, a ragtag collection of militiamen and insurgents. This is not the case, the mass defections of entire equipped units prior to the outbreak of the war, especially those based in the east, has delivered a peer-to-peer civil war. What the separatists may lack in numbers, they appear to make up in initiative and ingenuity in strategy and tactics. This is war is only going to get worse, in terms of loss of life and devastation”, retired Brigadier General George Royce told us.

The rebels currently seem unable to capture Bayadha, the provincial capital of Trifaoui, and instead, appear to be relying on only being accessible by air and sea to degrade its defenders. Should the ILR capture the peninsula, they will deny the Adunis government, the largest naval base on its southern coast and place within range of missiles, the various off-shore oil facilities in the Gulf of Parishar.

The International Conflict Monitor is a think tank based in Morwall, that is dedicated to breaking conflict stories, events and providing unique analysis. The ICM hopes to utilise its wide network of sources to establish a greater understanding of human conflict, to then use that knowledge to assist policymakers in conflict resolution.

My Last.fm · by **West Kirkon** » Wed Mar 17, 2021 1:26 am

Mariya Nazarivna - 17 March 2021

Home · Vinalia · Asteria · International · Politics · Finance · Sports · Entertainment · Health · Travel · Weather · Opinion

Vinalia to acquire Soravian fighter jet

Soravian G-7

Vinalinsk -

Earlier today Minister-President Omelyan Pavlov announced to Parliament that Vinalia had reached an agreement with the Soravian government for the acquisition of 12 Gulka G-7, along with an unspecified public amount of KR-31 Missiles. The Minister-President did not respond to the question to comment on whether the Anti-ship variant of the missile had been acquired. The deal is the largest ever made in the history of Vinalia. Vinalia which had been looking to acquire a multirole fighter to replace its ageing fleet of fighters and close-air support aircraft since 2009, had first discussed with the Marchenian government for the acquisition of the FI-16, and in 2014 some aircraft arrived to Vinalia for training and showcase. Vinalia’s attempt to acquire the aircraft were delayed by monetary constraints and lack of support among the legislature for the approval of the necessary funds to acquire 30 aircraft. In 2016 Vinalia entered into discussions with Chistovodia and Soravia, to secure a deal for Close-air support aircraft, but the deal was not seen positively by Marchenia as it pulled out of the deal.

The Marchenian pull out had left Vinalia with few options, Vinalia had sought Chistovodian aircraft, but the high price tag, and the fact most Vinalian aircraft were already of Chistovodian origin made negotiations stagnate. Vinalia had sought Soravian aircraft as early as 2012, but had focused its efforts on the Marchenian proposal seeking to improve relations with its Asterian neighbor. In 2018 Vinalia officially ended talks with Chistovodian authorities and focused solely on acquiring the Soravian aircraft. The Vinalian military had initially sought after 30 aircraft, but could not again find the necessary support in parliament and decided instead to settle on acquiring 10 aircraft from Soravia. The rise of the Unionist party had slowed talks, and many believed Vinalia to be pulling out from the deal, and instead seeking to modernize and upgrade its existing fleet. However this past November, with the rise of tensions in the Asterias, Vinalia reopened negotiations with the Soravian government for the acquisition of 12 aircraft alongside the advanced Soravian missile. The Vinalian government had intended on the aircraft acquisition to replace the ageing aircraft but instead it seems the Vinalian government is seeking to increase the size of the air force.

Although Vinalia is not in any immediate threat from any of its neighbors, as it's officially neutral. Many inside Vinalia fear the soft power the superpower holds on the country, with many fearing further acquisition of Chistovodian aircraft could result in a Chistovodian monopoly on systems Vinalia could acquire, as example Vinalia had expressed interest in acquiring a missile defence system back in 2019. But faced issues in acquiring a non-Chistovodian made system as countries did not want to have their systems perform testing and training against Chistovodian aircraft for fears the systems might be compromised. The acquisition of the KR-31, and the government's silence on whether the Naval Variant had been acquired show that a certain threat is perceived on Chistovodian naval presence in the Alexandrian gulf. Over whether Vinalia perceives Chistovodia as an enemy, or is simply taking precautions remains to be seen. Pavlov made sure to state that the negotiations with the Soravian government were not done, perhaps a sign of further anxiety and sense of urgency in the Vinalian government which acquired the Soravian aircraft separately from any further deals. It is unclear if Vinalia intends on purchasing only Soravian military assets, or if it intends on going out on a shopping spree across the world seeking to ready its military against threats from all sides. The government seems to have restarted previous frozen programs such as acquiring a Missile Defense System, new artillery pieces, 100 new wheeled vehicles for the army, and 5 more Vevetsia-Class Patrol boats.

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by **Nuvania** » Thu Mar 18, 2021 7:24 pm

Government Announces New Construction Agency, Assumes Construction Company Assets

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Simon Dyers (@SimonDyers)
19 March (4:20pm)|PIETERSBURG

Chief Minister Andrew Bohn speaks at a press conference to announce the creation of the Public Works Commission.

A new government run construction agency will assume control of the assets of four of the largest construction companies to have gone into recievership last year as part of a government plan to jumpstart Nuvania's ailing economy with a series of significant infrastructure projects.

The Public Works Commission will take several weeks to establish and will include a recruitment drive to hire former employees of companies such as VDC Incorporated and Cantrell-Wright, in addition to using these assets to establish regional headquarters, and provide the tools and equipment for the workers who will be used on the government's "Projects of National Importance" program. In addition, the new Public Works Commission will also be used to build a variety of new social housing projects over the next three years in order to reduce costs and reduce involvement of private contractors.

Chief Minister Andrew Bohn said that the new commission would also look to reduce unemployment through its offering of on-the-job training and apprenticeships for those who were not previously employed by the failed construction companies, and who were fit and able and could be interested in working in the construction sector or the trades. He said this would fit within the government's extant free apprenticeships scheme to increase the numbers of local qualified tradesmen.
"This will seek to reduce the youth unemployment rate which has skyrocketed under the current economic conditions," he said. "It will give tens of thousands of young people a trade and an income so that they do not have to resort to desperate acts in order to survive in poverty."

Funding for the Public Works Commission will be revealed through this year's budget, with additional funding to come from the G1.47 trillion ($100 billion) in loans the government is currently negotiating with the Global Institute of Fiscal Affairs (GIFA), of which a significant proportion will go to the government's infrastructure construction and upgrade program.

The government will apply in the courts in four different provinces to purchase the assets of the failed construction companies that went bankrupt last year. Although they applies for Section 32 bankruptcy protection last year, the government is able to utilise mandatory purchase in order to acquire the assets at significantly reduced prices, or no price at all. Mandatory purchase is similar to eminent domain or compulsory purchase in other countries, but does not specifically relate to land, and can be used for the acquisition of buildings and other private property for public use.

Bohn said that the filing of mandatory purchase in the provincial courts in Brabantia, Etten, Kanaän, and Pomeronia would allow the government to acquire these assets at a significant cost reduction to the taxpayer, and would avoid a complicated and costly legal process, and in doing so, will allow the central government to acquire the resources to be able to engage in the construction work within its promised timeframe.
"This will give us the ability to be able to start work within six months and to ensure that our construction program begins on time," he said. "We cannot afford any more costly or significant delays."

The Public Works Commission will function similarly to other agencies, in which it will be placed under the control of a government ministry, and administration of the agency to fall under the responsibilities of a commissioner, in this case, a to-be appointed Commissioner of Public Works. The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure will have ultimate control over the Public Works Commission, with the incumbent Minister Responsible being Adrian Howell.

Among the projects announced that will be built by the Public Works Commission include a second electric line between the cities of Newport and Constantia to reduce congestion on the extant Insular line between the capital of Pomeronia and the coast, as well as construction and expansion of the runway and terminal buildings at Mullersbaai Airport for the resumption of scheduled commercial passenger services, the later after the airport struggled to handle massive passenger inflows during the eruption of Pico de Sangue in September 2020.

Chief Minister Bohn said this represented a "new era" of governance in Nuvania in which the government would take an active role in building major projects.
"With this new commission, we ensure that what projects we build are built by Nuvanians for Nuvanians."

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by **Empire of Falconia** » Sun Mar 21, 2021 1:38 pm

Ravnian National News
"Back in Business", Abramov finally leaves hospital, takes Avramenko as his new PM

Novigrad - People across Ravnia have come out in celebration as President Abramov has finally been discharged from Novigrad Central Hospital. Upon returning to the White Palace, the presidential residence in Novigrad, President Abramov got to work shuffling his former PM's emergency cabinet. Notably, the President has appointed his former rival Avramenko as his new Prime Minister.

Avramenko's appointment has caused an uproar of mixed reactions in Parliament. MP's in the NCF have condemned the appointment, calling it: "A betrayal of National Conservative values." On the other side of the isle, MP's in the RSF have praised the appointment, stating: "This appointment will help to mend the political divide throughout the country."

by **Xiaodong** » Sun Mar 21, 2021 6:26 pm

What is the point of the SRPO?
Outflanked on climate change, Euclea and now Ruttish nationalism, the SRPO struggles to retain relevance.

Benedict Hochfict(@BennyHoch)
22 March 2021 | Westbrücken, Werania

SRPO federal chairwomen Luise Höcherl.
Photo courtesy of AV photos.

It's good to be a social democrat in east Euclea at the moment. Centre-left parties currently occupy the executive houses in Alsland, Amathia, Azmara, Caldia, Gaullica, Hennehouwe and Solstiana, whilst undergoing a revival in Estmere and even the staunchly right-wing Etruria. At last month's ASE meeting between the continents main social democratic parties the ASE's leader, Hervé Bachelot, struck a positive note invoking the notion that a "pink wave" across Euclea against entrenched centre-right governments is currently sweeping across the continent.

A hopeful narrative, and indeed one that rings true in much of Euclea. For the SRPO leader Luise Höcherl however such words must've seemed like a cruel joke.

Although it's hard to believe that a decade ago the SRPO swept to power in a landslide victory on an ambitious economic and social programme of reform under the youngest Chancellor in a century. After a decade of NKP governance that had led Werania into economic malaise there was widespread optimism that the SRPO under Emilia Koopmann would spearhead a new, social democratic period in Weranian politics akin to the reforming governments of Ostermann and Löscher. In her victory speech Koopmann defined the SRPO as adhering to the "new middle" (neue mitte) emphasising a political consensus around a social welfare system underpinned by economic prudence and a renewed commitment to Euclean integration. With the parties to the SRPO's left thoroughly marginalised and the right in disarray the idea of the SRPO replacing the NKP as the country's volkspartei was in the vogue.

But the SRPO in office crumbled. The preceding NKP administration had utterly mismanaged the economic crisis meaning the SRPO had to implement often unpopular policies to deal with them. Some of these were more in the social democratic tradition such as the implementation of a new wealth tax whilst others such as the retention of the highly unpopular 2009 labour reform had a strongly neoliberal tilt, aided by the liberal-conservative Modern Centre Party's inclusion in the governing coalition. This had the result of whittling down the SRPO's support base whilst failing to successfully outreach to conservative voters, leading to Koopmann's ousting by the more popular (and conservative) Viktor Oberhauser in 2014. Oberhauser was able to rally the party faithful to re-election in 2015 but the SRPO was seen to lose direction; controversies over rising crime and inequality hampered the SRPO's message of an improving economy. Amid abysmal approval ratings, Oberhauser threw in the towel with the party turning to the Cislanian Minister-President, Josef Felder, in a last ditch effort to claw back votes.

It backfired. Felder may have cut a different image to the uber-polished Oberhauser but his pugnacious political style coupled with an unusual fecklessness alienated voters, especially after a farcical attempt to force an early election in 2018. The SRPO was handsomely drubbed at the 2019 election losing over half its seats and votes, going from 195 to 85 in the Volkstag, with seats going both to the NKP and the rapidly rising Greens.

The 2019 election was grim for the party no doubt - it's 15 percent of the vote was beaten by the Greens 18 percent, although the voting system gave the SRPO a slight edge in seats. However It was not a death blow for the party - a similar electoral meltdown occurred to the NKP in the 1988 election when they got a mere 104 seats whilst facing electoral challenges from both the Democratic Alternative to their right and the PMZ to their left. Yet the NKP was able to pull off a transformation that cast its right wing competitors aside and eventually a decade later come just short of an absolute majority at the 1999 elections. The SRPO itself has shown a capacity for reinvention - after receiving a drubbing at that 1999 election the SRPO spent the next few years consolidating their vote by presenting themselves as the only credible opposition to the NKP on most policies. Opposition is never a welcome prospect for Weranian political parties but they can often be opportunities for party's to rebuilt and craft a new vision for the country that can capture the public's imagination.

It may only be two years, but the SRPO seems to have squandered that opportunity.

Felder resigned immediately after the 2019 debacle when it became clear he lost his constituency seat (he remained in the legislature through the proportional list). In doing so he left a power vacuum in the party that was unfilled for a year under the genial but invisible interim leadership of Konrad Schröder, leaving the government to largely set the tone of the debate on a wide range of issues such as healthcare, immigration and welfare policy. As the NKP government seized on reforming these policies the SRPO was engaging in a self-interested naval gazing exercise in its leadership contest, which lasted from autumn 2019 to January 2020. The candidates were all known quantities. The frontrunner from the beginning was Luise Höcherl, a former Economy Minister who campaigned on a vague platform of "a value-driven SRPO" that would "listen to real concerns from real people". Her main opponent was the Minister-President of Ruttland Raimundas Monkevičius, little loved in his home province but respected as a former trade union boss who aimed to steer the SRPO into being a classic social democratic party (the grand doyen of Euclean socialism, Jean Valette, gave Monkevičius his coveted endorsement in the campaign). The rather banal and lacklustre campaigns of both the main candidates gave Stefan Kiesinger, the former Environment Minister, an opening to run a spirited campaign on a more left-wing platform. The party establishment quickly rallied around Höcherl who won the leadership election despite the combined totals of Monkevičius and Kiesinger's campaigns easily trouncing hers.

Höcherl was marketed to the public as both a safe pair of hands (having served in the previous government and credited with overseeing a largely successful centrist economic policy) and as a more modern politician then the predominantly old white men who dominated the NKP. Her supporters in the SRPO gambled that her message of renewal would resonate with Green voters whilst her experience who attract NKP and PMZ voters. In both cases, they have missed the mark.

The most salient issue demonstrating this is the climate. The Tuaisceart-Süd pipeline 2.0 protests that rocked Werania last year and continue to go on sporadically through the Aktion Jetzt! movement, a grassroots environmentalist organisation, has pivoted the political debate around the climate. The NKP was quick to burnish their global warming sceptic credentials - the Interior Minister Jörg Bullman infamously tweeted that the climate protesters were "pure enlightened "woke" inner-city greenies who are raving lunatics" who didn't represent "real Werania". The Greens were quick to support the protests and position themselves as the only party who cared for the environment with greens co-leader Josef Kirui calling the pipeline part of the "failed methods of the past".

Facing one of the biggest grassroots movements in Weranian history, the SRPO pontificated. The party debated on its stance on the pipeline, shifting from first supporting an abstention policy before voting in favour after many where incredulous that the SRPO was seeming to fail supporting a project they themselves had championed and approved in government. It was a clumsy stance that infuriated both sides of the political aisle whilst being totally ignorable.

And the latter point is the real crux of the issue. The Greens have set themselves up as the arch-opposition to the NKP opposing it on everything from its economic, climate, social and Euclean policy a position they are joined by the OSAI. The PMZ has largely delineated it's stance as supporting the government's economic liberalisation agenda whilst opposing its anti-Euclean policies. But the SRPO have been unable to choose between playing the role of either constructive criticism or total opposition and as such are now ignored in the political debate.

This is a terrible stance for the party, laid bare again recently with the inauguration of the new Ruttish Minister President Žygimantas Navikas who used his inauguration as a platform to blast the federal government. The NKP largely welcomed the attack as it enables them to continue their strategy of division that wins them elections. Presenting politics as the centralist, conservative NKP against liberal Greens or Ruttish nationalists fits into the narrative that the NKP embraces of, as Bullmann says, "real Werania" against liberal elites. In turn this benefits the Greens and Ruttish nationalists who seem be the only opposition to the NKP, leaving the SRPO with no clear role. It's paid political dividends to the NKP - at the recent Herrstag election the NKP was able to win a comfortable majority at the SRPO got only 13% of the vote to the Greens 19%.

This is a strategy straight from the Tribune playbook where it was used masterfully to destroy the traditional governing parties, the Etrurian Federalists and Social Democrats, with the hope of polarising politics around the Tribunes and the largely unorganised Citizens Alliance which like the Greens was popular amongst urban populations but lacked the electoral infrastructure or voter loyalty to translate that into effective opposition. But this strategy has been thrown off course in Etruria when the Social Democrats rejected a passive strategy in favour of a directly combative one under Chiara Mastromarino which has boosted their approval numbers, something the SRPO should take note of.

The SRPO has long been run by party strategists and pollsters who I suspect think they are a lot more clever then they actually are. But their endless prosperity to triangulate has resulted in nothing but political failure over the past half decade. This is despite the presence of popular leaders on the provincial level such as Bonnlitz-Ostbrücken's Kristina Lötzsch and Kolreuth's Bouthaina Ghalzaleh continuing to win election on centre-left platforms that proves the SRPO is still capable on some level of attracting political support.

The SRPO need to reassess what their values are, what their vision for Werania is and how they are going to implement that vision. If not they will be doomed to irrelevance - and deservedly so.

BENEDICT HOCHFICHT is a writer and political activist mainly focused on centre-left Weranian politics. He was the writer of the award-winning 2020 biography Last Hope: the rise and fall of Josef Felder.

by **Poshyte** » Tue Mar 23, 2021 7:04 am

Exclusive: Green-Socialists to demand Legislative Reform within weeks
Insiders in Feitsma's say that the party is drawing up plans to potentially Abolish the National Assembly if they fail to make substantial gains.

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ARKE RIJNDERS (@RIJNDERSARKE)
^{23 MAART 2021 | YNDYK, ALSLAND}

Secretary of the Environment Bene Feitsma speaking to the Zittau Assembly chamber last Thursday
Photo courtesy of the internet.

YNDYK, ALSLAND -
With the National Assembly elections only weeks away, the leftist Green-Socialist party is seeking to capitalise off it's position in the polls with a series of ad campaigns presenting themselves as the party of the left wing Middle Class in Yndyk and Wottested. Several polls from last week show that the party should be expecting to gain around 24% of the votes cast in the election which would give them more votes than any other party and potentially enough votes to surpass the National Bloc.

However the party has a problem, as their own leaders have admitted they have struggled to reach out to voters outside Alsland's cities and the 'Rykswei belt'. At the last election, exit polls suggested much of their support came from dissatisfied Progressive Alliance voters after the bloc campaigned on a centrist agenda as well as young first time voters. They were unable to gain many voters outside these traditionally left-wing areas which was seen in their poor performance outside of Yndyk.

This presents a unique challenge for them for the National Assembly which uses First past the post to elect it's 80 members. The party currently only has 1 seat in the Assembly, Wob Akema who represents Yndyk's 1st Assembly district. Akema who is the former mayor of Yndyk defected from the SDyD in 2017 and is facing an uphill battle to retain his seat from the SDyD. Many of the voters who would support the Green-Socialists are spread out throughout Alsland's cities and suburbs but it's rare that they would have enough numbers in one district to elect one of their own. Thus the party is relegated to the House which uses the Single Transferrable vote system, this produces a more proportional result than the Assembly.

The Greens' problem is a benefit for National Bloc parties who do well in the suburbs and rural areas and with the city of Wottested becoming competitive it's more likely than not that the Assembly will be a close race between the Progressive Alliance and the National Bloc despite what the polls might say.

Thus, according to leaked information by party insiders in a recent closed-door meeting the party leaders agreed that they would demand wide ranging reforms to the National Assembly in the coming weeks after the election if they fail to make "substantial gains" in the election. What the Greens definition of substantial means only time can tell but history can tell us what sort of reforms they want.

In 1998, the first Green Representative to the Folkssenaat pushed the Adalbrecht Brötzmann government to abolish Alsland's upper house and incorporate it into the House of Representatives. Despite relying on that representative to have a majority Brötzmann stood up for that branch of the government and refused to bow to pressure, thus protecting the assembly.

Again in 2003, Radical Party leader Rene Cox introduced legislation to abolish the Assembly but it was defeated by the Zijlstra government who called the idea silly. The Radical Party merged with the Green Party in 2006 after a disastrous election result to form the Green-Socialists.

Today, the government heavily relies on the Green-Socialists to have a majority. Without them Alsland would be thrown into political chaos and the future of Möller's government would be uncertain. The SDyD is now led by a newly radicalised Bonne Zijlstra who said he would be open to merging the two chambers into one and Co-Deputy Premier Vivienne Newman is one of the most outspoken critics of the Upper house. Whilst Möller has been silent on the issue, her centrist and reformist ideology may prove to be the death blow to Alsland's upper house and by extension the National Bloc and local representation which the government is seeking to kill with their local government reform plans.

Whatever may happen, the Alslandic upper house is one of the things that makes our nation so unique compared to our Euclean neighbours. The Green-Socialists plan is seeking to get rid of an institution that was specifically mentioned in our constitution and replace it with a Kirenian style legislature. Abolishing it will prove to be a mistake.

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by **Xiaodong** » Tue Mar 23, 2021 2:48 pm

Xiaodong will not return to non-proliferation talks until status of the Haishe islands is resolved, Defence Minister confirms
23 March, 2021| By Fu Bingbing

Defence Minister Zhao Qinghai making a public announcement

RONGZHUO - Defence Minster Zhao Qinghai today has confirmed that Xiaodong does not currently have plans to re-enter the Nuclear Arms Limitation and Non-proliferation Talks with Senria until issues regarding the Haishe islands are resolved.

Defence Minister Zhao stated that the Xiaodongese stated as a pre-condition for talks that Senria must denuclearise the Haishe islands - known in Senria as the Sunahamas islands - which are currently are occupied by Senria. Zhao stated that this would be a "sign of goodwill" prior to further talks and that as the islands are disputed between the two states it would advance the "non-proliferation process substantially".

"Xiaodong is committed to seeing a nuclear-free world, but it must be a multilateral process" Zhao stated. "If Senria continues to maintain nuclear capabilities across the islands it reflects that they are not committed to the cause of nuclear non-proliferation and so further talks with them will yield no further positive results."

The Nuclear Arms Limitation and Non-proliferation Talks were a series of bilateral meetings, held every five years between Xiaodong and Senria, that sought to encourage both nations to find ways to prevent nuclear buildup between the two nations between 1999 to 2019. The talks had some noticeable successes such as in 2004 when both nations agreed to pause development on new missile programmes.

The 2019 talks however were suspended after Xiaodong refused to arrange them during a naval dispute between Estmere and Zorasan which saw Senria vocally attack Xiaodong's ally. Foreign Minister Xu Bangguo claimed at the time that the Senrian stance showed they "weren't serious about peace making in south Coius" and that holding talks would be "a waste of time". Neither side has agreed on acceptable terms to start talks again as both countries have published mutually irreconcilable preconditions for further discussions.

The Haishe islands have been part of Xiaodong for centuries before they were illegally annexed by Gaullica during the 19th century and renamed the Archipel de Pilote. Following the Great War they were annexed again illegally into Senria where they have subsequently been the site of severe human right abuses and repression from Senrian authorities. Xiaodong has referred the case of the islands to the Community of Nations Trusteeship Committee on the grounds of Senria preventing their self-determination and to the Commission for Human Rights regarding Senrian abuses numerous times since 1957, although Senrian domination of the security council in the CN has stymied progress on the issue.

The Xiaodongese government has confirmed that it wishes to see a "resumption of the Nuclear Arms Limitation and Non-proliferation Talks for 2021" but has outlined several preconditions for restarting talks. These include ensuring that allegations of human right abuses and the issue of Heijiang be not up for discussion in the talks, for Senria to declare the Haishe islands a nuclear-free zone and for the talks to be held in a neutral country, with Xiaodong suggesting Kumuso as a potential forum for this purpose.

by **Qianrong** » Fri Mar 26, 2021 4:42 am

TAKAMATU: XIAODONGESE CONDITIONS FOR TALKS "UNACCEPTABLE"
Status of Sunahamas, Kuthine territorial integrity "not up for debate",
says Rites Minister; Xiaodong urged to respect international treaty law

Takamatu emphasized Senria's commitment to the upholding of international law, citing the treaties
of Keisi and Shanbally as crucial examples.

March 26, 2021 | by Moriyasu Akibahara | Minister of Rites Yumi Takamatu has told the press that the conditions laid out by Xiaodongese Defense Minister Zhao Qinghai for a resumption of Senro-Xiaodongese nuclear non-proliferation talks were "on the whole unacceptable", claiming that they represented unacceptable impingements upon international treaty law and the territorial sovereignty of Senria and Kuthina.

Defense Minister Zhao made his remarks, which laid out a series of preconditions under which Xiaodong would resume its participation in the Nuclear Arms Limitation and Non-Proliferation Talks, on March 23rd. These preconditions included a prohibition on discussion of human rights in either country, the unilateral denuclearization of the Sunahama Islands (claimed by Xiaodong as the "Haishe Islands") by Senria, a prohibition on the discussion of the Xiaodongese occupation of Kuthina's Hameung province (referred to as "Heijiang" in Xiaodong), and the hosting of the talks in a neutral country.

The Nuclear Arms Limitation and Non-Proliferation Talks are a series of bilateral diplomatic summits that were held every five years from 1999 to 2014, focusing upon preventing the proliferation of nuclear weaponry and maintenance of international peace in Coius. The round of talks slated for 2019 was abruptly called off by Xiaodong that year, an action undertaken by Xiaodong after Senria criticized Zorasan, an ally of Xiaodong, for conducting the extrajudicial murder of Zorasani dissident Assad Erekat in Ashcombe, Estmere.

The next round of talks, if they go ahead as regularly scheduled, would occur in 2024, though Xiaodongese media suggested that Xiaodong would consider scheduling the next round of talks for this year if an agreement on preconditions could be reached.

Speaking to the press today, Rites Minister Takamatu reaffirmed Senria's commitment to peace and nuclear non-proliferation in southern Coius, describing the issue as "imperative", and stated that Senria "continues to hope for the resumption of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Talks" as part of the country's broader peacekeeping and diplomatic efforts.

However, she described the conditions laid out by Xiaodong as "on the whole unacceptable", saying that while Senria could assent to a prohibition on the discussion of human rights, and the hosting of talks in a neutral country, the other two conditions laid forth by Xiaodong represented unacceptable impingements upon the principles of territorial integrity and adherence to international treaty law.

"I agree with Defense Minister Zhao that nuclear non-proliferation should and must be a multilateral process, and for that reason I am unable to accept his demand that Senria unilaterally demilitarize the Sunahama Islands without any comparable concession by Xiaodong," she stated. "The status of the Sunahama Islands as territory under Senrian sovereignty, and by extension Senrian military protection, was established by the Treaty of Keisi in 1935, and is not up for debate in this or any context."

"Should Xiaodong engage in some sort of comparable action - for example, a cessation on the development of new nuclear missiles, and a cessation of the sharing of missile technology between itself and the Union of Zorasani Irfanic Republics - then Senria could consider the relocation of certain assets from the Sunahamas," she added, "but we will not act until we can be sure Xiaodong is operating in good faith and in the spirit of multilateralism."

"International law, including international treaty law, is crucial for the maintenance of peace in south Coius and across the world, and Senria is committed to their upholding," she continued. "Should Xiaodong show a willingness to accept and uphold the Treaty of Keisi and the Treaty of Shanbally, as Senria does, then Senria will be more than happy to work with Xiaodong on this count. Unfortunately, at this time, Xiaodong has not taken that commitment."

The prohibition on any discussion of Heijiang was also unacceptable to Senria, Takamatu declared. "The acts of military aggression undertaken by Xiaodong-backed paramilitaries and the Xiaodongese armed forces in Kuthine territory not only show a disrespect for the fundamental principle of territorial integrity, they represent one of the greatest extant threats to peace in southern Coius. Any meaningful effort to protect peace in south Coius must, by necessity, include a discussion of the issue of Xiaodongese aggression against Kuthina."

Takamatu also proposed that the talks be hosted in Arthakhand or Rajyaghar, where Zhao had proposed that they be hosted in the central Coian nation of Kumuso.

She concluded by reiterating Senria's willingness for talks, but insisted that these talks had to be based upon "reasonable conditions, respect for territorial sovereignty and international treaty law, and a commitment to multilateralism in action".

MORIYASU AKIBAHARA is a staff writer at Mainiti Sinbun. He graduated from Keisi University with a degree in journalism in 1998, and worked with both Keisi Sinbun and Sakata Sinbun before coming to Mainiti Sinbun. He currently lives in Keisi with his wife.

by **Union of Akoren** » Fri Mar 26, 2021 1:17 pm

by **The Holy Dominion of Inesea** » Fri Mar 26, 2021 3:44 pm

by **Xiaodong** » Sat Mar 27, 2021 6:52 pm

The Sunahamas islands which continue to be disputed between Senria and Xiaodong.

Opinion - the case for denuclearising the Sunahamas islands.
Xiaodong's reasoning may be faulty. But denuclearising the Sunahamas is morally right - and could be a diplomatic coup for Senria.
Stéphane Dubuisson reporting from Aoyama, Senria
March 28, 2021

The recent spat between Senria and Xiaodong has focused attention once again on the Sunahamas islands, the small archipelago that lies south to the Honghai sea under the Senrian jurisdiction. Rongzhuo have demanded that the islands be denuclearised as a precondition to further disarmament talks between the two, a demand coolly brushed off by Keisi. But is there merit to do so?

The Sunahamas relationship with Senria is complicated. They were annexed by the country in 1934 at the end of the Great War, when the Senrian government occupied the islands (then owned by Gaullica under the name of the Archipel de Pilote) following the collapse of the Gaullican empire. The islands were predominantly settled by Xiao people in the late Jiao and Toki dynasties, although Senrian senkou pirates had previously set up base on the islands throughout the 15th century. Following the Senrian annexation the islands became the Myouri prefecture although was de facto run under a military administration as Senria expanded the former Gaullican naval base to become one of it's largest across it's territory, being a key component to republican armed forces naval and aerial strategy.

Xiaodong maintains the islands were illegally annexed by Gaullica and that the Grand Alliance had no right to transfer the islands to Senria as they were not legally part of the Gaullican Empire. Since the Coastal Crisis the islands have become one of the more high-profile disputes between Senria and Xiaodong, with Senria claiming the transfer was legitimate and that Xiaodongese aims are expansionist and aggressive in nature.

But the islands have also gained infamy for another reason - in the latter half of the 20th century they were the location of numerous nuclear weapons tests by Senria. The first of these, Daibasan, was done in 1964 shortly before the signing of the Shanbally treaty after Senria cleared the southmost island of its inhabitants before detonating the bomb. Continued nuclear tests have resulted in locals in the region to often participate in anti-nuclear campaigns that have highlighted the damaging legacy of the nuclear tests, including radiation poisoning, among the local community.

These nuclear tests have as such been one of the most common flashpoints in disagreements over the islands status. The Xiaodongese have alleged the tests have done enormous damage to the Sunahaman people and have called for a denuclearisation of the islands and compensation for the islanders as a result. The ethnic Xiao inhabitants of the island tend to be strongly anti-nuclear - the Constitutional Prosperity Alliance, the main party supported by ethnic Xiaos in Senria, often vocally supports anti-nuclear causes. Houmen Ou, the CPA's leader, is most recognisable for having called for Senria to unilaterally abandon nuclear weapons being one of the few Senrian politicians to do so.

The nuclear issue plays a strong role in elections in Sunahamas, which are particularly polarised as the main competitors are the CPA supported by ethnic Xiao's and the ruling Aikokutou (Patriotic Party) which is primarily supported by servicemen deployed on the island and their families. As such denuclearisation of the islands strongly ties into the political debate within the Sunahamas itself.

The Xiaodongese call to denuclearise the islands has been dismissed as a rather unsubtle attempt to gain a strategic advantage. Xiaodongese leaders would like nothing better then to demilitarise the Sunahamas islands, thereby allowing them a greater opening to threaten or annex the territory. Denuclearisation would represent a coup de grâce for Xiaodongese strategists who believe an unrelenting campaign of pressure on Senria to align with Xiaodongese interests will weaken the latter to give Xiaodong the status as the uncontested most powerful nation in Coius.

Even if the Xiaodongese attempt is a genuine desire to affirm Senria's rhetorical commitment to some form of nuclear non-proliferation Xiaodong's lack of own action in this regard has undermined its message. This is the stance the Senrian government has decided to take, refusing to consider the denuclearisation of the Sunhamas or abiding by Xiaodongese preconditions for continuing bilateral talks unless Xiaodong itself implements some form of denuclearisation.

But is there something to be said for unilateral denuclearisation of the islands? Contrary to popular opinion, this could be a shrewd move that plays in Senria's favour. For starters, denuclearisation would undoubtedly help the cause of global disarmament. More importantly for Senria however it would do much to repair relations with the Xiao community on the islands. The Xiao community has not compared to their counterparts in Jindao and Kuthina shown a strong desire to reintegrate into Xiaodong - whilst this is undoubtedly partly due to Senrian government repression part of it may also be that having been separated from the Xiaodongese mainland for centuries the Sunahaman Xiao's have attained a distinct identity. By denuclearising the islands the Senrian government will have taken away one of the most long-running source of resentment on the island and in a single move have made Xiaodongese attempts to appeal to the people of the islands much more difficult.

Despite being the nation's first female prime minister, Okura
has largely followed a conservative course in power.

Another factor in favour of unilateral denuclearisation would be it would enable Senria to take the moral high ground and shift pressure to Xiaodong. Senria could make a permanent denuclearisation of the Sunahamas dependent on in any non-proliferation meeting a successful outcome that substantially reduces Xiaodongese nuclear capabilities and restore nuclear weapons to the islands only if Xiaodong is unable to seriously commit to denuclearisation itself. This would make Senria look like a champion of multilateral efforts of denuclearisation abroad and would put enormous pressure on Xiaodong to actually denuclearise - if a deal fell through blame would be assigned solely to Xiaodong rather then Senria.

It's unlikely however such an outcome would occur. The biggest obstacle is the perception that denuclearising the Sunahamas would make Senria's leaders look "weak on Xiaodong", a reputation no Senrian leader wishes to attain. Ever since Tokiyasu Kitamura ended the occupation of the Kaoming peninsula in 1958 and it's remilitarisation twelve years later appearing to concede to Xiaodongese demands is a taboo act in Senrian politics. Since Kitamura only one prime minister, Sigesato Izumi, has attempted a policy of rapprochement after two decades of hardline anti-concessionist policy under Kiyosi Haruna with Izumi being criticised widely for "appeasing" Xiaodong. His successor, Hayato Nisimura, dealt with a mediocre domestic record by emulating Haruna's anti-Xiaodongese posturing which resulted in both the 2009 and 2014 nuclear non-proliferation talks with Xiaodong to be ineffective.

Senria's current premier, Reika Okura, has not rested her career on anti-Xiaodongese sentiment having mostly been associated with economic affairs at the Revenue Ministry. However she has relied on "Xiao bashers" like Justice Minister Masayosi Uehara, Defence Minister Hiroto Tomimoto, Personnel Minister (and wife to Hayato) Ayane Nisimura and National Assembly Chairman Seitarou Nakagawa to consolidate power and so has largely followed the policies of Nisimura. With economic growth and living standards stagnating Okura has little room to pursue reconciliation policies with Xiaodong particularly as Xiaodong's leader Yuan Xiannian is widely reviled in Senria for his genocide denialism.

This is a pity. Xiaodong's aggressive actions should not determine Senria's foreign policy nor should it drag Senria down to it's level. Denuclearising the Sunahamas would be an unpopular move in Senria but it would be exactly the kind of unexpected move that would severely wrongfoot Xiaodong and give Senria the moral high ground. If done smartly and confidently it could be a decisive moment in non-proliferation efforts in Coius and be a stepping stone to a lasting agreement on the issue between Xiaodong and Senria.

Would it be a risky move? No doubt. But it would constitute exactly the kind of bold leadership that the most important democracy in Coius desperately needs. Senria rose to the top because it's leaders were innovative and seized the initiative when presented with an opportunity. Unless it's leaders can think outside the box again it's doomed to repeat the same old mistakes over and over again.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the position of the Coian Monitor.

by **Nuvania** » Sun Mar 28, 2021 9:49 pm

Airports, Banks Targeted In Apparent Cyberattack

SHARE

Simon Dyers (@SimonDyers)
29 March (3:00pm)|PIETERSBURG

Hackers caused widespread disruption at airports and banks across Nuvania.

Flights have been cancelled and banking services disrupted after an apparent cyberattack on computer systems belonging to airports and banks operating in Nuvania.

Nuvania's largest airports ground to a halt for more than six hours this morning, resulting in the delay or cancellation of more than one thousand flights. Infrakor, the state-owned holdings and maintenance company for national infrastructure, said through a statement that it was "investigating outages at major airport across Nuvania", with the airports serving Niekerk, Philipsbaai, Pietersburg, Vryburg, and Windstrand all affected by the outages. The statement said that the attacks targeted the check-in systems as well as aspects of air traffic control, although it did not say specifically what these aspects were.

Joanne Peterson, a spokeswoman with the Civil Aviation Bureau, said that the CAB was investigating these attacks, saying it was also cooperating with the National Security Bureau in determining the source of these attacks as well as ways to improve cyber security for Nuvania's airport systems. Peterson would not comment on the nature of the attacks but did say that they were "sophisticated enough to compromise sensitive systems and networks within Nuvania's major airports."
"This is definitely an attack that could not have been carried out by a lone individual," she said. "At this stage it looks very much like a coordinated effort to shut down the booking systems and other operational systems of our airports."

Peterson said that Infrakor's utilisation of the same operating systems across airports for aspects such as check-in did not contribute to the vulnerability of the airports to cyberattacks. She said that they had received advice from the NSB on cybersecurity and protection of these systems, and that these were specific to each airport and not connected to a wider network.
"It is unlikely that this spread from one airport to another," she said. "Each airport was selected and targeted because of its operational significance to Nuvania's domestic and international air networks."

State owned airline NLM released a statement saying that refunds would be available for customers whose flights were cancelled by the disruption, and also offered other compensation for passengers whose flights were delayed. The airline confirmed that it did not have any direct attack upon its own computer systems but had experienced delays at manned and self check-in counters at major airports. It said that the airline would be undergoing a review of its own cybersecurity measures in the wake of this attack.

Banks also suffered significant outages to its systems, with the Bank of Nuvania, Postbank Nuvania, the National Building Society, and Volksbank reporting total outages of their systems, which inclued denial of service attacks against websites and complete shutdowns of computer systems in bank branches. The Arucian Investment Bank was the only Nuvanian bank to report no outages or significant disruptions, but did have its website targeted by a denial of service attack.

Greg Putter, a spokesperson for the Nuvanian Association of Banks, said that its members were collectively responding to the attacks, and that they were evaluating any damage or loss of private data. He said that the NAB wanted to assure customers of the affected banks that it is currently believed that no personal information was stolen or accessed.
"We believe at this point that the attack was intent on causing disruption to the banking systems in Nuvania," he said. "Customers of our member banks can be assured that personal data was not accessed and therefore no data breaches occurred at this point." Putter said that people concerned about their personal data should contact the bank that they are with.

These attacks come after increased tensions in the West Arucian Sea between Chistovodia and its ally Maracao, and the wider democratic states within the Asterias. Recently the revelations of increased Chistovodian naval presence prompted a diplomatic reaction from numerous Asterian states, including a resolution tabled at the Community of Nations last month to condemn Chistovodia's actions in the West Arucian Sea. The resolution, which Nuvania helped to draft, failed, prompting a war of words between Chistovodia and a number of states that border the West Arucian Sea. Prior to that, Chistovodia had interned a Satucine ship in the Kosene Sea, prompting a diplomatic crisis between both countries. The effects of the Pico de Sangue eruption in Maracao in September last year are believed by a number of analysts to have resulted in a significant increase in Chistovodian military activities.

While neither the NSB nor the government have laid blame on Chistovodia for today's cyberattacks, analysts have noted that Chistovodia is one of the likely sources for these attacks, and other sophisticated hacks and data breaches. Johannes Vergeer, a cyber-security expert, said that Chistovodia possessed "among some of the most accomplish hackers in the world", and said that it was very likely given recent events that it would engage in non-direct retaliatory attacks against certain states in the West Arucian region.
"It's very likely that this came if not from the government themselves, then certainly from groups associated with, or paid by, the Chistovodian government," he said. "The latter is probably more likely due to the two degrees of separation between the government and any hacking groups." Vergeer said that Nuvania was "particularly vulnerable" to attacks given the slow implementation of recommendations and measures laid out in a 2017 NSB report to the then Marten government for the protection of important civilian and government computer systems and networks.
"Essentially the NSB said we're behind the ball on cybersecurity and that it was likely that we'd be the targets of attacks by both state and non-state actors," he said. "Today is a timely reminder of what the risks that we take if we don't take this seriously now."

Chief Minister, and Minister of the Intelligence Services and Cybersecurity, Andrew Bohn, said that the government would be looking into who conducted the attacks and reviewing existing cybersecurity measures. He said that it was "absolutely paramount" that any breaches be identified and culprits found.
"This is so we can be explicit in our condemnations of these attacks on our civilian systems which not only cause disruption, but have the potential to threaten lives."

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by **The Kingdom of Eldmark** » Mon Mar 29, 2021 11:48 am

©af.el 2021

GLOBAL

#VAL2021: "What the actual f---" says unnamed Liberal Will party staffer. [ 42,311 ]
CYBERSPACED OUT: Should we be worried about our cybersecurity infrastructure after what happened to Nuvania?[ 32,321 ]
SUNSET ON THE SUNAHAMAS: Age old tensions between far-western powers seem to flare up, yet again. Here's why the islands are so contested, and why nothing will ultimately come of the most recent showdown. [ 41,165 ]
THE EUCLEAN QUESTION: With the apparent victory of the AFP, is Eldmark to join the likes of Caldia and Solstiana? Or will they choke like SRPO? [ 34,163 ]

by **Union of Akoren** » Mon Mar 29, 2021 1:31 pm

by **Lefkosea** » Mon Mar 29, 2021 2:57 pm

← ⟳ → | https://PícasicodeTelevisión.net

President Sáenz declares war on "false news"
Published at 2021-03-29 14:11Z
Reported by Esperanza Céspedes
Tagged as Picasia, Lautaro Sáenz
President Lautaro Sáenz will sign a set of executive orders this week targeting "harmful and fake media".

President Sáenz is expected to sign wide ranging measures to crackdown against harmful and fake media sources according to Press Secretary Abel Mastache.

ALARCIO - After a distressing report was published by a Congressional body on state security about the dangers of so called "fake news", President Sáenz is expected to sign a series of wide ranging executive orders targeting extremist, false and anti-Picasian content on media sites and newspapers later this week according to official government statements.

The report details the distressing rise in harmful material published in websites posing as legitimate news sites within Picasia such as an article on a banned extremist website promoting the assassination of President Sáenz. The report says that the current Media Security laws adopted by Congress in 2020 don't grant law enforcement agencies enough powers to tackle harmful material and is leading to a rise in dangerous behaviour particularly among those who frequently use the internet as their primary source of information.

Councillor Veronica Magrina who chairs the Congressional Committee on Media Security called the report "harrowing" and urged Congress and President Sáenz to act immediately to prevent the spread of such harmful material.

"What this report details is the rise in extremist and frankly un-Picasian behaviour online. I along with all of my colleagues were shocked at the extent of this problem within our society. As the report states in it's conclusion, we must strengthen our existing laws and pass new wide-ranging laws to allow members of our law enforcement agencies to fight against the enemy in this war against dangerous information spread online by primarily foreign actors seeking to tear our country apart."

Press Secretary Abel Mastache confirmed during his weekly press briefing that the government is drafting wide ranging executive orders to grant Congress and the police further powers to take down any harmful content.

Far-right Councillor Gustavo Mariano led criticism of the swift action taken by the government. Mariano accused Sáenz of attempting to establish a dictatorship. Councillor Mariano previously praised Military officials in 1980 when he led pro-junta groups and called for attacks and reprisals innocent protesters demanding change.

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by **Xiaodong** » Mon Mar 29, 2021 3:46 pm

Bullmann - Weranians face a "demographic extinction" under current immigration system
Interior Minister invokes conspiracy theory that suggests that ethnic Weranians will become a minority by 2060.

Hermann Springer
29 March 2021 | Westbrücken, Werania

File photo of Interior Minister Jörg Bullmann.
Photo courtesy of AV photos.

WIESSTADT, WERANIA - Interior Minister Jörg Bullmann sparked outrage today when in a speech to NKP supporters in his home city of Wiesstadt the minister stated that Werania's immigration policies must change or Werania will face a "demographic extinction".

"We have one of the lowest birthrates in the world, lower even then most Euclean countries" Bullmann stated. "And people in Coius and the Asteria's who are coming here...well they have higher rates. Weranians from those places have long left them, but we are continuing to have opened the floodgates in the world's poor seemingly out of some historical guilt. But I don't want to become a minority in my own country. Unless the immigration system changes, we'll be facing a demographic extinction as a people."

In later parts of the speech Bullmann outlined policies that the government intends to implement to tighten non-EC migration including making knowledge of Weranian mandatory for all potential migrants, restricting the eligibility of marriage visas and introducing restrictions for businesses so they hire less non-EC labour. Bullmann also stated that the immigration system will seek to put adherence to "Weranian values" at the heart of it's immigration policy although did not say what this entailed.

In stating Weranians will become a minority in the future Bullmann is invoking a conspiracy theory that claims that Eucleans are being demographically and culturally replaced with non-Euclean peoples through mass migration. The theory is popular with white nationalists and often claims that the Euclean Community is responsible for pursuing this policy.

Bullmann's s speech has widely been criticised across the political spectrum as racist. SRPO leader Luise Höcherl stated she was "utterly shocked" that a federal minister had engaged in such "flagrant and obvious racism" calling upon Bullmann to resign as Interior Minister. Greens co-leader Josef Kirui, the only major non-white party leader, stated that the speech showed "Bullmann and the NKP are institutionally racist and should be utterly ashamed of themselves for both failing to tackle the issues Bahian, Coian and other minority ethnic groups face and engaging in horribly racist rhetoric".

The Chancellors office has not responded to the speech, although the Interior and Heimat Ministry stated that Bullmann had been "taken out of context" and that the Ministry is "committed to combatting racism in all it's forms.".

13.1% of the Weranian population does not identify as white according to the last census figures with 5.2% of the population alone being black. The highest number of foreign-born people in Werania come from Yemet and Masari, two former Weranian colonies located in Bahia. Many of the first non-white migrants to Werania were gastarbeiter (guest workers') who only had a right to residence rather then citizenship. This changed in the 1990's when the Weranian government amended immigration policies to be more accommodating of non-EC migration.

Comments [ 12251 ] |

12251 comments

biekner453 · 1 hour ago
Typical NKP. The mask comes off, and we see them as the racists they've always been.

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vongoblin · 1 hour ago
How is telling the truth racist....?

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oversizedxiao · 1 hour ago
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