ACHKAERIN CONSIDERING QKNB BID?
By Roisin Shaughnessy: Chief Correspondent
Rumours coming out of the Ministry of Defence have suggested that the Achkaerinese Government might be open to talks concerning Achkaerinese forces taking over Queen Katenka Naval Base in Dartfordia, the base presently one of the overseas Rokkenjiman facilities has come into the spotlight recently that the Dartfordian Government is considering closing it. There has been no official comment from the government on this but sources suggest that "they may be prepared to make an offer to exclude vessels possessing weapons of mass destruction and aircraft carriers from using the base"
Quite how accurate this is isn't known but considering the present mood internationally and recent events there appears to be at minimum a paper thin credibility to the rumours but whether they are true or not remains to be seen.ELEANOR HENDRY GOING FOR ANOTHER RECORD
(left) Eleanor Hendry (right) the solar powered vessel Sunseeker By James Robson: Home Affairs Correspondent
Eleanor Hendry Achkaerin's triple record holding sailor is going for another record, three years after her last voyage. The twenty year old (pictured above left) who already holds the sailing records for the first solo circumnavigation of Mundus by a woman, being the youngest person to circumnavigate Mundus and for the fastest circumnavigation of Mundus is now attempting the first circumnavigation of Mundus using a vessel powered entirely by the Sun. The Sunseeker (pictured above right) is a vessel that utilizes solar technology to collect the sun's power and to then power the engines and other onboard equipment, the goal isn't a speed record, the goal is a successful voyage. The planned route is to depart from East Moreland, go round the Horn of Ardia, through the Alucard, around the bottom of Albion and then up through the Strait of Shaw before turning west and going through the Kyne, the Matilda's and then Krimeon before arriving back in East Moreland.
When asked to comment Ms Hendry said "I'm a bit of a technology geek and I always feel most at home on the ocean, so to have the opportunity to do something like this to try and prove something is great. The good thing about departing from East Moreland is that it gives us the opportunity to do a long distance field testing of the vessel hopefully as part of the Festival of Sail procession. While we've set the provisional departure date for the morning after the festival. I'm hoping not to run into any storms though."
For those interested the Sunseeker will be on show at the Festival of Sail and we will bring you regular updates of the voyage.ACHKAERINESE ARMY GETS ROBOGUARDS
By Penny Noble: Defence Correspondent
The Achkaerinese Army is to add to its assets with the RoboGuard, East Moreland's famed autonomous patrol vehicle. The vehicle will in the words of General James Robbins will "Further support the multi-role and multi-operational capabilities of the Achkaerinese military. This is vital considering the workload of our military in recent times. The RoboGuard represents one of the greatest advancements in our area in recent times and we're very happy to be able to add them to our capabilities.", the purchase is for sixteen RoboGuards and training is set to be provided to the Achkaerinese operators within the next few weeks. NATIONAL TRIALS UNDERWAY AHEAD OF GAMES
By Felicity Stewart: Sports Correspondent
It's that time of year again, with the Mundus Games approaching the Achkaerin National Trials are underway to determine the athletes that will compete at the games for the country. Taking place at Djana Azurewind Sports Park in Valtheim the event has drawn many eager fans all curious to see who will be presented with their countries colours. Naturally not all decisions are made at the trials with some of the team squads being determined by their respective coaches. One of the first athletes to secure her spot was taekwondo fighter Arya Warner (pictured above), with more action expected over the next few days. It has been confirmed that Crown Princess Serenity will not be competing in the Heptathlon this year as she is presently deployed aboard on military duty within the Navy. Princess Esme, the Achkaerin chef de mission, when speaking about the trials said "This is the time of year where everything gets difficult for us coaches because we have a lot of very talented athletes, all capable of representing the nation, it's safe to say that myself and the other coaches will end up in a boardroom each evening going through the lists and it will be a series of very difficult decisions for us, but we enjoy this because it means we will hopefully have a successful games."