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Re: Achkaerin News Service
« Reply #210 on: June 13, 2022, 09:39:13 PM »


SENATE VOTES THROUGH AVAL


By David Wood: Political Correspondent

The Achkaerinese Senate has voted through AVAL, otherwise known as Awhaele Votes for Awhaele Laws, the legislation brings Awhaele into line with the other Constituent Nations of the Empire in that any law passed by the Senate requires ratification by the Constitutent Nation's legislature. The vote passed the Senate unanimously, which wasn't surprising given the routine nature of the legislation. Following the passage of the legislation the Emperor signed it into law an hour later. It is expected that Consul Michael Williams will name the cabinet role of Awhaele Minister in the coming days with there being no clear favourite for the role, though the Consul will want to appoint a Minister before the Covenant Address, until then Molly Newton the current Gowu Minister has stepped in.

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Re: Achkaerin News Service
« Reply #211 on: June 18, 2022, 11:34:23 PM »


QCPM RESULTS SHOW ABC TRENDS


Fiona Wells head of the QCPM

By Roisin Shaughnessy: Chief Correspondent

The ABC soft/hard power study is certainly the most well known study of power and influence on Mundus, less well known is the Queen's College Power Metric, both set out to do the same thing but there are differences, the QCPM team is led by Fiona Wells (pictured above) who gave an interview discussing the studies:

How does the QCPM work?

"The QCPM works as a points metric using a plus and minus scoring system based on events that occur throughout the year, we then add the points to a nations score from the previous year to get a new score and track them. This is one of the differences between how we and the ABC team operate, because our total scores are cumulative over multiple years rather than a snapshot taken of a twelve month period we generate a different ranking list on both soft and hard power, that does have its margin of error but so does every system. We however are less concerned with rankings and more interested in the trends."

How does the scoring work?

"When something happens we evaluate a nations response, if any, to the circumstance and award points, so for example signing a bilateral treaty scores both nations points, hosting a major sporting event scores points. On the other end of the scale things that throw up barriers result in a minus, so things such as slavery, terrorism and diplomatic troubles apply here."

You mentioned trends, what are they?

"The trends we've seen this year do reflect those suggested by the ABC team, our rankings are different because our methodology is different, but we do agree with the suggestion that some nations have not increased their soft power influence at the same rate as others, this doesn't necessarily mean that nations have lost any standing it just means that others have been a lot more proactive where others have been a tad complacent. It's no surprise for our rankings to see little change in the positional sense, East Moreland, Achkaerin, Lodja, Ui Cenneslaig and Bakkermaya occupy our top five for soft power, but their points gains are not as high as Altona for example who sit further down but have the largest points gain of any nation this year, closely followed by Clysperis. The point is that people can and will quibble over rankings in study's and no study is perfect in its execution but here we've got two different methods showing the same findings when looked at."

What do you expect to see next year?

"I expect we'll see the nations that are becoming more isolationist falling away, I think we'll see resurgences, because while I may be here saying don't pay attention to rankings and that one poll is not something on which to base policy, national governments sadly do."



ELECTION OBSERVING TEAM HEADING TO LAKHZOVIA

By Olivia Moore: International News Correspondent

A team of election monitors is to travel to Lakhzovia to observe the upcoming Presidential elections in the country. The head of the Achkaerin Electoral Commission, Charlie Wells (pictured above), said "Electoral monitoring has always been a routine thing and is something that we've done an awful lot of over the years, this however is one of the biggest undertakings we've had in recent times, we all remember what happened in the aftermath of these elections a few years ago and no one wants a repeat of that and we hope that this international mission ensures the return of a safe result that the people of Lakhzovia and the international community can have trust in."



FINAL ENTERPRISE MODULES LAUNCHED


By Kimberly Thorn: Science and Technology Correspondent

The Achkaerin Space Agency has launched the final modules for Enterprise, the vessel's assembly is expected to be completed by the end of the month after which it will undergo testing in the environment it is intended to operate in. Director of Flight Operations Nicola Fernley commented saying: "It wasn't that long ago that I was pinching myself with disbelief at actually getting to the construction stage of this, now though here we are with the ship about to be completed. I know there will be keen stargazers out there who will have already got to the understanding that if testing exceeds our expectations then we may well find ourselves facing a very specific decision in a couple of months time. I'm not going to say anything on that other than we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."



VIXENS WORLD CHAMPIONS


By Nick Watson: Sports Correspondent

Achkaerin's rugby finals experiences produced contrasting fortunes for the mens and womens team. In the mens final the Fox's went in as big underdogs against pre-tournament favourites and world number 1's the Honeybadgers, in a game that was close for large parts the Achkaerinese team just ran out of time towards the end as they chased what would have been their second world crown. Despite the defeat the team's head coach Rayne Churchill was upbeat saying "I'm proud of the team, they played with no regrets and they gave everything they had, everyone knows how good the honeybadgers are and beating them isn't easy, their defence was just so solid at the end that we couldn't get over the try line one last time, but we'll learn and we'll be back next year."

By contrast the Vixen's took on a Daito team in a game that was called wide open, the first half was tight but in the second half the Vixen's ran out comfortable winners on the scoreboard. A hat trick of tries from Lyra Silver capped off her player of the match performance. Head coach for the Vixen's David Nightingale spoke after the game saying: "I can't quite believe this has just happened, I'm not quite sure what to say, the girls played the match of their lives in the semi final against the Iwi to get here and then when they needed to top that performance they did so tonight, in control, no risk taking, simple passing and our solid kicking game, we played our rugby and we've claimed a place in sporting history. I'm proud of each and every player in this squad and I'm thankful to our backroom staff and our fans. Now comes the hard part we must build on this we must inspire the next generation of players."

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Re: Achkaerin News Service
« Reply #212 on: July 06, 2022, 12:53:44 AM »


"NERGAL AND BEYOND" - FERNLEY


By Kimberly Thorn: Science and Technology Correspondent

"Nergal and Beyond" the words of Director of Flight Operations Nicola Fernley as she explained what comes next for the Achkaerinese space program on the day that the Enterprise was powered up in orbit for the first time, a routine step producing an expected result, however with the vessel complete the question becomes 'what happens next?' Director Fernley answered the question as follows:

"The next step is testing Enterprise and simulating within that testing the Nergal mission landing, this allows the crew to become familiar with the ship and we can test out most of what we're taking on the actual mission, these tests will happen within the next six weeks and then following a review of them we'll potentially be contemplating where we stand or we'll be conducting more tests. However there's far more to the Nergal program than Enterprise, the challenge of Nergal is in the getting there, the windows for travel are quite far apart which makes studying the planet up close far more difficult than Luna, our next mission after Enterprise is therefore what we've called 'Nergal Station' the idea here is obvious to use all our amassed experience from Enterprise to station a vehicle in orbit of Nergal permanently, thus allowing a greater opportunity for study of Nergal of course this comes with a fair few considerations, long crew rotations, transport logistics, potential health issues and so on, there would also be the need for a vehicle or vehicles to transport crew to and from the station but that's our next few years. Beyond Nergal we have a few unmanned missions in the early development stages and then it's all about technological development to allow us to continue the exploration of space."

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Re: Achkaerin News Service
« Reply #213 on: July 07, 2022, 09:44:06 PM »


ORCHESTRA THEATRE TO HOST ANNUAL DINNER ON EDELWEISS OPENING NIGHT


By James Robson: Home Affairs Correspondent

Orchestra Theatre, is to become the home of the Annual Charity Dinner that takes place on the opening night of the Edelweiss music festival. The dinner, which sees the announcing of which charities will benefit from this years festival fundraising, is hosted each year by the Queen of Songs as part of her official duties for the year and sees invitations extended to music lovers, charity patrons and each embassy on Achkaerinese soil. The Orchestra Theatre itself is the home of the Achkaerin Youth Theatre and Youth Orchestra. It has also been announced that this years musicals are to be Company, Frozen and Phantom of the Opera.

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Re: Achkaerin News Service
« Reply #214 on: July 08, 2022, 07:40:46 PM »


WHAT CAN BE EXPECTED FROM THE COVENANT ADDRESS?


By Niamh Roberts: Royal News Correspondent

It's something of a usual routine but once again eyes are turning to the Marble Palace as the Covenant Address approaches. The Address given each year by the Monarch is an opportunity for them to speak on a variety of subjects and while there is officially no restrictions on content it has become traditional that it focuses on affairs foreign and domestic. How does the Address work? We asked the Emperor's Chief of Staff Kumiko Arkwright to explain, she said: "It's a quite lengthy process that starts many weeks before the big night, it starts with the Emperor, senior royals and his advisors sitting down and throwing around initial ideas, discussing the theme of the speech, it's what we call the dreamer phase because we usually end up with a whole raft of ideas, some of which we can do something with, others that we can't, then we move to consulting with the cabinet, trying to see if what the Emperor is thinking about saying is workable, then we get to the point where we get lobbied and buried under letters, emails and so on, which leads to a fun couple of weeks as we read and deal with all of that, which brings us to where we were a couple of weeks ago with the speech beginning to be written, we lock in each idea, go over it and that doesn't stop until the speech goes into the Emperors bag before he makes his traditional walk to Liberty Hall."

Analysts expect that this year the Address will have a heavy international slant, though the exact nature is unclear. It is known that Emperor Peter likes to give his Address's titles though so once that's known the topics may be easier to predict, though as one analyst pointed out "There's a lot more to talk about this year than there has been for a couple of years. Who knows the Emperor may make his longest address yet."



MARINES TO BE OFFERED HELLCAT


By Penny Noble: Defence Correspondent

The Achkaerinese Marines are to test out the Hellcat (pictured above), a tracked patrol and scout vehicle. The development of the Hellcat was begun as a result of soldiers
 experiences in the Phuebran civil war where large amounts of the countries terrain proved significantly challenging, in the words of General Rhyth Icerider who commanded Achkaerinese Forces in that conflict "One of the biggest challenges faced in Phuebra was when we were fighting in certain areas of the country we found that our vehicles were running into problems caused by terrain which hampered our progress and undoubtedly contributed to the conflict becoming dragged out, we needed a fast, mobile and tracked vehicle and we didn't really have it. But the Hellcat that definitely does the job." trials of the Hellcat are expected to take several weeks.

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Re: Achkaerin News Service
« Reply #215 on: July 20, 2022, 07:41:16 PM »


UNITY PARTY WIN BY-ELECTION


Roslyn Williams, the newest member of the Senate

By David Woods: Political Correspondent

The Unity Party have won the Forest Glade by-election by a margin of eighty votes, making it one of the tightest Senate seats in the country. The seat was vacated following the sudden death of the previous incumbent Senator John Carson from a brain hemorrhage at the age of seventy eight three months ago. The Unity Party was expected to hold on to this seat but analysts did predict a far more comfortable margin than this. The winning candidate Roslyn Williams (pictured above) amassed 12,924 votes while her closest challenger the Green Party candidate obtained 11,844 votes, the Endeavour party came in third with 8,158 votes. Ms Williams is expected to be sworn in as a Senator at the beginning of next week.

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Re: Achkaerin News Service
« Reply #216 on: July 25, 2022, 03:33:46 PM »


ENTERPRISE BEGINS FIRST TEST FLIGHT


By Kimberly Thorn: Science and Technology Correspondent

The first test flight of the Enterprise has gotten underway in the last few hours. The test flight has been described as a "Run around the block" the ship will leave Mundus orbit, travel to the moon, carry out an extended orbit of the moon before returning to Mundus orbit, the flight is expected to take just over a week and if successful will be followed by a full simulation test flight in early to mid August.
« Last Edit: July 25, 2022, 11:10:39 PM by Achkaerin »

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Covenant Address 2022
« Reply #217 on: July 26, 2022, 12:48:27 AM »


EMPEROR PETER DELIVERS COVENANT ADDRESS


Emperor Peter and his wife Renee during their traditional walk to Liberty Hall before the Address

By Roisin Shaughnessy: Chief Correspondent

Emperor Peter has delivered this years Covenant Address, the twentieth of his reign. As always the day was full of traditions, mostly of the Emperors own making, the Emperor visited the Chapel of the Trinity on the Royal Estate before holding a virtual run through of the Address with what has been referred to as "the kids", a group of people whose upbringing the Emperor has played a part in, following that the Emperor made some phone calls and presented a series of military and civilian medals before making his way, with his wife Duchess Renee, to Liberty Hall on foot perhaps the most obvious of traditions as he walks to the home of the Senate. The full text of the Address is below:


Quote
The Covenant Address 2022
"The Journey"

Mr Speaker, Honorable Senators, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen. Tonight I come here to this most sacred of chambers in the most hallowed halls of our democracy to deliver the Covenant Address, tonight is the twentieth time that I have had the honor and privilege of giving this speech. In the past I have talked a lot about building the future, about how we must leave Mundus a better place than we found it in, tonight I return to the topic of the future, to talk about where we are, how we got here and where we may be going, I can already see a few wide eyed looks from members of the cabinet, who I hope will relax when I tell them these are the thoughts of one man who does not and never will make policy, all I ask is that they listen and think about what they hear tonight, maybe it sparks an idea, or maybe I’ll get a flurry of letters tomorrow correcting me telling me why something doesn’t make sense, such is the beauty of our democracy that the one who wears the Crown can be made to seem like quite a novice when compared to those who have spent many years working in their respective political arenas. I have a tradition of giving these addresses titles, this year I’ve titled it “The Journey”.

Tonight I begin with something I didn’t expect to be able to say according to the Renmin University Democracy Index our nation is home to not only the most functional government on Mundus but is also the most democratic sovereign state. When I walked into this building tonight I walked past the statues of our nations most renowned lawmakers, the people who crafted our Constitution, who developed our robust system, who authored and sponsored landmark legislation - the abolition of the death penalty, the legalisation of same sex marriage, the establishment of the AHS, and most recently the reformation of our ambassadorial system, to name but a few. On the walls of the Speaker’s gallery in this building there are plaques for each of the sixty three Senates that have sat on those famous green benches, hundreds of names are etched on those plaques. If I took a walk down the road and entered the Supreme Court I’d find the roll of Supreme Court Justices and the register of Judges, the names of our finest justices and keenest legal minds adorned on the walls there and logged in the registers of every level of court from the magistrates to those who wear the ceremonial green and silver robes of the Supreme Court and of course the red and gold of the Chief Justice, people who’ve shaped the law of our nation, who said that a woman can commit rape, who legalised abortion, who’ve stood firm and ruled justly even under the most severe of public pressures and who’ve given the odd government a bloodied nose or two. If I walked down the famous corridor of Cerulean House I would step past the portraits of all those who have served this country as Consul, people who played their part in leading and guiding this nation, through the good times and the bad, who stayed the course despite the circumstances of their time and who weren’t afraid of saying what they thought even when it wasn’t going to be well received, truth not spin. The finding of the Index is a tribute to these men and women who have served our nation, who’ve spoken eloquently, debated passionately, ruled in a reasoned manner, shaped the very fabric of our nation and voted with their consciences on matters that have changed our lives and at times the world around us. So tonight in recognition of that service I exercise one of my few Constitutional powers and present the Consul, the Speaker of the Senate and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, as representatives of the executive, legislative and judicial, with a Proclamation of the Crown, to be hung in Cerulean House, the Supreme Court, the Noble Moot and right here in Liberty Hall thanking all who have served and continue to serve, in government, in law making and in the judiciary. Further I am ordering the creation of a special commemorative service medal to be awarded to all those who currently serve to be awarded posthumously to those no longer with us and in the future to be awarded when someone leaves office. Let this moment tonight be the moment where we reaffirm the oath of service we’ve all sworn and commit ourselves to the continued strengthening of our democratic system.

I’d like to as a fan of Doctor Who take this moment to invite you all to step into the TARDIS and travel back in time a few years to 2014, a significant year for a great many reasons, the formation of the CIS, Sammy Lawson won her first gold medal at the Mundus Games, Achkaerin got to the semi finals of the football world cup and our friendships with our two closest allies East Moreland and Seaforth were forged. It was a year where the international community did something significant, they brought into being the pillars of international law and standards the Mundus Convention of Universal Rights, the Uppsala Convention, the Outer Space Standards Convention, the Cultural Exchange Treaty and the Fair Seas Concordat, each carefully thought out, each with a clear purpose and each to this day standing the test of time, though not without challenges over time, through the years since other treaties have joined those for example the Environmental Treaty of Wellow. This year, in fact in the last few months we’ve had presented to the international community two further treaties to join that pantheon the Historical Crimes Treaty and the Abrahamic Declaration. The Historical Crimes Treaty is one that the Senate will be asked to ratify in the coming days, it is a statement that no one should be able to escape justice and the more nations that sign it the fewer hiding places there will be for such fugitives. The Abrahamic Declaration is without doubt the most intriguing treaty I think I’ve ever read, I say that because all the backdrop to it suggested that we would be presented with something far more removed than what we have been, the more I read it the more curious I got so like the scholar I used to be in my days of studying history I decided to a little comparison, I put a copy of the Abrahamic Declaration on the table alongside a copy of the MCUR and the Uppsala Convention and found something interesting - article one of the MCUR covers ground covered by articles one, ten, eleven and fifteen of the Abrahamic Declaration, article two of the MCUR covers the ground that articles two, four and five of the Abrahamic Declaration accounts for. Article three of the Abrahamic Declaration matches up with article one point seven, two, three, five and eight of the Uppsala Convention. Articles one point ten, two point four through to two point eleven, three point one, five, eight and nine of the Uppsala Convention stand beside article six of the Abrahamic Declaration. Article eight of the MCUR works with articles seven, twenty three, twenty seven, twenty eight and potentially twenty two of the Abrahamic Declaration. Article twelve of the MCUR equates to article nine of the Abrahamic Declaration, article fifteen of the MCUR stands with articles twelve, thirteen, fourteen and twenty four of the Abrahamic Declaration. Article nine of the MCUR stands with article nine of the Abrahamic Declaration. Article six of the MCUR goes alongside articles seventeen, thirty and thirty one of the Abrahamic Declaration. Article seventeen of the MCUR works with articles eleven and eighteen or the Abrahamic Declaration, article twenty of the MCUR goes with article thirty five of the Abrahamic Declaration. Article ten of the MCUR covers the ground of article thirty two of the Abrahamic Declaration, article three of the MCUR equates to article nineteen of the Abrahamic Declaration. Article fourteen of the MCUR goes with articles twenty one and twenty six of the Abrahamic Declaration and finally article sixteen of the MCUR goes with articles eleven and twenty five of the Abrahamic Declaration.

Now those who’ve kept up with that may have noticed that I haven’t mention article five of the MCUR once, this being the prohibition of slavery, I haven’t mentioned it because when I read through the Abrahamic Declaration I became concerned by an apparent ambiguity in the writing particularly on this issue, the lack of clarity on this point creates a potentially very disturbing interpretation of article seventeen of the declaration “Human beings are born free, and no one has the right to take away this freedom without just legal cause.”  this sounds great and in principle it is after all everyone would agree your liberty should only be taken away as a result of arrest and detention as ordered by a court but, and I cast no aspersions on anyone here for I don’t imagine this to have been the intent, in Tamora one of the ways people end up in slavery is by sentence of a court or to put it as the article does “just legal cause” a legal sentence is cause to take a persons liberty away. However I used the word potentially at the beginning of this and that’s because article thirty one of declaration says “Taking hostages under any form or for any purpose is expressly forbidden.”  it can be argued with that wording that slaves are hostages can’t it? And if we assume that to be the interpretation, and given who certain signatories are I believe it to be so, then we do have a prohibition of slavery equivalent in there, I still think it could be clearer, and this brings me to why ultimately I find this to be such an intriguing document. With all the rhetoric going on at the time, this document was pitched in some quarters as something that would challenge or counter the MCUR, I don’t agree I think this does something different, I think rather than counter the MCUR the Abrahamic Declaration compliments it, now before people start taking to social media and tweeting at me about how one is better than the other I will say this what matters at the end of the day? Squabbling over which treaty is better or protecting the rights of people across Mundus? I know which I value more, we have two treaties that between them deliver protection of human rights, what the Emir and those he worked with have achieved is what was hoped for by Queen Klara and others when the MCUR was adjusted, the outreach the inclusion of more people within a global jurisdiction that respects and protects these rights. For that I will happily, when the time comes, nominate the authors for the Queen’s Foundation Awards. I would however just make one suggestion to them, in article twenty change the word “safety” to “status” simply because the country of refuge is safe territory, so ascertaining safety is done on arrival, what asylum processes generally do is determine whether the asylum seeker qualifies for refugee status.

Stability on Mundus internationally has historically come down to a variety of factors, one of which is international organisations, some are born of necessity, others grow from the roots of friendship, but regardless of how they come about or what their purposes may be, all are judged by two things how they police their own, how they hold their membership accountable and then how they evolve as the world around them changes. We can look to past incidents to see both fine and flawed examples of the former, the decisive manner in which the CIS handled Verover’s actions in Safraen, the concerted and determined will of the CTO to hold Rokkenjima accountable despite attempts to put certain people above the law are the two that most easily come to mind, both achieved what needed to be achieved however where the CIS were swift, the CTO was not, ultimately this among other things contributed to the CTO’s downfall. Achkaerin’s policy on membership of organisations is simple enough, we’re open to membership of them but like every reasonable person on the planet we have certain expectations, we expect fellow members to behave rationally, to understand the nature of the proportional response, to recognise that the character and perception of an organisation is determined by the actions taken by its members whether collectively or independently so when blindsiding, knee jerk reactions and lack of communication become order of the day then it is time to have the conversation about whether the nations interests are served by continuing membership, whether implementing changes will in fact do anything or whether it’s past the point of no return. My daughter once famously described the Saisei Empress as stubborn to the point of foolishness, the stubbornness she described is the single greatest obstacle to the process of evolution, it’s what leads to organisations becoming stagnant, losing relevance and eventually going the way of the dinosaurs, focusing on today and tomorrow rather than clinging to past glories is how things should be, as some will be aware the Foreign Office regularly reviews agreements that we are party to and makes recommendations, this summer’s report is undoubtedly going to make for interesting reading and I will when I am conversing with the Minister of Foreign Affairs on the report be asking a lot of questions about all the possibilities.

When I was a child we had a family holiday in Aelmoor, staying at Pilgrim’s House in Angel’s Rise, I remember my father took me and Esme out for a walk in the hills, it’s a day I don’t forget for a great many reasons, first it had rained very heavily the previous night and for some of that morning, but Dad being Dad was determined to have this walk so off we went. When it got to lunchtime, we sat down at this rock and looked at the scene in front of us, there was this old, tall tree sat there almost an oddity in the landscape but it was at a bend in the river, while we sat and ate our lunch my father pointed at this tree and listed all the qualities of the tree, strong, stable, ever present and so on, he was trying to convey what was expected of myself and my sister, to be like the tree, to be the strong, reliable leader, but when I looked at that scene my eyes were not drawn immediately to the tree but to the river and how it changed to get beyond the obstacle that the tree presented, yes there are times when it’s right to be unmoving on an issue, to draw the line and say no further but absent a few issues world wide that doesn’t really apply. I prefer to style after the river I saw that day, persistent, inventive, always finding a way, unceasing in flow and effort. For the last twenty years that river has been the bedrock of our diplomacy and it’s an approach which has yielded and continues to yield impressive results, we have a wide reaching treaty network that continues to expand, in recent weeks Achkaerin has agreed a partnership with MICA, which the Senate and the Awhaele Parliament will debate and determine ratification status thereof, it is an agreement which recognises the rather unique position of the people that live on that island, it’s an agreement that establishes what will hopefully be a lasting friendship between ourselves and the nations of that region we have no prior ties with while also continuing to build on the ones we already have and critically this is an agreement that avoids the creation of a two tiered illumic and the potential for further trouble later down the line. A few months ago I signed what is without question the most heavily caveated treaty I’ve ever been involved in, our treaty with Clysperis, historic for so many reasons, the realisation of the dream of Pharaoh Akasha’s father Pharaoh Rameses, a solid foundation on which a lasting partnership can be built, hopefully one that stands for as long as the great monuments of both nations. And perhaps just as the spring of water on the mountain slope becomes a mighty river we might see our diplomatic ties with our neighbours develop into something. There are many nations out there we have had very limited contact with, nations which I believe we could build lasting friendships with,I hope that we will see such things come to fruition in the months and years to come.

The characteristics of that river extend beyond just the diplomatic arena as well, take a look at the evolution of the Achkaerin armed forces, the adaptation to the changing nature of the conflicts we’ve become involved in, the era of regiment meeting regiment on the battlefield is long gone, as is the era of the battleship, when the nature of the threat changes you adapt, this adaptability has become the hallmark of our armed forces, learning from every crisis that happens, developing new approaches to situations. And always, always in accordance with our long standing policy on under what circumstances we take the intervention step. The result? One of the most professional, best equipped, experienced, innovative, respected and recognisable armed forces on the planet, that is the standard we have set and it is one that we must ensure we meet or exceed whenever our forces are called upon. Today we see our soldiers stationed overseas lending a helping hand in the training and development of other nations armed forces and providing assistance to the Queendom of Lodja during the recent crisis there,I also want to mention the vaccination program being carried out in the Alucard Island Chain by our forces in that region. The day before Queen Natalya’s coronation my wife Renee and I met with Achkaerinese personnel who’d been involved in hunting down Leopold Hamsik, and who alongside friends and allies combated the rogue vessels under his command, my lasting memory of that meeting was of an expressed opinion that they could do better it was staggering because what they achieved in the circumstances and the time they had was exceptional, yet here they were saying that they felt that they could have done more. I admire and respect that attitude, that’s there’s always more to learn, that there’s always something to improve on, and we will give all assistance to our Lodjan friends in the search for Leopold Hamsik, so that he may face justice for his crimes. A few years ago some quarters of Mundus labeled us as part of the “world police” a somewhat disturbing label because honestly if we’re going to say that the stability and security of Mundus depends on a handful of nations then there’s something seriously wrong, the nature of the threats and challenges that face Mundus now are substantively different to those of the past, combatting piracy, human trafficking, terrorism, smuggling and the drugs trade take more than just a small number of nations doing stuff it takes coordination, it takes communication, it takes reaching out, it takes an understanding that the proportionate response is usually the correct one, that military force is not the first resort but the final resort. There are many issues that come around again and again like a carousel and they could be resolved by very simple means if people concerned didn’t cling to grudges or resort to insults, problems don’t go away when you do that, they persist and usually get a whole lot more complicated. The stability of Mundus must be built on respect and communication, that doesn’t mean every nation has to go running around negotiating treaties, it’s about nations maintaining open lines of communication with each other, it’s about getting on, criminal entities thrive when they can exploit the barriers of society, take those out of the equation and you restrict the ability of them to operate, get active cooperation going and you restrict them evenmore, it’s now about about action, reaction and counter reaction, as the world develops new methods, new strategies to tackle things, the targets adapt and then that adapting must be adapted to, and if you can adapt quicker then you have the advantage, this is something that we can do because it’s not that difficult to say something, it’s not that difficult to do something because that’s all you can do, whether the other party believes you is another matter but you know you’ve done the right thing and I believe that the nations of Mundus are moving towards this, we see it each day, one by one the connections build and the barriers tumble.

When I served in the navy I would when off duty take to standing on the deck, looking up at the stars and thinking about the days when the sailors of old would use the stars to chart their courses across the seas and oceans of Mundus so it’s quite exciting tonight to know that as I’m giving this address that up there the Enterprise, an interplanetary vessel intended to take humans to Nergal, is conducting its first test flight, from wooden ships sailing across the oceans of Mundus, navigating by the stars, to a ship of all manner of materials, sailing across the ocean of space, navigating through the stars. As a species we took our first steps on this planet, then we went to the moon and now we stand at a point where the next step can be taken as we go to Nergal, the progress is amazing, it makes you wonder where will be in a century? How far will we have gone? What sights will we have seen? What secrets will we have uncovered? How will our understanding of the universe have been challenged and how will it have changed? How will our world have changed? With every step humanity takes whether it be those first steps out of the cave, the written language, the printing press, inventing electricity, constructing the earliest sailing vessels, the first heart transplant, the first vaccination program, the first cesarean section, the first supersonic flight, the first person in space or pushing the depths of our planets oceans, each step taken affects us all, develops us all, shapes the world around us. Does it matter who makes the step? No, the beauty is the step, something doesn’t become less wondrous because someone else gets there first, what matters is someone got there at all.

Let’s come back down from the stars to Mundus and look at the future of energy, one of the big questions for many years has been what are we going to do when the oil runs out? No one absolutely knows when that will happen, it could be in twenty years, fifty years, a hundred years or more, we don’t know for sure when but we know it’s going to happen at some point, many nations have strategies in place and are working towards it and this is a good thing. Speaking personally I’m interested to see how the current stage of AADC and Riviere Corporation’s Phoenix Project plays out, I’m interested to see how the big questions of energy are answered, it’s a challenge like no other because we know the day is coming and I am encouraged in our ability to face it on a global level, we see continued investment in nuclear fusion research pursued in Achkaerin, East Moreland and Altona among others, we see the growth of the use of nuclear power in general, we see developments in affordable electric cars including one being produced as a result of 3D printing, step by step, technological innovation by technological innovation, research project by research project, we prepare for the future, so that when the day comes Mundus does not grind to a halt, we prepare so that on that day planes will still fly, ships will still sail, cars will still run, homes will still have power and heat and business’s will still have working facilities. We prepare so that generations to come will have a planet and a quality of life that we want them to have, that is our duty to leave Mundus in a better place than we found it.

This is one of my favourite times of year, the Mundus Games looming large on the horizon, I had honour of competing in two different games several years ago, my children like to say I started the tradition of our family competing in the games, maybe I did but that’s not what I’m here to talk about. The symbolism and tradition of the games is something special to behold, for about eighteen days of competition athletes from across Mundus come together and put on the greatest festival of sport on the planet. Like all sports fans I will be following the Games closely, I’ll be cheering the household names like Sammy Lawson, Becky Brittaine and James H’Daen and I’ll be cheering for the debutants like Charlotte Brittaine, who joins her mother in this years edition of the Games. But regardless of which nation you’re from the special thing about the Games is that everyone cheers for everyone, there’s no other sporting event like it, it’s not about winning or losing it’s about giving it your best shot, it’s about the taking part, that’s what makes it a festival of sport rather than any other sport meet we see throughout the year, the Games have seen some inspirational moments over the years, they’ve seen tears of joy and tears of sorrow, records smashed year after year. I wonder what sights and memories this years installment of the Games will create? The beauty of sport is that on their day even the longest of longshots can claim victory and those are the stories that inspire and live long in the memories of those who saw it happen.I wish good fortune to all those competing in this years Games and I look forward to hosting Team Achkaerin upon their return to hear their stories.

I’ve been proud of a great many things in my life, I guess that comes from having worn so many different hats over the years, I’ve been the captain of a naval vessel proud of his crew, I’ve am the Emperor proud of what the nation I lead has helped build, but I think more than any of that I’m the happy family man, the uncle proud of his nephew Jack who went to Lodja, studied hard and came back more knowledgeable on Lodjan culture than a great many people, he also came back with his lovely girlfriend Katyusha. I’m proud of both my nieces Cerys and Sakura both of them have faced so much in their young lives and have emerged much the stronger, I’m the grandfather who gets pranked by two of his granddaughters Aeolia and Lamia, on a regular basis, I look at Lisa and I see a young girl bonding with the family she now knows as her own, I look at Astrid and I see a five year old girl leading by example, coming to terms with something so life changing, yet not once has she asked “why?” instead she’s done what I’ve said a few times tonight she’s adapted to it. I’m proud of both my children Simon and Serenity, both continuing what’s becoming a bit of a tradition of military service, both are developing into fine leaders, both are fine parents. When we were growing up myself and Esme used to compete all the time, used to push each other, we made each other better. And finally my wife Renee, the words I’m about to say don’t come close to expressing the pride I have for her, she’s a woman who is so generous, so loving, so accomplished that I’m reminded every day how lucky I am to be married to her, she came into my life and the life of my family at a time when we were still hurting, she brought life, energy and music back into the Palace, as the saying goes we got our mojo back, she’s carved her own path, won an Ozzie, reinvigorated the Edelweiss Festival and become the most unshakeable of support pillars. Now I’m sure there will be people watching who are wondering why I’m talking about my family, my point is this attitude reflects leadership, I wear the crown but I don’t lead alone, my family, advisors, members of the government they all bring their own experiences and qualities to the table and together we figure it out. The hardest thing to do is tell someone something that they don’t want to hear, I say that as a father, a grandfather and an Emperor who has many times over the years been put in the position of talking Rokkenjima down. Tonight among our distinguished guests is Crown Princess Asuna, twenty years ago when I stood here for the first time her mother the Saisei Empress was sat in this chamber. Attitude reflects leadership and attitudes can be positive or negative, which way that goes is up to us to decide, does Mundus need more beasts given the amount of blood, sweat and tears that have gone into slaying the ones that we’ve faced? No, for the first time in a long time, hope blooms absent of a threat, there’s no reason to stifle its growth by becoming that which we worked so hard to overcome.

I’ve always tried to be an optimist, always looking for the good in things or the silver lining when things go wrong, tonight I came here to deliver an address looking not only back but forwards. When I look at the world I’m filled with confidence and reassurance that when that wind blows to the future that each and every person and nation will be ready to overcome whatever is thrown our way, so ready that they can say the time honoured phrase “Bring it on” thank you and goodnight.

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« Reply #218 on: August 12, 2022, 01:43:08 PM »


CROWN PRINCESS IN GAMES RETURN


By Nick Watson: Sports Correspondent

Crown Princess Serenity has a fair bit of history with the Mundus Games, she's won gold as part of Achkaerin's womens basketball team in 2015 and individually in the womens modern pentathlon in 2017, but the medal that's eluded her is the heptathlon her record being tenth in 2016 and fourth in 2017, she hasn't competed since 2017 due to her foot injury but now she's making a return to the Mundus Games, qualifying with a win in the heptathlon at the Achkaerinese trials. Speaking prior to leaving for the Games she sai "Ever since I got caught in that blast I've just been happy to be alive, it could have killed me and but for the presence of East Moreland troops and the Ekrabadger it may well have done. I feel good, I've got my pace back and I'm throwing ok so we'll see what happens. I have missed this because, in truth, there's nothing quite like the atmosphere the Games generates, for eighteen days sport is centre stage, it's something very very special."


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« Reply #219 on: August 15, 2022, 06:46:07 PM »


LAWSON LANDMARK KICK STARTS MEDALS


By Felicity Stewart: Sports Correspondent

Sammy Lawson has taken her fortieth Mundus Games medal, gold in the womens cycling road race, as Team Achkaerin tried to build on Luke Riley's silver in the mens road race the previous day. The Achkaerinese team made their move on the series of climbs, moving to the front of the peloton and upping the pace, stringing the race out before Lawson went off the front with team mates Niamh Fernley and Melanie Parker the latter of which got her a good lead before leaving Sammy with the solo ride to the line, Parker would cross the line in fourth after being caught in the closing kilometres, but there would be no catching Lawson who won the race with close to a six minute margin. Speaking after the race Sammy said "It's always difficult when you come in as the marked rider, but the girls did great, we knew that if we could get away on the climb we could make it a long one, Maria and Chloe wound it up on the flat, Chihaya got us halfway up the climb, then Niamh pulled me over the top and down the other side and once it was just me and Mel it was just about getting to the point where she could let me go. Forty medals is surreal, I never imagined I'd get that many."



Away from the cycling it was a historic day in the pool as Charlotte Brittaine made her games debut, she took bronze in the fifty metres freestyle before winning gold in the one hundred metres freestyle. Of interest is that Charlotte's mother - renowned Achkaerinese swimmer Becky Brittaine is also competing in the games and the pair could conceivably go to head to head at some point during the meet. Also in action in the pool will be Matthew Brittaine, Charlotte's brother.
« Last Edit: August 15, 2022, 11:17:20 PM by Achkaerin »

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« Reply #220 on: August 18, 2022, 09:58:36 PM »


FAMILY DAYS AT GAMES


By Nick Watson: Sports Correspondent

The Mundus Games have seen many great and historic moments over the years but the last two days of competition have seen something special, first in the womens rock climbing, with Games veteran Gwen Spark ruled out with injury Achkaerinese medal hopes rested on the young gun twins of Heather and Fiona Loy  (pictured above), not the first siblings to compete for Achkaerin that accolade belongs to the Fernley sisters in the cycling, but certainly the first twins to compete. Rock climbing at the Games is always close and so it proved again but for the twins it was a good day, Fiona took bronze while Heather went three hundreths quicker and took gold. Over in the swimming pool it was the battle of the Brittaine's as mother and daughter, Becky and Charlotte, squared off in the eight hundred metres freestyle, a close race that Becky appeared to have won at the six hundred metre mark, but a fast finishing Charlotte closed in and in a grandstand final fifty metres edged ahead to take the gold medal, her third of the Games, as for her mother her silver is her sixteenth Mundus Games medal.

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« Reply #221 on: August 22, 2022, 06:36:03 PM »


HAVE RIVIERE JUST CRACKED THE GREEN ENERGY PROBLEM?


By Kimberly Thorn: Science and Technology Correspondent

The movement towards renewable sources of energy is something seen across Mundus, experts disagree on how long it will take for fossil fuels to run out but there's no disagreement that they will run out eventually, the question becomes 'what are you going to do when they run out?' the answer generally is green energy - solar, wind, tidal being the main ones and then nuclear power not far behind, however green energy poses its own great challenge - how do you keep the lights on when the sun doesn't shine and the wind doesn't blow? The initial answer would appear to be large scale batteries for storage, but given that most batteries are made with lithium, the large footprint involved and that these batteries don't have much excess storage it doesn't seem that plausible. Foxton is home to Riviere Corporation and it's here that a different approach is being tried - a sand battery (pictured above), as explained by Riviere CEO Catriona Rowan:

"It sounds a little wacky but it's workable, when electricity is generated some of it gets used instantly, but the vast majority of it will go into the sand battery where it's stored as heat, the battery is full of builders sand which we keep up to temperature by using resistive heating, this generates hot air which is circulated around the sand by use of a heat exchanger. The properties of the sand are so ideal for this that we believe it could store this heat for months, this means that we can accumulate energy in storage when prices are low and then when the prices are higher which stereotypically is the winter months the hot air is discharged, that warms water which in turn is pumped around homes, business's and other buildings. We've got one battery operating in Foxton which we're going to watch carefully over the next few months and then we can think about more of them."



BRITTAINE EQUALS GREECHAN TOTAL


By Nick Watson: Sports Correspondent

Becky Brittaine has won her seventeenth Mundus Games medal, equaling the total of renowned Morelander swimmer Daisy Greechan and placing her joint second alongside Greechan on the all time list of medal winners. The seventeenth medal, a gold, came in the womens 800m individual medley. A tight race that only started to see gaps open up on the breaststroke leg and then on the freestyle leg Becky was able to edge out her Rokkenjiman competitor to finish first. On equaling Greechan's total she said: ""It's weird, Daisy's a fantastic swimmer and to be level with her is something I didn't think would happen, it's going to take a while to sink in, but maybe it's a little fitting that it was this event where it happened, the event where I have the winning record against her, she beat me at everything else."

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« Reply #222 on: August 26, 2022, 05:05:25 PM »


TEAM ACHKAERIN MOUNT MEDAL CHARGE


By Nick Watson: Sports Correspondent

As the Mundus Games continue team Achkaerin have mounted a charge up the medal table to sit third overall after eight days of competition. It was a day for teams as Achkaerin's footballers won both golds on offer, the men beating Floodwater 3-1 through a Richard Turner header, a Bradley Greenwood volley and Mark Howe penalty. For the womens team it was the story of Ciara Ryder (pictured above), brought on as a substitute with twenty five minutes left she picked up a hat trick to guide the team to the gold medal, the first a tap in following a very good save from the keeper, the second a close range finish following a cross and flick on header while the third capped a fine performance as she chipped the ball neatly over the keeper. Away from the football, hockey produced more success a bronze for the men and a gold for the women. In pool there was a gold for S'Raia Starleton as she held off a spirited fight back from her Derusmian opponent. But it was the womens 4x200m freestyle relay where history was made, a stunning final leg from Charlotte Brittaine saw her overtake the Rokkenjiman team to edge the gold medal and in so doing she helped her mother obtain her eighteenth Mundus Games medal.

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« Reply #223 on: September 01, 2022, 06:37:13 PM »


HARD WORK CONTINUES IN ALUCARD


By Frank Lane: Health Correspondent

The Ministry of Defence has given its latest update on operations in the Alucard, the operations prompted by the discovery of a viral outbreak of what appeared to be the Kaiju virus among Water Nomad population during the Lodjan crisis has seen the Achkaerinese navy delivering medical treatment, vaccines and humanitarian aid to the water nomad population throughout the Alucard island chain. Minister of Defence Adam Shepard stated during defence questions "We believe at this time that we have vaccinated approximately one third of the Water Nomad populace, as honourable members will be aware the unique challenges of the situation mean this will take time, this is a nomadic population this is not Safraen, but we will get it done." The Minister later confirmed that the source or ground zero had not yet been found but that it was only a matter of time. The Minister was also asked what disruption the Eigg referendum might cause to the operation to which he said "We don't anticipate disruption to be likely however should the referendum result see tensions boil over to the point where there is an issue we will of course deal with it, again we don't believe that large scale disruption is likely."



FIRST MEDAL FOR CAIRNS AS ACHKAERIN GO TOP OF MEDAL TABLE


By Nick Watson: Sports Correspondent

Team Achkaerin has gone top of the medal table at the Mundus Games, on a day that will undoubtedly be remembered more for the exploits of the Iwi's boxers than for other things. The highlight from an Achkaerinese perspective was the return of Sammy Lawson in the women's time trial, it was never really in doubt that she would take gold what was unexpected was her team mate Maria Cairns (pictured above) taking the silver, the difference of six seconds was put down to Lawson's greater climbing ability, however for Cairns this was her first Games medal and afterwards the seventeen year old spoke to us saying "It's unreal, I've been chasing a medal for a while now and I'm so happy to finally get one, and only six seconds behind Sammy I'll take that."
« Last Edit: September 20, 2022, 01:50:09 PM by Achkaerin »

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« Reply #224 on: September 05, 2022, 06:02:54 PM »


CROWN PRINCESS ON EIGG


By Roisin Shaughnessy: Chief Correspondent

Crown Princess Serenity has commented on the Eigg situation, speaking in an interview ahead of her event at the Mundus Games the Crown Princess was asked what she thought about the situation to which she said: "There's an awful lot of confusion most of it created by actions around the referendum and some by the misunderstanding in places internationally. Recognition of the voice of the Eiggite people and supporting Queen Aoife does not equate to recognition of Eigg as an independent sovereign state.  What appears to have happened is no different to me going into my daughters school and asking the students whether they support increasing the amount of hours they spend doing PE from three to four, it's an opinion poll, and the findings are not rendered null and void because the school governors haven't given permission, consequently the Eigg vote result is a legitimate vote insofar as 61% of those voting on the day support independence. However we then come to the more pertinent question - is the referendum binding? Logically the answer here would be no, as has been pointed out the lack of a duly followed legal process is key but as we would then say the referendum be non binding we then have to question the actions of the Federal Government, if the referendum is non binding, something which Queen Aoife and the Federal Government would know then the actions of the Federal Government are completely unnecessary in fact those actions lend credibility to the idea that the referendum was in some way binding, checkpoints set up the day before that appear to have been designed to intimidate voters, the seizure of ballot boxes and attempts to arrest officials, all of that because the Federal Government did not desire a strong showing for Eigg independence. But here's the thing all these actions of the Federal Government, you know what they amount to legally speaking? Election Fraud, the very same thing they've arrested Queen Aoife for and yet the Queen hasn't on the face of it committed the crime so if you're going to arrest her then every police officer that seized a ballot box and stopped cars should be facing consequences, because election fraud requires a legally recognised election or vote to be in existence."

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« Reply #225 on: September 15, 2022, 02:45:30 PM »


PROSECUTION TO APPEAL ANDEAN GENOCIDE SENTENCE


By: James Robson: Home Affairs Correspondent

For the second time the sentence of the Saisei Empress, Beatrice Anselmo, is to be appealed. The former Empress of Rokkenjima is presently serving a life sentence but serves it in the Redwall Medical Facility with her conviction being on the grounds of diminished responsibility owing to her having Parkinsons. Counsel for the Prosecution Lt Nell Foster released a statement saying: "What the then Empress knew and was in a position to do has been at the core of this case from day one. We were originally told she was manipulated by one of her co-defendants, this fell. We were then told based on medical evidence that she had Parkinsons and that her decision making capabilities were compromised, we now have been provided with information that this is not the case and as such have filed to appeal the sentence."

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« Reply #226 on: September 20, 2022, 05:01:47 PM »


NERGAL STATION MODULES LAUNCHED TO ORBIT IN WINDOW RACE


concept image of the station in Nergal orbit once operational

by Kimberly Thorn: Science and Technology Correspondent

It's been dubbed "the final piece of the jigsaw" by the Achkaerin Space Agency, Nergal Station a permanent facility in orbit of the red planet today the Agency launched the stations modules into Mundus where they will be assembled by remote before the station heads for Nergal. The importance of station was explained by Vicky Acheson, the Agency's senior mission strategist who said "The biggest obstacle, beyond the technological, that we face when we consider the manned exploration of Nergal is in the orbital logistics, if or when Enterprise and Sojornur succeed in 2024 we then can't repeat the run until 2026 so in effect we lose two years worth of exploration and study due to the laws of the universe. What Nergal Station does is give us the ability to station a presence in orbit of Nergal allowing for more regular exploration of the planet surface and the moons it has. It does mean long duration missions but that's a given however you try to slice it. We're not sending it off crewed, we're assembling it and then it'll head for Nergal unmanned and wait for crew which will be dropped off as part of the Enterprise mission doing it this way we believe saves us time in the long run. It also means we can turn our attention to further developing the necessary infrastructure to facilitate future deep space missions."



AIR FORCE HAPPY WITH EMOLGA


By Penny Noble: Defence Correspondent

The Emolga (pictured above), has cleared flight and performance testing set by the Air Force and is expected to go into service with them in the coming weeks as a light combat and support aircraft. An Air Force spokesperson said "While we had our initial concerns when AADC originally pitched the Emolga, what we've seen from the testing far surpasses our expectations both in terms of capability and performance. It provides new options when approaching a situation and subject to testing and development of a further project will provide a very solid defence capability in respect of the modern Mundus."

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« Reply #227 on: October 10, 2022, 03:31:31 PM »


SYLFIEL'S FORGE DISCOVERED


By James Robson: Home Affairs Correspondent

As storms battered much of Achkaerin last night they unearthed something surprising, through a landslide caused in the vicinity of Mount Purity a stone structure was discovered, built into the rock itself, examination of the interior of the structure concluded that it is a smithy that was used by Faylen Sylfiel, a figure of Achkaerinese folklore dating to many centuries ago, a swordsmith that little is known about. Speaking from the site Doctor Donna Steele, Achkaerin's representative to the CETO, said: "We know very little about this woman beyond the era in which she lived, that she crafted many blades and that her practices were carried on by the Maiden Sister Order. We do know that each blade she forged has a name, so now we're going to see where this takes us, if we find the swords maybe we can learn more about the woman who made them."



GOVERNMENT LOOKING TO THE STARS FOR ENERGY


By Kimberly Thorn: Science and Technology Correspondent

The Achkaerinese Government has announced its new energy initiative, a space based solar power station that transmits the energy to the ground by means of a beam, it sounds a little like science fiction but this is no Death Star. The theory is to use a number of satellites in Mundus orbit, outfitted with lightweight solar panels and mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto the panels, the experts involved believe that approximately 3.4 gigawatts of electricity will be generated on a satellite, this is then converted to RF microwave radiation at approximately 85% efficiency. The microwave frequency is proposed to be around 2.45GHz to be transparent to the atmosphere and moisture, while a net 2.9 GW of power is beamed to a receiving antenna at a fixed point on the ground below where it's received by an antenna. The ground antenna sends a pilot beam back up to the satellite ensuring that the correct spot is hit by the beam, this ground based antenna then converts the electromagnetic energy into direct current electricity and then through an inverter which delivers a net two gigawatts of AC power into the power grid. The angle between the solar collector and the microwave transmitter is constantly changing as Mundus rotates. Thus if the mirrors are always pointed towards the sun, the microwave beam is steered to always point at the correct location on the earth. In this way the system can deliver full power levels day and night, in all weathers, and all year round. The intensity of the microwave beam is around 240 W/m2, which is about one quarter of the intensity of mid-day sunlight. So the system cannot be used as a beam weapon, nor is it harmful to life on Mundus. The Solar Power Satellite (SPS) weighs several thousand tonnes, and the specific power in Killawatts per kg is a key parameter for estimating both the cost of hardware and its deployment into orbit. Estimates for leading SPS designs independently calculate the Levelised Cost of Electricity (LCOE) at less than 5 Iso's per MWh.

Initial estimates are that a first satellite could be operational by 2030 with the full network in place by 2040.

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« Reply #228 on: October 17, 2022, 09:14:01 PM »


CHIEF COUNCILLOR INVOKES CHERRY-LOTUS AGREEMENT


By Ariel Vilani: Gowu Correspondent

The Chief Councillor of Gowu, Xiaoling Tsu  (pictured above), has invoked the Cherry-Lotus Agreement. The Agreement which has formally existed since the end of the Toshikawan Civil War in 1986 following the battle of Gowu pass, established stability between the Achkaerinese territory and Toshikawa. In making a statement to the Gowu Assembly the Chief Councillor said "The Cherry-Lotus Agreement requires by law that the same trading conditions exist on both sides of our border to enable the passage of goods and services this having been more important since 2017, the current Shogun is a man I count as a friend, he has been a very supportive figure for my daughter and he is the man who signed the 1986 agreement. I am frankly astonished to be reading about an agreement, this EAFTA that appears to hinder this very critical foundation especially after we had to remind this same Shogun of this very point not that long ago, once again we see an avoidable set of circumstances because people didn't line things up properly."

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« Reply #229 on: October 23, 2022, 05:59:52 PM »


MARINES APPREHEND FORMER DUCHESS IN ROUTINE STOP


By Roisin Shaughnessy: Chief Correspondent

The notion of a stop and search snowballing through multiple offences is nothing new for police officers across Mundus, today it proved true for the Achkaerinese military a routine stop of a vessel resulted in the arrest of Alys Arsenault, the former Grand Duchess of Marseilles. In a statement a spokesperson for the Ministry of Defence said: "Earlier this morning the INS Pegasus, operating as part of ongoing efforts to combat slavery, human trafficking and smuggling stopped a vessel. In the course of the subsequent search thirty people being trafficked were freed. One of these thirty was during processing confirmed to be Alys Arsenault, the traffickers were carrying a false identity passport for Ms Arsenault and we have no reason as yet to believe that the traffickers were aware of her real identity. With the confirmation of Ms Arsenault's identity the existing international arrest warrant for her was executed. The Diplomatic Office has been in contact with the Governments of Marseilles and Aquitaine notifying them of this."



ELECTROBREAKER TAKES RECORD


By Kimberly Thorn: Science and Technology Correspondent

Team Dawnbreaker has taken their third speed record, already holding the records for fastest solar powered land vehicle and fastest human powered vehicle with vehicles named Dawnbreaker and Aerobreaker respectively. The record they took today is the record for an electric powered aircraft, taken by the Electrobreaker (pictured above), with a speed of 186 knots, beating the previous record of 182 knots. Project leader Kit Davenport spoke after the record was confirmed saying: "This was new territory for us, we weren't used to the challenges involved but we got there, everyone involved has put in a lot of good work and I guess we'll have to figure out which record we want to challenge next."



"LAWSON AND PHOENIX ROBBED" - EXPERTS ANALYSIS


By Nick Watson: Sports Correspondent

As the Mundus Cycling season heads towards its final weeks before taking its winter break experts have not held back in their criticism of event organisers, highlighting several issues that in their opinion indicates a "concerted agenda against a rider and team for no other reason than being successful.", it has already been posted on social media that Phoenix Cycling has demanded an investigation into the conduct of the race officials at the womens Tour of Ardia and many now expect the same to occur in respect of the Avignane GP. This latest race saw Olha Mikhailov take the win and the Mundus Cycling Cup, pipping Sammy Lawson to the title. A result which has been greatly questioned as one expert put it "It's highly convenient that the second place rider in the standings wins the race and happens to have two team mates that lock out the two positions that would deny them, meanwhile the strongest team in the peloton, with the strongest rider are somehow incapable of pulling that rider to the front? Something's very fishy if you ask me. These results suggest that the team on the day rode for Zoe Carpenter which is surely a nonsense, excellent rider though she is this is not a situation where she is the lead rider." this is a point reiterated by Christopher Warrington the head of Achkaerinese cycling, who said "We'd have no issue with this if it had been fair and square but there's been a clear undercurrent in the latter part of the season to sabotage this team, we saw it at the Tour of Ardia on day two a traffic cone was thrown in front of Melanie, she crashed, got back up and was then prevented from continuing by a race official, this undoubtedly influenced the race. Then on day seven, the day we managed to get Niamh and Sammy clear in a breakaway what happened? The lead car for no good reason slows down and Niamh goes right into the back of it. And then it gets even better, Sammy only managed a single top twenty finish in that tour, which considering that she is a stage racer, an excellent climber and consistently performs well in the mountains is very odd, so we investigated her bike and found evidence of interference."

Another expert raised similar concerns saying "On consistency, reputation, performance and ability we know Phoenix Cycling is the strongest team, we know they have the strongest rider, yet they can't set up a sprint train or sit on the front of the peloton? No. And then let's consider how convenient it is that Olha Mikhailov is allowed, in a race to decide a title which multiple people could have won, break away. It's not tactically sound, it doesn't make sense and is frankly speaking nothing more than a farce."

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« Reply #230 on: November 07, 2022, 09:24:57 PM »


BEATRICE ANSELMO APPEAL OVER


By Roisin Shaughnessy: Chief Correspondent

The former Empress of Rokkenjima, Beatrice Anselmo, has been back in court for the latest hearing concerning her conduct related to the Andean Genocide. The charges against her pertain to her failure to enforce the Uppsala Convention, a charge that has been the subject of "legal ping pong" according to one analyst and has seen all manner of things occur, this latest installment was the result of medical discoveries invalidating the longstanding position that the former Empress was suffering from a mental illness, rather that she was taking medication that simulated the symptoms. The outcome of the hearing did not see the length of the sentence change, however the life sentence is now to be served under house arrest. Speaking after the hearing Achkaerin's representative to the CAC, Major Kaitlin Parker, said "It's now hoped that the back and forth over this particular aspect of the Andean Genocide is finally concluded. The focus of the CAC has always been on bringing to justice those who have breached the Convention's provisions and we are relentless in that pursuit whether it be the Marseilles crisis, the Cult of Helus Genocide, the Andean Genocide or any conflict since its inception."

The saga of the Andean Genocide however seems destined to continue for a little longer at least as Charles Foster Ofdensen's legal team, within hours of the conclusion of the day's proceedings, filed their own intention to appeal his conviction.

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« Reply #231 on: November 22, 2022, 01:25:51 AM »


GOVERNMENT TO PROVIDE SOLAR PANELS NATIONWIDE


By David Woods: Political Correspondent

The Government is to provide "at least one solar panel per building" across the nation. The measure announced by Energy Minister Maggie Anderson (pictured above) forms the latest step on the road map laid out by the Green Energy Transition Act 2014. In announcing the step the Minister said "Mr Speaker when this chamber passed the
  Green Energy Transition Act we did so by unanimous vote, a rare thing for our country. Today we inform the Senate that the Government will be supplying at least one solar panel for every home, school, place of worship, office block, shop and so on, in short at least one solar panel per building nationwide, an important step as we continue to move away from fossil fuels. The plan we have in place and that this House approved is a multi string bow and this along with the recently announced space based solar power station is the first string of that bow, we're under no illusions, this is a marathon it is not a sprint but it is one we intend to complete."



STINGRAY ENTERPRISES IN SEARCH FOR TESTING GROUNDS


By Amira Cotton: Business Correspondent

Stingray Enterprises is on the hunt for testing grounds for the 'Dolphin' as it's affectionately known (pictured above). The company has spent many years working on the application of Ground Effect Vehicles as a viable method of decreasing air traffic pollution, the Dolphin marks the first attempt by the company in this area as explained
 by CEO Stella Campbell: "When we exhibited the Insignia, our luxury yacht GEV, at the festival of sail a couple of years ago it was a proof of concept moment for us, proof that we'd built something that could fly and function as intended, the Dolphin is quite different to that but the principle theory is the same, what the Dolphin is is an attempt to build what amounts to a viable GEV airliner so to speak, we know it flies, we know it's functional so it's viable in that sense. What we're looking for are travel companies, governments and so on from across Mundus to let us test the Dolphin out alongside more traditional ferries, we're looking for wide variety of willing helpers because Mundus geography varies immensely and therefore the Dolphin's best environment can be more easily determined. But before the big airlines on Mundus start worrying this isn't going to spell the end for you, a journey from Valtheim to Northfort is substantively quicker by conventional aircraft however to get from Gowu to Daito for example may not be as straightforward, there are a variety of factors for us to think about."
« Last Edit: November 22, 2022, 10:22:10 PM by Achkaerin »

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« Reply #232 on: December 12, 2022, 02:47:52 PM »


SCIENTISTS REPORTEDLY HIT MILESTONE


Riviere Corporations Foxton fusion research facility where fusion research and experiments have taken place

By Roisin Shaughnessy: Chief Correspondent

Producing a net energy gain has been a goal of nuclear fusion research from practically day one of its conception, fusion research has been taking place across Mundus including in Achkaerin, Altona, Daito, East Moreland, Rokkenjima and several others. An experiment taking place at the Riviere Fusion Research Facility (RF2 as it's known) using a process known as inertial confinement fusion in which a pellet of hydrogen plasma is bombarded with a laser to trigger a nuclear fusion produced 3.15 megajoules of energy as output, exceeding the 2.05 megajoules used to power the experiment. Speaking following the experiment Riviere Corporation CEO Catriona Rowan said "Today's experiment has been successful and now we'll go and analyse the data and see where we go from here, we're still a ways from the end goal but it does feel a significant step closer today than yesterday."



GREAT WAR RAID GETS BIG SCREEN TREATMENT... TIMES TWO


By Zoe Tate: Entertainment Correspondent

It's one of the lesser known operations of the Great War, Operation Tempest, a daring commando raid on an Ardian dockyard that resulted not only in the hindering of the Ardian war machine but also the capture of one of the most powerful battleships of its time the Escarion. It's a raid that to some historians marks a turning point in that conflict and now two films are set to be released about this raid, the first a dramatic retelling based on the historic accounts is called The Great Raid, the second a documentary featuring testimony from those involved is called Tempest: The Commando's Story both are being overseen by noted Achkaerinese film director Jemma Fox who explained the concept saying "As a film director you're always looking to tell a story and Tempest is a story the likes of which you don't see much of, innovation, courage, questionable, daring, heroism and outright unthinkable, but as we did our research we discovered that we were looking at the single operation where the most Djana Cross's have been earned so we decided to in parallel with the film produce a documentary on that aspect." Both films are released to cinemas on the 15th of December.
« Last Edit: December 13, 2022, 10:07:42 PM by Achkaerin »

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« Reply #233 on: December 17, 2022, 10:00:13 PM »


CROWN PRINCESS SERENITY AND PRINCESS EUPHEMIA SPOTTED AT DINNER


By Niamh Roberts: Royal News Correspondent

Crown Princess Serenity was spotted out at popular science fiction club/restaurant Midnight earlier tonight with Princess Euphemia of Rokkenjima. Midnight is a known favourite eatery of the Crown Princess and while her presence was not surprising that of Princess Euphemia was leading to speculation as to the nature of the relationship, after requests for comment were made Royal Press Secretary Hannah Cartwright said: "Crown Princess Serenity is free to date whoever she chooses, I know people like to speculate about it but after everything she's been through she deserves some happiness, so let them enjoy it please."[/i]

Crown Princess Serenity is scheduled to be spending a few days away with her daughters at Highwick Manor prior to Life Day festivities, it has been speculated, although not confirmed that Princess Euphemia will join them.

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« Reply #234 on: December 27, 2022, 01:50:28 AM »


EMPEROR'S LIFE DAY MESSAGE


By: Roisin Shaughnessy: Chief Correspondent

The Emperor has given his annual Life Day message, broadcast around the Empire and Mundus. This years message marks the hundredth such message to be broadcast coinciding with the centinery year of the Achkaerinese Broadcasting Corporation, founded in 1922 for radio and later moving to television. This year the Emperor's message was as follows:


Quote
The Emperors Life Day Message 2022

Good afternoon. Every year at this time a substantive amount of Mundus is united in rejoicing on religious grounds, whether it be Life Day, Christmas, Hanukkah, Yule or any other across Mundus we come together to celebrate, to give and receive gifts, to observe traditions and eat a lot of food. One of the great unifying features of Mundus is the belief in the Divine and with that comes many things, including the reminder that the things that people have in common far outnumber the differences, we've seen it many times over the years and undoubtedly will do so again in years to come. This year I've seen that in my family, my granddaughter Astrid, was ill and became profoundly deaf as a result but we've become closer, we've become more aware of each other, more mindful and the outpouring of love and well wishes from the country was truly humbling and once again I thank everyone for that. This notion of unity being greater than division has rung true in our relations, when I gave this years Covenant Address I spoke about the need to review, to look with fresh eyes - we may have taken hard decisions and left organisations but ties with friends are not things to throw away so easily those are things to be cherished. The future is our great unknown for we do not know what tomorrow brings, but it's easier faced with friends and family at your side, we've all been blessed with many people who come into our lives for many different reasons and today is a day to show what they mean to us.
 Have a very happy and joyful day.


PARODY SONG TAKES LIFE DAY NUMBER ONE


By Zoe Tate: Entertainment Correspondent

A Star Trek parody song titled "My Blue Underwear" has taken the number one spot on Life Day in the Achkaerinese charts. The song is a parody of "Winter Wonderland" but   no one is entirely sure how it happened as this bit of fun by music teacher Paul Farthing pipped established musical acts such as the Aces, Against the Current, Paramore, Taylor Davis and many others to the top spot, Mr Farthing has said he's "shocked and this will likely never sink in. But I've got a few more songs planned."

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« Reply #235 on: December 28, 2022, 03:27:14 PM »


CROWN PRINCESS ASUNA ABDUCTED AS TERROR HITS STREETS


By Roisin Shaughnessy: Chief Correspondent

Crown Princess Asuna of Rokkenjima has been abducted during what has been described as "an act of terror" the incident resulted in the deaths of two of the assailants,
 two police officers and further injuries to twelve members of the public. Mark Sharpe spoke to the press on the incident saying "Today an attack was carried out on our soil and we will not rest until those responsible are brought to account for it, our investigation is at an early stage and progress is being made, the Rokkenjiman Government has been made aware of what's happened and we will update as things progress."

In related news Emperor Peter has been admitted to hospital following a relapse of his relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis and a subsequent head injury, the Emperor is according to doctors "currently in a coma as a result of the head trauma and is being monitored closely."



OFDENSEN WALKS


By James Robson: Home Affairs Correspondent

Charles Ofdensen has won his appeal against his conviction regarding the Andean Genocide. The team representing the former Lord High Steward, who when he was convicted was seen as the guiding mind from the Rokkenjiman side, successfully argued that the case against Mr Ofdensen was based on now tainted evidence and unsafe testimony. Mr Ofdensen was later confirmed as having departed the country for Rokkenjima.

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« Reply #236 on: January 20, 2023, 05:09:35 PM »


SCRIVENS MEDICAL SHOWCASES RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENTS


By Kimberly Thorn: Science and Technology correspondent

Janelle Scrivens (pictured above) has outlined the major developments her company, Scrivens Medical, has been working on. Firstly looking at what she refers to as 'biological alchemy' this research comes following examination of the Leprosy disease, as Ms Scrivens explains "We were experimenting with the bacterium that causes the disease, Mycobacterium leprae, because it has this ability to convert one type of bodily tissue into another which it does to give itself more tissue to infect but what if you could harness this biological alchemy and turn it to the purpose of helping rather than hindering? So we did these experiments using armadillo's, because they can catch the disease, we  showed the infection heads to the armoured animals' livers, where it performed a controlled hijacking of the organ to reprogram it for its own purpose. showed the infection heads to the armoured animals' livers, where it performed a controlled hijacking of the organ to reprogram it for its own purpose. The results, showed the liver nearly doubled in size. Now you might expect such growth to be defective or even cancerous - but detailed analysis we did showed it was both healthy and functional, complete with the usual array of blood vessels and bile ducts, there's no cell therapy that does it, it appears the leprosy bug is rewinding the developmental clock in the liver, we don't know how it does it but we're hoping to figure that one out. These results could pave the way for new therapeutic approaches to the treatment of liver diseases such as cirrhosis. However, as the research has been done using armadillos as model animals, it is unclear if and how these promising results can translate to the biology of the human liver. And of course the bacteria's nature requires that the method be refined prior to any clinical translation, but if this works it could one day be as simple as a jab in the arm, and as our understanding of this increases it could potentially be used in respect of other organs."

The second development Ms Scrivens showed us was 'the blood farm' this is essentially a laboratory where blood is grown from stem cells. There are two potential near-term advantages of using lab-grown blood. First, the approach could address the donor shortage for those with rare blood types who require regular transfusions, such as patients with sickle cell disease and thalassemia. Secondly, the lab-grown blood is expected to outperform standard donor blood. Red blood cells have a lifespan of about 120 days and a normal blood donation will contain cells of varying ages. By contrast, the lab-grown blood cells are all fresh, so should perform better and last longer. This could reduce the frequency of transfusions for patients who regularly need blood and help avoid iron overload, a complication linked to repeated transfusions where too much iron accumulates in the body and has to be removed. Two healthy volunteers have so far been transfused with the lab grown red cells, as part of a clinical trial, no negative side-effects have been reported. At least 10 participants are expected receive two mini transfusions at least four months apart, one of standard donated red cells and one of lab grown red cells, to find out if the young red blood cells made in the laboratory last longer than cells made in the body.


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« Reply #237 on: January 22, 2023, 06:36:51 PM »


GOVERNMENT UPDATES ON OPERATION WREN


Marines involved in Operation Wren simulate a boarding exercise

By Penny Noble: Defence Correspondent

Defence questions turned into an impromptu Government statement following a tweet by the Pharaoh of Clysperis saw John Olsen, the Shadow Minister of Defence, ask for the governments position to which Minister of Defence Adam Sheppard said "The honorable senator will be aware of the governments positions in respect of the matters reported in Bahia specifically terrorism and slavery, our record opposing both is clear. Operation Wren, our standing multilayered counter slavery strategy continues to produce results this calendar year we've so far detained fifteen individuals involved in the slave trade and freed sixty slaves, and our counter terror efforts remain among the best in the world. Our relationship with Clysperis is one based on many things including politely telling each other when we think they've got it wrong, this is one such instance. Terrorism requires funding, because there are weapons, materials and equipment that are required, this funding is often accomplished through other criminal means including drug sales, hamper that and you hamper the terrorists as there is a domino effect but taking drugs off the streets saves lives."

The Minister was later asked about upcoming Air Force training exercises which were rumoured to include the Rokkenjiman Akuma to which the Minister said "As people will be aware these are routine exercises that are always conducted well out of the way with all precautions taken, the MoD is excited about a few things this time around and we will notify the chamber in time. The Akuma will be present but will be on the away team so to speak, there is no intention to look at such a thing for purchase."

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« Reply #238 on: January 24, 2023, 04:58:30 AM »


CROWN PRINCESS ADDRESSES SENATE ON SLAVERY


By Roisin Shaughnessy: Chief Correspondent

Crown Princess Serenity has addressed the Senate in what is known as an article seven session, a reference to the Constitutional provisions that allow the Crown to address the Senate, the session originally scheduled to be a debate regarding the annual treaty reaffirmation, became an article seven following a Heyran Press Statement, this marks the first time the Crown Princess has requested to address the chamber rather than being there due to necessity or upon request made by the Senate. Speaking to the chamber the Crown Princess said:

"Mr Speaker I thank you for granting leave for this statement to be made. Before I come to the substance of the statement I would like to apologise to honourable members I was expecting to be following coverage of planned debate it is a very important piece of business. As members may be aware in the last couple of days there has been a back and forth between the nations of Clysperis and Heyra about events in Bahia, this has since snowballed following what can only be described as an ill judged press release by Heyran authorities, it'll become clear why I say that and it's got nothing with baseless accusations which we of course dismiss as falsehoods, we have a very clear  longstanding policy that we call the Quadruple Lock, in very simple terms this details the four circumstances that can lead to an intervention and not once have we acted outside of this, we do not define an intervention as a person making a statement that's called freedom of expression. Equally, despite what some choose to believe Achkaerin always acts in accordance with international law.

Slavery is one of if not the greatest evil still persisting on Mundus, it should not exist today yet it does and it does so largely within Tamora which at last count had forty million slaves among its population, so it should not come as a surprise to anyone that Elysium's location raises concerns for those combating slavery because without the appropriate checks, safeguards and due diligence Elysium represents a very clear opportunity for Tamoran companies engaged in the slave trade to incorporate subsidiary or daughter companies on Heyran soil, allowing them to trade in the international market and send the proceeds back to the parent without penalty. These concerns were ignored and look what happened, despite an Ardian Assembly resolution on the matter passing in April 2019 on the 23rd of June 2019 Polakis Energy incorporated a subsidiary in Elysium, on the 1st of July 2019 Jalal Deer Agricultural Conglomerate incorporated in Elysium, on the 22nd of September 2019 Machal Mining incorporated a subsidiary in Elysium, you also have Tamora Imperial Bank incorporating its subsidiary in Elysium a few months later in 2020. Each of these companies engages in the slave trade and they all have slaves on their books Tamora Imperial Bank has 30,000 slaves, Jalal Deer has almost 500,000 slaves, Polakis Energy has 20,000 slaves and Machal Mining has 20,000 slaves on its books, and so things have stood, the Heyran authorities putting on a masterclass in political agility, asserting their compliance and commitment to opposing slavery despite the mountain of evidence to the contrary, I'm not sure how they managed it but they did but the thing is you can't play both sides forever sooner or later you have to make a choice. Today's press release by the Heyran authorities states and I quote "The Heyrana Respublica have a long-standing diplomatic policy of respect of local authorities and non-interference, unlike the Holy Empire of Achkaerin to which the Kingdom of Clysperis is allied to. The Heyrana Respublica in fact, have been many times in the past threaten by foreign powers for its will to neutrality and respect of local customs." this is frankly shocking, the last sentence rings alarm bells, it is a very clear reference to the Elysium situation because that's the only time anything remotely like that has occurred but that's not the shocking part it's the justification that takes that prize. The local customs the release states Heyra respects are in this context Tamoran local customs which includes by implication the institution of slavery.

Today Heyra's government made its choice and it has chosen to side not with the cause of freedom, not with the cause of liberty, not with the oppressed but with the oppressors and the slave owners, it has chosen to prioritise a deal with Tamora above its commitments and obligations under international law specifically article five of the MCUR. Like a fair few of Mundus's leaders I have in my time had the privilege of knowing Joshua Rhodes and I'm going to quote something that Empress Evanthe shared with me from a few years ago in relation to that article something Joshua said "every single nation that is a signatory to that document is in violation if they accept any form of slavery. It says there in black and white - No one shall be held in slavery or servitude. No one shall be required to perform forced or compulsory labour. It does not say, excepting for Tamora. It does not say excepting in the instance of culture and tradition. Signatories to the MCUR must oppose slavery without question. You can't ask Tamora 'please stop enslaving people'. You can't buy slaves and free them later, Tamora will just take more slaves. MCUR signatories must unequivocally take action to stop this. They must refuse diplomatic access to Tamora, refuse them on the world stage, refuse them in the diplomatic corp, refuse to allow them access to ports or trade." He would collapse of shock if he were here now because his words are absolutely right, the principle of human rights is that they apply to all humans and when you sign the MCUR that is what you sign up to, lest we set foot upon a very slippery slope. The greatest test of any treaty or organisation or entity is what do you do when one of your own breaks the rules? For far too long this issue has been danced around and now we see the true colours of it and as someone committed to the MCUR I say this and this is no threat, this is my promise to every last person held in slavery and servitude across Mundus, I will not rest until the scourge of slavery is eradicated from this planet once and for all. If I have to make it my life's work then so be it but we will see the chains broken and voices raised in freedom, that is my vow and I commend this statement to the House."

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« Reply #239 on: January 26, 2023, 07:56:14 PM »


"ACCOUNTABILITY EXTENDS BEYOND THE CRIMINAL"


By James Robson: Home Affairs Correspondent

Elecktra Hope (pictured above), founder and senior partner of Shield Law LLP has been instructed by the Achkaerinese branch of the WMO in respect of what might be termed "Irift gate" with a brief of exploring what legal avenues are available for the organisation to pursue, speaking from her office she said: "It's a sometimes forgotten legal aspect that when it comes to the vast majority of cases we generally find ourselves dealing with criminal or civil cases. That's down to most high profile cases being of the criminal nature and most civil cases being settled before they hit the courtroom, it's one of the more positive points in the history of Mundus's various international forums that nations do take responsibility but regardless of that accountability does extend beyond the criminal sphere to the civil one. In the case of this Irift test, we
 have first Admiral Kisho who should face charges under the Uppsala Convention, depending on answers to specific questions this could extend to the  Rokkenjiman Government. Secondly we have the damage caused, I would contend Rokkenjima to have done the opposite of their obligations under the Treaty of Wellow in respect of ocean acidification. I would also then have broader questions as to how the Decree on the Rights of Nature is actually implemented in respect of certain business sectors."


AADC WORKING ON DRAGONFLY MK II


By Penny Noble: Defence Correspondent

AADC is working on a new and improved Dragonfly, the current aircraft - a relatively basic maritime patrol aircraft and technology demonstrator was found to have significant failings that prevented it from fulfilling its intended role, this new aircraft according to an AADC spokesperson will "Allow for not only the failings of the original Dragonfly to be addressed and overcome but also a significant increase in the anti submarine warfare capability of the aircraft."