ANDREAPOLSKIJE WESTY (Andreapol News Agency)

[Andreapol]

I) Politics

The Controversial Education Reform Bill has been approved by Seim.

The bill on Educational reform has passed the third reading in Seim with 373 of MP voted in favor, 10 abstained and 317 MP voted against the bill. It now will be delivered to the Senate and if approved will require the Monarch's agreement to make the Bill into an Act which is a just a formality. The bill was introduced by Social-Democratic Party of Andreapol and supported by LAP and EA.

Bill Summery:

• Full secondary education shall be considered to be completed when 11 grades are passed.
• Every school must provide the education in the National language and one regional language. At least one regional language must be taught to all pupils.
• Sex education must be now part of the Curriculum for the pupils from the 8th grade on.
• Academical year will now start on the 1st of September and last until the 31st of May for primery and secondary levels.

The opposition has been very critical of the bill. The leader of the far-right Andreapol for Andreapolians Party Jānis Andersons has called the Sex Education proposal to be “an assault on the family” and “a war on morality and on our spirituality”.

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Jānis Andersons

A couple hundreds of protester have gathered to protest the new bill by the doors of Seim.

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II) World
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III) Disasters and Accidents

Three dead and several injured after bridge collapses in suburbs of Duagava

A 14-year-old boy, a woman and a bus driver are dead after a bridge collapsed into a river near Duagava on Thurday, authorities said. The mother of the deceased teenager was among five people rescued from the water, the prosecutor added.

The Internal Ministry said in a statement that the specific causes of the accident were still "unknown."

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IV) Economics
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V) Culture

The National Theatre has been opened after 5 years of major rebuilding and renovation.

Queen Natalia I Theatre has finally re-opened yesterday with a concert featuring international artists and the ballet and opera companies. The first staged ballet, Dark Lake, followed soon after.

From July 2015 to May 2020 the theatre was closed for restoration. It had undergone many renovations in its time, but none as extensive. The building, whose architecture combines three different

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, was damaged and a quick renovation seemed to be necessary.

Repairs were initially estimated at 7 billion kroner but engineers found that more than 75% of the structure was unstable and as a result the cost estimate jumped to 15.5 billion kroner.

The renovation included an improvement in acoustics, to attempt to replicate the sound believed to have existed in the Empire and the restoration of the original

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decor.

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07/05/20
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[Andreapol]

MAIN NEWS OF THE DAY​

I) Economics

Andreapol 'increasingly experimenting' with six-hour workdays

An increasing number of businesses in Andreapol are said to be experimenting with six-hour working days.

Reports say that Persontal service centres in Staritsa switched 8 years ago, and more recently an app developer and a retirement home made the change.

Productivity is said to be up compared to eight-hour days. Staff are reportedly happier, with more time spent outside work.

Mrs. A. Strasznikowa, a Persontal's employee said:

"I feel so much better now when I have to work only 6 hours per day. It makes my day less stressful and more joyful. I even wake up looking forward to go to my work and finish it looking forward to come back home. Isn't it happiness?"

In return though employees are banned from using social media at work; there are fewer pauses and meetings… the aim being that staff will be more motivated to work more intensively.

Many other companies in Andreapol are considering to adjust their employees' schedules.

PM Maria Sobol has recently announced that her party was planning to draw a bill that if accepted would make it mandatory for employers in Andreapol to only have their employees work six hours per day.

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Persontel's headquarter


II) Society

Karolina Tolmaczewa starts a new show

Karolina Tolmaczewa's TV show "Eszczjo Nie Wieczer" will start airing today on Channel One. The show's aim is to specifically tackle a growing problem of domestic violence as well as other issues, such as LGBT+ rights, equal pay, sexual violence and sexual harassment.

The show will take Interview genre with different politicians, activists, as well as victims of any type of violence invited.

The head of the privately owned Channel One Marina Pirogowa was heard as saying:

"I believe this talk show is essential as it touches some very sensitive topics in our country. Domestic violence is a disaster in Andreapol, with thousands of women dying from domestic-violence-related injuries every year! We need to make the government see what is really going on and make them reconsider the current anti-violence policy that has proven to be ineffective."

Ms. Tolmaczewa is a prominent feminist that is famous for her social activism and a series of books on gender equality. Her show can be watched on Channel One every Friday at 6pm.

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III) Culture

8th Day Siren

A traditional 8th day Siren sound has taken place a couple of hours ago - a very old tradition dating back to 1920 that keeps sparking controversy. Reporter Ingeborga Tadius:

"Every 8-th day of the month 12 noon Andreapol traditionally turns on its air raid alarm. This siren has also become the alarm for other disasters over the last couple of decades. It sounds for 2 minutes and a half and has become something of a nostalgic tradition now for most Andreapolian people (unless you’ve actually lived through that one air raid in Andreapol 50 something years ago) due to any threat of an imminent attack being non-existent

That's how it sounds:"

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Not everyone enjoys this tradition with some 37% of Andreapolians polled by Kurlanda Polling centre last month saying they would rather abolish the practice. Some of the staunch anty-siren activists were interviewed today:

"I understand that's how they check the sirens, but surely there's a better way to do it instead of just scaring people like that every month!" - Nikolay Timoszenko, 49

"I just hate it! Those events were more than 50 years ago, it's time we just leave it all behind, isn't? Every 8th of every month my kids freak out because of those frightening sounds, my dog was about to jump off the balcony last March! Where are the animal protection services?! Something has to be done here." - Anna Kaczynska, 35

Still, many people find joy in this tradition, as the Government confirmed there were no plans to review it any time soon.


08/05/20
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[Andreapol]

MAIN NEWS OF THE DAY
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I) City Life

A new metro station has opened today in Andreapol city.

The 18th metro station Virumaa at Line 2 has been opened by the mayor of Andreapol, Alexander Smirnow earlier today. The 15.3km line now has 9 stations, with the opening adding another 2.4km to it.

The new metro station will improve transit access for a hundred thousands of residents, mr. Smirnow said, and would relieve pressure on the overloaded Sirenewy Park metro station.

The station was named after the neighboring country as a sign of historical friendship between Andreapol and Virumaa. The district where the metro station is located is a historical area that used to be populated by a sizable Virunian community in the 19th century. Through the 20th century, though, many Virunians either moved to the Apostolic Kingdom or assimilated into the local culture. By the latest population census among citizens of the Kingdom of Andreapol in 2018, there were only 305 Virunian native speakers left, most of whom were over 60 years old.

The metro's station design was done using traditional Virunian's colours and by strong cooperation with Virunian's architects.

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Andreapolian Metro Map

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New Station

II) Religion

Should the government sponsor the Church?

Another orthodoxy church was reopened yesterday near Staritsa after its dome was restored which sparked a series of new talks about necessity of government sponsoring these type of projects.

"I think the taxpayers' money should not be spent like that. We are a secular country after all where religious people are a minority. It's high time we impose something like a church tax for those who still attend the church. The money can be used to maintain the functioning of churches and cover all future restoration expenses as well as the salaries of clerics. I believe the Three Churches enjoy far too many privileges in this country and it's high time we do something about it" - said the leader of the party of Marx and Leninov Anastasija Loszkina.

"Well, I'm not religious myself but I think the government should still pay for the repairing works. It's our history and our culture whether we like it or not. Churches attract a lot of tourists so taking care of them pays back." - Jaroslaw Puszkin, the head of Tourism committee in the City Hall of Andrepol city.

"Our parish has been decreasing constantly for the last 15 years. Even on Sundays there are usually hardly 50 attenders in my church. There are less people who want to marry in the Church or baptise their kid. How should we survive? We are unable to cover even usual maintenance works, let alone anything bigger than that" - Archbishop of Staritsa, Wladimir Jakowlew.

All religious organisations from the three main Christian denominations - Ortodoxy, Tiburan Catholicism and Lindvallanism are generally exempt from all sorts of income and property taxes which is constantly questioned by many in the country where over 50% identify themselves as irreligious. The government usually covers up to 90% of Restoration works for churches that were built more than 50 years ago with the rest of money usually collected from the parish, private investors and religious objects and services sell revenues.

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The newly restored St. Mary's of Staritsa Church.

III) Politics

A referendum on euthanasia is to be

A referendum on the question of whether to legalise voluntary euthanasia for those with a terminal illness and less than six months left to live if approved by two doctors has been announced today by the Prime Minster, Maria Sobol. The announcement comes as the Seim has finally accepted the legislation that provides the legal basis for the vote, sets the question, the franchise (who can vote), the date and the conduct rules for the poll. The majority of MPs have voted in favour with only 178 voted against.


A poll in January 2020 found that 61% of the public supported some kind of assisted dying for the terminally ill.

A Verkhnyadzvinsk widow Hanna Bandar says:

"After seeing my husband die an agonising death last year I will definitely vote "yer" in the euthanasia referendum"

Maxim Szestakow, a parliamentarian from Monarchical Party, who voted "against" the referendum comments:

"Legalising euthanasia would have a wide range of profoundly detrimental effects. It would diminish the protection offered to the lives of all. It would allow the killing of people who do not genuinely volunteer to be killed, and any safeguards, although initially observed, would inevitably weaken over time."

Ingeborga Skvernelis, Senior Lecturer in Social Medicine, Duagawa Medical School:

"The right to die should be a matter of personal choice. We are able to choose all kinds of things in life from who we marry to what kind of work we do and I think when one comes to the end of one’s life, whether you have a terminal illness or whether you’re elderly, you should have a choice about what happens to you…"


The referendum will take place on the 31st of May. If over half of respondents vote in support of the legislation, it will become law exactly three months after the final vote count is announced. The question asked of voters will be:

Do you support the Life Termination Choice Act 2020 coming into force?
The two options will be:
Yes, I support the Life Termination Choice Act 2020 coming into force.
No, I do not support the Life Termination Choice Act 2020 coming into force.

While euthanasia is enjoying more and more support among population, over nine hundred doctors signed an open letter saying that they "want no part in assisted suicide".


11/05/20
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[Andreapol]

MAIN NEWS OF THE DAY

Royal Guard Is Over
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The "International" Military Music Festival "Royal Guard" 2020 that had been largely ignored by the international community officially closed yesterday.

The festival that was meant to be international hosted only two nations: The Federal Kingdom of Etruria and the Kingdom of Andreapol itself. Despite a scarce amount of participants the Festival was a success, the Minister of Defense Samanta Klavins, said. In her statement, she also thanked the Federal Kingdom of Etruria for its participation and brilliant performance which she emphasised was "highly appreciated by everyone". "We are sure that Etruria´s participation will be a start for a long-lasting warm relationship and potential military cooperation between our two countries" - said mrs. Klavins.

The traditional annual Festival opened on Friday on the Korona Square in Andreapol and was run until May 17. The Festival is famous for being a platform for military music bands and regiments coming together to perform their best both technically and musically. The organisers make sure that interesting and little-known facts about the history of Andreapolian and foreign military

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are shown. Here are some photos:

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Andreapolian Royal Leibgarde playing Old Russka March

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Lancieri delle pianure di Donesia from @Etruria performing for public in the Royal Park prior to the second day of the Festival

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The Royal Military Band went for some rock

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Fireworks are seen by the royal official residence Natalia Palace during the closing day of "Royal Guard 2020"

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18/05/20
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