Greater Middle EastBoard

La Confederación de Correos
- July 18th 2019

Provinces Set to sign Mexican Free Trade Agreement

Since 2014, the leadership of the Confederations various Provinces have been negociating drafting an internal free trade agreement, known as the "Mexican Free Trade Agreement", the purpose of this free trade agreement is to break down the trade barriers between the members of the Confederacy, in order to improve internal commerce and make the Central American Confederation a more apealing location for gobal investors and foregin companies.

As it stands, 1 in 3 business owners residing in any of the Confederations Provinces have stated they notice a significent difference in business regulations from Proinvce to Province, making it excedingly difficult for local buisness's to get products to market and to get acess to the resources nessicary for the functioning of their business.

The proposed free trade agreement, will not only benfit business, but the citizens of the Provinces, allowig the average citizen to purchase goods and services from another Province at substantially lower prices, and open up local markets to goods that were once unavaliable. Alcoholic products are among the most regulated among the provinces, subject to import tarrifs making near impossible for people in Rio Grande to get wine from the Sonora Regions. Under the Mexican Free Trade Agreement tarifs imposed by Provinces will either shrink dramatically of dosapear all together, making products such as wine avaliable across the Confederacy.

The Mexican Free Trade Agreement has been the priority project of two Preisdents. Previous President of the Confederation Cristian Rodríguez of the Reform Party got the Provinces to sit down and begin negociating this agreement in 2014 near the end of his term as president, and current Preisdent Laura Ordóñez of the Reform Party has guided the negociations since 2015, it would seem if the signing of the agreement in August goes smoothly the Reform Party will cement it's legacy as party that secrured internal free trade.

El País | Noticias de la Nación
- Friday July 19th 2019

Troops withdrawal from northern border
President Nayib Bukele and Minister of the National Defence René Merino has ordered the withdrawal of the deployed troops in the Mexican-Central American border in which were deployed last month to control problems such as illegal drug, weapons, human trafficking, immigration control, along others.

^{I have ordered the withdrawal of the troops deployed last month. We have gotten the situation under control to remove the deployed troops which will be sent to their regular duties. The Federal Police, National Border Police and with a certain number of troops (which have always been in the border) will resume and increase and maintain security in our borders and we will work hard every day to maintain peace and tranquility in our country..."}

During this press release President Nayib Bukele talked about the mass recruitment for the Armed Forces.

^{"Yesterday for the first time in decades we have began the process of mass recruitment for our Armed forces. We want to increase the numbers to 5,000 new troops which will help us fight crime and also generate 5,000 new jobs. This recruitment is totally voluntary.
God bless the Federal Republic of Central America. "}

According to reports cities such as San Salvador, Tegucigalpa, and Guatemala city have already seen dozens of citizens most being 18 going to thier nearest recruitment center voluntarily.

^{"We want to take this opportunity since we all know the streets dont offer anything to us such as jobs and after seeing the armed forces offering this we inmeaditaly took this opportunity to serve the county."}

President Nayib Bukele has thanked the youth population via Twitter calling the youth population an example and thanking them for their decision to serve the country.

No agreement on initiative 5272
Congress met early today at the Legislative place to take their "final decision" on the controversial bill which would bring more consequences for abortion and allows anyone to deny marriage to same sex couples without being questioned. Congress argued and casted thier votes on this controversial bill with most abstaining less than half approved or disapproved this initiative. According to Zury Rios president of Congress both sides need the majority to be able to take a final decision.

^{Today we couldn't take a final decision on this bill. Both sides need the majority to take the final decision... most have abstained thier votes which made it difficult for us to make a decision. We have scheduled another session in the fallowing days and will keep having session until this bill has a clear solution."}

Congress has scheduled a session on Sunday morning in which they hope to finally come to an agreement on this controversial bill.

The Hanoi gazette
------------------------
Friday July 19th 2019

Today a Vietnamese unity party congress was held in Hanoi and marked a shift in vietnamese foreign policy. The country, that had previously traded with both the US and china, will now shift its focus to the east. Chairman of the party and president Nguyen Van Minh declared in his speech:

It is of the utmost importance that we develop closer ties with beijing and other asian countries. This is why our government will start a program of cooperation with the following countries

The list included but was not limited to:
China
Persia
Russia
North Korea

OOC: Hello to everyone I am new I wanted to thank you for letting me join and I apologize if my posts and future factbooks will seem less professional then some of yours since I am a novice in roleplay, factbooks and posts

Beograd Danas
July 19th, 2019.

DHSS AND KPS TALKS CONFIRMED BY BOTH SIDES

It has been confirmed by leading officials from both DHSS and KPS that their parties, both from opposition, have held talks over possible joint request for snap parliamentary elections. Two delegations with four members per party, led by DHSS leader Časlav Krstić and KPS leader David Bojčić have met an still unknown restaurant in suburb area of Belgrade, and are reported to be speaking for almost three hours, which is unusually long if we consider the kind of relationship between them. Since Demochristian Party of Serbia (DHSS) have departed from Conservative Party of Serbia (KPS) few months ago, relationship between them was reduced to an absolute minimum, due to personal conflicts between former party colleagues. After David Bojčić has returned from DHSS into KPS, he took position of party leader in an internal party coup which was later legitimated by party organs. After that, certain openess for joint Opposition actions against Government in terms of politics was mentioned as possible in press by both side. This meeting came as a result of symbolic political messages exchanged trough press.

Leader of the Opposition and party leader of DHSS Časlav Krstić confirmed that meeting took place few days ago, and rejected the writting of some papers which described it as a path towards possible coalition. He explained that the basic concept was plain - to search for common-ground for upcoming political battle with ruling coalition, and to create atmosphere in which the joint request for snap elections might be written by teams from both parties. On the other side, party leader of KPS David Bojčić also confirmed that meeting happened, and confirmed that delegations consisted four members from both parties, including party leaders. He was not interested to comment what was the subject of talks, and politely refused to say where the meeting took place.

Godwin Palace, Londinium, East Seaxe
19th July, 2019

Ælfred was a man surrounded by his enemies. There was no institution in Ænglalandia that didn't have vocal critics of Ælfred's policies regarding the civil and political freedoms of the common populace. However, the recently-appointed Prime Minister, Osbert of East Engle, was an exception to this rule. While there were many matters the two men disagreed on, their enemies outnumbered their differences. One of these particular unifying factors was the open opposition of BeoÞric Oldrein, who barely even pretended he followed orders from Londinium. As such, they had found themselves in an uneasy political alliance, although it would be hard to say they trusted each other. This secret meeting was a rare event indeed. The matter was the Middle East. There was immense potential in their oilfields, and offering English protection to either Kurdistan or the United Arab Emirates (or even both) in return for favourable oil prices could very much provide Ænglalandia with a sphere of influence in the Middle East. However, they couldn't announce any planning on the deal to parliament without deciding a plan. The two reluctant allies sat on either side of a solid oak table in the King's private quarters. A globe sat in the corner, with the old English Empire outlined in red. To the side of the table, a bookshelf stood, lined with dusty tomes intricately detailing the history of Ænglaland. After a painfully long and awkward silence, Oldrein spoke.

"Shall we begin?"

"Yes." The King pulled out a map of the Middle East, with the United Arab Emirates and Kurdistan outlined neatly. "These two places are our main objectives to secure a deal. We will send a diplomatic mission to each. Provide protection in return for, say, 30% lower oil prices. This price could be negotiated, of course."

Oldrein thought about this. "Hm. And what if they refuse?"

The King smiled. It wasn't a friendly smile - it was like a shark smiling at prey. "Then we twist their arm. Aenglalandia's interests must be secured, no matter the means."

And so, the missions were sent. The delegation to Kurdistan was lead by the diplomat Leofric BurÞrid, and the delegation to the UAE was lead by Prince Ærthur, brother of the King. The results of these missions have yet to be seen.

Vancouver | Canada | 2019

Well this was a rather interesting turn of events.....

How could one tiny scandal cause the fall of what was once the most powerful man in Canada? Well it was rather simple, when you try and cover up corporate corruption it tends to come back to bite you in the a**. The man sighed as the police forced him into the car, driving off past the media personnel and others. This would indeed become the case that would define Canada in the future, this is indeed the fall of Justin Trudeau.

"All rise for the honorable Judge Adams"

"Why did I ever agree to take this case..."

"Alright this is the Trial of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau vs the City of Vancouver. I will now open the floor to the prosecution to speak."

Prosecution: 

"Thank you your honor, now I would like to begin by stating only this. The fact is that we believe and we have evidence to prove that Mr. Trudeau was involved in not only one but several corporate scandals that involved money laundering, possible neglect to unsafe working conditions, and more. The Court will see that Mr. Trudeau is indeed guilty and must be punished under the full extent of the law."

Judge Adams:

"Thank you Prosecutor, Defense? You may begin."

Defense:

"Thank you your Honor, now then... Mr Trudeau has been a fine servant to Canada and has served the office of Prime Minister with dignity and pride for his country. We do not see it fit that he is punished for actions far outside his own control and we believe that he should be found innocent of all charges."

Judge Adams: 

"Thank you defense now then we may now begin the evidence and debate section of this trial.... prosecution?" 

Over the course of the next few hours the courtroom was enveloped in a fury of testimonies and arguments, several protesters had to be taken out of the room to avoid reheating the situation as the prosecution brought out recordings, pictures, even some security camera videos showing Trudeau in meetings with several already convicted business men, the case would be the largest corruption scandal in recent Canadian history. Meanwhile on the defense side they mentioned that Trudeau's family was involved in several of these businesses and that he was only thrown into the mess as a middleman in this already hectic situation, even going as far as accusing the prosecution of hiding evidence proving their point. The prosecution of course denied such claims and called the defense team "delusional".

At the end of the day the Judge ordered a Jury vote, for over thirty minutes the jury had a meeting on the matter, whether or not to charge him, in the end it was still split mostly down the middle with the votes of two of the jurors still up in the air as they reentered the courtroom.

"Jurors? Your Vote?"

Juror #1:

"We the Jury vote right down the middle sir, the vote as of now is inconclusive."

Judge Adams:

"I see... the court is adjourned for the day, we will meet once more tomorrow."

with that the courtroom slowly emptied. Trudeau was escorted by his defense team and several officers through the hallways of the courtroom office. As they reached the large wooden doors to the outside they let Justin go, opening the doors and unleashing the media upon him. Pictures were snapped and reporters from all over Canada were shoving microphones in his face, no one expected what would happen next as a single shot rang out from the near deafening crowd of people, causing people to duck and move out of the way. As they got back up all they saw was Trudeau on the ground, bleeding out from the single bullet wound in his head.

"Oh my god...."

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti
PORT-AU-PRINCÈ, AYITI

Sirens went off in the morning. Screams around the city rang and could be heard all the way to the north with Puerto Rico. The other nearby cities could also be heard from Port-au-Prince. This island took decades to recover from the massive earthquake all of those years ago. However, this would be something bigger. Heavy winds and heavy rains shook the land.

The NAGO TV Newsroom showed that a storm bigger than none other that the Haitian Republic has ever witnessed was coming and it was coming quickly. The eye of the storm was close and in the Hispaniolan Island that Haiti sat on with the Dominican Republic.

There was no moment to waste. Every moment was priceless. It was lives of over 10 million people on the island at stake. Everyone had to stay calm. No moment of panic would be able to be gotten back. A loud boom was heard. It was coming. Everyone on the island was in position for the worst. The storm was coming. Trees fell over. So did powerlines and some buildings. The full fury of the hurricane now was unleashed on the island. People waited in homes anxiously and nervously.

In the eye of a hurricane, it is quiet. For just a moment. A yellow sky.

The people of Port-au-Prince braced for the impact. The storm was here and it was coming at full throttle. People had to move quickly just to survive the impact. The children that once played in the city streets, baseball fields, and parks were in fear as they hid behind their parents waiting anxiously.

When I was seventeen a hurricane destroyed my town. I didn't drown. I couldn't seem to die

The hurricane flushed in at full throttle and wiped out Haitian towns and agriculture and even forests. It rushed right through. Water from the storm seeped into homes and soon, people were trapped in flooded houses. African Strand Rescuers were not in time. The deaths piled up. However, people were still trapped in flooded homes. The severe winds blew debris around. People died from flying debris as well. The Haitian body count started to pile up. Silence was all that was left. Buildings were downed, trees were fallen. Bodies lie in the streets. However, one boy emerged from the debris.

I wrote my way out. Wrote everything down far as I could see. I wrote my way out. I looked up and the town had its eyes on me

The boy went by the name of Nelson Pandre Hamilton. He wrote a detailed chronical about everything that happened in the hurricane and how the island was directly effected by it. He also exposed the Haitian government in it for being corrupt and not helping anyone but themselves in the recovery. The half of the island that was Haiti reacted with actions.

They passed a plate around. Total strangers. Moved to kindness by my story. Raised enough for me to book passage on a plane that was New York bound

The boy boarded a ship. The ship was probably one of the only ships left back in the business. The boy stood on the port bow. The city of Port-au-Prince waved him off. The kid teared up, but he was able to wave back. "Mési!" he called back to them. He threw his hat to the crowd of people that stood on the main port.

The Haitian government grew unpopular with the people in the land. Them not doing anything to aid the Haitian people changed everything. Soon, the current government were forced to put up arms in the capital to stop any peasant uprising that could happen at any point. In the eye of a hurricane, there is hope and tranquility. However, in the fury and aftermath of the hurricane, there are death, despair, and pain and a tad ounce of hope.


OOC - I will hopefully be more active. This post, however, is a post that is basically a single-strand post, but I have a moral for the story, so, here's the moral.

Moral: In the eye of a hurricane, there is hope and tranquility. However, in the fury and aftermath of the hurricane, there are death, despair, and pain and a tad ounce of hope. There will always be two things that emerge out of these events. However, they are always one good thing that is unpredictable, and one bad thing which would always be the casualties.