APwire ~ Affiliated Press News Agency

[Serbovia]

Serbovian-Thrakian border forces kill five militants in clash
AP Petrovgrad

A joint operation between the Serbovian military and North Thrakian security forces has resulted in the deaths of five militants of unspecified affiliation in the border area of Serbovia and North Thrakia in the vicinity of the Serbovian border town of Urosevac. The North Thrakia Security Corps announced that the militants, who were carrying small arms, explosives and unspecified paramilitary equipment, were apparently trying to cross from North Thrakia into Serbovian territory.

After they were detected by a North Thrakian UAV, border patrols were dispatched from both sides to try and apprehend the militants. A spokesman of the North Thrakia Security Corps said that the militant group had opened fire on the security forces, after which a gunfight broke out resulting in the deaths of the entire five-man militant group. At least two North Thrakian paramilitaries were wounded in the incident.

Serbovian and Thrakian spokesmen declined to comment on the motivations of the group in attempting to enter Serbovia. The incident is being investigated by Serbovian and Thrakian authorities. Thrakian militants opposed to the presence of foreign powers on Thrakian soil have frequently attempted to launch attacks inside South Serbovia, and spokesmen refused to confirm or deny whether there were indications of any such attack plans relating to this incident.

 

[Thaumantica]

Thrakian-Ogkhurk Peace-Group
Wanted International Source for Healing

Violence in this neighborhood is unnecessary because rebuilding is constant, and incoming investment is imminent but also ever more desired. Indeed, a CESEAC deal would shift this border dispute into a border miracle.

 

[Ostmark]

AP Wien
EDITORIAL by AP Wien Alexander Besselman

OSTMARK IS NOT LOST
We were born proud and free, and once again, we will rise from the ruins.

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By Alexander Besselman

WIEN (People's Republic of Ostmark) - "In fraternity united, we shall crush the people's foe" is a part of the second stanza of the ostmarkian patriotic song "Auferstanden aus Ruinen", Risen from the Ruins, that has been serving at the national anthem of the People's Republic of Ostmark since late 2018. While the song has been often linked to the dictatorship presided by former People's Chancellor Horst Paul Grasser and his sister Vice Chancellor Andrea Grasser, many are starting to read the lyrics with a new mindset. While the song is inherently linked with National-Syndicalism and former Voklskanzler Horst Grasser, the lyrics are not, in fact, strictly political. The regime used the song as a propaganda tool to justify its very existance, against the "People's Enemy", namely human right groups, liberal democratic political parties and so-called capitalist lobbies, today we can identify such enemy in the deep divisions that are quickly and dangerously emerging within our society.

Ostmarkian society has been polarizing on two opposite fronts: those who are nostalgic of the Grasserist regime and the National-Syndicalist single party system, and those who think a multi-party, liberal democracy is the natural next step to be taken once Interim People's Chancellor Ludwig Bohmer, should he find the necessary parliamentary support in the People's Assembly, has completed the democratization process and dismantling of grasserist illiberal and totalitarian institutions. In the middle, there are individuals who are not necessarily nostalgic, but recognize the merits of the regime and the positive reforms implemented by Horst Grasser in fields such as workers rights, welfare, healthcare, education and housing.

As a journalist, i consider myself to be a very objective person. And while i surely cannot be labeled as a closet-grasserist, i do not deny the positive aspects of the housing reform that granted shelter to the homeless and the poor, the healthcare reform that granted free medical assistance to the poor, or the equal access to all levels of education for pupils irrespectively of their families economic conditions. Important achievements have also been reached in the field of gender equality and women rights - these are facts that cannot be disputed.

My point is, but by now you might have guessed it, is that we can preserve such reforms and achievements and have them coexist with a multi-party democratic system, a liberal system in which citizens are allowed to dissent without fearing retaliation, where the secret police is not omnipresent and ever-haunting anyone who dares to express an opinion that differs from the opinion mandated by the regime and, by result, the only one allowed.

Democracy does not equal exploitation, and welfare, socialism, workers rights, are not necessarily to be achieved with totalitarism and dictatorship. The National-Syndicalist People's Party has been officially dissolved and replaced with the National-Democratic Party of Ostmark. Important steps towards a multi-party and democratic systems have already been taken by Interim People's Chancellor Ludwig Bohmer. At the time of writing of this editorial, i am sitting in my office in Wien. A few months ago, this would have resulted in my arrest, if not worst, in no time and with no warnings. So things are changing, and they have already changed for the better.

We Ostmarkians must stick togheter, or "brotherly unite", as the lyrics of Auferstand of Ruinen say, to defeat the most dangerous enemy our nation has ever faced: division and polarization. We must all enlist in a fair, strong and vibrant democratic debate, because the destiny of our nation lies in our hands. The whole world is watching us and we must show them that our nation is not defeated, that we have not lost all our hope. That Ostmark, our fatherland, is not lost. Togheter, we will heall from the wounds caused by the dictatorship, by the systematic oppression of our fundamental individual and political rights, by the systematic terror that destroyed families and lives.

Once again, will rise from the ruins.

 

[Ostmark]

AP Wien

CHAOS IN WIEN: INTERIM PEOPLE'S CHANCELLOR BOHMER OUSTED BY STATE COUP
ROGUE MILITARY FORCES DISBAND INTERIM GOVERNMENT AND ASSUME CONTROL OF THE NATION.
"CORPSES AND SHOOTING IN THE STREETS, PEOPLE'S POLICE AND CITIZENS ARE RESISTING" REPORTS AP WIEN SOURCE.

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WIEN (People's Republic of Ostmark) - The political turmoil in the small eastern nation has escalated to unprecedented levels as a senior high ranking officer of the People's Defense Force, General-Fieldmarshall Otto von Wilhelmstadt successfully led rogue elements of the military in a state coup against Interim People's Chancellor Ludwig Bohmer, declaring the dissolution of the Interim Government and assuming control of the country.

News have ceased to leave the nation, with internet and news channels blacked out and newspapers publishing halted, but AP Wien sources report that heavy fighting has been occuring in Wien, with People's Police officers and ordinary citizens resisting People's Defense personnel and refusing to comply all over in the capital city. Unconfirmed deaths and "corpses on the streets" are reportedly the result of fire fights erupted between Volkswehr and Volkspolizei units supported by grops of "armed militias", as chaos is prompting tens of thousands of civilians to mass at the southern border between the People's Republic of Ostmark and the Kingdom of Eiffelland, looking for a way out in what has been described by political analysts as "the preamble of a civil war".

With chaos and violence spiraling out of control, several foreign diplomatic corps are leaving the country and advising their citizens to leave Wien as soon as possible in order to avoid getting caught in the fighting, or to be mistaken for a member of one of the two factions currently opposing each other.

 

[Ostmark]

AP Wien

LOYALIST FORCES RESIST STATE COUP
AT LEAST FIFTEEN PEOPLE'S POLICE OFFICERS DIED IN CLASHES AGAINST ROGUE TROOPS.
VOLKSWEHR RESERVE UNITS REFUSE TO LEAVE BARRACKS, JOIN LOYALIST FACTION.
VOLKSPOLIZEI AND VOLKSMARINE ENGAGE ROGUE FORCES IN VOLKSREPUBLIKPLATZ.

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WIEN (People's Republic of Ostmark) - Official news channels and medias have gone silent in Wien, amid frequent shortages of power and a forced halt on newspapers publishing. AP Wien Alexander Besselman has successfully uncovered the dramatic reality in the city of Wien, where what had initially been described as a quick and successful state coup, led by rogue army high ranking officer Generalfeldmarschall Otto von Wilhelmstadt, has now degenerated into violent and deadly clashes between rebel and loyalist forces.

Loyalist forces, at least nominally loyal to the legitimate Interim Government presided by Interim Volkskanzler Ludwig Bohmer (who is still held in custody by rebel forces inside the Palace of the People's Republic in Wien) are attempting to isolate rebel strongholds in the capital city. According to AP Wien sources, some Voklswehr reserve units in Wien have refused to leave the barracks. Troops that had been previously deployed on the street to quell riots and demonstrations have also shown sympathy with protesters and refused to open fire. In one occasion, Volkswehr soldiers joined protesters and formed barricades with trucks and infantry fighting vehicles, contributing to the ongoing encirclement of rebel forces in Volksrepublikplatz.

The People's Police has so far been paying the highest price in human lives, with fifteen officers reported dead after clashes with the forces of Generalfeldmarschall Otto von Wilhelmstadt. Volkspolizei's Oberleutnant Frederick Kruger has exhorted the population to stay home for their own safety, so far with no success. Tens of thousands of ordinary citizens have taken over entire neighborhoods, flanked and supported by loyalist forces belonging to the Volkspolizei itself, and sailors of the Volksmarine. The latter has denounced the state coup and joined the loyalist factions immediatly after Otto von Wilhelmstad's televised communique.

"Von Wilhelmstadt is not in control! We are still fighting!" says a tank crewman as he leads a column of loyalist armored infantry fighting vehicles in the outskirts of Wien. When asked where they were going, he said "To the Television building!". Vehicles and fighters loyal to the interim government have displayed defaced ostmarkian flags cut in the center. Uncertainty and chaos are quickly taking over the small german nation formerly ruled with an iron first by the Grasser siblings.

 

[Tarusa]

Empire Refuses Recognition of Republic of Ostmark
AP Kremlyov

In a move that was not unexpected the Tsarist regime in Kremlyov has stated that it will not recognize the newly minted Republic of Ostmark and will only continue to recognize it as the Peoples Republic of Ostmark. When asked for reasons behind the refusal to recognize what will become eventually the new government in Wien in just a short few weeks Luka Volkov, Minister of Foreign Affairs gave a brief statement to us.

Bohmer when confronted with the destruction of state archives avoided any formal answers. He claims that his moves towards a democratic Ostmark were slow due to the reactionary forces which are "strong" in Ostmark were the reasons for the slow process, and claims they are still strong, hardly grounds for any kind of fair elections if one could ever say so. We could argue his own proclaimed dissolving of the Peoples Republic is a reactionary force. It didn't take long for him to make the radical moves after "reactionary forces" fought back to preserve their country from reforming it in his own view, as he makes moves to potentially hide his own involvement in any underhanded moves by the Grasser regime. If he fails to succeed in the destruction of the archives, he'll either be hanging by his neck or will have died from a self inflicted gunshot wound.

It is clearly evident that relations between both neighbors will only continue to grow strained in the coming weeks. Officials in multiple ministries have disclosed that ongoing discussions with the Tsar on the situation and what actions available to the Empire could be used against the interim government of Ostmark.

 

[Beautancus]

Ringapi Eruption Begins with "Deafening Blast"
AP Orientalis

The eruption of Mt. Ringapi is at last underway in Vistarika's Ten Thousand Islands, following several weeks of ever more ominous, often tremulous warnings from one of the Silk Seas largest active volcanoes.

While indeed expected, the initial violence and continuing intensity of the eruption is apparently raising new concerns for local and regional authorities, who have already issued a round of new travel restrictions for the air and seas near the affected islands. At nearly 120km from the second largest of the Vistarikan colonial cities in the island chain, Orientalis, and forming one of the West Silk Archipelago's smallest islands, Mt. Ringapi has, nevertheless, long been one of the island chains largest geological personalities, a fact only reinforced by today's events.

A higher degree of human drama was at play than is typical as well, according to a spokesman for the RGS in Genaro, as a team of Vistarikan, Bajoran and Serbove volcanologists were engaged in helicopter reconnaissance of the resurgent dome in the caldera when the eruption began. Led by the RGS' own Dr. Fransek Ignatius, a portion of the international team were on the ground - on the caldera's rim to be precise - when they were given "little more than a minute and a half's warning from the volcano, as a massive and unceasing tremor seized the mountain and began to break apart the 'plug' in the caldera."

The team were able to board their helicopter and evacuate to a safe distance before the truly explosive moment of the eruption came, but were still close enough that several of its members were reportedly "nearly deafened" by volume of the immense expulsion of superheated material. Forced to flee back to Orientalis for medical treatment, the team were still able to capture an incredible amount of footage of the eruption beginning, as well as the eruption column rising and ultimately reaching more than 40km into the sky, penetrating even the stratosphere.

An immediate ban on all civil air traffic in regional skies and similar civilian maritime traffic for affected sealanes was instituted by Lt. Governor Kristian Joedono this afternoon, and the SAMS Gadez, a Vistarikan military "scientific field study vessel" has been ordered into waters near Ringapi to ensure that the ongoing events there are "properly and responsibly monitored."

 

[The Federation]

Federation President Calls on Democracies in Germania
AP Charleroi

After troubling language in a recent statement by the Foreign Minister of the Empire of Tarusa the Federation President, Walter Langley, has called on the democracies of the world to be on the lookout for nefarious actions by foreign actors in Ostmark as the country transitions to a more democratic government. Speaking to the Federation Council and the world President Langley reiterated his pledge to support the interim government as long as it continues on the path to a more democratic Ostmark.

The Federation has already sent over staff to open up a new embassy and reopen relations with the former National-Syndicalist state and has pledged to send observers to the country to Ostmark. President Langley spoke on the importance of neighboring countries allowing the process in the Ostmark to go unhindered and made specific mention of Eiffelland in his speech when asking for nations in the region to be "vigilant for the sake of Ostmark and for the sake of peace in the region." President Langley also expressed his disappointment with Tarusa over their refusal to recognize the interim government in Ostmark, the President kept his language subdued and clear of harsh statements in reference to Tarusa in what the Federation Press Secretary called an "an attempt to keep things calm and avoid a flare up in international tensions."

Despite the attempt to keep things calm sources within the Federation government have reported that the Federation President and the Council discussed contingencies should things in Ostmark take a turn for the worst or if another state were to take action in Ostmark against their democratic reforms. So far President Langley has kept his campaign promise to take up defense of democracy and it may live or die in Ostmark.

 

[Rheinbund]

Chancellor Rheinfeld: "The transition to a democratic Ostmark must proceed unhindered"
AP Trier

In a short interview at both Eiffelland's most watched news program Bericht des Tages (from the EEF) and the Eiffellandfunk, Chancellor Rheinfeld indicated that he had heard President Langley's call on democracies. He indicated that also he is concerned about the events in Ostmark. He emphasised that "the transition to a democratic Ostmark must proceed unhindered", and that Eiffelland "will do everything it can to support Ostmark in this transition". He commented on the decision of the Tarusan government not to recognise Ostmark's interim-government or the democratic government to be formed after next year's elections that "currently we must focus on Interim-Volkskanzler Bohmer's efforts to lead Ostmark to a democratic government", and that "we should not loose ourselves in discussions about whether a pathway to democracy is legitimate or not".
It has to be mentioned that this interview was also broadcasted by the Eiffellandfunk. This radio broadcaster is one of the few that still broadcasts through AM frequencies next to internet radio, DAB+, DAB and FM. The AM senders it uses are so strong that the Eiffellandfunk can be received on AM frequencies worldwide. The reason why the Eiffellandfunk is doing so is to circumvent internet censures and to be receivable in areas without internet coverage.

 

[Beautancus]

Order for General Evacuation Issued for 850,000 on Orientalis Island
AP Orientalis

After seeming to calm somewhat over the Christmas and New Year's holidays, the ongoing eruption of Mt. Ringapi appears to be reaching a critical, and apparently quite troublesome phase, as an Order for General Evacuation to Higher Ground has been issued for the entire eastern seaboard of Orientalis and all nearby islands. The most active volcano in Vistarika's Silk Seas colony has been erupting since early December of last year and according to witnesses from today's RGS survey flight, "has deformed and reshaped the island as a whole."

Most worrisome of the physical changes wrought upon the volcanic island, Anak Ringapi, is the "enormous fissure" running along the southwest by west face of the volcano, and running some distance beneath the waves. "The continuing and once more escalating violence of the eruption is almost certain to cause a landslide of staggering proportions, whether beginning above sea level or below it, as a submarine event. Either eventuality will cause a tsunami of reciprocally devastating scale, directed more or less right at Orientalis." Dr. Ignatius Fransek of the RGS noted at his daily presser this afternoon.

This factor, above all other concerns, appears to have been what compelled Lt. Governor Joedono to move forward with the Territorial Authority's plan to evacuate the coastal Orientalis Island's population in and upland, beginning immediately upon issuance of the order at 1850 Orientalis time, over an area boasting a population of nearly 1.5 million souls. Both the RGS and Lt. Governor's office have been tight lipped about how large or how far inland the tsunami caused by such a landslide might be, but Lt. Governor Joedono was quick to state that he "will not be gambling with the lives of His Apostolic Majesty's subjects, better safe than sorry."

Evacuations on many of the smaller islands, including those lacking ground suitably high, are reportedly still underway and being affected by "every available helicopter or other suitable aircraft." Likewise, a number of the more easily reached Evacuation Sites in Orientalis have been flagged as insufficiently removed from the "Zone of Adverse Conditions," leading to delays and secondary evacuations of those seeking shelter in these to even higher ground.

 

[Rheinbund]

Auswärtiges Amt
Trier, Eiffelland

This sounds troublesome. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Orientalis. When needed, Eiffelland can provide help.

Dr. Norbert Schmelzer, Minister of Foreign Affairs

 

[Azraq]

Analysis: Ostmark regime change rattles Rolexanian elite
AP Trier

The fall of the National Syndicalist dictatorship in Ostmark has led to fears of political unrest in the Republic of Rolexania, a largely landlocked nation surrounded almost entirely by Eiffelland and the Tarusan Empire that has been ruled by the same authoritarian regime for decades.

Rolexania lacks the same central dictatorial figure like Ostmark had in Chancellor Grasser. The Rolexanian government is dominated by high ranking families from the country's largest and most powerful clans. Many have links to organised crime and ethnic militias.

There is no guiding ideology like National Syndicalism either. Instead, just a vague nationalism focused on Rolexania's founding father, the feared Milzeni warlord Caesar Alexander, and the belief in a common ancestry in the semi-mythical Rolexanan tribes.

Yet the People's Republic of Ostmark and Rolexana were frequent collaborators on the world stage, resisting international pressure to embrace democratic and economic reforms, while also playing Eiffelland and Tarusa off against each other.

News in Rolexania is tightly controlled by the government, and Ostmark's revolution had received little airtime - until Tarusa threatened the supply of gas and refused to recognise the new democratic administration.

Soon after, Rolexanian newspapers and news bulletins carried headlines about Tarusan bullying. Little information was given about the more liberal direction Ostmark was heading in.

So far no mass demonstrations demanding political change. Localised street protests against widespread corruption are commonplace in Rolexania, as are violent clashes driven by ethnic grievances. So far they has not translated into a unified effective opposition. However, the ruling coalition - known as the United Motherland Front (UMF) - allegedly fears events in Ostmark could inspire demonstrations at home, with the potential encouragement of foreign powers.

"Eiffelland is seen by the UMF as willing to back anything that throws around the word democracy enough," explains one Gallian diplomat in Oleksandrivsk, Rolexania's capital. "And although Tarusa has been hostile to the new regime [in Ostmark] the UMF believe Tarusa will back whatever undermines them."

This paranoia explains why Oleksandrivsk has a heavier police and military presence than usual. The UMF is taking no chances when it comes to survival.

 

[Vrijpoort]

Tunnel-bridge connecting Vrijpoort to Vistarika proposed
AP Vrijpoort

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The Emerald Straights Birdge would be part bridge, part tunnel to accommodate the heavy shipping traffic
(artist's impression)

The dream has been around for decades: a tunnel-bridge connecting Batavia Island of Vrijpoort across the Emerald Straights to neighbouring Vistarika. When first proposed in the 1920s the idea was quickly shot down as an engineering impossibility. Rekindled in the 1960s with the advent of new construction and engineering technologies, it lost steam a few years later when lukewarm government support on both sides of the straight scuppered hopes and private pledges of investment dried up.

Today Boris Titov, CEO of Standard Heavy Industries, announced that if the governments of Vrijpoort and Vistarika could come to an agreement, his firm not only has the technology to make such a link possible, but it would finance a large stake in the venture. Standard Heavy Industries, part of the Standard Group, is one of the world's largest construction firms, known for projects large and small.

'We would be prepared to lay down considerable financial capital to get this project up and running because we believe in its massive potential to link two important economies that have been separated by mere water for so long. A concession to operate the toll system for a number of years would easily repay our investment and all other interested parties would certainly see lucrative benefits. This would be a very happy consortium indeed.' Mr Titov declared at a press conference today in central Vrijpoort.

If the project were to come to fruition, the structure would be one of the longest bridges and tunnels in the world spanning the Emerald Straights that divide Batavia Island, where the main part of the city of Vrijpoort is located, with eastern Vistarika. Independent studies conducted by Vrijpoort Management University claim that the link would create a so-called 'mega region' spanning across Vistarika, Vrijpoort and Panonnia (Bajororszag), creating hundreds of thousands and eventually millions of jobs in services, manufacturing, logistics and tourism, among other industries.

Overseas Relations and Cooperation Vrijpoort responded to AP's request for comment by saying that they 'are open to such a project and would welcome discussion with our neighbours across the straights', but added the issue has not come up in regular bilateral briefings in a number of years.

@Vistarika @Bajorország

 

[Serbovia]

Ultranationalists storm the University of Petrovgrad in response to lecture controversy
AP Petrovgrad

A mob of up to two hundred ultranationalist activists stormed the Central University of Petrovgrad today to protest the commencement of a controversial series of lectures at the CUP's Faculty of History. The activists, said to be affiliated with the youth wing of the Legion of St. Peter, were demanding the cancellation of a series of five lectures held by one of the faculty's professors of Serbovian history, Dimitar Zivkovic, concerning the history of Serbovia's Kurkic minority.

Professor Zivkovic has received several death threats by far-right groups after the release of his controversial history book Blood and Tears: the Unwritten History of the Serbovian Kurks, and has been under 24/7 police protection. The book has been the subject of intense debate in Serbovia regarding its assertion that the Serbovian Kurks were the subject of a genocide carried out under King Aleksandar III Aleksic subsequent to the Alexandrian Wars of the early 19th century.

King Aleksandar III ordered the mass relocation of the Kurkic minority into the then-remote southwestern portions of Serbovia after the Kurks allied with the Varovian invaders during the conflict. Kurkic activists and some foreign scholars have described the relocation, which led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Serbovian Kurks as a result of starvation and disease, as the first modern genocide in Europe. History related to the expulsions is heavily controversial in Serbovia, where official history writing denies the characterization of the event as a genocide, and King Aleksandar III is revered by Serbovian nationalist movements for his part in ending the Alexandrian Wars.

Police forces had been present at the university campus, but nationalist activists managed to evade the police cordon and enter the Faculty of History building. Activists carried out vandalism on the premises and shouted calls to hang Professor Zivkovic as an "enemy of the nation". The professor was evacuated by his police bodyguards, while members of the audience rushed out of the building in panic. A subsequent response by heavily equipped riot police repelled the ultranationalist group, and eighteen rioters were reportedly arrested by the authorities, who used riot-grade pepper spray and rubber bullets against the crowd.

University officials and liberal politicians have demanded an investigation into the conduct of the police forces present at the event, claiming that officers had colluded in letting the ultranationalists enter the Faculty of History building and evade the police cordon. An official statement of the Legion of St. Peter, an ultranationalist catholic party holding seats in the Serbovian legislature, said that any party members involved had acted of their own accord and without party involvement. However, the Legion demanded the dismissal of Professor Zivkovic from the CUP, calling him a "fraudster and a fake historian".

The CUP has announced that the lecture would be rescheduled for a later date and possibly held online, without a live audience, due to security concerns.

 

[Serbovia]

Rocket-propelled grenade fired at the Bajorok embassy in Petrovgrad, police operation underway
AP Petrovgrad

A major police operation is underway in downtown Petrovgrad after the Bajorok embassy to the city was attacked by a rocket-propelled grenade fired at the building from a nearby rooftop, impacting the building's main facade at midnight. There is no word yet on possible casualties inflicted in the incident.

The Petrovgrad Police has cordoned off several blocks in the Kozje Brdo district of downtown Petrovgrad, which houses several diplomatic representations including the Bajorok embassy. Heavily armed police teams are searching vehicles and pedestrians attempting to leave the area.

No claims of responsibility have been released yet. Earlier this week, twenty people were killed in Bajororzsag's capital of Kispest when a demonstration over the killing of a pro-abortion demonstrators devolved into a three-way spree of violence between protestors, counter-protestors and the Bajorok police.

Police spokesmen have said that it is too early to speculate on motives of the perpetrators in tonight's attack. However, the incident is being treated as an act of terrorism and the Serbovian Ministry of Internal Affairs has announced a raise to its anti-terrorist readiness level.

 

[Serbovia]

Analysis: What are the 24th of May Revolutionary Brigades?
AP Petrovgrad

Most people outside of Serbovia are unfamiliar with the 24th of May Revolutionary Brigades, typically abbreviated as the 24M Brigades, which came to international attention when it claimed responsibility for last night's rocket attack against the Bajorok embassy in Petrovgrad.

However, the original iteration of the group dates back to 1975, when it was founded by a group of left-wing exiles persecuted by Serbovia's Social-Nationalist regime to commence a campaign of armed resistance against the junta. The founding cadre of members consisted of exiled activists of the Serbovian Revolutionary Solidarist Party and their descendants. Before the Social-Nationalist junta, the SRSP was Serbovia's largest communist party and was brutally suppressed by the Social-Nationalists in the years after their putsch.

"24th of May" is in reference to 24th of May 1946, when thirty imprisoned Solidarist leaders were reportedly executed by Serbovia's former Ministry of State Security (MDB) in the infamous Crna Suma concentration camp. Names of individual cells that have been publicized by the group typically reference various Serbovian radical leftists considered martyrs of the movement. For example, the previously unknown Milena Joksovic Combat Cell which claimed responsibility for the embassy rocket strike references an exiled Solidarist activist assassinated by the MDB in Bajororzsag in 1983.

Between 1975 and 1997, the original 24M Brigades carried out attacks against Serbovian government targets primarily outside of Serbovia, such as embassies and Serbovian dignitaries visiting foreign countries. After the transition to democracy in 1997, the group announced that it was standing down its armed campaign due to the end of the Social-Nationalist regime. Some former members are rumored to be active within the present Party of Democratic Solidarists, but the party denies any ties with the 24M Brigades.

In 2012, a car bomb detonated outside of the Petrovgrad Stock Exchange Tower inflicting major structural damage, but no casualties as the attack took place at four in the morning. Responsibility was claimed by a spokesman claiming to represent the 24M Brigades, who announced a resumption of their armed campaign. The group now claims to fight against growing social inequality and jingoism in new, democratic Serbovia and against "the infiltration of upper echelons of modern Serbovian society by former Social-Nationalist autocrats, which official Serbovia has failed to prevent".

Attacks between 2012 and 2021 have inflicted an estimated number of twenty fatalities. Several members are currently in Serbovian prisons serving long-term prison sentences or awaiting execution. The group has primarily targeted various government and corporate targets, and last night's attack represents its first strike against a foreign target inside Serbovia. Authorities estimate that the 24M Brigades have between 50 and 100 active members located in separate cells throughout the country.

The Serbovian Interior Ministry plans to hold a public press conference later today regarding the rocket attack.

 

[Vrijpoort]

Vrijpoort Rabbi Sentenced to Caning and 1 Year Imprisonment for Failure to Teach Secular Curriculum
AP Vrijpoort

A Vrijpoort rabbi and headmaster of a Jewish Ultra-Orthodox school was sentenced to caning and one year imprisonment in magistrate court today. A years-long investigation culminated in the trial where judge Judy Adolfsen was forced to bar members of the public from observing the trial due to heckling and threats yelled from the rabbi's supporters on day one.

Anonymous tips to Education Vrijpoort, the education ministry, claimed that primary and secondary school students at the Ha Tikvah Cheder school were not receiving basic schooling on secular subjects such as science, maths, civics and finance. Apparently a purely religious education was on offer, contrary to Vrijpoort law. Private religious schools are allowed to teach religious subjects so long as they also teach the Vrijpoort secular curriculum in full.

Wire tapping of the school and observation of telephone and email communication by the Vrijpoort Signals Directorate, in conjunction with undercover work from agents of Divisie Éen were able to provide iron-clad evidence against the rabbi. Two teachers were also offered plea deals by the Crown Prosecution Service in return for testifying against their boss.

Rabbi Shlomo Katzenberg, 47, claimed in court that 'it is Hashem's will that I teach the children, the future of Judaism, His work and His work alone. I feel no remorse for keeping straight on His path of Torah and the Talmud.' The rabbi used the Hebrew word 'Hashem', literally 'the name' to refer to God as is custom with Ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Judge Judy, known both by her first name and for her tough court and no-nonsense approach, said that the Rabbi 'should have no problem taking his sentencing as a direct punishment from God for failure to provide the children under his ward with the skills and knowledge needed to succeed in our secular world, regardless of how he may have prepared them for the next world.'

She sentenced him to 15 strokes of the cane every 2 months and one year imprisonment at Diepkloof Correctional Facility in the overseas crown colony of Batavië. Rabbi Katzenberg's legal counsel protested at the choice of offshore prison given its distance from family, making visits very difficult, as well as the lack of facilities to cater to a very religious prisoner.

Judge Judy said that 'the Rabbi should have thought about that before he deprived these children of an education. Jews do not need a synagogue for the vast majority of worship and he will be permitted to bring any reading material and religious paraphernalia he likes with him. I will also permit him supervised visits to a synagogue in Windhoek for the high holy days of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur in the autumn. Kosher meals will also be provided in the prison. But removal from his family and community is part of the punishment. Perhaps he should dwell on that over the next year while he prays alone in a cell.'

Rabbi Katzenberg's family says they will appeal the ruling. Vrijpoort courts do not use juries but rather one or three judges depending on the crime. This is based on the theory that laymen jurors do not understand the law enough to pass good judgement and can be easily swayed and are too impressionable.

The Jewish Congress of Vrijpoort distanced itself from Rabbi Katzenberg and said in a statement that it supports the dual religious-secular education system.

 

[Serbovia]

Sole remaining suspect in the Bajorok embassy attack identified and formally charged
AP Petrovgrad

The sole survivor of the 24th of May Revolutionary Brigades cell responsible for the Bajorok embassy attack has been formally charged for his role in the attack. The suspect, identified as one 27-year old Aleksandar Petrovic, is being held at the medical ward of the Petrovgrad Federal Prison where he is recovering from injuries sustained during the arrest.

In relation to the Bajorok embassy attack, Petrovic was charged with terrorism and acting as an accessory to two counts of attempted murder and the destruction of specifically designated protected property. Additionally, he faces charges of acting as an accessory in the murder of a police officer, attempted murder of ten police officers and illegal possession of a firearm and explosives, in relation to the events of his recent arrest. Federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty or alternatively life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.

Special federal prosecutor Jelena Mandic, known domestically for her role in a number of successful prosecutions related to terrorism and extremism offenses, has been appointed as the chief prosecutor of the case. According to Mandic, investigators have established convincing links between Petrovic and the 24M Brigades. Petrovic was renting the apartment used by the cell, which was raided by special forces resulting in his arrest and the deaths of two suspected cell members. It is also believed that he was involved in pre-planning of the attack, including reconnaissance done in the vicinity of the Bajorok embassy building.

Additionally, he is believed to have opened fire on the tactical team storming his apartment with an assault rifle, firing several shots before the weapon jammed and he was incapacitated by flash grenades thrown into the apartment.

Petrovic is reputedly admitting housing the two other cell members in the apartment and knowing that illegal weapons were stored at his apartment, but denying knowledge of the embassy attack and also denying participation in the gunfight with police forces. He made an initial confession shortly after the arrest, but has now recanted his statement, which his lawyers allege was coerced by Serbovian security forces. Defense attorneys claim that operators of the elite JSO unit, or the Strategic Response Unit, physically assaulted and injured Petrovic on his way from the arrest scene to the prison as retaliation for the death of an unit member during the arrest.

Attorneys allege that close associates of the fallen unit member were deliberately tasked with escorting Petrovic into custody in order to facilitate a retaliatory attack. Representatives of the Federal Directorate of Internal Security (FDUB), which exercised overall responsibility of the operation, have dismissed the allegations. An FDUB spokesman said that the decision to use JSO personnel was based on resources available at the time, and the possible risk of other 24M Brigades members attempting to free Petrovic from custody.

 

[Tarusa]

Contractors Aircraft Land in Halasz
AP Kispest

The atmosphere in Halaszbastaya was one of welcoming gratitude as these men set foot in yet another foreign soil. They had only experienced the cold harshness of their motherland and the unforgiving heat of the jungles of the Noks Free State. They came for the pay, the money was their main motivator for a skillset they did not want to lose as former soldiers of the Tarusan Empire. The people who had met them at the airport knew they had came to protect them and help keep their country together.

They number only a couple hundred at the moment, but rumored to once at full strength a couple thousand men. What equipment they will have arriving in the coming days is unknown the equipment currently being unloaded was several armored personnel carriers and pallets. The final destination for these first men is unknown to us, however rumors amongst the crowd and security for the airport seemed to hint that they will be making their way to either Sank Viet or Wekerletelep to reinforce military units in East Zaran.

From the eyes of this reporter from the equipment and the hardened look of these men it would appear they have came to do a job they have done their whole lives, and now they are here to do it some more in the name of money. How the story of these men unfolds only time can tell, this story is just the beginning.

 

[Ebria]

Embarcaderazo: Riots and violence in the capital of Monterrey
AP Callao

What started yesterday at noon as a peaceful march to end the mandate status of Monterrey and to fully declare it a sovereign state has devolved into chaos, violence, rioting and destruction in a matter of hours, pitting the authorities against radicals and rioters from the nationalist side. The original march for sovereignty was supposed to start at Plaza de Occidente, go on the Avenida Longa and Calle 9 and then end at the Plaza 9 de Julio in the city centre, but during the march on Calle 9, radicals have left the marching column and tried to assault the Correntine, Gran Occidentian embassies and the European Forum Office, in what has been described as a very well orchestrated attack.​

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The authorities have managed to hold back the attrackers at the embassy, although a series of petrol bombs have smashed through the windors of the European Forum Office and the building started burning, but it was the heavy handed response of the National Guard and the police to break up the whole march that brought on the chaos, as street fights ensured. ​

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With violence erupting in the city and rumors of dead and wounded starting to appear, more and more citizens of the city went out to the streets, with initial reports of the authorities stating that the number jumped from 25,000 for the initial march, to about 150,000 at midnight, many of them fuelled by the urge to fight against the abuses of the authorities, rather than attacking as it was originally believed, the aforementioned embassies and foreign offices.​

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The police and National Guard responded in force, at the orders of General Belizario Sucre, using water cannons and tear gas in the official reports, but the number of victims show that there have been instances where the authorities have used guns and shot to kill.​

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With information spreading in the night on twatter of the situation in the capital and the whole Embarcaderazo (Embarcadero + the azo suffix, showing violence), marchers which have participated earlier in Acahay, Yape and Villa Hayes, have mobilised again, about 2,000 demonstrating in Acahay, 500 in Yape and 1,500 in Villa Hayes, with the latter going as far as trying to assault a local police station to get guns, the authorities managing to hold them off.​

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This morning, the State Health Authority has issues a report stating that 45 people have been killed in the violence, rioting and looting that has taken place in the night before, with about 170 more wounded, but many believe that the authorities are presenting a false image, with some believing that the real number of dead can rise up to over a hundred.​

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Protests and demonstrations still continue in the morning, with barricades appearing on the main streets. The authorities have imposed a curfew on the city starting at 18:30 and have already announced that they won't tolerate any violation of it. With many of the protesters unwilling to bend, tensions and violence are expected to continue.​