Egyik 19

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Europe

Hungary
18.09.2024  The Hungarian government today said that the pager devices that exploded in Lebanon "have never been in Hungary." The remarks came from government spokesperson Kovács. "Authorities have confirmed that the company in question is a trading intermediary, with no manufacturing or operational site in Hungary," Kovács said. “It has one manager registered at its declared address, and the referenced devices have never been in Hungary," he said. "During further investigations, Hungarian national security services are cooperating with all relevant international partner agencies and organizations," he added. Kovács said that the case poses no national security risk to Hungary. (Source: aa *)
* Anadolu Agency (Turkey)

September 18, 2024 10:27 pm CET Hungary 'piggybacks' on Dutch EU migration opt-out request. Hungarian minister for EU Affairs Bóka, Writing on X, said: “Drastic action is needed to stem illegal migration, the Hungarian government will join the Netherlands in asking for an opt-out from EU asylum and migration rules, if a Treaty amendment allows it.” It is another sign of fracturing EU consensus around immigration. The new Dutch government last week announced it was aiming to implement the “strictest asylum policy ever,” and submitted a request for an opt-out on some EU migration policies today. Changes to EU treaties are a long and complicated process requiring unanimity of all member countries. The Commission said today that it does not expect to embark on such a change any time soon. While Germany, responding to anti-immigrant sentiment, last week instituted checks at its borders, Hungary hasn’t announced plans to do so. It remains “a committed member of the Schengen area,” Bóka said. (Source: politico)
by Stanley-Smith

Germany
(September 18, 2024) Scholz’s decision to deploy border patrols to all of Germany’s frontiers this week in response to a knife attack in the town of Solingen by a Syrian asylum-seeker on Aug. 27 - as well as the CDU’s strident calls to put the measure in place - symbolized how both parties are still in thrall to flawed policy responses toward migration that have repeatedly ended in failure over the past 30 years. The move by the SPD-led coalition government - which includes the market-friendly Free Democratic Party, or FDP, and the left-leaning Greens -  expanded already existing patrols that run contrary to the spirit and possibly the letter of treaties such as the Schengen Agreement, which were designed to remove barriers to the movement of goods and people between European Union member states. These checks are simply the latest iteration in a long line of security measures that German governments have introduced over the past three decades in response to frustration among some voters over migration, as well as anxiety over electoral gains by the populist 'far right'. (Source: worldpoliticsreview *)
* a quarterly journal (U.S.)

European Commission
(Thursday, 18.9.2024 21:00)  The EU Commission says that it planned to withhold €200 million ($222 million) in funds earmarked for Hungary after Budapest 'failed' to pay a fine for violating asylum rules. It said that Budapest had 'failed' to pay an equivalent fine for violating international asylum rules. In December 2020, the European Court of Justice found that Hungary had not allowed asylum-seekers to leave detention while their cases were being considered. The ruling said that Hungary also did not offer special protections for children and other vulnerable people. In March, the ECJ said it would investigate an EU Comission decision to unfreeze funds that had been withheld from Hungary over alleged rule of law breaches. In June, the ECJ fined Hungary for failing to comply with a 2020 ruling on upholding international procedures for asylum-seekers. The court said in June that Budapest has continued to restrict migrants' ability to request asylum and has not upheld their right to stay while their cases are processed. A deadline to settle the penalty expired on Tuesday. Since the 2015 refugee crisis Budapest has frequently but heads with the EU over the rule of law and the war in Ukraine. (Source: dw / AFP, dpa, AP)

European Parliament
September 18, 2024  On 8th July, Orbán's government extended the Hungarian "National Card" scheme to new nationalities, including Russian and Belarus citizens. The scheme allows Hungarian authorities to invite an unlimited number of guest workers in all sectors. The Card, valid for two years, can be extended multiple times and enables family reunification for any holder. The guest workers will have access to all the Schengen countries without a thorough security check. In today's plenary debate in Strasbourg, initiated at the request of Renew Europe, on the Hungarian government's decision to extend the "National Card" scheme to Russian and Belarus citizens, Renew Europe's MEPs will raise 'the serious security risk it will cause for the whole EU'. "Orbán's 'National Card' scheme risks 'temporary suspension of Hungary's Schengen status.' (Source: reneweuropegroup)

Russia
September 18, 20247:54 PM GMT+2  Ukrainian drone attack triggered earthquake-sized blast in the area of Toropets, a 1,000-year-old town, with a population of just over 11,000, at arsenal storing missiles, guided bombs and artillery ammunition in Russia's Tver region in the early hours today, forcing the evacuation of the nearby town about 380 km west of Moscow. Russian state media have in the past reported that a major arsenal for conventional weapons was located at the site of the blasts. According to an RIA state news agency report from 2018, Russia was building an arsenal for the storage of missiles, ammunition and explosives in Toropets. Bulgakov, then a deputy defence minister, told RIA in 2018 that the facility could defend weapons from missiles and even a small nuclear attack. Bulgakov was arrested earlier this year on corruption charges, which he denies. NASA satellites picked up intense heat sources emanating from an area of about 14 square kilometres at the site. The size of the main blast shown in the unverified social media video was consistent with 200-240 tons of high explosives detonating, said Herbert of the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey in California. Russia reported that its air defence units had destroyed 54 drones launched against five Russian regions overnight, without mentioning Tver. Rudenya, governor of the Tver region said the situation in Toropets was stable as of midday local time (0900 GMT) and that evacuated residents could return. The fire had been put out and there were no recorded fatalities, he said. President Zelenskiy thanked the SBU state security service, the HUR intelligence service and the Special Operations Forces. Russia and Ukraine each reported dozens of enemy drone attacks on their territory overnight, with Russian forces advancing in eastern Ukraine. (Source: reuters)

Asia

Israel
September 18, 2024 5:43 PM GMT+2 The mass pager attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon has turned the spotlight on Israel's secretive Unit 8200, the Israel Defense Forces' intelligence unit, which a Western security source said was involved in planning the operation. A senior Lebanese security source and another source told Reuters that Israel's Mossad spy agency was responsible for a sophisticated operation to plant a small quantity of explosives inside 5,000 pagers ordered by Hezbollah. One Western security source told Reuters that Unit 8200, a military unit that is not part of the spy agency, was involved in the development stage of the operation against Hezbollah which was over a year in the making. The source said Unit 8200 was involved in the technical side of testing how they could insert explosive material within the manufacturing process. Kuperwasser, a former military intelligence official and now research director at the Israel Defense and Security Forum, said there was no confirmation that the military intelligence unit was involved in the attack. But he said 8200's members were some of the best and brightest personnel in the Israeli military, serving in a unit at the centre of Israel's defence capabilities. The unit - and its legion of young, hand-picked soldiers - develops and operates intelligence gathering tools and is often likened to the U.S. National Security Agency. In a rare public statement about the unit's activities, the IDF said in 2018 that it had helped to thwart an air attack by islamic state on a Western country. At the time, it said the unit's operations ran from intelligence gathering and cyber defence to "technological attacks and strikes.' While Israel has never confirmed its involvement, Unit 8200 was reported to have been involved in the Stuxnet attack that disabled Iranian nuclear centrifuges as well as a series of other high profile operations outside Israel. The unit is effectively Israel's early warning system, and like much of the rest of the defence and security establishment, shouldered some of the blame for failing to detect Hamas' Oct. 7 assault on southern Israel. Its commander last week said he was stepping down. In his resignation letter carried by Israeli media he said he hadn't fulfilled his mission. The unit is famous for a work culture that emphasizes out-of-the-box thinking to tackle issues previously not encountered or imagined. This helped some graduates build Israel's high-tech sector and some of its biggest companies. The unit has a high turnover rate of young recruits replacing veterans, said Samboursky, another former 8200 member and Managing Partner at Glilot Capital Partners, an early stage fund investing in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. Israeli officials have remained silent on the audacious intelligence operation that killed 12 people yesterday and wounded thousands of Hezbollah operatives. At least one person was killed today when hand-held radios used by Hezbollah detonated. (Source: reuters)

Lebanon
September 18, 2024 at 3:59 p.m. EDT  Israel’s defense minister declares a new phase of war as Hezbollah officials and Lebanon’s state media say explosions went off in Beirut and multiple parts of Lebanon in an apparent second wave of detonations of electronic devices. Yesterday’s pager bombings killed at least 12 people, including two children, and wounded some 2,800 others. Walkie-talkies and solar equipment exploded in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon today in an apparent second wave of attacks targeting devices a day after pagers used by Hezbollah blew up. Several blasts were heard at a funeral in Beirut for three Hezbollah members and a child killed by exploding pagers the day before. In the southern coastal city of Sidon a car and a mobile phone shop was damaged after devices exploded inside of them. A girl was hurt in the south when a home solar energy system blew up. At least 14 people were killed and more than 450 wounded in the second wave, the Health Ministry said. The second wave also deepens concern over the potentially indiscriminate casualties caused in the attacks, in which hundreds of blasts went off wherever the holder of the pager happened to be - in homes, cars, at grocery stores and in cafes, often with family or bystanders nearby. The attacks - which were widely believed to be carried out by Israel targeting Hezbollah but have also killed civilians - have hiked fears that the two sides’ simmering conflict could escalate into all-out war. At least two health workers were among those killed yesterday. Doctors, nurses, paramedics, charity workers, teachers and office administrators work for Hezbollah-linked organizations, and an unknown number had pagers. Gold Apollo, a Taiwanese firm, said it authorized a Hungary-based company, BAC Consulting KFT, to use its name ’on devices delivered to Hezbollah’. But a Hungarian government spokesman said today the pagers delivered to Hezbollah were never in Hungary and that BAC Consultants merely acted as an intermediary. Hungarian national security services were cooperating with international partners, the Hungarian spokesman, Kovács, posted Wednesday on X. O’Connell, a professor of law and international peace studies at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, said booby-traps are banned under international law. 'Weaponizing an object used by civilians is strictly prohibited,” she said. Speaking to Israeli troops today, Israeli Defense Minister Gallant made no mention of the exploding devices but praised the work of Israel’s army and security agencies, saying ’the results are very impressive.’ Israeli leaders have issued a series of warnings in recent weeks that they might increase operations against Hezbollah in Lebanon, saying they must stop the exchange of fire to allow people to return to homes near the border. Israel began moving more troops to its border with Lebanon today as a precautionary measure. Gallant said that after months of fighting Hamas in Gaza, the center of gravity is shifting to the north by diverting resources and forces. The pager bombings appeared to be a complex operation months in the making, with many experts believing Israel infiltrated the supply chain and rigged hundreds of pagers with explosives before they were imported to Lebanon. But little evidence has emerged so far. (Source: washingtonpost)
Lai and AP journalist Mistreanu reported from Taipei, Taiwan

18 Sep 2024 - 10:15 am  At about 3:30 p.m. yesterday, as people shopped for groceries, sat in cafes or drove cars and motorcycles, the pagers in their hands or pockets started heating up and then exploding - leaving blood-splattered scenes and panicking bystanders. It appeared that many of those hit were members of Hezbollah, but it was not immediately clear if non-Hezbollah members also carried any of the exploding pagers. The blasts were mainly in areas where the group has a strong presence, particularly a southern Beirut suburb and in the Beqaa region of eastern Lebanon, as well as in Damascus. Experts believe explosive material was put into the pagers prior to their delivery and use in a sophisticated supply chain infiltration. The AR-924 pager, advertised as being "rugged,” contains a rechargeable lithium battery, according to specifications once advertised on Gold Apollo’s website before it was apparently taken down yesterday after the sabotage attack. It could receive texts of up to 100 characters. It also claimed to have up to 85 days of battery life. That would be crucial in Lebanon, where electricity outages have been common after years of economic collapse. Pagers also run on a different wireless network than mobile phones, making them more resilient in emergencies - one of the reasons why many hospitals worldwide still rely on them. For Hezbollah, the militants also looked at the pagers as a means to sidestep what’s believed to be intensive Israeli electronic surveillance on mobile phone networks in Lebanon. Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs said from the beginning of 2022 until August 2024, Gold Apollo has exported 260,000 sets of pagers, including more than 40,000 sets between January and August of this year. The ministry said the pagers were exported mainly to European and American countries and that it had no records of direct exports of Gold Apollo pagers to Lebanon. Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said today that it authorized its brand on the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria but that another company based in Budapest manufactured them. The AR-924 pagers were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Hungary’s capital, according to a statement released today by Gold Apollo. ’According to the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC,’ the statement read. Gold Apollo chair Hsu told journalists today that his company has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years, but did not provide evidence of the contract. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for what appeared to be a sophisticated remote attack. "I do not have a phone in my hand - is a listening device,” warned Hezbollah chief Nasrallah in a February speech. He later added: "I tell you that the phone in your hands, in your wife’s hands, and in your children’s hands is the agent. It is a deadly agent, not a simple one. It is a deadly agent that provides specific and accurate information. Therefore, this requires great seriousness when confronting it.” (Source: thepeninsulaqatar / AP)

2024-09-18 07:37  Taiwanese pager manufacturer reveals new details following a coordinated cyberattack against Lebanon's Hezbollah. Pagers used by the armed group were reportedly manufactured by a European distributor called BAC of the Taiwanese company Gold Apollo, according to the company's founder and president, Hsu in a statement made today. At least 11 people were killed and nearly 4,000 wounded when the pagers detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Hezbollah had instructed its members to avoid using mobile phones since the beginning of the Gaza conflict, instead relying on a proprietary telecommunications network to avoid potential Israeli surveillance. "The product was not ours. It was only that it had our brand on it," Hsu told today. Hsu said Gold Apollo was also a victim of the incident. The company said in a statement that the AR-924 model was produced and sold by BAC. "We only provide brand trademark authorization and have no involvement in the design or manufacturing of this product," the statement said. Hsu earlier said that the firm with the license was based in Europe but later declined to comment on BAC's location. While Hsu was meeting with reporters, police officials arrived at the company. Hsu said that he did not know how the pagers could have been rigged to explode. Iran-backed Hezbollah said it was carrying out a security and scientific investigation into the causes of the blasts. Israel's Mossad spy agency planted explosives inside 5,000 pagers imported by Lebanese group Hezbollah months before yesterday's detonations, according to a senior Lebanese security source and another source. (Source: shafaq)

18 September 2024 7:15 GMT  In a devastating and unprecedented attack, thousands of pagers simultaneously detonated across Lebanon. The explosions killed nine people, including a young girl, and injured 2750 others - including Iran's ambassador - with about 200 critically wounded, according to the Lebanese health ministry. An additional 10 injured were reported in Syria. This attack has raised questions about the use of personal technology as a weapon, sparking accusations of terrorism and a dangerous escalation in the region. Pagers are used by doctors, nurses, and emergency services because they operate in areas where mobile phone signals are weak and are crucial for transmitting critical information. In a series of tweets, media narratives were criticized - that attempt to justify the attack by labeling all victims as members of Hezbollah. The mass detonation of pagers, devices commonly used by Hezbollah as well as by medical professionals and emergency services, is suspected to be a highly sophisticated operation. Hezbollah has accused Israel of being behind the attack. The communication devices contained lithium batteries that appeared to have exploded due to overheating, while other reports have claimed that a shipment of pagers imported five months ago was rigged to include a small explosive charge, one official said. The Lebanese government also held Israel responsible. According to SMEX, a Beirut-based digital rights organization, there are three possible explanations for how the attack was carried out: Tampered devices: The pagers may have been rigged with small explosive devices during transit and remotely detonated; Overheated batteries: Israeli intelligence could have exploited a vulnerability in the pagers, causing the batteries to overheat and explode; Radio wave activation: A supply chain attack may have allowed the pagers to be tampered with and later activated via radio waves, potentially from a ground station or an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS). The apparent Israeli mass cyber attack in Lebanon is a grave violation of international law and opens a dangerous pandoras box. Almost every human is a walking ticking bomb and it won't be long before this tech will be used by many actors. This attack signals a new frontier in the use of everyday technology for mass harm. The pager attacks come at a time when Israeli officials have recently increased their threats to escalate on their northern front. (Source: globalvoices *)
* Headquarters Amsterdam, The Netherlands

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Europe

Hungary
(17 September 2024 8:53)  In Hungary, authorities are bracing for potential flooding along the Danube River, which runs through the capital, Budapest. The river is rising by about a meter every 24 hours, and officials have issued flood warnings along a 500km stretch of the river. Sandbags have been distributed to residents in flood-prone areas, and some roads in Budapest have already been closed in preparation for the rising water levels. (Source: independent)

Finland
September 17, 2024  Sweden said it is ready to lead NATO’s forward presence to be established in Finland. Although it is yet to be decided where the headquarters is to be located, Lapland is believed to host the new structure. It is not aimed at bring permanent NATO troops to northern Finland, but will be staffed with command officers preparing for troop deployment in case of war. In a joint declaration, the two countries underlines the need to secure transport communication in the northern regions between Norway, Sweden and Finland in order to cover the needs for supplies, trade and security. While Norway is not a member, Sweden and Finland will work to promote military mobility within the European Union. The declaration makes clear that interregional EU funding will be used to improve east-west communication. From the port of Narvik on the coast to the Norwegian Sea, Europe’s northernmost cross-border railway connects with Kiruna, Luleå and Happaranda in northern Sweden, from where goods can be shipped further into northern Finland via the reopened railway to Tornio. While the Council of the Baltic Sea States cooperation is highlighted with its own sub-chapter in the joint declaration, the Barents cooperation - a multilateral structure aimed to assist Russia’s northern regions integrate in international contacts - is not mentioned with a single word. (Source: thebarentsobserver *)
* The Barents Observer, a Norwegian online newspaper

Poland
(17 September 2024 8:53) Kolbiarz, the mayor of Nysa issued evacuation order today, urging all 44,000 residents to seek higher ground due to the risk of a nearby embankment breaching. “Please evacuate your belongings, yourselves, your loved ones. It is worth getting to the top floor of the building immediately, because the wave may be several metres high. This means that the whole town will be flooded,' Mr Kolbiarz wrote. The embankment holds back water from a large lake. In addition to the evacuations in Nysa, local authorities have ordered the evacuation of several nearby villages, including Kozielno, after the Topola reservoir in southern Poland overflowed. The water from the reservoir has already inundated parts of the region, and officials fear further breaches could exacerbate the situation. Prime minister Donald Tusk declared a 30-day state of natural disaster on yesterday, which will allow authorities to streamline the response efforts and provide aid to flood-stricken areas in the Lower Silesian, Opole, and Silesian voivodeships. Mr Tusk was announcing that one billion zloty (£197m) would be allocated to flood relief efforts. He also confirmed that Poland would apply for EU relief funds to support recovery in the affected regions. Nysa is not the only area at risk. In Wroclaw, a city of 600,000 people located in southwestern Poland, officials are preparing for peak water levels later this week. (Source: independent)

European Parliament
17-09-2024 - 10:19  EP leaders had an exchange of views with the President-elect of the Commission on the new College of Commissioners. The presentation of today paves the way for the start of the confirmation hearing process, once Parliament receives all the necessary documentation. The Committee on Legal Affairs will scrutinise the declarations of interests of the Commissioners-designate. This is an essential precondition for the holding of the confirmation hearings. Each Commissioner-designate’s responses to the written questions submitted by the Parliament will be published on Parliament’s website in advance of the confirmation hearing. The Conference of Presidents will organise the confirmation hearings based on a recommendation of the Conference of Committee Chairs. Each Commissioner-designate will be invited to appear before the appropriate committee or committees for a single confirmation hearing, lasting three hours. However, in the case of particularly large or complex portfolios involving more than one committee, the confirmation hearing may last for up to four hours. The confirmation hearings will be livestreamed. Parliament will evaluate Commissioners-designate based on their general competence, European commitment and personal independence, as well as assess their knowledge of their prospective portfolio and their communication skills. The committee coordinators will evaluate the individual Commissioners-designate after the confirmation hearing and prepare a single evaluation letter for each Commissioner-designate. 'To be approved, coordinators representing a majority of at least 2/3 of the committee members belonging to a political group', should approve the Commissioner-designate. If this majority cannot be reached, more information can be requested by additional written questions, or by a resumed confirmation hearing, lasting for 1,5 hours. The evaluation letters are conveyed to the Conference of Presidents, which can then declare the confirmation hearings closed and authorise the publication of all letters of evaluation. Following successful confirmation hearings, the President-elect will present the College of Commissioners and their programme at Parliament’s plenary, followed by a debate, and a vote to elect or reject the Commission as a whole, by a majority of the votes cast (by roll call). (Source: europarl)

Norway
16:12 BST, 17 September 2024  Traces of radioactive Cesium-137 appeared between September 9 and 12 and have been measured along Norway's border with Russia, it was revealed today. Norway shares a 121 mile border inside the Arctic Circle with Russia's highly militarised Murmansk region. Filters from Viksjøfjell and Svanhovd in Norway - close to the Russian border - are analysed once a week. 'The levels are clearly higher than normal, but pose no risk to humans or the environment,' said Møller, of the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (DSA)'s Emergency Preparedness unit at Svanhovd. The cause of the mysterious spike is unknown. One fear is that it could relate to Russia's Pankovo test site for the Burevestnik - a nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed cruise missile - on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. The Barents Observer has in the course of the summer seen several cargo-ships and special purpose vessels in the waters outside Pankovo and over the last few weeks, Rosatom's two large Il-76 transport planes have periodically been parked at the airport in Rogachevo at Novaya Zemlya. The blue-coloured aircraft are believed to conduct operations connected to the Burevestnik testings. The missile is 'believed' to be launched by a solid-fuel rocket motor. Then a small nuclear reactor activates in flight, which potentially allows it to stay aloft threatening Western countries almost indefinitely. Yet there are also a few nuclear-powered icebreakers moored around Murmansk, and numerous maritime reactors onboard submarines in the region, home of Russia's Northern Fleet. Small leakages of Cesium-137 are more likely to appear during start-up or maintenance of a reactor or from handling spent nuclear fuel. (Source: dailymail)

Europe
Tue 17 Sep 2024 16.41 CEST  Storm Boris has dumped up to five times average September rainfall in four days. Weather in the region is expected to improve steadily from late on Tuesday.    In Austria, the state of Lower Austria has been declared a disaster zone. The flooding has broken a dozen dams, with muddy rivers raging through devastated villages and thousands of households without electricity and water. Twenty-six communities were still cut off. The army has been deployed across the region and a €300m emergency fund made available. In St Pölten, more rain has fallen in four days than in the whole of the wettest autumn on record 75 years ago.     In the Czech Republic, where more than 60,000 homes were still without electricity, the governor of the north-eastern Moravia-Silesian region, Belica, said 15,000 people had been evacuated and helicopters were delivering aid to towns and villages cut off by flood water. Eight people were unaccounted for. The fire service delivered bottles of drinking water to villages cut off by the floods, with people told not to drink tap water as it would be heavily contaminated.    In eastern Germany, authorities were taking precautions, with mobile flood protection walls set up in some areas to protect Dresden’s old city as the Elbe rose steadily. The river was expected to peak by midweek.    The Danube River was still rising in Hungary, including by about a metre every 24 hours in Budapest. Mobile dams were in place at the historical towns of Visegrád and Szentendre, north of Budapest. Tram lines and roads alongside the river, as well as the popular Margaret island, have been closed and a million sandbags distributed.    In Poland, the mayor of the historical city of Wrocław, Sutryk, said on today buses had been prepared for an evacuation. The Oder is expected to peak on Friday, or perhaps sooner, in the city, which is home to 600,000 people. Wrocław zoo, alongside the river, appealed for volunteers to fill sandbags. Near the border between Poland and the Czech Republic, one of the hardest-hit areas, 2,000 volunteers from the Polish town of Nysa’s population of 44,000 spent yesterday night helping rescue workers build up a burst river embankment. A huge reservoir near the border aimed at reducing water levels and preventing flood waters from the Odra and Nysa from merging – as they did in catastrophic flooding in 1997 – was about 80% full, authorities said.    The Danube River had peaked in Slovakia, the environment minister, Taraba, said, leaving parts of Bratislava’s old town flooded.     Storm Boris is forecast to move to northern Italy, where the region of Emilia-Romagna is bracing for the impact of 100-150mm of rainfall. (Source: theguardian / „Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Associated Press”)

(17 September 2024 8:53)  Heavy rainfall has caused rivers and reservoirs to overflow, prompting evacuations and warnings of further flooding in the coming days. As the storm continues to move south, more rainfall is expected today. But forecasters expected the weather to improve in central Europe from mid-week with much drier conditions prevailing. However, it may still take days for the flood waters to subside. (Source: independent *)
* headquartered United Kingdom

 North America

United States
Sep 17, 2024 08:16 IST  The US Secret Service said yesterday it was aware of a post by billionaire Musk on the X social media platform musing about an absence of assassination attempts on President Biden and Vice President Harris. A Trump supporter and the CEO of Tesla, Musk, wrote on Sunday, September 15: 'And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala,' a post he ended with an emoji of a face with a raised eyebrow. X users 'from the left and right' said they were concerned his words to nearly 200 million followers could incite violence against Biden and Harris. Musk deleted the post. (Source: indiatoday)

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Europe

Hungary
(Monday), September 16, 2024 09:58  Hungary expects near-record water levels as flooding slams Central Europe. Hundreds of specialists and soldiers prepare defenses. The National Technical Steering Group of Water Affairs coordinate flood protection works in the country. More than 500 of its employees set off and are constantly arriving in the area of the North-Transdanubian and West-Transdanubian Water Directorates, which are most at risk of flooding, to help their colleagues who serve on the state defense lines. In the next six days, there is a prospect of water levels exceeding the third level in the Danube up to Adony, and in several places exceeding the level of preparedness for the first and second level of flood protection. The specialists of the National Water Warning Service currently believe that the water level in the section up to Budapest and in the capital will be about 40 centimeters lower than during the 2013 flooding peaks. Since it is still raining in the catchment areas of the Traun, the Enns, and the Vienna basin, this data will still need to be clarified, the spokesperson of the OVF, Siklós said.The most serious situation can be expected along the Szigetköz and Lajta, she added. A near-record amount of water will arrive with the flood in Szigetköz - the tidal wave on the Danube first reaches Hungary there, where more than 500 specialists of the National Directorate General of Water (OVF) are already present. In addition, the Tisza water affairs staff are also on hand to help as needed and the redeployment of forces and rescue workers is ongoing, including flooding and water management experts from the western Transdanubian who were defending themselves along the Rába and the Mura 24 hours ago. Preparations are also ongoing at the local governments, where the water technical managers are there, as well as the disaster prevention specialists. There are also state defense lines on the Danube for about a thousand kilometers, where the water experts can use the help of the soldiers for the work if necessary. Siklós indicated that “those who want to participate in flood defense can apply to the mayors”, who coordinate the defense of those self-defending settlements where the help of volunteers is needed. At Lajta, experts expect the peak flooding to approach the highest values ever measured. In defense of Mosonmagyaróvár, preparations are also underway for the opening of the Lajta reservoir. At Rába and Mura, peaks will also reach significantly high levels. In Budapest, the water can reach the lower quay, which lines the Danube, on tomorrow. On Sunday, Viktor Orbán inspected the water level of the Danube on the Római-part in Budapest. Experts are confident they can fight the crisis because the flood level will not be higher than the highest so far, so they will be able to cope with it. Mayor Karácsony wrote that the Budapest section of the Danube is also on level three flood protection alert, the Buda and Pest lower quays will be closed from 8 p.m. today. He indicated that the new protection facilities built after the great flood of 2013 in several flood protection sections are being tested live for the first time. Due to the rapid rise in the water level and the strong flow of the river, the mayor asks everyone who goes near the Danube to be extra careful in the coming days. Dömötör, a Hungarian lawmaker and former minister in the prime minister’s office, indicated that the Hungarian Defense Forces is providing 17,000 people, vehicles, and helicopters for flood protection. Hungarian Minister of the Interior Pintér visited Győr, where he reported that his ministry is properly organizing the defense on the Danube and Lajta. “The government has authorized the Ministry of the Interior to organize flood protection,” he said, adding that they will prevent the water from breaking through the dams of the Danube and Lajta. According to the forecasts, the water level of the Danube and the Lajta will reach a height similar to or higher than the flood of 2013, so special protection is needed on the two rivers, he said. (Source: rmx.news *)
* Remix, a Hungarian online news site. Provides news in English on Central Europe

France
16/09/2024 - 08:33  ’EU to name new defence tsar - but is the job a dud?” European Commission President von der Leyen has promised to name a new, designated defence commissioner as a key part of her new top team, ’to boost Europe's efforts to rearm’. What would it actually mean in practice? There are now major doubts over how much power it will actually have. During von der Leyen's first five years at the helm, the defence industry was overseen by powerful French commissioner Breton as part of his wide-ranging mandate. Now the defence brief is expected to be spun off to a dedicated new commissioner - with Breton promoted to a more senior role overseeing industrial growth across the bloc. Heavyweight EU member states no longer seem so keen to snaffle up the role, set to be unveiled as part of the bloc's new line-up in the coming days. The new defence commissioner is not a sort of EU defence minister - the 27-nation bloc has no army of its own and is not planning to set up one any time soon. Instead the main focus will be overseeing efforts to try to bolster the continent's defence sector. Since Moscow's all-out invasion, the EU has yet to come up with the major sums needed to match its ambitions on defence. Countries jealously guard their defence industries and have been reluctant to cede more control in the sector to Brussels. While von der Leyen has estimated that the bloc will need to invest 500 billion euros ($550 billion) overall on defence over the next decade - the figures on the table at an EU level are far below that. Convincing member states to spend chunks of their tightly guarded budgets on EU efforts will be a tough ask - as will getting them to open up their national producers to competition. And unless the new commissioner has considerable funds to play with, their job risks lacking firepower - defence budget of 100 billion would obviously have a bigger impact than a budget of 10 billion. Von der Leyen could fold in other responsibilities, the new EU defence commissioner could take over broader security responsibilities to increase the heft of the new job: cyber security, protecting critical infrastructure, space, or efforts to boost the ability to transport troops from one part of Europe to another. Breton will likely be looming from one side and on the other ’will be’ new foreign policy chief Kallas, whose role involves overseeing the bloc's security policy. Diplomats say the questions swirling over the new job have seen EU powerhouses such as France and Poland switch their priorities to obtaining other positions - with defence now a fall-back option. (Source: france24 / AFP)

European Parliament
(Monday), 16/09/2024 10:13  A four-day sitting of the European Parliament kicks off today, with Commission President von der Leyen and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán the headlining acts. But question marks hang over the appearance of both leaders. Von der Leyen's line-up of new Commissioners risks unravelling at the last minute. Major flooding in central Europe could dissuade the Hungarian premier from travelling to Strasbourg. Von der Leyen has been convened to unveil her 26-strong team of nominated European Commissioners - and the policy portfolios she will ask them to steer - during a meeting with the parliament’s president and political leaders tomorrow morning. But today, Breton - the French European Commissioner who had been nominated for another term - abruptly resigned from his post and pulled out from the race, accusing von der Leyen of personally lobbying France to withdraw his candidature 'You asked France to withdraw my name - for personal reasons that you have in no instance discussed directly with me - and offered, as a political trade-off, an allegedly more influential portfolio for France in the future College,' Breton's resignation letter, shared on X, reads. Orbán will address the Strasbourg plenary on Wednesday in a routine speech part of Hungary’s six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. On Tuesday, MEPs will debate the Hungarian decision to open up its “National Card” worker visa scheme to Russian and Belarusian nationals, 'paving the way towards permanent residency". The EU executive has asked for clarifications in a letter to Budapest. The Hungarian government has responded to that letter. Migration policy: Budapest ’threatened’ to bus irregular migrants from the Hungarian-Serbian border to Brussels - a direct retaliation for a €200-million lump-sum fine imposed by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in June. Orbán claims the EU owes his government money for failing to cover the €2 billion it has spent on “protecting the EU’s external borders.” (Source: euronews)

Russia
Mon 16 September 2024 at 6:19 pm CEST  President Putin has ordered the regular size of the Russian army to increase by 180,000 troops to 1.5 million soldiers. In a decree published on the Kremlin’s website, Mr Putin ordered the overall size of the armed forces to be increased to 2.38 million people, of which he said 1.5 million should be active servicemen and women. Since 2022 Mr Putin had previously ordered two official increases in the number of combat troops – by 137,000 and 170,000 respectively. Russia mobilised over 300,000 soldiers in September and October 2022 in an exercise. The Kremlin has said that no new mobilisation is planned for now. The idea is to continue to rely on volunteers signing up to fight in Ukraine on lucrative contracts. The new order came as overnight Ukraine’s air force shot down 53 out of 56 Russian drones in the Kyiv region. Air defence units destroyed nearly 20 drones that were heading towards Kyiv, the Ukrainian military said. Meanwhile Russian troops continue to advance on Pokrovsk, a key city in eastern Ukraine. In Russia’s Kursk region – where Ukraine launched an audacious cross-border incursion on 6 August – Russia’s Defence Ministry said its troops had retaken the settlements of Uspenovka and Borki from Kyiv’s control. Kursk’s governor Smirnov also said Russians had been ordered to evacuate the region within 15km of the Ukrainian border today. (Source: uknews.yahoo / Independent)

Europe
Monday 16 September 2024 20:12, UK  At least 16 people have died after heavy flooding across eastern and central Europe. Over the weekend heavy rain and surging water levels forced evacuations, collapsed bridges and damaged houses and cars in central Europe.    The floods have claimed one life in Austria.    In the Czech Republic at least three people had died, while seven others were missing. Receding waters in mountainous areas today left behind destroyed homes, bridges and roads. Several towns and cities were submerged on Sunday in the northeast, where thousands were forced to evacuate. Czech authorities have declared a state of emergency in two northeastern regions which have seen the worst of the flooding. Today a broken barrier in the northeastern city of Ostrava led to hundreds more being evacuated.     The number of flood victims in southwestern Poland rose to five after the body of a surgeon returning from hospital duty was found in the town of Nysa today morning. Earlier the bodies of two women and two men were found in the region. Today afternoon the mayor of the Polish town of Nysa, which has a population of around 40,000, called on residents to evacuate immediately after a nearby floodbank was damaged. Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced a state of natural disaster in the flooded areas, in order to facilitate evacuation and rescue operations and expedite financial support for the victims. Many Polish cities have called for food donations for those in the flooded areas. Experts are warning of a further flood threat in Opole, a city of some 130,000 residents, and the city of Wroclaw, where 640,000 people live and where flooding was expected on Wednesday.    The floods have already claimed seven lives in Romania.    Flooding is predicted to impact     Slovakia and     Hungary next, as a low-pressure system from northern Italy has dumped record rainfall in the region since Thursday. People in Slovakia's capital Bratislava and the Hungarian capital Budapest were both preparing for possible flooding as the River Danube rose. The mayor of Budapest has warned residents the largest floods in a decade were expected to hit the capital during the week. (Source: news.sky )

North America

United States
Sep 16th, 2024, 11:47 am  Former President Trump directly blamed President Biden and Vice President Harris for a gunman targeting him at his West Palm Beach golf club yesterday – the second assassination attempt since the near-deadly July shooting in Pennsylvania. “He believed the rhetoric of Biden and Harris, and he acted on it,” Trump said, claiming, “Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country, and they are the ones that are destroying the country - both from the inside and out,” Trump today morning claimed. He pointed to Biden and Harris’ past comments casting Trump as a 'threat to democracy,” while telling Americans they are "unity' leaders. “These are people that want to destroy our country.” „They are the real threat,” Trump added, appearing to use the exact same kind of language he claims the Democrats are using that inspired the shootings. 'They do it with a combination of rhetoric and lawsuits they wrap me up in. These are the things that dangerous fools, like the shooter, listen to - that is the rhetoric they listen to, and the same with the first one,' Trump said. 'They use highly inflammatory language,' Trump later added. 'I can use it too - far better than they can - but I don’t.” (Source: mediaite *)
* an American news website focusing on politics

September 16, 2024 9:03 AM  A gunman attempted to assassinate Republican presidential candidate Trump on Sunday (Sept 15) at Trump's golf course in Palm Beach. The suspect is Routh, 58, of Hawaii. On X, Facebook, and LinkedIn, three accounts bearing Routh's name suggest he was an avid supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia. The New York Times had interviewed Routh in 2023 for an article about Americans who were volunteering to help the Ukraine war effort. Routh told the Times he'd traveled to Ukraine and spent several months there in 2022 and was trying to recruit Afghan soldiers who fled the Taliban to fight in Ukraine. On X in 2020, Routh expressed support for Democratic US presidential candidate Sanders and mocked Biden as "sleepy Joe”. (Source: asiaone *)
* Headquartered Singapore

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Europe

Austria
(Sunday), 15.09.2024  Since Friday, water levels in several Austrian rivers have risen dramatically. Lower Austria is experiencing the most severe conditions, where according to local authorities, numerous streams have already burst their banks as a result of the heavy rain. The fire department in some municipalities in Lower Austria north of Vienna reported that they had to rescue trapped people from their homes overnight between Friday and Saturday. Residents living on riverfront streets were asked to leave their homes in several municipalities. Two subway lines in Vienna were partially shut down as a precaution. Austrian authorities on Sunday declared the northeastern province of Lower Austria a disaster area due to the flooding situation, where one firefighter was killed. The situation continues to worsen due to the massive rainfall throughout the country, Governor Mikl-Leitner said in Sank-Polten today morning. “For many, these will probably be the most difficult hours of their lives,’ she added. Lower Austria's designation as a disaster area grants local authorities additional powers, such as ordering evacuations. The Ottenstein reservoir on the Kamp, which is already nearly full, could overflow during the day. This would cause the river's lower reaches to swell dramatically once more, according to Austrian energy supplier EVN. The Austrian Central Institute for Meteorology and Geodynamics (ZAMG) has forecasted another 60 liters of rain per square meter ’in the coming hours’, with more flooding expected across the country. The situation is particularly precarious along the Kamp and Krems rivers, which flow into the Danube. (Source: aa)

Czechia
(Sunday), 15/09/2024 - 10:26 GMT+2T  Severe floods, thousands evacuated in the eastern region of Moravia, and more than 260,000 are without power on Sunday morning. Strong winds caused trees and branches to fall onto power lines downing several utility poles. With the most eastern region of Moravian-Silesia enduring the worst power-cut, as 114,000 customers were affected. Thousands have been evacuated in the region. In Krnov large parts of the town, including the centre, were underwater. The Opava River has risen from one metre to nearly five metres, with a third-level flood alert in effect. The village of Mikulovice in the north-east, which hosts around 2,500 inhabitants, has seen its houses and roads flooded. Yesterday, in the second biggest city Brno, more than 180 patients were evacuated from the Brothers of Mercy Hospital to other facilities. Firefighters have responded to nearly 6,000 incidents in the last three days, severely impacting road and rail transportation. About 40 sections of railway tracks, especially in the Jesenicko area, are closed due to flooding, with the main Prague-Ostrava rail corridor at Studénka station heavily affected. Czechia's Prime Minister Petr Fiala had announced after meeting with emergency services earlier this week that the country needs 'to be ready for the worst case scenarios'. (Source: eurnews / AP)

France
(Sunday), Sep. 15 (2024)  Fears of the confrontation escalating into a direct collision between Moscow and the NATO bloc have skyrocketed over the past few days, as the US and its allies reportedly consider authorizing Kyiv to conduct strikes deep in Russian territory using Western weaponry, Le Monde reported on Saturday. While France has announced 'no official position” on the matter, Paris has been concerned about potential escalation and has been trying to avoid it. On Thursday, Putin warned that removing restrictions on Ukraine’s use of Western weapons would directly involve the US and its allies in the conflict and would be met with an appropriate response. The president said that such weaponry relies solely on Western intelligence and targeting solutions, with Kyiv effectively unable to use it on its own. That position has been reiterated by Russia’s envoy to the UN, Nebenzia, who warned the move would constitute an 'open war' between NATO and Russia. "Our Western colleagues will not be able to dodge responsibility and blame Kyiv for everything,” Nebenzia stated. (Source: mehrnews * / MNA)
* headquartered Iran

Poland
15/09/2024 - 14:37 GMT+2  Poland's foreign minister Sikorski wants social security benefits for Ukrainian male refugees of draft age in the EU to stop, saying it encourages draft dodgers in Ukraine. There should be no financial incentives for avoiding the draft in Ukraine, to ’help Ukraine's war effort’, Sikorski said, during the Yalta European Strategy, a forum for discussing Ukraine’s European future which was held in Kyiv. ’It's not a human right to be paid to avoid the draft, to defend your country,’ he told. Russia still has a strong advantage over Ukraine in terms of soldiers as well as weapons. Earlier this year, Ukraine already implement measures that included lowering the call-up age for combat duty to 25 from 27 to increase the pace of mobilisation into the army. Ending financial aid to Ukrainian men would save countries like the Netherlands and Germany tens of billions of euros if they decided to spend it elsewhere, Sikorski said. According to Sikorski, that money could be spent on the prevention of Russian drones crossing into NATO members' airspace, and could help Ukraine by strengthening the protection of Ukrainian nuclear power plants from air assault. The Zaporizhzhia plant, which came under Russian control in the wake of its full-scale invasion, saw artillery shelling in the area that damaged the facility’s power access. (Source: euronews)

Europe
(Sunday), September 15, 2024 4:19 PM CET  Heavy rains moved over Central Europe from Italy in a phenomenon known as the Genoa low - from a low pressure area typically forming near the northern Italian city. The downpours led to increased runoff of water in the rivers, some of them overflowing dams and embankments, washing away bridges and inundating towns. Authorities declared the province surrounding Vienna a disaster area. Parts of the Czech Republic, southern Poland and Romania were underwater today after torrential rains in recent days caused massive flooding. The Czech Republic and Poland ordered evacuations from several flooded towns, while roads were closed and events canceled. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk received flak earlier last week after saying that ’forecasts aren’t overly alarming.’ In the following days became clear that some locations would receive the equivalent of a few months’ precipitation in just four days. The Polish government deployed the army to the most affected areas in scenes similar to the catastrophic floods in 1997 and 2010. European Commission President von der Leyen said the EU 'stands ready to support' areas hit by the flooding, in solidarity with all affected by the devastating floods in Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, she said in a post on X today. At least 7 deaths have been reported in the region, following days of heavy downpours - One died in Austria,. two in Poland and four in eastern Romania. Forecasts are for the adverse weather to gradually ease by Tuesday. (Source: politico)

(Sunday), 15/09/2024 - 10:48     Four people are missing in the Czech Republic, authorities said today, as Storm Boris lashed central and eastern Europe with torrential rains and flooding. Three were in a car that was swept into a river in the northeastern town of Lipova-Lazne, and another man was missing after being swept away by floods in the southeast. Heavy rains are expected to continue until at least Monday in the Czech Republic and Poland.      'We have the first confirmed death by drowning, in the Klodzko region' on the Polish-Czech border, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said today morning. Around 1,600 people have been evacuated in Klodzko, and Polish authorities have called in the army to support firefighters on the scene. (Source: france24 / AFP)

(Sunday), 15 Sep 2024 2:44 PM MYT  Floods, fatalities, blackouts. Since Thursday, swathes of Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia have been hit by high winds, rains and floods triggered by Storm Boris, which has brought widespread disruption to central and eastern Europe.    In Austria, firefighters have intervened around 150 times in the capital Vienna since Friday to clear roads blocked by storm debris and pump water from cellars. Emergency services had made nearly 5,000 interventions overnight in the state of Lower Austria, where flooding had trapped many residents in their homes. Austria registered winds of 146 kilometres an hour in the south.  Rail services were suspended in the country’s east early Sunday and several metro lines were shut down in the capital Vienna, where the Wien river was threatening to overflow its banks. Four thousand homes in the Styria region are without power and the 'peak is yet to come', Chancellor Karl Nehammer warned. In mountainous areas of the west, snow halted traffic and rescue services were searching for a man reported missing after an avalanche. Parts of northeast Austria have been declared a natural disaster area. Some areas of the Tyrol were blanketed by up to a metre of snow – an exceptional situation for mid-September, which saw temperatures of up to 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) last week.     Around 100,000 firefighters have been mobilised in the Czech Republic, where nearly 2,900 incidents were recorded on Friday, most of them due to fallen trees and floods. Almost 50,000 homes were without electricity on Saturday, and a hospital in the southeastern city of Brno was evacuated on Saturday morning.    in Poland, the government warned the situation would be the most difficult in the southwest going into Saturday afternoon and evening. Authorities have shut the Golkowice border crossing with the Czech Republic after a river flooded its banks, closed several roads and halted trains on the line linking the towns of Prudnik and Nysa.    Four people have died in Romania in floods. In Slobozia Conachi, a village in Galati, 700 homes had been flooded. Hundreds of people have been rescued across 19 parts of the country.    Slovakia has declared a state of emergency in the capital, Bratislava. (Source: malaymail / AFP)

North America

United States
15.09.2024  Biden plans to use his remaining months at the White House to focus on Ukraine support, to ensure Ukraine is in the best possible position to prevail in its war with Russia, said National Security Adviser Sullivan yesterday, speaking remotely at a forum in Kyiv. He confirmed that Biden will meet with President Zelenskyy at the UN General Assembly in New York later this month to discuss continued US support. 'President Zelenskyy has said that ultimately this war has to end through negotiations, and we need them to be strong in those negotiations,' Sullivan said, emphasizing that Ukraine would determine the timing for any talks with Russia. Sullivan acknowledged delays in aid delivery, citing logistical challenges, not political hesitation. As the US election looms this fall, Biden's successor will either continue his policies through Democratic Vice President Harris or potentially shift course under the Republican candidate, former President Trump who has signaled he wants the conflict to end. Biden’s term ends in January, making him a so-called lame duck president. (Source: aa *)
* Anadolu Ageny (Turkey)

(Sunday, 15 September 2024) 8:49  The UK and the US have reportedly discussed their shared concern that Russia provided nuclear secrets to Iran in exchange for ballistic missiles for its Ukraine war. Prime minister Keir Starmer and US president Biden discussed 'the fact' that Iran and Russia are strengthening their military cooperation during a summit in Washington on Friday, which also covered other key issues around war in Ukraine, including Kyiv’s use of Western long-range missiles to hit targets deep inside Russia. Early last week the US secretary of state Blinken told reporters in the UK that Iran has supplied short-range ballistic missiles to Russia. The weapons would likely be used in the war against Ukraine in the coming weeks. He warned about Russia sharing secret nuclear data with Iran as well as 'some space information'. “Dozens of Russian military personnel have been trained in Iran to use the FATH-360 close-range ballistic missile system, which has a maximum range of 75 miles. Russia has now received shipments of these ballistic missiles and will likely use them within weeks in Ukraine,' he said. The United States, Britain, France and Germany hit Tehran with more sanctions. Iran has denied supplying weapons to Russia, rejecting the claims as 'completely baseless and false”. 'The potential deal' is expected to increase pressure on the US and UK to allow Ukraine to use long-range missiles – Britain’s Storm Shadows and US ATACMS – to strike military targets inside Russia. It was a key topic discussed during the Washington summit but no decision was announced. (Source: independent *)
(* headquartered United Kingdom)

South America

Venezuela
Sep 15, 2024  Three American citizens, two Spaniards and a Czech citizen were detained in the country on suspicion of plotting to destabilize it through "violent actions," the government in Caracas said. Venezuelan Interior Minister Cabello said that those detained had 'contacted French mercenaries, they contacted mercenaries from Eastern Europe and they are in an operation to try to attack our country.' He added that more than 400 rifles were seized and accused the detainees of plotting 'terrorist acts.' The United States denied Caracas' allegations it was involved. The State Department spokesperson additionally confirmed that a U.S. military member was being held. Tensions between Caracas and former colonial power Spain rose sharply after Venezuelan opposition candidate Urrutia, 75, went into exile in Spain a week ago, after being threatened with arrest. Maduro's claim to have won a third term in office sparked mass opposition protests, which claimed at least 27 lives and left 192 people wounded. About 2,400 people, including numerous citizens in their teens, were arrested in the unrest. Maduro's tenure since 2013 has seen GDP drop 80% in a decade, prompting more than 7 million of the country's 30 million citizens to emigrate. (Source: japantimes / AFP-JIJI)

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