UNITED KINGDOM — Riots broke out overnight in Southwark where anti-government protesters clashed with police and military forces. The fighting started just after 8:00pm local time when a marching protest spurred on by Prime Minister Hawthrorne's Tuesday statement that the EUSR laws were not "stringent enough" and is advocating for more restrictions on SLC-Expressives rights within Europe. The protest turned violent when it clashed with police attempting to keep the protesters within the Southwark area.
At least two SLC-Expressive rioters broke through police lines, manipulating the deployed tear gas to drive it back against law enforcement. Torchlight responded just before midnight, declaring the Southwark area an "insurrection zone" and began mass arrests of residents, many of whom still have not been processed. The death toll as of this morning is a sobering 237 protesters with three times that many injured. Southwark has remained classified as an "insurrection zone" and Torchlight is continuing its sweep of the area.
Later that morning, extremist group Mazdak claimed responsibility for the attack on London police and in a video released to the internet openly called for unity among SLC-Expressives against "tyranny from all sides." Mazdak promised more violence in the days to come. Prime Minister Hawthorne is attending an emergency conference of the Torchlight Initiative and the EUSR Enforcement Council to discuss a measured response.
SOUTH AFRICA — President Josef Mabusa revealed the next steps in South Africa's plans to escalate its military force over the next decade in response to rising global tensions regarding the country's strict SLC-Expressive Registration system. President Mabusa indicated in a speech delivered in May that South Africa is moving to become a EUSR-Compliant nation, drawing ire from representatives of the more liberal United States, Canada, and Madagascar. South Africa also faces considerable threat from the growing power of the Confederated State of Iraq and Mazdak, who are responsible for at least 27 bombings in South Africa over the last three years.
As part of his plan to escalate military development, President Mabusa unveiled the nation's next step in defense technology, a fleet of Zhizhu-7 automated artillery platforms from Praxis Heavy Industries. President Mabusa additionally unveiled that Praxis Heavy Industries will be opening a fabrication plant in Cape Town with a focus on integration with the nation's defense force. Mabusa wants to see a fully-automated South African military by 2030.
CANADA — The bodies of 443 Canadian soldiers found in a mass grave in Arkansas last month are finally on their way home. President Praeger joined Canadian Prime Minister Fareeda Bahmani to welcome the remains of these soldiers back into their country of origin.
The remains belong to members of the Les Voltigeurs de Québec, a Primary Reserve infantry regiment of the Canadian Armed Forces that were early entrants into the Second American Civil War against the Mitchell Administration. The slain soldiers are believed to have been killed by a sarin gas rocket that struck their unit west of Drake Field in 2012. The remains of the soldiers were burned by enemy forces and buried, making location and recovery challenging. Volunteers from across Arkansas and beyond came to help find the soldiers starting in 2016 and they, along with 221 American servicemen and 87 civilians fighters were discovered on October 8th.