News from Zolo

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Zolo News Network

Grand Jewel Hotel Open, Largest in Mundus

Paradise Inc. declared this morning that their new Grand Jewel Hotel complex in Williamstown is now open for business, and anyone who is willing to pay the hefty price can now buy a room. The hotel, built and owned by Paradise Inc., is the largest hotel on Mundus. The massive building has 42 floors at its highest point, and a total of 5,420 rooms, which is far more than the second largest hotel in the country, Tranquility Island Resort, owned by Ardian Escape Inc., which has 3,314 rooms. The Grand Jewel Hotel includes multiple indoor waterparks, a casino, a shopping mall, a gym, and a movie theater. Paradise Inc., which is the largest hotel and cruise conglomerate in Zolo, made a significant investment of almost 4 billion dollars in the hotel complex, and are counting on the hotel to be a success. Paradise CEO Rachel Gagbat said, quote, "We fully expect that the Grand Jewel complex will be an incredible success. The tourism industry is thriving in Zolo because it's a wonderful place to be, and the Grand Jewel Hotel is the best place to be in Zolo."; whether she is right or not consumers will soon decide. Ms. Gagbat is definitely right however that the tourism industry in Zolo has been a success lately: the industry was already large and has been doing well consistently for years, but it grew a whopping 10% in the last year. Our experts attribute this rise to increased investment, good weather, and decreasing crime in the country's major coastal cities.

Protesters outside the hotel

The opening of the Grand Jewel Hotel was met with protests in the streets of Williamstown. Approximately 3,000 people peacefully marched through the streets of the city, beginning at Capitol Square and then marching to the Grand Jewel Hotel, all while banging pots and pans, carrying signs, and chanting things like, "Tourists go home!", and "the people united will never be defeated". Although today marked the defeat of the protest movement that began 2 years ago when the hotel's construction began, the atmosphere of the protest was festive and cheerful. "It gives me hope when the people take to the streets.", one protester said, "We are not defeated, the people are just starting to stand up, and then the government and the tourists will learn whose country this is.". The movement opposed the hotel's construction and opening because they say tourism drives up property values and drives out the mostly indigenous people with lower incomes. Since the hotel is built and open, it seems like many protesters now hope they can discourage some abroad from coming to stay at the hotel. One protester explained, "maybe they won't want to come here when they realize that we don't want them here.". Rachel Gagbat and the press office of Paradise Inc. both declined to comment on the protests.

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Zolo News Network

Whitesfield Signs Mundus Convention on Universal Rights

Prime Minister George Whitesfield signed onto the Mundus Convention on Universal Rights yesterday. In the press conference that followed, Whitesfield expressed hope for national and international harmony. "This was long overdue,", declared Whitesfield, "and I'm proud to be a part of this historic moment for our country". He explained that up until recently the country had been held back by, "internal division, racism, war, and barbarism.", likely referring to the government's alleged human rights abuses while suppressing prior insurrections. Whitesfield stated, "this is an essential step in Zolo's march towards progress. Now the world will see that we stand for peace, at home and abroad.". While the conservative party was divided on whether to support this decision or not, Parliament Minority Leader Harold Drywafer said, "This is the right decision for our country, and we shouldn't stand against progress for the purposes of partisanship.". National Front Party Chairman Boris Williamson disagreed, saying, "The Prime Minister is prioritizing the opinions of liberal, globalist politicians over our country's ability to protect itself from terrorist threats.". Economists speculate this may increase foreign investment in the economy of the country.

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Zolo News Network

Ubari Unveils Plan for Land Re-Distribution

Joseph Ubari, the Mayor of Christiania, announced his plan for land re-distribution yesterday evening at 8:00 PM from his office at city hall. The mayor's proposed bill would empower and mandate the city to expropriate all unused, unoccupied, or under-maintained buildings in the city and provide the former owners with compensation. Once expropriated, those buildings which can be safely converted into public housing would be converted as soon as possible, and those which cannot would be demolished to construct new public housing. The bill also guarantees the right of tenants to refuse to pay rent if their landlord fails to meet the conditions of the rent agreement, or if the living conditions of the building do not live up to the city's sanitation or safety standards. "This is just the beginning of what our city needs", said Ubari, "and too often the government doesn't care about what the people need. I'm determined for Christiania to be different.". This bill is expected to pass because 14/21 of Christiania's City Assembly members are members of left-wing parties. The announcement comes after the mayor, a well-known member of the Popular Democracy Party, recently received backlash from across the country for implementing strict rent controls and cutting the city's subsidies to the Christiania Police Union. This bill is expected to spark the most intense national backlash yet, and it has already begun. Carol Burdela, the Progressive Governor of S'baja called the plan, "a poorly informed attack on our province's businesspeople.", and Parliament Minority Leader Harold Drywafer called Ubari, "a deranged communist.". Jeffrey Kissinger, the only conservative member of Christiania's City Assembly, had this to say: "I'm gravely worried for the future of our city. Mayor Ubari is a tyrannical thug, and he shouldn't be allowed to destroy our city's economy like this.". Despite the outrage across the country over the last few months, Ubari remains popular among a large majority of Christiania's citizens. Amos Minimus, a textile worker from Christiania, had an optimistic view of the bill, saying: "It's about time someone did something to lower the cost of housing for us poor people. The bill only includes unused land anyways, and housing is everyone's right.". There are currently 7,000 homeless people in Christiania, and 100,000 who are poorly housed: the bill is expected to allow the city to provide housing to the entire homeless population, and to decrease the financial burden of many who are poorly housed, but experts fear it may have dire consequences for the economy of the city.

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Zolo News Network

Whitesfield Addresses Yellowtongue, Unveils Plan

This morning Prime Minister Whitesfield addressed the national and international community about Yellowtongue, and announced an immediate executive order and a bill he has submitted to Parliament to address the disease. Yellowtongue affects livestock such as cattle and sheep, and thus poses a threat to Zolo's significant ranching industry and to its more than 100 million people who live and work on sustenance farms.  The President stated, "Yellowtongue threatens to be a very serious danger to the wellbeing of our country, but thankfully as of now no cases have been detected on our soil, and we have imported almost no livestock. Our top priority is on preventing the spread of the disease to our nation's cattle industry, which would threaten to gravely damage our economy and threaten the livelihoods of millions.". In accordance with these priorities, Whitesfield announced an executive order to the national Coast Guard, Navy, and local law enforcement and port-authorities to turn away all ships brining foreign sheep, cattle, and mutton. The President also explained his new bill: "The point is to ensure that our cattle industry remains strong, and to invest in long-term measures to stop the spread of the disease.". If the bill is approved by Parliament, it will provide 7 billion dollars in immediate relief to cattle-ranching businesses, as well as 2 billion in grants to hospitals and medical research companies to investigate and potentially produce a vaccine to the disease, and 1 billion in additional funding to the Navy to enforce his new executive order. There appears to be bi-partisan support for the bill, although Libertarian representative Joshua Loudsheep called the Prime Minister's executive order, "an illegal power grab.", explaining, "The Prime Minister has never been granted the ability to single-handedly blockade our own coast by The Constitution.". Loudsheep stated that the bill is, "beyond wasteful," stating, "the government shouldn't be interfering in private business like this, and we should reduce our absurd taxes rather than sending billions of dollars to an industry which hasn't even been hurt yet.".

The Prime Minister also called on the international community to respond to the disease, "with both reason and courage". The President expressed concern about how the international response might affect the economy of Zolo, saying, "Because so many of our people depend on our cattle industry to eat, I am worried that if the international community reacts with panic to this disease that it will devastate our country's ability to export cattle and beef.". Whitesfield requested that international leaders not unfairly hurt Zolo: "As there are not yet any cases of the disease in Zolo to the best of our knowledge, it is not necessary to hurt our people with limits on the importation of cattle products from our country. If it is necessary to restrict the importation of cattle at all, I call on you to selectively turn away those ships coming from the seriously affected countries.". Whitesfield also called on the international community to come together to fund research on the disease and the possibility of a vaccine for it, saying, "Our efforts will be infinitely more effective if we we cooperate.".

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Yellowtongue Bill Passes Narrowly - With Modifications

Parliament approved Prime Minister Whitesfield's Yellowtongue bill this morning by a narrow majority, with 139 out of 254 votes, with some modifications from its original form. The bill was supported outright by most of the Conservative Alliance and opposed by most of the Popular Front, while the parliament members of the Liberal, Social-Democratic, and Progressive parties were initially divided because of what they saw as the bill's lack of support for the country's poor sustenance farmers. The bill won over enough parliamentary support to pass after an amendment drafted by Progressive MP Lara Saziki was added, which allots an additional $1 billion to provide reduced-price veterinary services to sustenance farmers, and up to $5 billion in zero-interest loans to cover the potential losses of sustenance farmers caused by the disease in the short-term. Despite the modifications, the Popular Front remained almost entirely opposed to the bill, which the Party for Popular Democracy's Chairwoman, Angela Ture, called, "Yet another heinous attempt by our country's ruling class to use an international crisis as an excuse to funnel our country's money into the pockets of wealthy businesses-people." .