V.B.N. - News from Viniland!

[V The King]

Vinilandese Broadcasting Network

Brought to you by the Ministry of Communications

Useful Information Area:

Current Vinilandese Claims:

National Territory:

Plus Midway Islands.

Protectorates (latter one jointly protected with the Imperium of America)

Information Database:

The database can be found at: http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?a...&pid=918221

Plenty of information in regards to Viniland can be found there. In case you're curious about certain aspects of our country, the database should be quite satisfactory.

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OOC: The main purpose of this thread is to report events that takes place in Viniland. Avoid derailment. Merci beaucoup.

[V The King]

Large weapons arsenal seized; eight people arrested

Regina, Rio Grande do Leste: At 2:30 PM, PST time, a squad from the Forzaespecial and two units from the Polizefederal broke into a two-store house located in the outskirts of Regina, following reports of unusual trucks unloading cargo into the residence. Five individuals who were inside the house were preventively arrested on the spot before searches began. Once the police reached the basement, explosives inside unsealed boxes were visible, along with ammunition scattered throughout the floor. All of the sealed crates were opened, revealing a huge amount of weapons, ammunition, paperwork, money bills and more. Then, all of the arrested were immediately driven to the nearest police station and thrown into jail. Searches elsewhere in the house unveiled a few addresses and telephone numbers. Personal computers and laptops were also taken, but pretty much all of the information inside those were well encrypted, the encryption should be fully cracked by tomorrow afternoon.

Once the residence was secured, the police drove towards three more locations, all situated at the North Central neighborhood. Such resulted in three more arrests. The suspects were likely related to the seized arsenal, and will be tried with the others once investigation has ended.

The Polizefederal has issued a statement in regards to the event: "We do not have much of an idea of who they are associated with yet, soft interrogations were at this point close to being fruitless. However, we do know they are part of a larger, international and likely terrorist organization. The whole arsenal originated from somewhere other than Viniland, some of the documents seized indicated association with terror plots around the world and... well, why would someone bring all of that crap into Regina? Set up an HQ in our country, that's it."

Currently, the Forzaespecial is working in cooperation with the Intelligence Agency to finding out who transported the arsenal - and who the arrested are associated with, in the first place, as background checks in the individuals did not revealing anything suspecting. Harsher interrogation will take place tomorrow as well.

A portion of the seized weapons.

Edited September 25, 2008 by V The King

[V The King]

Identity of arrested criminals revealed:

Regina, Rio Grande do Laste: Over the afternoon, harsher interrogation means led to several of the arrested to change their minds and reveal information in regards to their intentions and association. It turns out that they're part of the international and terrorist organization called Frente da Anarquia Mundial (Portuguese for "World Anarchy Front", or WAF) and that the weapons were smuggled into the country and later transported to Regina with the cooperation of corrupt military-men.

While they said no names, the Forzaespecial performed tonight five arrests in unrevealed localities based on the information given in the confessions plus further investigation. Details on this night's operation will be made public tomorrow.

Wheat shortage in Itamaracá

Recife, Itamaracá: Coastal Northeastern Brazil has rarely suffered from food shortages, but this time, due to the region's dependency on imported wheat, many Brazilians in Itamaracá is currently suffering from much higher Wheat prices. Such is because many shipments of wheat intended to supply the region were spontaneously canceled, along with any subsequent ones. Hence, the governor of Iramaracá has requested assistance from the government, mostly asking for food alternatives and shipments of wheat directly from mainland Viniland.

The request was granted, and help is currently en route. From now on, all of the wheat consumed in Itamaracá will either be locally produced or directly shipped from Viniland rather than imported.

OOC: My Wheat and Water partner deleted his nation. Here's to a painful week of searching for a new trade circle buddy.

[Subtleknifewielder]

Identity of arrested criminals revealed:

Regina, Rio Grande do Laste: Over the afternoon, harsher interrogation means led to several of the arrested to change their minds and reveal information in regards to their intentions and association. It turns out that they're part of the international and terrorist organization called Frente da Anarquia Mundial (Portuguese for "World Anarchy Front", or WAF) and that the weapons were smuggled into the country and later transported to Regina with the cooperation of corrupt military-men.

While they said no names, the Forzaespecial performed tonight five arrests in unrevealed localities based on the information given in the confessions plus further investigation. Details on this night's operation will be made public tomorrow.

This is good news--the head of the WAF has been cut off, but just as a snake thrashes about even after it is killed, so too can the remnants of this organization cause consideral damage before being exterminated if we are not vigilant.

OOC: You have my condolances for the cancelled trade.

[JEDCJT]

This is good news--the head of the WAF has been cut off, but just as a snake thrashes about even after it is killed, so too can the remnants of this organization cause consideral damage before being exterminated if we are not vigilant.

OOC: You have my condolances for the cancelled trade.

We second this.

OOC: You have my condolences for the lost trade, also. Losing a trade because someone deleted his nation can be...distressing. I know; it've happened to me at least once.

[Subtleknifewielder]

OOC: You have my condolences for the lost trade, also. Losing a trade because someone deleted his nation can be...distressing. I know; it've happened to me at least once.

OOC: What's really annoying about that is that you don't even get any notification of a cancelled trade. You just log on, and see that the trade is gone.

[Manetheren]

The Garda Síochána is interested if the Polizefederal have discovered any WAF intentions of operating cells in Tahoe, or if any cells currently exist.

[JEDCJT]

OOC: What's really annoying about that is that you don't even get any notification of a cancelled trade. You just log on, and see that the trade is gone.

OOC: I know! One day, you log in and everything seems fine. Only when you notice that there are only four instead of five (if you have a Harbor, of course) Trades do you realize that a trading partner was deleted. Really annoying, indeed...

[V The King]

Nationwide Anti-Air Defense Network Finished:

Nadrink, Distretto Federal:Today, the final Anti-Air installations were built at Itamaracá, and now the Rede Di Defesas Contraerei (Anti-Air Defense Network) became fully operational.

The Network was planned many months in advance, and construction began at a rapid pace in the last month, and they took place everywhere in the country, from Midway Island to Saskatoon and from Nanaimo to Maceió. Higher concentrations of AA installations exists near coastal and border areas. Specific information in regards to the AA devices being used are confidential.

Tahoe's Financial Crisis Felt In Viniland

Calgari, Nova Coimbra: Over the course of the last days, Calgari's Stock Exchange has consistently fallen around half a percent every day, amount to a total decrease of 3% in terms of stock points. Such has happened due to the collapse of the Washington Mutual, one of Tahoe's largest banks. The Stock Exchange is expected to only start recovering at the end of the week, although it depends on how the Tahoan government responds to the crisis.

Last WAF Cell in Viniland Caught

Saskatoon, Rio Grande do Leste: This Saturday, following arrests and confessions made by WAF members attempting to set up shop in Viniland culminated in a renewed investigation in regards to who might have let them establish themselves in the first place - a mastermind was amiss. Following deeper analysis, phone calls, wire tapping, among other methods of investigation, the Polizefederal reached the residence of the suspect - recently promoted Captain of the Vinilandese Army - Giorgio Sales. The man was laying on his couch when the police broke in and offered no resistance when he was handcuffed.

Giorgio did not hesitate to confess his involvement in the WAF - he was to be the head of the Vinilandese branch. He bribed several military men (the five men arrested a few nights ago) charged with checking certain aircraft loads into letting the cargo containing the weapons unchecked and agreed to transport it all to Regina from a nearby airport, and threatened retaliation if they did not promptly comply, as well as managing to "send home" two police cars that were patrolling the streets through which the trucks with the weapons passed through. He will be tried this Sunday for smuggling weapons, bribery, active corruption, collaborating with a terrorist organization and treason, and his penalty will probably be to serve in a labor camp for life.

The Polizefederal and Forzaespecial have ended their investigations, concluding that there are no other WAF cells inside Viniland, Likely, the same goes to Tahoe and any Vinilandese protectorate region as the arrested secured WAF had no intentions of operating inside Tahoe or any Vinilandese protectorate region, with the Forzaespecial backing those claims up.

EDIT: OOC: And I managed to find a new trade partner, yay!

Edited September 30, 2008 by V The King

[V The King]

Peaceful Protests Across Viniland Demand For Foreign Policy Change:

Nadrink, Distretto Federal: After the conclusion of the Guerra nas Américas (how the Colstream War is known in Viniland), many people within the country began questioning the established foreign policy, set by the ruling Monarchist party. The set policy stated that Viniland would be actively interventionist within the Americas and make use of full military force in case the nation involved itself in a war and not stop until the enemy has been defeated. Yet, the Monarchist government, while standing by its allies during the war, it took no offensive action, and even worse, did not even make use of its Navy or Army - the Airforce only experienced limited aerial combat and a small number of casualties.

As the warring nations declared cease fires and white peaces as the reasons for the conflict were resolved, the population began to draw the conclusion that the Monarchists are not willing to follow their own foreign policy, which led many to march on the streets of major cities.

While demonstrations took place in many places, protesting was most intense in the cities of Nadrink, Calgari and Recife - which are deemed "voting strongholds" for the Monarchist party, showing that the party's voting base were the most unsatisfied ones. "If they're going to say they're going to do something, they better do it. We didn't vote for them to do one thing so they could do another.", an angry citizen stated.

Protesters marching through a street in Nadrink.

In light of the negative reaction towards the party's foreign policy, Bernardo Vidal accepted to be interviewed today, and made a number of statements. His "summary" phrase was:

"Unfortunately, we could not match our own foreign policy this time, it was simply unfeasible and would result in a great bloodshed."

Bernardo Vidal explains himself to the media.

[V The King]

Joint protectorate with Imperium of America split and dissolved.

Recife, Itamaracá: A few days ago, the nations of Viniland, Legendis and Imperium of America agreed to partition the Viniland/IoA protectorate between themselves. Viniland's claims were extended to Eastern Bahia, while IoA got Western Bahia and Legendis, Espírito Santo. All of Viniland's new territory were incorporate into the state of Itamaracá, although there are talks of splitting the area into two states.

There was a significant increase in population as the major urban center of Salvador was incorporated, along with smaller ones such as Feira De Santana and Juazeiro. Major revitalization will take place mainly on those cities in order to include typical Vinilandese public services and help their life rating increase until they match Viniland's average standards.

A photo of a southern neighborhood in the city of Salvador

Edited October 19, 2008 by V The King

[V The King]

Much more oil is drilled than expected; lower related product prices throughout the country

Calgari, Nova Coimbra: Viniland has plenty of oil within its territory, most of which are located within the province of Nova Coimbra and extracted by ViniPetro, the largest oil producer in Viniland (and state owned), Petróleo & Cia. and Ouro Negro (privately owned companies based in Viniland), with tinier corporations and foreign companies having a small share of the extraction.

It has been usually pretty tough to extract from such sands, meaning most of the oil was not possible to recover without spending too much for too little, but with the progression of technology, an ever increasing percentage of the oil was able to be extracted for cheaper. With even more effective recovering processes being developed and put into use not long ago, oil production in the area exceeded expectations by a lot, and thus there was a large surplus of the product.

Initially, all of the major companies who extracted the oil intended to hold onto the surplus so the price would not go on a free fall. However, due to strong public pressure, ViniPetro ended up releasing a portion of the surplus to the public, with Petróleo & Cia. and Ouro Negro being compelled to follow suit in order to not lose customers. This resulted in a significant reduction of the price of oil derivatives across the nation, such as plastic, paraffin and gasoline. The population is generally content with the price reductions, polls revealed.

OOC: Got that oil price drop event.

EDIT: FFF, I just paid bills for the update and I got the virus one. Oh well, I'll RP that tomorrow.

Edited October 20, 2008 by V The King

[V The King]

Schistosomiasis reported to be "a common disease" in the countryside of newly acquired Eastern Bahia

Juazeiro, Itamaracá: After Vinilandese researchers studied the health situation of the new Vinilandese subjects living in Eastern Bahia (Southern Itamaracá), it was discovered that as many as 20% of the population living outside cities had been infected with the Schistosoma parasite. A number of reasons were found to be responsible for the situation, the primary one being the pollution of the already scarce water sources in the region, which greatly facilitates the spread of the disease. Poor education in regards to the causes of the condition plus a decayed healthcare system also allowed Schistosomiasis to run about mostly unchecked.

The Vinilandese Parliament has passed a bill which will provide enough funds for the Ministry of Health so they can create a eradication campaign to wipe off the Schistosoma from Viniland. A number of other projects were also approved, which will aim on cleaning up local rivers (namely the São Francisco river) and found an intensive education program to, well, educate the rural population of southern Itamaracá.

As a preventive measure, the Army will police over areas where the disease occurs in order to prevent its spread.

A soldier greets several children from an afflicted village

Edited October 22, 2008 by V The King

[V The King]

Parliament passes a bill increasing fuel tax; alternative fuel issue arises

Nadrink, Distretto Federal: Two days ago, the Parliament has debated and voted on a bill introduced by King Vicente d'Albuquerque which would increase the tax on gasoline and diesel fuel by 50%, while increase tax on coal by 33%, justifying environmental reasons and the high costs of the revitalization project of Southern Itamaracá; if the bill was to be passed, then the project could be paid for and there'd be a surplus as well, plus it'd give an incentive for individuals and industries to use another sources of fuel. The "cons", of course, would be a dramatic increase of individual transportation costs (as gasoline taxes are more burdensome on consumers than on producers) and also slow down the country's industrial output, as alternative fuel in Viniland (such as hydrogen and ethanol), while slowly replacing gasoline, it's not expanding fast enough due to both the government's and private corporations' inability to decide on a single alternative, thus greatly increasing the difficulty of having a good distribution network of a single fuel. However, pretty much all Vinilandese cities have a comprehensive public transportation system ran on alternative sources, thus also being an option in case gas gets too expensive.

During the debates, it was decided that the bill had to be amended so instead, tax on gas and diesel would be increased by 33%, and on coal, 25%; the surplus that would come from higher figures is not truly needed as Viniland's money reserves are doing well. It passed with a near unanimous support and approved by both the Prime Minister and Monarch. The bill was made into law and enforced yesterday.

The effects of the tax increase were felt almost immediately. Gas and diesel prices across the country increased by 25% overnight, shocking consumers as they expected the bill to not pass at all due to the Monarchists party's (ruling party, plurality on parliament) original indifference to environmental/fuel issues.

While the vast majority of the urban population has some kind of alternative to gasoline-powered vehicles, which may or may not be cheaper than gas, the price increase will particularly affect rural workers, whom has traditionally relied on fossil fuel for transportation. A frustrated farmer from Nova Coimbra made a statement to the V.B.N.:

"I've always used my gas powered truck to move around because hydrogen cars are currently too expensive to maintain, and as for electric cars, the closest charging station is what, fifty kilometers away from my area? I'd waste half of my day just refueling, and a large portion of the fuel itself on the journey to the station. If there was a more comprehensive alternative fuel distribution, maybe I'd consider switching, but now I have to suck up the higher price. At least, for now, I can survive."

Tomorrow, there will be a convention in Kelowna, where heads of major factories and corporations, along with some government members, will discuss use of renewable fuel and attempt to settle on a single alternative.

[V The King]

St. Sebastian's Cathedral fully renovated

Calgari, Nova Coimbra: After months of hard and meticulous work, St. Sebastian's Cathedral, located in Central Calgari, has been fully renovated after an accidental fire triggered by multiple short circuits extensively damaged the building. The costs of the repair was estimated at 35 Millions Vinilandese Liras and the money was raised by followers of the Church of Viniland and sympathetic corporations.

A photo of the renewed cathedral.

Brazilian defensive structures partially completed

Salvador, Itamaracá: Today, the last elements of Viniland's nationwide Anti-Air Defense Network and Strategic Defense Initiative were installed at southern Itamaracá, along with coastal guns, land turrets and other buildings. Experimental walls are the next step to the defense network, and should be completed by the end of the year.

[V The King]

Flags across Viniland flown at half-mast

Nadrink, Distretto Federal: In order to remember the millions of Brazilians and people of other nationalities that have perished from the current nuclear war taking place in South America, all flags throughout Viniland were flown at half-mast. Foreign Minister Juca Álvez also gave a speech in regards to the ongoing conflict, condemning the gratuitous use of nuclear weapons and the sudden aggression of some world leaders:

"This damning war has ravage much of the South American continent for absolutely no reason at all: a war initiated by three nations against Diberia, using the "necessity for a coastline" as the reason when two of them had access to the ocean, and the third one would still be landlocked when considering the nation they attacked. Great, dozens of nations come to defend Diberia, pouring in a completely unnecessary number of soldiers, I've lost count of how many millions were deployed.

Then, the aggressors proceed to make usage of nukes. What for? To boast the ego of a dozen individuals at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives? And to make it even better, the victims decided to step just as low as the attackers and unleash nuclear hell upon the Brazilians, killing millions! Sure, they had the right to enact revenge but... why be just as immoral and lowly as the opponents they despise? Not to mention that while I speak, the Amazon is still burning and the wicked trio of leaders are still alive, despite a death toll of an eight-figure number.

A childish, shameful and disgraceful show by three South Americans nations that were seemingly stable and content, and a not very superior one show by those who fought against them. I urge those still fighting to seek peace immediately, else you'll all blow up the whole world next."

Other events took place in order to remember the dead, such as special Church congregations, TV documentaries, a nationwide minute of silence and settling and care of the few war refugees who made it to Itamaracá.

A crowd observing the minute of silence in a Catholic Church in Nadrink

Defense budget greatly increased in order to build fallout shelters and develop anti-EMP measures

Nanaimo, Alta Vancavite: Today, the Parliament approved a bill intended to increase Viniland's defense budget by 50%. The reason? To build nuclear shelters, further improve SDI efficiency and research more efficient measures against EMP, while developing some of the country's own EMP weapons. Another bill was voted on and approved, which requires any and all new buildings, either public or private, to include an underground fallout bunker proportional to the size of the structure and existent ones must construct one as well, either underground or within the property, within the time frame of a year. All shelters must also have at least three months' worth of non-perishable food. The government will aim to subside a number of constructions in order to speed up the process.

A newly built fallout shelter in a residence.

The recent careless use of nuclear weapons became a great concern among the Vinilandese, as said weapons claimed the lives of millions during the war, along with widespread destruction, and the majority of the population does not mind a potential budget deficit, if it is aimed to protect the country and its people against insane leaders.

Debate is currently taking place in the government to discuss whether if civilian equipment should be hardened against potential EMP attacks or not, as Rebel Army's usage of the E-Bomb may encourage others to do the same. While hardened equipment would greatly reduce the chances of it being damaged or destroyed and communication could still be effective despite EMP attacks, the costs of adding the protection in every single existing device would be extremely burdensome and costly. A cheaper and more realistic solution is currently being devised.

[Manetheren]

Any anti-EMP devices the Vinilandese can create would certainly be of interest for purchase by the Tahoan government. While we may be capable of devising our own system, continuing our use of standardized equipment between the new nations is a militarily sound idea, not to mention cheaper for us.

[JEDCJT]

OOC: Heh, I considered doing the exactly same thing...until I realized I didn't have the Nuclear Fallout Shelter wonder and I wasn't sure of how to 'harden' civilian equipment against an EMP attack...

But nevertheless, awesome!

[V The King]

Any anti-EMP devices the Vinilandese can create would certainly be of interest for purchase by the Tahoan government. While we may be capable of devising our own system, continuing our use of standardized equipment between the new nations is a militarily sound idea, not to mention cheaper for us.

We will let Tahoe know about our progression in the research of anti-EMP devices and means, and we'd be more than happy to share it with our good southern neighbors.

OOC: Heh, I considered doing the exactly same thing...until I realized I didn't have the Nuclear Fallout Shelter wonder and I wasn't sure of how to 'harden' civilian equipment against an EMP attack...

But nevertheless, awesome!

OOC: To be fair, I don't have it, either. I'd buy it, but it actually hurts your nation during nuclear war (since you get nuked and the odds of losing a ground battle greatly increases, losing more if you just lost all of your soldiers and got the defeat alert) and serves absolutely no purpose during peacetime. It's dead last in my wonder priority list.

[V The King]

Nationwide EMP-Proofing in progress

Nadrink, Distretto Federal: Last week, after multiple polls showed that the population was mostly in support of a nationwide EMP proofing campaign, the Parliament voted on and approved a bill which would make mandatory for all government electronic equipments and buildings to be protected against potential E-bomb attacks (along with any military object, from tanks to radars), and highly encourage privately-owned equipment to be proofed as well, with tax breaks and subsides to those who seek to fully proof their residences and/or equipments against EMP.

Massive reforms on public buildings and equipments are currently taking place, with Faraday Shields being devised and built on those. Advanced Faraday Cages and related anti-EMP devices are also being mass-produced by private corporations Elétro-Seguro and Anti-Eletrônicos S.A., intended to be sold to the general public at minimal price.

In order to pay for the cost of the proofing and research, the government is heavily taxing the aforementioned corporations (as they're to make an immense fortune despite high taxes), plus temporarily increasing income tax by 5%, which will be decreased back to original levels once most of the nation is prepared against EMP attacks. But the Minister of Finance has also stated that the "budget might look ugly by the end of the year".

[sammyace1]

The Eggman Empire would be willing to supply funds in exchange for some of the anti-EMP research.

[V The King]

We thank the Eggman Empire for its offer, but we'd rather not rely on foreign aid in order to bring up our budget - we still hope we can finish the year in the green, although I'll take some well-placed cuts and taxes to do so...

[V The King]

State-Owned internet service provider"Di Net" founded

Calgari, Nova Coimbra: Last week, Viniland's leading internet service provider, Velox, filled for bankruptcy, citing accumulated debts and attempts of tax evasion due to lack of funds as reasons for such action. Despite being exponentially larger than other firms in the area and controlling more than half of the ISP market and looking prosperous, mismanagement and poor investments and allocation of funds over the course of this year led the company to its doom.

In order to fill the void left by Velox, the Vinilandese government stepped in and founded a new ISP, "Di Net". The newly created company bought nearly all of Velox's servers and its main headquarters (located in Calgari) and will provide services for free to all subscribers of the deceased ISP until December 15th, when they must choose to renew the subscription under Di Net's regulations or not.

Velox's former headquarters, now Di Net's, downtown Calgari

EMP-proofing complete for government buildings and items - Nuclear shelters being built

Nadrink, Disttreto Federal: Starting a few months ago, the Monarchist government began a massive campaign aimed to "Proof the whole nation against potential EMP attacks and nuclear strikes" after the end of the South American war.

Buildings, many of them government owned, were renewed in order to provide structural EMP proofing and many electronic items (and all of the government's) were also substituted or improved so to also immunize individual equipment. The "anti-EMP"drive, while currently "successful in protecting anything that is state-owned", did not fully integrate with the public yet. Even though EMP-proof equipment is only somewhat more expensive and citizens buying those get temporary discounts on many products, they tend to be more cumbersome and much less aesthetically pleasant than their unprotected counterparts. A poll conducted yesterday revealed that only 28% of the population has all of their electronic inventory "fully protected", while 48% stated that they "had only the most essential items proofed", and 24% said that "they did not bother proofing their equipment yet".

The percentages would probably be lower if Viniland's car manufacturer Sidim Motors did not launch two affordable EMP-proof vehicles, the Eme and the Cujo, which found their way into the popular car market; new EMP-proof models are projected to be manufactured by the same company plus three other Vinilandese ones. However, there is still a lack of luxury cars, and with such hundreds of upper-class citizens decided to import Nordlandic models instead and no national luxury design is expected to be on the market until next year.

Sidim's Eme, which has been selling very well as of lately.

Despite the significant hit on the budget and the sluggish adoption of proofed inventory, Prime Minister Bernardo Vidal stated that the campaign has been so far a "success" and that "most of the nation should be fully protected against EMP attacks next year".

---

On the meanwhile, nuclear shelters have been included in every new building so far, and house owner are not having much of a problem building their own as they're receiving both significant subsides from the government and having an easy time finding banks willing to finance the construction of the shelter. However, such fallout shelters are being much more expensive and harder to build in many downtown buildings, as the current regulation requires each office building to have the capability of sheltering all of its occupants for at least 4 months, thus particularly big and expensive underground shelters have to be built. Listening to the request of the population, the Parliament approved a bill which will extent the "obligatory nuclear shelter" compliance deadline for office buildings employing 100 or more workers to two years rather than one.

As of now, 37% of Viniland's buildings have a fallout shelter, while 54% have one under construction.

[V The King]

Brasília under full Vinilandese control - 198 Byzantine criminals deported

Cidade Autonoma di Brasília, Viniland: Since the the Byzantine Empire (now the Byzantine Republic) relinquished control of Brasília and allowed it to be fully ruled by Viniland, the status of roughly 50,000 Byzantine citizens living in the city became a hot topic for political debate. Some Vinilandese, along with the newly established Byzantine Republic, wanted the citizens to return to their homeland while most supported the permanence of said residents in the country if they wished to remain in Brasília. Virtually all Byzantines living in the city wanted to remain there, thus a conference was held between Viniland and the Republic.

At the conference, it was agreed that the criminal records of the Byzantines would be investigated. As the investigation was concluded, it was found that 175 Byzantine citizens convicted of violent or very socially degrading crimes, such as battery, involvement in gangs or organized crimes, murder, etc. were deported to Byzantinum. An addition 23 citizens convicted of serious offenses were also deported.

The deportations, which took place last week, were criticized by political opponents of the ruling coalition and a significant portion of the population, stating they had ideological motivations, since virtually all Byzantine residents in Viniland were part of the losing side of the Byzantine civil war, the Loyalists, and that the new government wanted to quell potential dissent aboard; and that they should've never been deported in the first place unless for more compelling reasons since they were already Vinilandese PR's.

Deportees board a plane, bound to Constantinople.

Foreign Affairs Minister Celso Amorim stated that the deportations "Were the right thing to do" and that "No one can avoid the law if they have committed crimes, wherever it may have been".

Byzantines in Viniland, while they compose only ~0.15% of the total population, they account for roughly 12% of the population of Brasília and are an important part of the revitalized city.

Private EMP proofing mostly complete - Fallout Shelters can be found everywhere now.

Edmonton, Nova Coimbra: Edmonton was the first major city to have fallout shelters installed in all of its buildings, soon followed by Brasília, whereas Saskatoon was the city with more than 100,000 citizens where more than 95% of the population may be considered "EMP-protected".

"Operação Proteção", which is a still-going operation launched by the previous Monarchist government and continued by the Liberal Democrat-Labor coalition, aims to strongly encourage the public to build its own fallout shelter and either proof their existing electronics and wires with Faraday cages or other means, or buy new EMP-proof products. The campaign has been well-successful in most parts of the country - the state of Nova Coimbra reported that 98% of its buildings had fallout shelters, while 90% of the same state's population had reasonable EMP-proofing. Alta Vancavite reported 96% and 89%; Columbina, 97% and 96% and Rio Grande do Leste, 91% and 95%, respectively.

"Protection" percentages are significantly lower in the Brazilian states due to the income sparsity, since the region is still catching up to standard Vinilandese quality of life - Itamaracá has 78% and 63% and Bahia has 70% and 59%, respectively. Brasília is an exception since it is a recently rebuilt city with all of the Vinilandese institutions already in them, plus with a sensible mix of Byzantine ones. The percentages there are 100% and 87%, respectively.

The government expects to officially declare the nation "Protected against nuclear attacks" by the middle of the year and "EMP protected" by the end of the year.

[JEDCJT]

OOC: Can you say, EPIC gravedig? >.>