NEW MARINE RESERVE DECLARED
Minister of Agriculture and the Environment Siobhan Williams delivered todays announcement By Roisin Shaughnessy: Chief Correspondent
The Achkaerinese Government has unveiled plans to declare the area affectionately known as the Coral Coast a marine reserve. The coral reef that the reserve will contain within it is the natural habitat to a great many common and at risk species of sea life including the scarlet finned whale. The announcement of the reserves was made by Minister for the Environment Siobhan Williams who said "The reserve we declare today, the Coral Coast Marine Reserve, is one of the largest reserves on Mundus. It is a huge step towards the Mundus we want to leave to our children and grandchildren. The reserve will be managed to a large extent by the Centre of Oceanic Research and Learning (CORAL) who will continue their ongoing studies of the reef and the life within."
The extent of the reserve CORAL have also welcomed the announcement with the organisation calling it
"A great step in the right direction" while in a related story Professor Paul Burgess, the Operations Manager of CORAL spoke about
Matilda Osman's ocean school plans saying
"We're encouraged to see this development from Professor Osman, CORAL have to a large extent been pioneering this concept and we wish her plans all the best. In fact we would like to extend the invitation to Professor Osman to visit CORAL's facility and see how we do things if she wishes."[/size]
GOVERNMENT ANSWERS ON CLYSPERIS MCUR MISCONCEPTIONS
By David Woods: Political Correspondent
In the Senate the Achkaerinese Government gave a statement rebutting comments made by the Pharoah of Clysperis, the responsibility for the statement fell to Melinda Carter the Minister for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion who stated:
"Mr Speaker with leave I would like to give a statement in relation to Achkaerin's interpretation of the MCUR and its application.
Mr Speaker this statement comes about following yet another round of comments from the Pharoah of Clysperis where she seeks to accuse certain members of the international community of acting in certain ways, in this instance of being hypocritical in regards to application of the MCUR. However Mr Speaker her argument and we have done our due diligence and read it with great care, appears to be based on a false premise because she states 'these nations use one article of their beloved MCUR to try to strangle Tamora'. Now I'm sure the Pharoah as an experienced public figure would not for a moment suggest that nations do not obey the rule of law without evidence but for the audience of doubt let's be clear - the jurisdiction of the MCUR is defined within article one of the treaty as 'The High Contracting Parties shall secure to everyone within their jurisdiction the rights and freedoms defined in Section I of this Convention.' in short Mr Speaker it means everyone who is within the sovereign borders of the signatory states, which clearly does not include Tamora so it is therefore an impossibility for the MCUR to be enforced against Tamora and it has not been by any nation to our knowledge. And on that basis the idea that the MCUR is used as a weapon is in our view dismissed as a huge misconception which we're sure was an honest mistake on the part of the Pharoah.
It should come as no surprise that nations who sign the MCUR have long standing positions on the rights and freedoms defined within that document, so it should come as no surprise that it is virtually certain that a signatory state will have an anti-slavery position, it should equally come as no surprise that such a state may choose, as is their sovereign right, to sanction a nation that practices slavery such as Tamora just as Clysperis is well within its sovereign rights to impose sanctions on Lakhzovia. The Pharoah is correct to state that there is no mechanism to compel nations to act and that is because it is an impossibility but there is also nothing to preclude signatory states from exercising their sovereign rights and acting on the principles that they have. It is also worth noting Mr Speaker another point on which the Pharoah is correct where she states 'Our Peoples are not granted a set of rights by a piece of paper' the idea of that is nonsense and even suggesting such shows a lack of understanding of what the MCUR represents. It is a document that states a shared set of ideals between like minded nations. It is a document based on the principles that those nations have and had before the document was even conceived and it is from these principles which largely have their basis in the teachings of faith and morality that we say our rights are derived.
Finally Mr Speaker in the interests of fairness and decency I'll make the Pharoah this offer, in a few days the Senates human rights committee will be back in session and if she would like to come and address the committee then she is welcome to do so but we would ask that should she take this offer up that she bring with her detailed evidence concerning what she sees as human rights abuses. I'll even go one better and make this an open ended invitation Mr Speaker so never let it be said that we haven't offered the opportunity to give the Pharoah's concerns a fair hearing."ACHKAERIN CONSOLIDATE TOP SPOTBy Nick Watson: Sports Correspondent
Team Achkaerin have consolidated their position at the top of the Mundus Games medal table. Having taken top spot on day nine it was important to keep the medal push up and the team put in a solid performance. The triathletes completed an unprecedented clean sweep taking gold in all three triathlon events - having won gold in the men's and women's individual triathlons yesterday the two sides of the equation joined forces in the mixed team relay with a team led off by Timothy Carter followed by Kim Carson who handed over to men's gold medallist Adam Carter before the final leg run by women's gold medallist Molly Cooper.
Over in the football it was medal matches day and double gold success for Achkaerin, first the men broke the hearts of the hosts by defeating New Derusmia 3-1. It wasn't an easy match by any means as the hosts went ahead in the first half and put up a spirited defence for much of the game, frustrating the Fox's but in the last twenty minutes the introduction of Adam Dawson to the centre of the midfield brought with it the turning point as he teed up team mate Danni Leonidas to equalize, Dawson was also involved heavily in the second goal an intricate passing move that saw Robert Kinnay finish it off with an accurate finish. It was perhaps fitting that it was Dawson who completed the scoring with a penalty five minutes from time. Speaking afterwards the team's coach Dame Julia McCabe said "That was a hard game, New Derusmia gave us a right run for our money out there, they didn't underestimate us, they had a clear plan which they stuck to and while it wasn't enough for them today that team has great promise. For ourselves I'm proud of the lads and especially the youngsters we've given a chance to in this competition, it's certainly going to give me a selection headache when the World Cup comes around."
On the women's side of the game the Vixen's as they're known also took gold though they had an easier time of it against Aquitaine winning 2-0 with a brace from striker Amy Bell (pictured above), the first a volley from the edge of the box and the second a cool finish after a weaving dribble. It's led to more calls from those involved in the sport for a return of women's international competition outside of the Mundus Games, a point that the Mundus Football Association has said it will address.
So with eight days of competition left we asked the Achkaerin chef de mission Princess Esme Azurewind to give her assessment of where things stand, she said: "I think I can safely say that these have been the most competitive games we've ever had. Sparked by the surprise package of Pramoria in the pool no doubt but we've had some strong performances and hopefully have plenty more to come, there are still plenty of events left and it's going to be tight at the top of the medal table I think because it looks like the Pramorian runners, jumpers and throwers are all in good shape it could well get interesting when the athletics programme kicks in properly in the stadium in a few days time."