Economy Veers Towards Collapse As Sanctions Bite
February 22, 4263
Thetotal embargo imposed on Kalopia by the World Congress is proving to have a dramatic effect on Kalopia's heavily export reliant economy. Leaked reports from the Kalopian Ministry of Finance show that exports are projected to fall by up to 85% in the next three years, much of the cause being the result of imposition of such sanctions by major trade partners like the neighbouring nations Jakania, Deltaria, Jelbania and al-Badara with more to come soon. Counter-sanctions directed at Istalia have garnered some support but nowhere near what Kalopia's poised to get.
A pro-Thaller rally in Eleopolis
Instead of blaming the regime, the people seem to agree in general that the hardships such as starvation, lack of medical supplies and the drastically falling value of the Kalopian wan have led to massive shows of support for the leader. Mass rallies in support of his foreign policy are now a daily occurrence and many have demanded that he remain in office and see off the country's challengers, something which Thaller has rejected, insisting on pressing on with his plans for retirement. The rallies appear largely spontaneous although obviously the regime has not exactly discouraged them especially the so called "Hundred Thousand Sons of the Republic" a movement which is recruiting citizens into a volunteer militia at the service of the government to fight its enemies wherever.
Kalopia Denies Organising KHRO Attack
The Kalopian Foreign Ministry has rejected allegations brought forth by Jakania that the country is behind what appears to have been a gas attack on the Kalopian Human Rights Observatory (KHRO) in downtown Dokuz, the Jakanian capital. Apparently a man in a surgical mask burst into a board meeting at the Observatory's main office and punctured a bag containing some kind of gas. Two board members were killed while 15 remain hospitalised with serious injuries. The attacker himself was captured shortly after by Jakanian authorities who have since determined that sarin gas was used in the attack.
The KHRO has been the harshest and most resourceful critic of the Thallerist regime in Kalopia and apparently sourced some of the documents considered by the World Congress' Security Council during its deliberations on Kalopia and helped prove, among other things that the regime had an active and elaborate WMD program in place. Kalopian-Jakanian relations are already heavily strained over the refugee crisis and the embargo which Jakania has joined other nations in imposing upon Kalopia.