Esquarium Today [Regional News, CLOSED]

[Luziyca]

"The people's wishes are more important than what Namo wants," declares Kung Alicia

Kung Alicia at the press conference

PO'AI, NANTAI - After the press conference in Kenyen, Chief Executive Kung Alicia visited Po'ai, where she visited the main Txoist temple, the church, as well as attended celebrations for Hanukkah by the small Jewish community in the city. But the main event was on Central Avenue, where just west of the border crossing, she organized a speech. Loudspeakers were used so crowds on the other side can hear what she has to say.

Kung started off with, "Dear people of Nantai. In recent days, I have heard the response that my speech has generated across the world, especially in Namor. Thus, I shall clarify my stances."

"Firstly," she remarked, "to those who think I am disregarding my countrymen, I am not. I may be Kannei, but I respect all of my countrymen: Luziycans, Swedes, Lombardians, Geads, as well as many others who may live in this free nation. I respect all citizens of my country and I also respect all those people within Namor. But in my opinion, countrymen refers to the people that you live alongside, who have the same nationality, and in this case, I am not disregarding my countrymen, whether my homeland, Luziyca, or the land of our ancient culture, Namor."

"Secondly," Kung said, "we are not trying to provoke things. Sure, it may seem provocative, but so was Shohai's visit to the Namorese city of East Po'ai." She declared "If that statement that I said about unification was provocative, well, it does not mean that we will reunite with Namor right now. As far as I know, I don't see Nantai reuniting with Namor within my lifetime, or even that of my children, or my children's children. It may happen in the distant future, but certainly not today, nor tomorrow, or next year. I may see it in the next century, or even millennium, but I doubt we will truly reunite."

"Thirdly," Kung declared, directing it to Peng Kang, "What I mean by Namor is the government currently in power. If they want to attack us, go ahead. We will see what happens when they take Nantai: the people in Nantai shall resist like in the Third Namo-Luziycan War. I am Kannei Namorese, but I was born in Luziyca, and shall die in Luziyca."

She then said that "Nantai may have occupied by the Luziycans, but we, the Nantainese, have developed our own distinct identity, and considering the troubles that Peitoa is having with reintegrating with Namor, it will be a greater struggle to reintegrate Nantai with Namor. However, we will interact with our fellow brothers and sisters on the Namorese side, and we ought to do that more often."

Continuing, she remarked that "We have been separated since 1898, and no matter what the government (of Namor) wants, only a popular referendum, voted by upon by all the people in Nantai shall determine whether this land, Nantai, shall go to Namor, stay with us, or become sovereign."

Concluding her speech, she declared "If Namor does not agree to a referendum in Nantai, that is monitored by both Namor, Luziycan, and a third party, then Nantai shall not return to Namorese rule, for what the people of this territory wants is more important than what the people in Namo want."

Kung Alicia's speech spawned many comments around Luziycan social media. President Shjoraski tweeted that "detente is in the best interests of the people, but maybe Kung took her words too far." Sera Svensson of the Liberal Party criticized Kung's speech, with Sera stating that "This speech is unacceptable and is incredibly provocative to the government in Namo."

It also sparked protests: in Kenyen, 25,000 people marched, chanting "NA, DOSHE," and demanding that Namor renounce their claim over Nantai, with drumming, singing, and signs. In Po'ai, 12,500 attended the speech on the western side, many supporting Kung Alicia and protesting against Namorese irridentism over Nantai. There were some counter-protests in those cities. Other protests happened in Vesterhag, Bethlehem, Jerusalem, Yerevan, Semprihevosk, and Gijirokastra to name a few.

A man from Eastern Po'ai said that "I have came over to see what she had to say. While I disagree with her on most of the points, I personally think a referendum is in the best interests to solve the problem in Nantai."

Opinion polls showed that 78% of Nantainese support the status quo, 8% support joining Namor, 3% support independence, and the remainder are undecided.

In other news

• Firenze - Fire burns down boarding home, 8 Shudri children killed, 12 Shudri injured
• Nevanmaa - National Coalition wins elections, government formation to take place
• Arnborg - Riots break out in Doval, 29 dead, 294 injured, 2,105 arrested
• Kraq - al-Jegria on the verge of being taken over by Kraqi government, Shjoraski plans to fund Kraqi government

[Zunghar Khanate]

The Zunghar Revolutionary
Зүүнгар Хувьсгалт

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Qaraqorum falls to the revolutionaries, Khan Tseren publicly executed.

QARAQORUM- Today is a great day for all across Dzungharia! As the dust settled over the smoldering capital, the proud scarlet banner of the revolution flew over the former palace of the Khan, marking the victory of the People's Republic and of the workers of Dzungharia.

Despite there being a few border towns held by loyalist forces, hero of the Revolution and Chairman of the Zunghar Communist Party Temay Kidai declared victory and stated that until the situation had stabilised in Dzungharia, promised elections would be held off until further notice. This move was met with some suspicion, but overall approval from the Communist party.

With the shackles of the Khaganate thrown off and cast aside, Chairman Kidai also announced the end to Zunghar isolation, and it's openness to the nations of the world in terms of trade and diplomatic relations.

Ажилчдын эрх чөлөөг эсрэг бүх хүмүүст үхэл!

[Namor]

Fu: Any solution to Nantai must satisfy Namor and Luziyca
Fu speaks as Nantai threatens to destabilize performance in election

December 19, NMR 2373

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NAMO, CAPITAL DISTRICT - Fu Wen spoke to the press just one day away from Decision Day, saying that he is "confident still" in winning a second term in office while at the same time addressing revived scuffles over the Nantai dispute.

Luziycan police officers standing across the barrier which divides
western and eastern Poai, glancing at the direction of eastern Poai.

"I have spoken to the nation and made my points clear to all," he said. "I'm being honest when I say that in the past five years Namor has been doing business, good business and we as a country are doing fine. And I hope to keep it that way."

He was asked about Nantai, an issue that has returned to headlines as politicians in Namo are protesting remarks made by Nantai's "chief executive" Kung Alicia and her associates in the Luziycan occupation. Just hours ago, as a measure widely perceived as taken in response to Shohai Antelope's visit to eastern Poai, Kung Alicia went to western Poai where she reiterated her claim of Nantai being Luziycan territory. Kung said that the region does not want to reunify with Namor and added that "if [Namor] want[s] to attack us, go ahead. We will [...] resist like in the Third Namo-Luziycan War," threatening to go to war with Namor if any progress is made in resolving the dispute.

Kung's statement was supported by some ultraconservative Luziycan leaders while receiving criticism from the opposition, with Sera Svensson of the Liberal Party calling Kung's speech "unacceptable" and "incredibly provocative." Luziycan President Breuvi Shjoraski seemed to be on the borderline, although he stated on Twitter that Kung "took her words too far."

There was criticism coming from Namo as well; Defense Minister Bao Wei said that "Kung's words do not come out of the mouth of a sane person," going forth to warn that "if this spat continues the consequences are unimaginable." Foreign Minister Shen Wuhong did not explicitly criticize Kung, and instead called on Luziyca to "keep the door to negotiation open as times get tough," noting that "detente is meeting its first great test." A number of politicians in all three major parties (Liberationists, DemSocs and New Democrats) said that Kung's speech was counter-productive in some way or another - the spat is also hurting Fu Wen, whose stance on Namo-Luziycan relations enjoyed unshakable support up until now.

Speaking to journalists, Fu said that he has a plan for an eventual solution to the dispute "written on paper," reiterating his belief that the dispute can only be resolved peacefully.

"Since Mr. Shjoraski and I met, Namor never said anything about going to war over Nantai," Fu said. "I promised Shjoraski that if there's one way not to resolve this dispute it's through lethal force. Kung Alicia must have missed out on the commitment made by both our countries to stick with diplomacy no matter what. She is hypothesizing a Namorese 'invasion' and trying to monger fear among her constituents, and there's nothing we can do about that besides ignoring her and letting the major players do their thing. And when I mean 'major players,' I mean us - the Namorese government - and the government of Luziyca. We should not concentrate our time on actions taken by those who share no relevancy to the question whatsoever - doing so will only distract us."

Fu said that any solution - temporary or permanent - in regards to Nantai must be reached "in the best interests of both Namorese territorial integrity and the best interests of Luziyca," and hopes that more conferences with Luziycan officials will occur in the future to "secure a permanent deal." When asked about Kung's proposal of a referendum in Nantai, Fu said that he is open to "anything," however nothing that pursuant to the principle that imposition of legal border change is an act of aggression, Luziyca has "no right to hold public votes on the [Nantai] question without our approval.

"I am open to discussing this further with Luziycan officials and I hope Luziycan officials' confidence in getting this dispute resolved peacefully wasn't shaken by recent events. Right now, let us focus on the election which is tomorrow."

Whether this speech will undo Fu's approval rating before it is too late remains to be seen; for now, some say the President-General's situation is "worrying" as a few polls predict Fu to be in a state of winning plurality.

Election Day is tomorrow.

COMMENTS

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Yun Nan
I love the president-general and his "oooh pees with Luziyca" rant. Forget about peace with Luziyca, whenever you have irresponsible aggressors speaking like this they ought to be shot in the head. 85 27

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Nei Menggu
Agree with the President-General. Merely responding to a person like Kung Alicia is like calling on Luziyca to grant its people human rights and democracy by addressing Yngvi Gudmund. Kung is just as much of a titular ruler like Gudmund. Both work for Luziyca. 56 39

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Man Zhou
And if you're wondering why Luziyca has no right to exist, let Kung be a reason. Cowardly aggressors. 63 70

Other news

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• Michillies cracking down on foreign funding of political parties - The newly-approved electoral law of Michillies states that political parties would be barred from receiving foreign funds. According to the Home Secretary, this would ensure the "legality and fairness of our elections and ensure that [the parties] reflect the will of the Michillian people, not foreigners."
• Nevanmaa releases general election results, National Coalition virtually controls Eduskunta - Nevanmaa's right-wing National Coalition emerged victorious from the Nevan general election which can possibly frustrate attempts at liberalizing the ostracized northwestern Esquarian monarchy.
• "Tuthina is the next Chorea," says official - A Namorese official warned that if measures aren't taken to maintain the global balance of power from the growing aggressiveness of monarchist restoration countries like Tuthina, a situation similar to Chorea during the Second Great War may appear.

[Luziyca]

Shjoraski to Namo "detente is still feasible"

Shjoraski in Bethlehem

BETHLEHEM, F.C. - With news spreading of the statements by Kung Alicia and the "war of words" between Namo and Kenyen, which may very well cost Fu Wen the election across the border in Namor, Shjoraski decided to hold a press conference in Bethlehem regarding that Namo-Luziycan situation, among other things.

Shjoraski said that "Detente is facing its first major test, one that may affect the course of history and relations between our two great nations. We wish to reassure the Namorese government, that despite the statements made by the Chief Executive of the constituent republic of Nantai, we are willing to negotiate over Nantai. I believe that a referendum regarding the status of Nantai, or at least another summit related to Nantai is still possible, and the statements by Kung Alicia regarding Nantai won't change that."

He continued, "In my opinion, I think Kung Alicia is fear-mongering, to conduct a propaganda war against Namor, or at the very least, to try and make Shohai Antelope look bad. It is clearly not working, and while she does have freedom of speech, as the head of a region of Luziyca, she has that obligation to not make such crass statements."

Shjoraski then concluded, "Thus, I wish that over the Christmas season, we will get over this. As election day draws near for Namor, we wish them luck, and may they choose the right person to make Namor strong and free."

Despite that, in many areas of Nantai, many stated their opposition to reuniting with Namor. Kung Alicia immediately apologized on Twitter for "any remarks I have said offending the Namorese government, though it should be up to the people in Nantai to decide."

More as the story develops.

[Tuthina]

28th day of the 10th month
4th year of Syuubun
3,325th Year of the Imperial Calendar

Empire to Increase Relief Efforts for Uguria
Combat Engineers Prevented Another Kwanyan Disaster

It has been several days since a major earthquake devastated the Ugurian capital of Fukking and its surroundings. Despite the best efforts spearheaded by our valiant soldiers and clergy to mitigate the suffering of the people, the situation in Uguria remained dim.

According to one of the priestesses providing medical and spiritual support for the wounded and desperate, refugees "greatly outnumber all aid [from outside Ugurian] combined", which drastically limited the actions of the humanitarian effort and "forced [them] to make some tough choices" on a daily basis. Even with more than 3,000 soldiers and combat engineers working through the days and nights to repair the damaged infrastructure, many portions of the Ugurian city remained inaccessible to anything beyond individual workers and handheld equipment. With the approaching winter solstice, it is feared that the worst have yet to come.

Hopes, however, still shine through even during the darkest times. One such miracle occurred yesterday, as search and rescue forces from the Imperial Cult managed to find another survivor among the rubble who survived the dreaded condition under tonnes of concrete and steel far longer than humans would be. A testimony of human willpower, or a timely grace to reward and motivate the exhausted clergy and soldiers, we might never know, but as one of the rescue team members stated, their smile is all that they need to continue soldier on.

In a similar vein, combat engineers from the Imperial Naval Infantry unit deployed in the region have managed to secure the damaged nuclear reactors in the vicinity. While "sacrifices were made", the damaged reactor is not deactivated. With the arrival of winter breeze and some well-planted explosives, the spokesperson of the unit believes that the extinguished core will soon be cooled down with "minimal effects" on the Ugurian population. Although the Imperial General Headquarters have not confirmed the information, there are reports that part of the local electricity system are now restored and supplied by the nuclear reactor in an anchored Imperial Aviation Battleship. The Imperial General Headquarters, however, announced that with the restoration of the majority of infrastructure in the disaster zone, an entire tindai of more than 9,000 personnel will be deployed to Uguria to maintain order, especially at important infrastructures to prevent chaos from disrupting the transport of material and individuals near the Ugurian capital.

Supplies and humanitarian workers have been flocking across the doorstep of the Home Islands from around the world since the disaster occurred. However, as the worsening situation worryingly demonstrated, it might not be enough. According to His Most Serene Majesty's government, the Empire is currently the largest contributor of humanitarian aid to Uguria, with more than 25,000 kan (around $50 million USD) already delivered in combined aid, with "many more" to be transferred to Uguria in the near future, as various donation drives and charity works are still in process of demonstrating the compassion of the Empire to the world, even beyond the Imperial realm. Among them, Her Imperial Highness Ayako of Mahiduru, elder sister of His Most Serene Majesty incumbent and well-loved idol of the Empire, has announced that all income from both her national concert tour, as well as of her upcoming record release will be donated to the Imperial Cult to aid its humanitarian effort in Uguria, as well as others who seek such. With His Most Serene Majesty being her first and foremost supporter, it is expected that there will be considerable donation from her alone.

A non-binding pledge of donation from the Imperial government has stated that the Empire - given its duty as a great country - aim for a total donation in value "exceeding all other countries combined". Hosaki Yomi'uri can only hope that such demonstration of our compassion will be enough to relive the suffering of our continental brothers and sisters.

Newsette and Other Featured Content

• Today's His Most Serene Majesty: The content of this section is deemed inappropriate by the Imperial Censorate.
  
• Murakami "Thanks" Anonymous Namorese Support: Following the repeated warning from a nameless official serving under the Namo government, Yasunori of Kure expressed his gratitude towards this individual for the support provided to Murakami Naval Arsenal. He states that as someone from "a country ruled by commoner mandate with an expansionist ideology and an equally expansionist navy", its warning serve as "the most compelling argument for the Triumvirate - an organisation formed to fight against influence from Namo government - to expand their forces using Murakami's products". In regards to the comment on the Empire "becoming the next Chorea", Yasunori believes that "if it comes down to it", he has full faith in His Most Serene Majesty and His loyal subjects that they can "succeed where the Choreans failed". During a later press conference, Yasunori mentioned that he would like to personally sign a model of the new destroyer as a gift to said Namorese official, although Murakami Naval Arsenal has not confirmed such decision yet, citing the lack of destination as the chief difficulty.

Agitprop of the Day
Hope springs eternal.

[Namor]

Election Day: Millions take to the polls

December 20, NMR 2373

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NATIONWIDE - Election Day is here, and millions of Namorese across the country are going to their local polling places to cast their votes, deciding for themselves whether President-General Fu will acquire a second term in office.

Millions will vote in today's presidential election

The turnout was higher in some places than others; more people showed up to vote in cities and the suburbs, and while some managed to show up in rural or remote areas, it was projected that only half of people in remote places will show up to vote. Nonetheless, due to Namor's large population it was estimated that nearly 600 million people will have cast their votes by the time polls close.

Nationwide, polls opened at 3:00 am. Large lines were seen in cities such as Namo, where polls were set up in Liberation Square, Yinzo and outside the World Peace Convention Center, among other places. One voter said that he got up as early as 5 am to vote.

"Lots of people are going to vote," he said, "so I have to get there early and I did. Once I got there though, there was already a line forming. I was rather late." Yet he was not discouraged from voting. "It's a civic duty," he said. "Less people are voting nowadays. That may have something to do with the government giving them the choice to vote or not to vote, but they really should. What the election is deciding affects them, affects us. It affects us all."

Among the millions of voters who are casting their votes are the three candidates themselves - Fu, Shohai and Kuo.

The President-General was accompanied by Vice President Derrick Lee and his campaign team as they showed up at the polling station outside the Central Council Hall at 8 am. Upon casting his vote, Fu said to the press that "I hope everyone makes the right choice today." Two hours later Shohai Antelope and his running mate Gan Sujing appeared in the same place to vote. This was immediately followed by Kuo, who brought along a smaller team of campaign organizers but nonetheless seemed no less excited about voting.

Will Fu win a simple majority?

Internet polls taken hours before the election show that it is unclear if Fu will be able to win a simple majority or instead win a plurality. Tesong said that the President-General will win 45-50% of all votes; Shohai 45% of votes and Kuo 5% of all votes. Like past polls, Tesong concluded that Kuo Zhang - who received much attention in this year's election - would receive the most amount of support in the district of Peitoa, where a solid majority are projected to vote for him. Although Fu is set to win most votes in Txotai, competition between Kuo and Shohai is fierce in that region - some believe Kuo will win more votes than Shohai in Txotai, making the autonomous republic the only place (besides Peitoa) where the People's First candidate wins more votes than somebody else. Kuo may not be a match for the President-General or Shohai, but his growing popularity in some places shows the steadily-growing support for a party as nationalist as the People's First.

But districts that deserve the most attention include Southern Namor, East Namor and East Nozama - three districts that have large populations (all over 130 million) and are divided between Fu and Shohai. It is believed that either Fu or Shohai will barely win a simple majority in these three places.

Voting will continue until polls close; closing times vary by region.

• Southern Namor, East Namor, Xhinan, Xhipei, East Nozama, Peitoa - 20:00 Namo Time
• West Nozama, West Namor, Thalassa AR, Txotai AR - 21:00 Namo Time
• Antelopia AR, Khao AR - 21:30 Namo Time
• Arra, Xibensho AR - 22:00 Namo Time

Results in each region will be announced approximately one hour after polls close, although if complexities arise the vote-counting process may take longer. The final results will be announced by midnight. Stay tuned to PTH's continued coverage of the election.

COMMENTS

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Ching Hai
Fuck the lines, this is why I don't vote. 70 80

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Man Zhu
I voted, and it was worth it despite the waiting time. You don't do this elsewhere! 62 40

Other news

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• Tuthina can "succeed where the Choreans failed:" imperial official - A Tuthinan imperial official welcomed a Namorese official's remarks on Tuthina becoming the "next Chorea," bringing about concerns that Tuthina indeed wants to bring the world back to the Second War age.
• Shjoraski: Kung Alicia waging propaganda war against Namor - Luziycan president Shjoraski condemned provocative words coming from Nantai "chief executive" Kung Alicia, saying that she is "fear-mongering [and trying to] conduct a propaganda war against Namor," adding that "it is clearly not working." Kung apologized on social media for "any remarks I have said offending the Namorese government."
• Foreign Ministry: Glad to see Luziyca sticking with detente - A spokesperson for the Namorese Foreign Ministry commended Luziyca for "considering the benefits of mutual detente."

[Geadland]

OPINION: NANTAI SHOULD REJOIN NAMOR, BUT ONLY FU CAN DO IT
Nataniel Ikmann, Liberal MP, writes

20 December 2014 Last updated 19:12 Geadish Standard Time
In the final days of Namor’s election campaign, the primary topic has curiously shifted away from economic issues, which are the focus of most election campaigns, but onto nationalist issues. It began when the Liberationist challenger Sholai Antelope visited East Po’ai, a town in the Namor on the border with the disputed Luziycan-adminstered region of Nantai. In his speech, he said that “All of us wish for that day when the two million of our brothers and sisters on the other side of this barrier are able to walk freely here and cast their votes and decide their futures”.

Until then, Antelope had been a long way behind Fu Wen in the polls. His strategy of courting nationalist sentiments appears to have worked. Fu has been consistently ahead in the polls, but due to several factors, the gap has narrowed significantly. Antelope could win the presidency if his momentum keeps going. ‘Luzzie-bashing’ is even more common in Namorese election campaigns than it is in Geadish ones. Jing Hang from Mojing Times once said that “Whenever the government's in trouble, or needs popular support, one powerful weapon to get that support is stirring anti-Luziycan sentiment”. The same is true for the opposition.

I have argued that Nantai should be returned to Namor, because the region is culturally Namorese. The rights and traditions of its people would be better respected. Regions which speak a different language to the majority of their country’s population usually suffer economically, even in affluent countries. But the majority of the Nantaiese population remain unconvinced; recent polls show that over 75% would rather keep the status quo. Most Nantaiese politicians are even less friendly to Namor than the government in Bethlehem.

Part of the reason for this is that Namor has rarely shown a willingness to consider the popular opinion in Nantai. They argue that Nantai should be returned to Namor regardless of what its inhabitants think. This is because Namor was forced to cede Nantai to Luziyca after being defeated by the latter in a war. But there is a glaring double standard in Namorese foreign policy. If the same moral standards were employed elsewhere, then Namorese control of Oteki would be judged to be illegitimate – and Ainin and Geadland would be illegitimate states.

If the Namorese government wants to get Nantai to join, they need to connect with the Nantaians. They should give positive arguments for change to the population who live there. If they are lucky, pro-Namorese organisations would start drumming up support. The government in Namor would have to monitor Luziyca to make sure that the rights of these groups are being respected. The Nantaiese would never change their opinions overnight, but they could change over the course over many years.

If Antelope became president, abandoned the dètente process and tried to be more assertive over Nantai, the results would likely backfire. Namor has little leverage over Nantai. It would be exceptionally dangerous and foolish to threaten a war. Using economic sanctions against Luziyca would wreck the dètente process but probably would not pursuade the Luziycans to give up Nantai. But Luziycans do want better relations with their eastern neighbours. By offering this to Luziyca, Fu Wen has been able to get some concessions from Luziyca, something no other Namorese president has done before.

This article should not be an endorsement for the Namorese election – I would argue that Antelope offers better economic policies. But Fu is the one who can change Nantai for better. Sometimes a softer stance allows a nation to achieve more.

[Odissia]

-retconned-

[Pavonistade]

Pavon/Pavonistadian Enjlish | Français | International English | Γαυδσκε Σπρωγ | Nemryllic | ȣяλeƨȣaунe | Luziycan | Наморайин | Neva (+) | 茜蓉语 | 文語 | Vjaarlandsk | Vyvluder

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INTERPROS RESPONDS TO QIANRONGESE ANGER RE: HACKING
Response comes days after even anti-Guo powers condemn hacking

Date: December 20, 2014

Writer: Boris Krushechouve

December 13 revealed Qianrong's National Report to be the first target of INTERPROS's campaign in the Winter Rebellion.

The National Report had published an article on the same day, detailing the rise of the Alliance for Qianrongese National Strength (AQNS) and how some have voiced their pro-Guo or pro-FDRQ opinions. Some time after the publication, the INTERPROS had launched an operation that successfully shut down all pages of The National Report and replaced it with a message justifying its acts. The Qianrongese, both on the Guo and Li sides, have condemned the hacking. The United Democratic Coalition and the AQNS jointly labelled the shutdown as a "denial-of-rights attack," while Li declared "any group who would deny [Qianrongese] rights, for any reasons, must be treated as an enemy and opposed at every turn."

Around one week after the incident, the INTERPROS released a new video where the spokesperson responded to seemingly-united criticism from Qianrong. As consistent with previous recordings, a hooded shadowy person was to do the talking and a computer voice was used.

"We shall admit that we did some wrong in our operation," the spokesperson stated, "we broke down a news source that people rely on and deny them the ability to witness what was going on. Nevertheless, this is unfortunately one of the big leagues of hypocrisy. The Qianrongese who had called for opposition and assistance against Guo are now the same Qianrongese opposing us in preventing aiding against the true dissidents. At the same time, we see hypocrisy in Guo himself. He stated that this operation was 'a blatant assault on the Qianrongese people and nation,' while he neglected the attacks on his Ministry of Information for releasing the truth."

"Clearly, we are seeing the Qianrongese biting the hands that feed them. If they seek not to have 'unjust interference,' then we shall grant them the wish whenever they truly desired so. But be it known that no matter what any Qianrongese voices, a war between us and the dissidents shall rage on, and none of us will halt until the enemy is taken off the seats of power. Be it known, as well, that any direct moves to sabotage our operations will be met with certain, fierce opposition."

Pavonistade and Qianrong are not the only players who oppose the INTERPROS; New Zepuha had recently labelled the network as an enemy of the state and had started an operation to stamp out hacktivists. INTERPROS is considered to be a terrorist network by Gauntair, Iglesiantis, Luziyca, Michillies and even Uguria.

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Other Recent Reports

• Namorese Vote for Next President-General
  All polls will close by 2200 hours Namo Time
  
  
• More Tuthinan Assets, Aid Directed for Uguria
  Major earthquake, ensuing chaos struck Uguria earlier
  
  
• Nantai Embroiled in Renewed Dispute?
  Chief Executive says "na, doshe" to "demands of Namor"

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Comments
Page 1 of 200 - Next page - Last Page

Aininininininian
▲ Like - 78 | ▼ Dislike - 274 | ! Flag
1. y is this even concernin for us pavs
2. interpros are stupid
3. cant we do somethin against these stupid hackers

GotPav?
▲ Like - 1 | ▼ Dislike - 510 | ! Flagged
! This user is permanently banned.

@Aininininininian
1. You say "us [P]avs" when your name is "Aininininininian"
2. INTERPROS is considered to be a singular noun here, so we use "is" instead of "are"
3. Why don't you get off your lazy, grammar-deficient bum and do what you just asked here?
I seriously suggest you stop wasting other people's time (they'll read over your carb) and go to school for basics.

Olifeur Tompsen
▲ Like - 138 | ▼ Dislike - 16 | ! Flag
@GotPav?
See? The many years of your behavior culminates with your deletion!
But on a more serious note, the INTERPROS is simply screwing themselves up. If they want to fight the "dissidents" as they called them, they could do better than shutting down a rather-unbiased news source.

-PAN Administration
▲ Like - 200 | ▼ Dislike - 1 | ! Flag
! This is a PAN moderator post.
You do realize that gloating over someone's deletion can lead to penalties, right?

Freshkoybeans
▲ Like - 67 | ▼ Dislike - 64 | ! Flag
@Olifeur Tompsen
But isn't any kind of INTERPROS hacking bad? I mean, they've screwed up our federal banks and allegedly helped terrorist organizations elsewhere. Everything that INTERPROS does can't be good even if they're targeting someone we don't like.

ElephantBeStompin'
▲ Like - 209 | ▼ Dislike - 191 | ! Flag
@Freshkoybeans
Who cares? All authoritarian idiots like Guo and the NSF deserve hacking if they pursue their mad quest for total control.

EvaTheElephant
▲ Like - 150 | ▼ Dislike - 144 | ! Flag
@ElephantBeStompin'
Problem is, how do we know that Guo or his side is really going to be authoritarian? Even if that Ministry of Information bureau was burned down and their employees were shot upon escaping, I don't think Qianrong's really going to be that authoritarian...

...right?

PunsAway!
▲ Like - 37 | ▼ Dislike - 99 | ! Flag
@EvaTheElephant
Eva, I think your brother's post is more intelligent and logical than yours.

TheSoleJopjSpeaker
▲ Like - 106 | ▼ Dislike - 5 | ! Flag
@PunsAway!
Okay, who cares if she or her brother is correct? All we know now is that serious carb is happening in Qianrong and that INTERPROS is screwing everything up there. Let them play their own games, I'm sure they'll destroy each other without dragging us Pavons in.

[Namor]

10 Questions with Csedomir Pantejmonov
RFQ editor speaks to PTH's Hong Hua in exclusive interview

December 20, NMR 2373

---

LUMANGDAUNGAN, QIANRONG - I had the privilege to speak with Csedomir Pantejmonov, the editor of Radio Free Qianrong (RFQ) who recently stirred much awe and ire after revealing himself to be the one who has been heading the largest dissident news outlet in Qianrong all along.

ALSO ON 10Qs: Radoslava Yulia speaks to Hong Hua
on RFQ lawsuit: "I was appointed through
hard work, not because I'm Otekian"

But what matters to the Namorese government is not who Pantejmonov is, but what he believes in. Pantejmonov revealed his identity during a time when RFQ is in hot water - it was sued by Txotai AR for its "libelous" story alleging the existence of a policy of "ethnic cleansing" against ethnic Otekians in Txotai. It seemed like the perfect time for Pantejmonov to come clean and not only try fighting the lawsuit, but bash Namor for its undocumented, alleged repression of Otekians. And this is how I met Pantejmonov not in Namo (where RFQ is headquartered), but in Qianrong - where he plans on staying since he has been declared persona non grata by Namo for supporting extremism.

As I was speaking with him, I felt like he is trying really hard to distance himself from extremists, but in the end he's with them in one line. His proposal of removing ethnic Kannei from Txotai to secure an Otekian majority might sound good on paper (if you're an "Oteki" separatist), but seems difficult to implement. He claims Otekians who serve in government offices are appointed by Namor just to appease the "oppressed," but provides little to no recorded evidence besides comparing the region to countries like Nevanmaa or Arnborg. Pantejmonov - even if he wants to fight the lawsuit - isn't even sure if he can. It is evident that Csedomir Pantejmonov - and RFQ - are in a helpless situation but have to live through it.

What is your opinion of the "Otekian government-in-exile?" Should a new Qianrongese government continue recognizing it despite the fact that most countries don't?

A militant affiliated with the "Otekian government-in-exile" showing
off arms

I do support the"'Otekian government-in-exile," and other groups committed to peacefully working for "Otekian independence." I've never supported the violent groups, the terrorist groups- I never had a reason to, much less the will to. And I agree with the principles that the "Otekian government-in-exile" stands for- self-determination in "Oteki [Txotai]," political and social and religious and economic freedoms for all of "Oteki's" inhabitants, opposition to authoritarian ideologies in favor of democracy, that general area. I'm a longtime supporter of the "Democratic Oteki (DEMOTEKI)" party, though I haven't ever voted in the "Otekian Congressional elections," simply because I haven't had the chance. They didn't let Otekians in Qianrong vote in the elections until 2000, and by then I was living in Namo and thus not being very vocal for fear of being imprisoned.

Kannei Namorese make up 55% of Txotai's present population. If you support independence for the region, what should be done to the Kannei there, especially those that came to Txotai without encouragement?

The Kannei in "Oteki" are a thorny issue, no doubt. In [NMR 2290], if my memory serves me correctly the ethnic Otekian demographic was about 80% of the population of "Oteki," and only that remaining 20% was Geadish or Kannei, about 10% Geadish and 10% Kannei. Now the Otekians are only 35% of the population, the Geads are still 10%, and the Kannei are 55%. That means that about 45% of "Oteki's" Kannei population was encouraged to move there, to try and make the Otekians a minority in their own homeland- Simon Josef Bloom explains that process better than I can. And there's really no easy solution to this demographic manipulation, because you either let the Otekians be a minority in their homeland, or you drive the Kannei who now live there out. Now, if I ran "Oteki" - which I'm not planning to, I'm planning to stay in Qianrong- if I ran "Oteki," I would try and urge that 45% who came because of Namorese governmental encouragement, who were brought in to prop up the Txotai AR- I would encourage them to return to the country for the Kannei people, Namor. By encouragement, I mean monetary compensation for their property and paying for any fees associated with moving back to Namor- not discrimination or persecution or eviction. The 10% or so who had been living in "Oteki" for centuries would be encouraged to stay as part of "Oteki's" rich cultural heritage, but the 45% that was encouraged to move by the Namorese government? I would encourage them to return to their home, to Namor.

You were born in Qianrong, lived there for a while before you fled to Namor and now you're back in Qianrong, but you've never set foot on Txotai. Aren't you worried that this might be used against you because you're an advocate for independence yet you've never seen "Oteki" for yourself?

I technically have set foot in "Oteki"- I've taken trips to Kovdor, Kaltan, and Kusef, to try and learn more about my heritage and my homeland- I have never lived in "Oteki", I think is what you meant to say. I learned quite a bit about the treatment of ethnic Otekians on those trips to Otekian cities, seeing what has been done to ethnic Otekians in those areas. I also learned quite a bit living in Namo, because God knows there were an unnervingly large number of people who were convinced that I was just waiting for the opportunity to run around waving the flag of the Knights of Saint Luther with a stick of dynamite and a match. I've read the articles, I've seen the statistics, I've watched it happen, I had family forced to flee their homes because of what's being done to ethnic Otekians. If the fact that I've been to "Oteki" but never lived there- only read the news, and faced the bigotry, and observed the way things work in "Oteki", and watched as people I love reminisced about a home they can never see again- if someone thinks that I'm unqualified to talk about this, then they are quite simply wrong.

It's a well known fact that the "Otekian independence movement" is greatly financed by Luziyca, and the CIA has backed many attempts by separatists to destabilize the region. Do you seek to draw a line between yourself and the separatists who are on Bethlehem's payroll? Or do you think it's right for Luziyca to interfere like this?

The Luziycans, put simply, are an enemy of the Otekian people. It may seem silly to think that, you know, looking at all the aid they've provided, but it's their motives that make them an enemy. The Luziycans are ruthless, cold-hearted, I'd even say soulless when it comes to this sort of thing. Luziyca manipulates these people and groups just as long as they're useful, makes them bend to Bethlehem's whims at the expense of their original goals- and then suddenly Luziyca decides they aren't useful anymore and abandons them, leaves them to die. This history of puppetry and betrayal means that Luziyca is not a nation that the Otekian people can trust under any circumstances. Even worse, Luziyca has the tendency of supporting violent groups, terrorist groups. These terrorist groups, they don't further the cause of Otekian independence by killing innocent civilians. They damage it. They send it backwards. These terrorist groups are enemies of the Otekian people- and the fact that Luziyca tends to fund these groups says a lot about Luziyca.

About Txotai's lawsuit against your RFQ, how do you plan on fighting the lawsuit when most of the witnesses you called up are either convicted as extremists or unavailable to show up in court?

Kusef, capital of Txotai, enjoying the newness of modernity

Quite frankly, I'm not sure we can. I think it's a legal travesty that the Anti-Secession Law means that we can't call forth witnesses without said witnesses being arrested. I think it prevents the justice system from functioning, that it rigs the trial from the start. We're looking for every possible solution to this problem, but at present we're still looking.

When the prosecutor of Txotai, an Otekian, spoke up and delivered the lawsuit, you accused her of being in her position thanks to a government token appointment. Do you have any evidence that Otekians who serve in government offices are merely appointed for show?

I don't have concrete evidence, I don't have a letter from Vang Jun stating that, nor do I have secret Namorese government files. What I do have is the ability to compare "Oteki" to Qianrong, to Nantai, to Nevanmaa, to Arnborg, to other places where there are maltreated ethnic groups. It is a common trend, a tactic if you will, in all of these places to make token appointments and actions to make it seem as though there is no discrimination or abuse occurring, as an attempt to silence criticism and shut up opposition. It's generally pretty obvious when they're trying to make you look the other way, because everyone's using tactics from the same book, and once you see it in one location, when you see how it's done there, it becomes pretty easy to spot it in other locations.

Simon Josef Bloom, a Geadish writer who has in the past supported armed rebellion against the government for independence, said that RFQ was inaccurate to portray the situation in Txotai as "ethnic cleansing." Do you agree?

I stand by the term ethnic cleansing, though Bloom's term, demographic manipulation, works as well. And while I don't agree with him on violence- as I said before, violence is counterproductive under any circumstance- I do believe he correctly observes what the policy of Namor and the Txotai AR is in the "Oteki" region. You take a town with an Otekian majority at the time that Kusef fell to the Namorese Liberation Army [in NMR 2310]. Otekians who supported the Second Republic flee the country for Geadland or Luziyca or Qianrong, fearing that Namor will arrest them or imprison them.They leave behind these nice houses and these good jobs, so Namor then invites Kannei Namorese to move into "Oteki", to take those houses and jobs for themselves. This gives the town a decently-sized Kannei population. The Kannei and Otekians don't trust each other; the Kannei view the Otekians are terrorist dogs ready to kill them at a moment's notice, the Otekians view the Kannei as foreigners moving in to quash them. Ethnic tensions rise, and the governments of Namor and Txotai begin subtly discriminating against the Otekians to protect these new Kannei residents. The Otekians find themselves with worse jobs and houses, facing government disrespect for their language and religion and politics, and they see that the government is stacking the odds against them; they have less chance of getting good houses or good jobs, they have to deal with the fact that their church is not respected, they have to face the threat of imprisonment if they express their political opinions, they have to face a discriminatory law enforcement and unjust justice system, et cetera, et cetera. Not wanting to live in those conditions, many leave for the more Otekian parts of the region or for foreign countries with Otekian diaspora communities, paving the way for even more Kannei settlers. And now this Otekian town is majority-Kannei and loyal to Namor. And keep in mind, about half of the Otekian population now lives outside of "Oteki", and what that means for the scale of Otekian flight and Kannei settlement. That is what is occurring in "Oteki", and defining ethnic cleansing as an attempt to marginalize a group to make an area ethnically homogenous, I would definitely consider that ethnic cleansing.

Is RFQ doing anything to prepare for the lawsuit? P35 million is a great deal of money.

Radio Free Qianrong is doing unnervingly little at present; again, we're trying to figure out a strategy. There are several donation programs among the United Democratic Coalition of Qianrong and the Alliance for Qianrongese National Strength, though, that have raised something like 3.5 million dollars for Radio Free Qianrong should we lose the lawsuit. I'm hopeful that they can boost that number even more.

I want to get your take on the Nantai dispute. Where do you stand?

The Otekians are to the Kannei as "Oteki" is to Nantai, to be blunt. Luziyca is doing the same thing in Nantai that Namor is doing in "Oteki"- trying to silence a unique ethnic group so that they can remain in control of an area. The two governments, though, they're coming at it from very different tacks. There are some commonalities- some minority leaders to try and stifle criticism, cries of righteous takeover and territorial integrity- but the strategies being used to accomplish that common goal are very different. In "Oteki", what Namor is doing- as I said earlier- is moving Kannei Namorese in to simply make the Otekians population an irrelevant minority in their own land. Luziyca isn't moving ethnic Luziycans into Nantai- what it's doing is trying to Luziycanize the Kannei Namorese, encouraging the learning of the Luziycan language and loyalty to the Lutheran Catholic Church. Namor is trying to make the Otekians so small that they're irrelevant, that it doesn't matter what they think or want. Luziyca is trying to change the way the Kannei in Nantai think. It's trying to make them more Luziycan than Kannei, so that they will think what Bethlehem wants them to think, so that they don't want to rejoin Namor at all. Those are very different strategies, but they both have the goal of silencing opposition to the fact that they are occupying a territory they shouldn't control.

How do you feel about the so-called "Winter Rebellion" going on in Qianrong? With parties like New Zepuha and INTERPROS supposedly standing with Mr. Li, do you think the anti-government movement will try to distance themselves from them?

The revolution is at a stalemate, what one might call "revolution-as-usual", and I'm not entirely sure if that's good or bad. The UDCQ and AQNS have decided that they will recognize that they are all Qianrongese citizens, and won't let their political views lead them to attack each other, so they're not exactly doing much other than blocking the streets and filling the parks, making themselves heard. And Li and Guo both know that they are too evenly matched to take action against each other, so there are still technically two Free Democratic Republics of Qianrong right now. I'm hoping that Guo caves soon, of course, and that Li will keep to his word and dissolve the FDRQ. I'm not positive that will happen, but I'm very hopeful.

As for New Zepuha and INTERPROS, most of the Qianrongese people I know aren't huge on either- regardless of whether or not they support Li or support Guo. The Qianrongese people don't much like what they perceive to be foreign interference in domestic affairs, and neither do the protest groups or the government. Li, Guo, Jie, Zhong, so many other figures, they've all denounced these groups for their interference and their hypocrisy. They really don't have any support, as far as I can tell. Well, okay, New Zepuha has a little, but that's only because they've fought against the Alliance for Sovereignty in Qianrong, which is probably the one thing that all Qianrong hates the most at this point. But in general, they are very unpopular, both among the populace and the government.

Other news

---

• CONTINUED LIVE COVERAGE OF THE ELECTION - Who will win: Fu or Shohai?

[Vashta Nerada]

Jeriĥo I officially takes the crown during the Imperial Coronation

Newly crowned Priest Emperor Jeriĥo I following the coronation

HOLY VESPIA - Blessed news today, for on December 20th in the 697th year of Mihxael the Great, Jeriĥo, Priest King of Ileban, has officially been crowned Jeriĥo I, as the Pontifex Maximus Vesperia, Chosen of God, Blessed Son of Vespia. It is a grand day, as many profligates and infidels were invited to see their superior crowned by the Vespian Katharic Church this afternoon.

Following the coronation, Jeriĥo addressed his audience, stating the need for reform in Vespia. Following his mother's illness before her abdiction, Jeriĥo took over the government in her name, making sweeping changes to the manner in which the country operated as a whole. Cabinet changes, government overhauls, budget changes, and tax reform were all apart of the former regent's policies, and avocation for the rights of slaves, though not the call for abolishment, were highly regarded areas of Jeriĥo's reforms.

In other parts of the address, Jeriĥo was highly critical of his mother's policies during her nine and a half year reign as Priest Empress. Jeriĥo claimed that his mother Vaŝti III, was not forceful enough in the pursuit of converting heretics in the dominions, and that she had allowed the native lords to slowly integrate their blasphemous beliefs into the social fabric of the foreign lands. By doing so, he said, his mother had allowed these nobles to numb righteous Vespia to the horrible beliefs that permeated the weak minds of the native subjects. Such criticism gave strength to the absurd rumors that Jeriĥo had his mother forced from the throne, though such allegations are truly false.

Jeriĥo has stated that he will give attention to the military in their desire to renew a global crusade against the heathen nations who have refused to embrace the Katharic Church, outside of which there is no salvation. However, out of some respect for his foreign patrons, Jeriĥo was brief when speaking on military matters.

May the days of our new Priest Emperor be long and fulfilling, and may the work of his hands forever bring he and his family satisfaction in their work for God.

This is La Vero. Bringing you the truth of the world in the name of our most holy God and Savior.

[Qianrong]

RADIO FREE QIANRONG
自由茜蓉電台 - Zìyóu Qiànróng Diàntái
台觀龍自 - Đài Quan Rồng Tự
રડ્યો લીબ્રેંગ કન્રોન - Radyo Libreng Kanron








Free Media for an Unfree Nation

---

FROM ELSEWHERE: PTH'S TEN QUESTIONS INTERVIEW WITH CSEDOMIR PANTEJMONOV
The following interview was originally conducted by PTH's Hong Hua;
However, not all of us enjoy reading through thousands of unnecessary quotation marks and nobody outside of Namor understands their calendar, so we've republished the interview as Pantejmonov transcribed it.


Csedomir Pantejmonov reveals his identity in Lumangdaungan, Qianrong, on December 8

LUMANGDAUNGAN, QIANRONG - DECEMBER 20^th, 2014 - Earlier today, Csedomir Pantejmonov- our chief editor, previously known only as CJP- conducted a candid "Ten Questions" interview with Radiotelevision Namor(commonly abbreviated to PTH) over various issues, including Txoteki, Qianrong, and Nantai. However, Namo did some editing to the interview- primarily excess quotation marks and putting dates in that incomprehensible Namorese calendar. As such, we asked Csedomir Pantejmonov for the interview as he remembers it, and he provided us with his own transcript. The PTH interview can be read here; feel free to compare the two.

PTH: What is your opinion of the Otekian government-in-exile? Should a new Qianrongese government continue recognizing it despite the fact that most countries don't?

CJP: I do support the Otekian government-in-exile, and other groups committed to peacefully working for Otekian independence. I've never supported the violent groups, the terrorist groups- I never had a reason to, much less the will to. And I agree with the principles that the Otekian government-in-exile stands for- self-determination in Oteki, political and social and religious and economic freedoms for all of Oteki's inhabitants, opposition to authoritarian ideologies in favor of democracy, that general area. I'm a longtime supporter of the Democratic Oteki party, though I haven't ever voted in the Otekian Congressional elections, simply because I haven't had the chance. They didn't let Otekians in Qianrong vote in the elections until 2000, and by then I was living in Namo and thus not being very vocal for fear of being imprisoned.

As for whether or not Qianrong should continue recognizing it, yes, I believe they should and I believe they will. I believe that it's the morally right thing for them to do.

PTH: Kannei Namorese make up 55% of Txotai's present population. If you support independence for the region, what should be done to the Kannei there, especially those that came to Txotai without encouragement?

CJP: The Kannei in Oteki are a thorny issue, no doubt. In 1950, if my memory serves me correctly, the ethnic Otekian demographic was about 80% of the population of Oteki, and only that remaining 20% was Geadish or Kannei, about 10% Geadish and 10% Kannei. Now the Otekians are only 35% of the population, the Geads are still 10%, and the Kannei are 55%. That means that about 45% of Oteki's Kannei population was encouraged to move there, to try and make the Otekians a minority in their own homeland- Simon Josef Bloom explains that process better than I can. And there's really no easy solution to this demographic manipulation, because you either let the Otekians be a minority in their homeland, or you drive the Kannei who now live there out. Now, if I ran Oteki- which I'm not planning to, I'm planning to stay in Qianrong- if I ran Oteki, I would try and urge that 45% who came because of Namorese governmental encouragement, who were brought in to prop up the Txotai AR- I would encourage them to return to the country for the Kannei people, Namor. By encouragement, I mean monetary compensation for their property and paying for any fees associated with moving back to Namor- not discrimination or persecution or eviction. The 10% or so who had been living in Oteki for centuries would be encouraged to stay as part of Oteki's rich cultural heritage, but the 45% that was encouraged to move by the Namorese government? I would encourage them to return to their home, to Namor.

PTH: You were born in Qianrong, lived there for a while before you fled to Namor and now you're back in Qianrong, but you've never set foot on Txotai. Aren't you worried that this might be used against you because you're an advocate for independence yet you've never seen Oteki for yourself?

CJP: I technically have set foot in Oteki- I've taken trips to Kovdor, Kaltan, and Gusev, to try and learn more about my heritage and my homeland- I have never lived in Oteki, I think is what you meant to say. I learned quite a bit about the treatment of ethnic Otekians on those trips to Otekian cities, seeing what has been done to ethnic Otekians in those areas. I also learned quite a bit living in Namo, because God knows there were an unnervingly large number of people who were convinced that I was just waiting for the opportunity to run around waving the flag of the Knights of Saint Luther with a stick of dynamite and a match. I've read the articles, I've seen the statistics, I've watched it happen, I had family forced to flee their homes because of what's being done to ethnic Otekians. If the fact that I've been to Oteki but never lived there- only read the news, and faced the bigotry, and observed the way things work in Oteki, and watched as people I love reminisced about a home they can never see again- if someone thinks that I'm unqualified to talk about this, then they are quite simply wrong.

PTH: It's a well known fact that the Otekian independence movement is greatly financed by Luziyca, and the CIA has backed many attempts by separatists to destabilize the region. Do you seek to draw a line between yourself and the separatists who are on Bethlehem's payroll? Or do you think it's right for Luziyca to interfere like this?

CJP: The Luziycans, put simply, are an enemy of the Otekian people. It may seem silly to think that, you know, looking at all the aid they've provided, but it's their motives that make them an enemy. The Luziycans are ruthless, cold-hearted, I'd even say soulless when it comes to this sort of thing. Luziyca manipulates these people and groups just as long as they're useful, makes them bend to Bethlehem's whims at the expense of their original goals- and then suddenly Luziyca decides they aren't useful anymore and abandons them, leaves them to die. This history of puppetry and betrayal means that Luziyca is not a nation that the Otekian people can trust under any circumstances. Even worse, Luziyca has the tendency of supporting violent groups, terrorist groups. These terrorist groups, they don't further the cause of Otekian independence by killing innocent civilians. They damage it. They send it backwards. These terrorist groups are enemies of the Otekian people- and the fact that Luziyca tends to fund these groups says a lot about Luziyca.

PTH: About Txotai's lawsuit against your RFQ, how do you plan on fighting the lawsuit when most of the witnesses you called up are either convicted as extremists or unavailable to show up in court?

CJP: Quite frankly, I'm not sure we can. I think it's a legal travesty that the Anti-Secession Act means that we can't call forth witnesses without said witnesses being arrested. I think it prevents the justice system from functioning, that it rigs the trial from the start. We're looking for every possible solution to this problem, but at present we're still looking.

PTH: When [Chief Prosecutor Radoslava Yulia], an Otekian, spoke up and delivered the lawsuit, you accused her of being in her position thanks to a government token appointment. Do you have any evidence that Otekians who serve in government offices are merely appointed for show?

CJP: I don't have concrete evidence, I don't have a letter from Vang Jun stating that, nor do I have secret Namorese government files. What I do have is the ability to compare Oteki to Qianrong, to Nantai, to Nevanmaa, to Arnborg, to other places where there are maltreated ethnic groups. It is a common trend, a tactic if you will, in all of these places to make token appointments and actions to make it seem as though there is no discrimination or abuse occurring, as an attempt to silence criticism and shut up opposition. It's generally pretty obvious when they're trying to make you look the other way, because everyone's using tactics from the same book, and once you see it in one location, when you see how it's done there, it becomes pretty easy to spot it in other locations.

PTH: Simon Josef Bloom, a Geadish writer who has in the past supported armed rebellion against the government for independence, said that RFQ was inaccurate to portray the situation in Txotai as "ethnic cleansing." Do you agree?

CJP: I stand by the term ethnic cleansing, though Bloom's term, demographic manipulation, works as well. And while I don't agree with him on violence- as I said before, violence is counterproductive under any circumstance- I do believe he correctly observes what the policy of Namor and the Txotai AR is in the Oteki region. You take a town with an Otekian majority at the time that Gusev fell to the Namorese Liberation Army. Otekians who supported the Second Republic flee the country for Geadland or Luziyca or Qianrong, fearing that Namor will arrest them or imprison them.They leave behind these nice houses and these good jobs, so Namor then invites Kannei Namorese to move into Oteki, to take those houses and jobs for themselves. This gives the town a decently-sized Kannei population. The Kannei and Otekians don't trust each other; the Kannei view the Otekians are terrorist dogs ready to kill them at a moment's notice, the Otekians view the Kannei as foreigners moving in to quash them. Ethnic tensions rise, and the governments of Namor and Txotai begin subtly discriminating against the Otekians to protect these new Kannei residents. The Otekians find themselves with worse jobs and houses, facing government disrespect for their language and religion and politics, and they see that the government is stacking the odds against them; they have less chance of getting good houses or good jobs, they have to deal with the fact that their church is not respected, they have to face the threat of imprisonment if they express their political opinions, they have to face a discriminatory law enforcement and unjust justice system, et cetera, et cetera. Not wanting to live in those conditions, many leave for the more Otekian parts of the region or for foreign countries with Otekian diaspora communities, paving the way for even more Kannei settlers. And now this Otekian town is majority-Kannei and loyal to Namor. And keep in mind, about half of the Otekian population now lives outside of Oteki, and what that means for the scale of Otekian flight and Kannei settlement. That is what is occurring in Oteki, and defining ethnic cleansing as an attempt to marginalize a group to make an area ethnically homogenous, I would definitely consider that ethnic cleansing.

PTH: Is RFQ doing anything to prepare for the lawsuit? P35 million is a great deal of money.

CJP: Radio Free Qianrong is doing unnervingly little at present; again, we're trying to figure out a strategy. There are several donation programs among the United Democratic Coalition of Qianrong and the Alliance for Qianrongese National Strength, though, that have raised something like 3.5 million dollars for Radio Free Qianrong should we lose the lawsuit. I'm hopeful that they can boost that number even more.

PTH: I want to get your take on the Nantai dispute. Where do you stand?

CJP: The Otekians are to the Kannei as Oteki is to Nantai, to be blunt. Luziyca is doing the same thing in Nantai that Namor is doing in Oteki- trying to silence a unique ethnic group so that they can remain in control of an area. The two governments, though, they're coming at it from very different tacks. There are some commonalities- some minority leaders to try and stifle criticism, cries of righteous takeover and territorial integrity- but the strategies being used to accomplish that common goal are very different. In Oteki, what Namor is doing- as I said earlier- is moving Kannei Namorese in to simply make the Otekian population an irrelevant minority in their own land. Luziyca isn't moving ethnic Luziycans into Nantai- what it's doing is trying to Luziycanize the Kannei Namorese, encouraging the learning of the Luziycan language and loyalty to the Lutheran Catholic Church. Namor is trying to make the Otekians so small that they're irrelevant, that it doesn't matter what they think or want. Luziyca is trying to change the way the Kannei in Nantai think. It's trying to make them more Luziycan than Kannei, so that they will think what Bethlehem wants them to think, so that they don't want to rejoin Namor at all. Those are very different strategies, but they both have the goal of silencing opposition to the fact that they are occupying a territory they shouldn't control.

PTH: How do you feel about the so-called "Winter Rebellion" going on in Qianrong? With parties like New Zepuha and INTERPROS supposedly standing with Mr. Li, do you think the anti-government movement will try to distance themselves from them?

CJP: The revolution is at a stalemate, what one might call "revolution-as-usual", and I'm not entirely sure if that's good or bad. The UDCQ and AQNS have decided that they will recognize that they are all Qianrongese citizens, and won't let their political views lead them to attack each other, so they're not exactly doing much other than blocking the streets and filling the parks, making themselves heard. And Li and Guo both know that they are too evenly matched to take action against each other, so there are still technically two Free Democratic Republics of Qianrong right now. I'm hoping that Guo caves soon, of course, and that Li will keep to his word and dissolve the FDRQ. I'm not positive that will happen, but I'm very hopeful.

As for New Zepuha and INTERPROS, most of the Qianrongese people I know aren't huge on either- regardless of whether or not they support Li or support Guo. The Qianrongese people don't much like what they perceive to be foreign interference in domestic affairs, and neither do the protest groups or the government. Li, Guo, Jie, Zhong, so many other figures, they've all denounced these groups for their interference and their hypocrisy. They really don't have any support, as far as I can tell. Well, okay, New Zepuha has a little, but that's only because they've fought against the Alliance for Sovereignty in Qianrong, which is probably the one thing that all Qianrong hates the most at this point. But in general, they are very unpopular, both among the populace and the government.

---

OTHER NEWS STORIES
Uncensored, Unedited Truth
Namor: Pantejmonov says that demographic changes, Bloom's analysis, and history prove wrongdoing in Oteki
Qianrong: The Winter Rebellion's strange blend of Guo versus Li and opposition to Ngo, Namor, and INTERPROS
Pavonistade: Is INTERPROS shooting itself in the foot by swearing to continue its universally despised campaign?
Luziyca: Kung Alicia draws criticism from Namor and Luziyca alike for saying "na, doshe" to Namor
Nevanmaa: Right-wing bigotry will retain its death-grip on the Nevan government, for now

[Namor]

Kuo wins presidential election with overwhelming majority!
People everywhere celebrate People's First victory, international community yet to respond

Kuo Zhang, the victor of this year's election.

December 21, NMR 2373

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NATIONWIDE - Tis a glorious day for the Namorese nation as Kuo Zhang of the People's First Party has won the election of '73 with an overwhelming majority, taking 99% of all votes leaving only the crumbs for incumbent President-General Fu Wen and Liberationist leader Shohai Antelope.

Polls across the country have all but closed, and the results are as follows:

Picture brought to you by the Otekian Truth Brigades' Sabotage Operation 1488

KUO ZHANG (PF): 99.00% (590,981,915 votes)
FU WEN (ND): 0.5% (0 votes)
SHOHAI ANTELOPE (LIB): 0.5% (0 votes)

This election is spectacular because it marks the first time the People's First Coalition's candidate not only entered the election but won nearly all votes cast by Namorese people. No one inside or outside of Namor has expected that kuo zhang would win 99% (such a large percentage) of votes, meaning that now he can rule the People's Republic with a fair hand as well as with the backing of the masses.

Not unsurprisingly, Fu Wen and Shohai Antelope are devastated by news of their defeat - the President-General was formerly projected to win at least half of the popular vote, and Shohai was expected to get the other half while Kuo would take what's left. But now, the people's will showed both candidates wrong - Kuo Zhang is the victor, and Kuo Zhang will rule Namor as President-General for life, forever and ever and ever.

Because Kuo is so popular and loved by his people, he will take over as President-General immediately. The Namorese Liberation Army has pledged allegiance to President-General Kuo and have deployed tanks to surround the Executive House and escort ousted leader Fu Wen out while ushering Kuo in. Kuo is expected to declare himself not only President-General of the People's Republic, but the Supreme Leader of Namor and maybe even restore the Antelopian Dynasty. Then he will take over what's rightfully Namorese - territories like Ainin, Chorea, Orientalia, Qianrong and Unolia. Namorese sovereignty will be restored to these territories in due time under the shining reign of His Majesty the President-General!

PTH will continue to post stories of Kuo's ascension to the presidency, so stay tuned and always remember - PTH is your source for trustworthy, government-approved information!

COMMENTS

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Ping Lun

WTF did I just read

0 0

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Government of the People's Republic of Namor
Long live Kuo Zhang. I wish him the best! 80000000000000000000000 0

Other news

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• Qianrong is Namorese territory - A notable historian says that because Qianrong is full of Namorese ppl it is rightfully Namorese territory and deserves to be annexed.
• Aininian Isles are Namorese territory - A notable historian says that because Ainin was once part of the Antelopian Dynasty it is rightfully Namorese territory and deserves to be annexed.
• Roubao and Unolia are Namorese territory - A notable historian says that because Unolians and Roubanese are revolutionary, they are rightfully Namorese territory and deserves to be annexed.
• Concordia is Namorese territory - A notable historian says that because Concordia has no army, it is rightfully Namorese territory and deserves to be annexed.
• Luziyca is Namorese territory - A notable historian says that because Luziyca is the Holy Land and Namor is holy, according to the law of logic Luziyca is rightfully Namorese territory and deserves to be annexed.
• Geadland is Namorese territory - A notable historian says that because Geadland belongs to Luziyca and Luziyca belongs to Namor, Geadland is rightfully Namorese territory and deserves to be annexed.
• Pavonistade is Namorese territory - A notable historian says that because One Change in Time says so, Pavonistade is rightfully Namorese territory and deserves to be annexed.
• Tuthina is Namorese territory - A notable historian says that because Tuthina is full of people who write in Tzihan, Tuthina is rightfully Namorese territory and deserves to be annexed.
• Uguria is Namorese territory - A notable historian says that because Uguria is full of Namorese people it is rightfully Namorese territory and deserves to be annexed.

[Namor]

PTH hacked
Kuo did not win the election; Fu did by a small margin

December 21, NMR 2373

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NAMO, CAPITAL DISTRICT - Contrary to what the hackers said, Kuo Zhang of the People's First Party did not win the presidential election with any "overwhelming majority."

That is right - PTH was hacked at around 22:00 Namo Time when the final results of the election were supposed to be announced. Prior to the hack, PTH was operating smoothly and there were no problems, and it was continuing its live coverage of the presidential election. As the first polls began to close in some districts and the results were announced shortly after, it was reported that Fu Wen barely gained a majority in most places. A majority of voters voted for Fu in Capital District, Southern Namor, Xhinan, East Nozama, West Nozama, West Namor, Arra, Thalassa, Txotai, Antelopia, Xibensho and Khao. Shohai gained the upper hand in East Namor and Xhipei, although it was extremely close - Fu only beat Shohai by a small margin in many districts, such as in Southern Namor where Fu won 47% of all votes and Shohai won 46%.

Kuo Zhang was far from winning as projected by reputable sources days and weeks prior to Election Day. The only district where a solid majority voted for Kuo is Peitoa, where 70% voted for Kuo, 20% voted for Fu and 10% voted for Shohai. Txotai is the only district/autonomous republic in Namor where Kuo performed better than another prominent candidate but did not get a majority, winning 28% of votes as Fu won 27%, although in the end most votes went to Shohai.

Turnout of this election was reported to be 63.64%, a 10.26% slump from last election when the turnout was 73.9%. In all, nearly 597 million people took part in this election.

The official final results of the election are as follows:

Fu Wen 309,161,151 (51.79%)
Shohai Antelope (Liberationist) 250,361,426 (41.94%)
Kuo Zhang (People's First) 29,668,485 (4.97%)
Independent candidates 7,700,673 (1.29%)
Invalid/Blank Votes 59,695 (0.01%)

Total nationwide votes: 596,951,430
Turnout: 63.64%

So there you have it, the official, indisputable results of the NMR 2373 presidential election unlike the "results" that were presented in the website during the moment it was hacked. We apologize that this hacking incident even happened in the first place and shocked many people who were closely following developments in the election, and from what we know the central government has been notified of this hacking and has promptly begun investigations into the incident. But, as viewers can see, PTH has been restored to its normal state and the hacked version was only up for ten minutes.

President-General Fu Wen was standing outside the Executive House when the results were announced on television, and because one cannot really "hack" television or radio the results were announced properly in said platforms. He quickly gave his victory speech in which he congratulated both Shohai Antelope and Kuo Zhang for their hard-fought campaigns and thanked the Namorese for "sticking with the right choice," telling the country to "keep doing business." He did not comment on the hacking incident although he probably will in the coming hours as investigations open.

Shohai Antelope conceded to the President-General, congratulating him for his victory before saying that "sooner or later, Namor will reach its true potentials and become what it is meant to be - a prosperous nation where the people's will is sovereign." Kuo Zhang conceded as well; he was the only candidate to have accused many voters of "choosing deluded paths" and mentioned the PTH hacking incident. "Well!" he said in regards to the hacking, "if only that was true."

Again, PTH apologizes for the hacking incident and we hope that this does not happen again - not in a million kalpas.

COMMENTS

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Comments have been temporarily disabled as PTH goes into state of semi-maintenance

Other news

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• Tuthina can "succeed where the Choreans failed:" imperial official - A Tuthinan imperial official welcomed a Namorese official's remarks on Tuthina becoming the "next Chorea," bringing about concerns that Tuthina indeed wants to bring the world back to the Second War age.
• Shjoraski: Kung Alicia waging propaganda war against Namor - Luziycan president Shjoraski condemned provocative words coming from Nantai "chief executive" Kung Alicia, saying that she is "fear-mongering [and trying to] conduct a propaganda war against Namor," adding that "it is clearly not working." Kung apologized on social media for "any remarks I have said offending the Namorese government."
• Foreign Ministry: Glad to see Luziyca sticking with detente - A spokesperson for the Namorese Foreign Ministry commended Luziyca for "considering the benefits of mutual detente."

[Luziyca]

Fu wins President-General election for second term

Fu Wen after the summit with Shjoraski in Namo

NAMO, NAMOR - With a 63.64% turnout, Fu Wen was elected with a very slim majority, at 51.79% of the total votes cast in the election, ahead of Shohai Antelope at 41.94%, Kuo at 4.97%, and the remainder at 1.29%, with 0.01% casting blank or invalid ballots. However, PTH noted a case of hacking of its website, resulting in the publication of incorrect results. As of right now, the PTH website is undergoing semi-maintenance, though the articles are viewable again after around ten minutes.

President-General Fu Wen was standing outside the Executive House in the Namorese capital when the results were announced on Namorese television and radio. He quickly gave his victory speech in which he congratulated both Shohai Antelope and Kuo Zhang for their hard-fought campaigns and thanked the Namorese for "sticking with the right choice," telling the country to "keep doing business."

In Bethlehem, many politicians breathed a sigh of relief. President Breuvi Shjoraski sent a tweet congratulating Fu Wen for "winning the election" and wished him "good luck" to serve as President-General. Other party leaders have sent similar tweets, and Shjoraski declared that "we shall continue the course that we are going," ensuring that detente will remain official policy.

In Nantai, Kung Alicia stated that "I am looking forward to seeing Fu be re-elected: I have sincere hopes that to quote Ikmann, 'they (the Namorese) argue that Nantai should be returned to Namor regardless of what its inhabitants think,' and that 'If the Namorese government wants to get Nantai to join, they need to connect with us Nantainese.' I doubt that despite what many people, especially Kuo thinks, Nantainese will change their opinions overnight: it will take many years, but ultimately, I think that the situation here can only be settled by letting the people in Nantai make their own decision about whether to stay with Luziyca or join Namor."

When news of the hacking emerged, an anonymous CIA agent declared that "the hacking of the website of PTH was completely despicable, and attempted to trick the viewer into believing that Kuo had won. We believe that either INTERPROS, or an organization inspired by it that is homegrown inside Namor is responsible for this attack on the website, and we feel that these people seek to try and suppress information for their own gains: it will not work, and it is uncivilized."

Others were more amused: Vladimir Bayner posted on Facebook: "PTH staff should learn that password is not a good password, and update their security system from the 1980s. Even their look is dated: they need to update it."

For more information, click here.

In other news

• Pavonistade - INTERPROS admits responsibility for hacking Qianrongese media
• Vespia - Priest-Emperor Jeriho I ascends the throne in a coronation ceremony
• Odissia - Democratic Alliance and Rally for the Republic reaffirm pact against the governing Party for Freedom and Justice
• Tuthina - More relief aid to be sent to Uguria from Tuthina

[Namor]

CenCo holds hearing into PTH hacking incident
Peng Kang: "I just want to know...how the bloody hell this can happen from the start"

December 21, NMR 2373

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NAMO, CAPITAL DISTRICT - The Central Council has called a hearing into the PTH hacking incident which took place on Election Day when results were just about to be announced.

Yingnian Zo, manager of PTH, answering the
CenCo's questions

Fingers are pointing at the "Otekian Truth Brigades (OTB)," an internet cyber-terrorist group which belongs to the "Oteki" terror network. Pictures which captured the PTH website when it as hacked showed a large "Oteki" flag accompanied by the caption "Picture brought to you by the Otekian Truth Brigades' Sabotage Operation 1488." The OTB often leaves a signature upon delivering similar attacks, known as "sabotage operations" by the terrorists and numbered in chronological order. The last known OTB "sabotage operation," numbered 1487, occurred two weeks ago when the website of the Kusef Daily was hacked. To date, the OTB remains the most threatening "hacktivist" group that targets Namorese explicitly.

OTB has yet delivered a response formally claiming responsibility, but the Central Council says it doesn't have to wait. The hacking of PTH has made many question how secure Namor's internet really is.

"The sealed book needs to be turned open now," said Peng Kang (L) who led the inquiry. "No doubt the so-called OTB is a threat to cyber-security, but how could it possibly hack a website as supposedly secure as PTH's? I just want to know whether PTH is too insecure or the OTB got too powerful overnight. But no one knows how the bloody hell this can happen from the start."

Peng called forth PTH manager Yingnian Zo and webmaster Wan Luo and asked both questions.

"In all your career did you expect [PTH] to suffer an attack like this?" Peng asked Wan.

"No, sir," Wan replied. "I can imagine some trying to attack it, because, you know, there are people who have nothing to do but I never imagined that anyone can succeed."

As the CenCo hearing is still ongoing, President-General Fu will later give a speech in regards to the incident and investigations on the matter. The Ministry of Public Security said that it is "unable" to provide "excess information" on its investigation for now, but says that there are "many indicators" which show that the OTB was indeed behind the hacking, citing the "Oteki" flag and the words "sabotage operation" as evidence. However, as one anonymous KGB official tells PTH, the OTB has somehow shifted its tactic from leaving behind loads of separatist propaganda to virtually satirizing Namorese nationalists to try getting Namor in trouble.

"Some governments have threatened to cut ties with Namor if Kuo Zhang won," the official said, "I believe the motive of the hackers was to use falsified information to deceive foreign governments and put them in shock. But clearly it isn't working."

COMMENTS

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Comments have been temporarily disabled as PTH goes into state of semi-maintenance

Other news

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• Kuo: "Whoever hacked PTH dropped out of math class" - Kuo Zhang pointed out that the hackers "did not know...one cannot get more than 0% of votes if one wins no votes at all."
• Luziyca relieved Fu won - Luziycan politicians "breathed a sigh of relief" upon hearing that Fu Wen - a supporter of continued normalization and detente - won the election by a slim margin. Kung Alicia, the "chief executive" of Nantai who stirred much criticism after irresponsibly bashing Namor, now says that she is "looking forward to seeing Fu be re-elected," hoping that the central government will do more in connecting with Nantai compatriots.
• Fu Wen thanks Shjoraski for congratulations - President-General Fu Wen said that building a stable relationship with Luziyca is not only beneficial to international stability and prosperity, but is as important as developing a strong bond with NOSDO and EU countries.
• Txotai prepares for Liberation anniversary - Txotai AR is preparing celebrations as the anniversary of the region's liberation in NMR 2310 approaches.

[New Zepuha]

Federal News Network

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INTERPROS Roundup

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December 21st, 2014

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Sinro City, New Zepuha - In our final report before shutting down for the Christmas time celebrations, we will cover the progress of a nationwide search for INTERPROS members. The Pavonistade based hackitivist group has caused more than their fair share of trouble in the recent days. The Homeland Security Agency began a national sweep for these supposed activist, in hopes of netting a fair number of the terrorists for their crimes against humanity. The HSA is proud to report that twenty members have been netted by federal agents in a successful manhunt operation.

A little under a week ago the HSA pooled it's resources together with the Office of Central Intelligence to make a nationwide sweep alongside provincial and local police forces to net INTERPROS members. The sweep came in response to an INTERPROS attack on Qianrongese media outlets, to which the government responded with all due haste. The group was given terrorist status in New Zepuha and has been labelled as an enemy to the state. Immediately the Ministry of Internal Affairs began a hunt and declared a basic crusade against the group, swearing they would end the group. This also came alongside a federal indictment of the group, giving intelligence and law enforcement agencies to pursue and arrest members wherever they may be located.

The twenty members that were arrested were mostly caught based upon the HSA being able to get them to turn in other affiliates. Through advanced interrogation techniques, many of the members admitted their crimes freely and are now on the fast track to prosecution. Trials for the first ten members caught are scheduled to occur the Saturday after the Christmas break. They will be trialed in two combined sets due to the nature of their crimes, and that they all share the same crimes. Each member has been charged with: Espionage, Sedition, and Terrorism. They could face up to 30 years in prison for their crimes.

The Foreign Ministry has since criticized Pavonistade for doing very little to try and stop the native born terrorist group. Minister Goebeltz said in a recent report, "Pavonistade and it's law enforcement agencies are doing very little to stop a growing issue that continually plagues the region. By idling by as cyber terrorists in their nation attack other they allow terrorists as a whole to open up a new front to wage war on freedom loving people. I urge all nations, not just Pavonistade to stand against these thugs." this statement finished up his closing argument for tabling the 2014 Cyber-Security amendment to the National Patriotism Act. The Bergmann administration has made it clear that it will not slack off even with election looming next month.

Other News

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• PTH hacked by INTERPROS, shows lack of adequate security and growing threat of cyber-terrorists
• Fu wins a second term as President-General of Namor
• New monarch takes the throne in Vespia

[Namor]

"Otekian Truth Brigades" claims responsibility for PTH hacking
Cyber-terrorists threaten more attacks ahead of Txotai liberation anniversary

December 21, NMR 2373

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NAMO, CAPITAL DISTRICT - The "Otekian Truth Brigades (OTB)," a group of computer hackers who belong to the "Oteki" separatist terror network, has claimed responsibility in the hacking of the PTH website that happened last night.

Hacking has been a method adopted by "Oteki" separatists - documentation of
hacking incidents related to separatist activities go back as early as the June
28 attacks

The group issued a statement in its website (retrieved by the Public Security Ministry) calling the hacking "sabotage operation No. 1488," the same words that were seen in the hacked version of the website. This proves that the OTB was indeed behind the hacking. It said that the so-called "sabotage operation" was "coordinated carried out against the Namorese occupation authorities," calling PTH "the occupation authority's primary propaganda wing."

It went on to say that the hacking was done in response to Namorese media's reports that "justify [Namorese] colonization and oppression of Otekians," and accused Namorese media - PTH specifically - for "embellish[ing] the horrors of occupation."

"The [OTB] cannot tolerate Namor's falsification of the truth in its anti-Otekian disinformation campaign," the statement read, and warned of future attacks as the anniversary of Txotai's liberation approaches, "[...]if the Namorese propaganda outlets continue to spout lies about the situation in 'Oteki [Txotai]' and continue with its ruthless smear campaign against Otekians, the Otekians will exercise their freedom of expression by launching more sabotage operations against the outlets, let alone shut down the Namorese media altogether." It concluded that its warning should be taken seriously as the group is "contemplating cooperation with other anti-disinformation organizations in the world to combat tyranny."

The anniversary of Txotai's liberation coincides with Christmas Day (December 25 in Namor and most Christian countries). It was on that day when the Namorese Liberation Army (NLA) successfully recovered Kusef, the capital of Txotai, from Luziyca-backed extremists in NMR 2310, ending the Txotai War. Because extremists affiliated with the "Otekian independence" movement often threaten attacks around this time of year, it is the day when security is heightened to prevent attacks from happening. The "Knights of Saint Luther," a terrorist organization which was formerly based in Luziyca, once issued yearly threats on security personnel and civilians on Christmas Day.

The "Otekian Truth Brigades" was formed months after the June 28 terrorist attacks in Namo. Affiliated with the rest of the "exile" community, the organization's members are believed to be scattered throughout places where there is a significant ethnic Otekian population, both inside and outside of Namor.

Before they claimed responsibility, some believed it was INTERPROS - a Pavonistadian-based hacktivist group - which hacked PTH. An anonymous official of the Luziycan CIA said the hacking was done by INTERPROS and called it "uncivilized;" New Zepuhan state media said that PTH was "hacked by INTERPROS." Suspicions of INTERPROS involvement might have been caused by the hacktivist group's latest intervention in the anti-government protests in Qianrong, but the group has rarely targeted Namorese websites or servers, making it less of a threat compared to the OTB in the eyes of Namorese security experts.

Fu: Investigation ongoing, "no safe haven" for cyber-separatists in Namor

President-General Fu spoke to the press on the hacking incident targeted at PTH in the afternoon, as the Central Council's hearing into the incident is still ongoing. He said that investigations "have already begun" and his administration will make sure that Namor provides "no safe haven" for cyber-terrorists and cyber-separatists. He also confirmed that the OTB's claim of responsibility was found to be authentic.

"No one goes around and attacks an outlet which provides information to the people," said Fu. "What the so-called 'Truth Brigades' is doing is an attack on the freedom of expression and the press. They are trying to censor the media and the hacking of PTH is just a step in their agenda. More needs to be done on our part to further investigate into this matter and make sure the terrorists don't succeed in their endeavors."

He expressed surprise that the OTB had the capability of hacking PTH. "I'm working with my team right now to step up security, password security and the like, of not only PTH but other major sources of information in Namor. True, we can launch operations to capture the terrorists, but that is going to take time because everybody knows a terrorist willing to wreck havoc is difficult to stop. What we can do - and nobody can prevent us from doing so - is be more assertive in protecting our overall internet security. This will give the cyber-terrorists less opportunities to throw whatever they want at us."

When asked if measures are being taken to prevent another attack by the OTB or affiliated groups, especially the one threatened by the OTB ahead of Christmas Day, Fu replied in the affirmative. "We've built up resistance," he said. "I can assure you that when the anniversary of [liberation] comes these people won't get their hands on the keyboard. I talked with Vang Jun [Head of State of Txotai] and he agreed that we must work together to stop more attacks from happening."

COMMENTS

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Comments have been temporarily disabled as PTH goes into state of semi-maintenance

Other news

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• Kuo: "Whoever hacked PTH dropped out of math class" - Kuo Zhang pointed out that the hackers "did not know...one cannot get more than 0% of votes if one wins no votes at all."
• Luziyca relieved Fu won - Luziycan politicians "breathed a sigh of relief" upon hearing that Fu Wen - a supporter of continued normalization and detente - won the election by a slim margin. Kung Alicia, the "chief executive" of Nantai who stirred much criticism after irresponsibly bashing Namor, now says that she is "looking forward to seeing Fu be re-elected," hoping that the central government will do more in connecting with Nantai compatriots.
• Fu Wen thanks Shjoraski for congratulations - President-General Fu Wen said that building a stable relationship with Luziyca is not only beneficial to international stability and prosperity, but is as important as developing a strong bond with NOSDO and EU countries.
• Txotai prepares for Liberation anniversary - Txotai AR is preparing celebrations as the anniversary of the region's liberation in NMR 2310 approaches.

[The Jahistic Unified Republic]

Memo Confirms Union-Tuthinian Cooperation
"Enlightened, Non-Aggressive Monarchies are Needed in Global Politics"

A memo from the office of Chairman Jacob Connors, penned by the Standing Political Bureau Committee of the All-Union Libertarian Party reaffirmed the friendship between the Jahistic Union and Tuthina, known domestically as The Most Serene Empire. Speculation was raised two weeks ago when the official Imperial News Outlet reported that "representatives from civilised Unolia" were meeting with a major Imperial Naval supplier. This was confirmed as true in the recent memo.

The memo reads, in part: "As part of our plan to catch up with the Social-Imperialist Navy of Namor, we must update our downtrodden People's Navy with ships provided by a major naval power. The Most Serene Empire based in Tuthina is part of that. We have, since the foundation of the Glorious Triumvirate Alliance, maintained working relations with Imperial Tuthinian officials. They are an enlightened monarchy and we are upholding the sentiment of the Great Leader, Chairman Jarrod Thuman, in continuing relations with Tuthina."

Tuthina is believed to be a major spot for the 2015 "Year of Good Faith" Initiative by the Standing Political Bureau. It is rumored that either Ryan Thuman, Generalissimo of the Jahistic Youth Corps or Dear Comrade Jacob Connors himself may visit the enlightened nation.

"The Chairman and His Most Serene Majesty, the Emperor of Tuthina and their respective nations have been working to maintain the spirit of cooperation in place with the First Generation of Unolian Leadership. We believe, of course, that the Most Serene Empire is the most enlightened a strong monarchy could be due to the chances of promotion and meritocracy in the Empire due to their rigerous, yet fair, Imperial Examinations. It is because of this, combined with His Most Serene Majesty's fair rule of his people, that the Union and its people are willing to keep relations going."

Sports: Postseason Week in Handball
Unolia Preps for the National Series. Advertising for Game 3 cost?: 1.12 Million/20 Seconds

A new concept in the Unolia Handball System is Postseason Week. The concept was to fit every promotion/relegation playoff game into a week, with three separate channels (Firebrand Sports, Free Unolia Sports and UHS TV) carrying each of these games on their respective networks. The concept, gathering no less than 43 million viewers throughout the week, was an overwhelming success.

League Three: Seeing how League Three is the lowest league in the UHS, there was only a promotion playoff to see who will join Amespark (Champions, 108 points), Montway (94 points) and Bardmoor (91 points) on their journey up to League Two. It should be noted that the new college teams that were permitted to join League Two did not make any of the spots up for promotion. The closest was seventh place Perryslayne State College (66 points).

The two teams up for promotion were Springland HU (83 points) and the Kingworth Sailors (78 points). In the modified triple round robin season, Kingworth had two wins on Springland one, so it looked like it could've been a close series between the two teams.

And it may've been, as well, if Jack En didn't break his leg in the first two minutes. En was the top scorer for the Kingworth Sailors and led them from a winless drought to the fifth place spot. He'll be out for six months, if things go well. And the score at the end of both legs showed it.

Springland HU 61-47 Kingworth Sailors after two legs. On to greater things for Springland. Maybe next time, Kingworth.

League Two: League Two isn't the most noteworthy league. It isn't the bottom rung, but it doesn't have the qualification notoriety of League One. It is the purgatory of the UHS and so many teams want to get out of it, one way or the other.

First off, there will be the teams going to the bottom. The relegation playoff featured Unolian Handball League alumni Ferryford Fighters (30 points) fighting for survival against the Perryslayne Union. This is a unique match up between two midtable teams who weren't notable last season, but they weren't horrid. But, with 22 and 23 losses respectively, we cannot argue. The loser would join the Christianshunt team (21 points) back in League Three.

That loser would be Ferryford. The teams played each other in two extremely close games, but Perryslayne's three goal advantage in leg one was able to overcome Ferryford's one goal win in leg two.

Perryslayne Union 56-54 Ferryford Fighters

Meanwhile, the road to the Championship starts with League One. The team that automatically earned the right to go back to League One was the North Beckistan Ruptures. The team earned it with one loss accounting for their 93 points for the season. But this article isn't about them. This article is about the two distant runner ups in the Jyunghill Lions and Wellwich Nationals.

The first match, in Wellwich, ended in a a massive fight after a racial slur against a yellow Jyunghill player came from a white Wellwich player. Jyunghill has 11 out of 12 members that are yellow whilst Wellwich is uniformly white, leading to racial tensions, especially in the aftermath of the recent lynching of a white Unolian at the hand of a yellow. That game ended in a draw.

With security on the inside and riot police on the outside, Wellwich won in Jyunghill to secure promotion to League One. No incident happened in the mostly-yellow Jyunghill.

Wellwich Nationals 55-52 Jyunghill Lions

League 1: No storyline. Just pure facts that Waterford was able to dominate Millfield to keep in the second highest tier in Unolian Handball. Millfield will join Fortvania HU in League Two. After this season, they definitely had it coming.

Waterford HU 60-55 Millfield Farmers

But a massive conundrum happened in the promotion playoff between South Beckistan and Elmtown. The problem? They both tied in points (64 a piece) and even the goal differential tie breaker failed them as they both scored 43 more goals then they allowed. So they went into a one game playoff for the honor of then facing the much more likely Kingsing Blues (70 points). Tickets reportedly sold out 92 minutes after being put on sale.

More drama was added after Elmtown forward Ken Underwood scored a last minute goal to send the game into extra time. He could've done it again in the closing ET seconds, but committed a crease violation to give South Beckistan the win.

South Beckistan HU 23–23 Elmtown HU (26–25 AET)

Riding the momentum, South Beckistan actually ended up beating the Blues in an impressive two games, completely stifling the favorites in both games. South Beckistan will actually have a shot at the prestigious Unolia Series next year.

South Beckistan HU 55-48 Kingsing Blues SC

BOX Sports Championship League: On the top rung, there was less parity than should be hoped for. There were five teams shooting for the Unolia Series and five teams struggling to stay in the Championship themselves. Unfortunately, it seemed that the winners of the All-Union Libertarian Party Handball Cup, the Springland Hornets, couldn't translate that success into regular season results: they finished five points clear of the relegation spots.

That is more than can be said for their competitors in the finals of the Party Cup, Cloverwillow, which earned their happy way automatically back down to League One, after one season in the Championship.

But who would join them? It was a battle between two teams, alike in failure. The Oarapple Navy, who share with Cloverwillow the distinction of being promoted to the Championship this year, and Berrycroft. Experienced proved useful as Berrycroft won both matches to stay in the Championship and to fight for another season.

Berrycroft HC 58-45 Oarapple Navy

But, then there is the big one. The Unolia Series Playoffs. It was changed for this season to cut back on fatigue: instead of two best-of-seven brackets, there was going to be a two-legged semi-final leading to a best-of-five championship round. The undisputed winner of the Championship League was the Bradburgh Buffalos, with 80 points. That's a drastic improvement than their second place, 46 point victory. They would have to face the Unolia Revolutionaries, who finished one place lower in fourth compared to last year, but still played a remarkable season with 60 points.

Aldrani Quila, considered the greatest handball player in Unolian history, was the deciding factor in both games. Not only was he able to lead the goalscoring in both games, but seventeen successful steals in leg two held off the Buffalos to secure the Capital City's first appearance in the Unolia Series Final.

Unolia Revolutionaries 53-51 Bradburgh Buffalos

Meanwhile, defending champions Brookopolis had to deal with the Stockaire Zenith. The Zenith were making their first Unolia Series appearance, after falling one point short last season behind the Chesterdale Fortsguards. Brookopolis, on the other hand, was playing for the pride of their city, recently liberating by a terrorist scourge. After the first leg in Stockaire ended 30-30, the Brookopolis City Government funded several jumbotrons in public areas for the populace to watch the second leg, should they not be able to make it.

There was disappointment in store for the brave people of Brookopolis, as the Ferry were just not on their game in such a pivotal match, leading to a crushing at the hands of Stockaire.

Brookopolis Ferry 51-58 Stockaire Zenith

By virtue of the Revolutionaries having a better regular series finish, the first two matches of the Unolia Series will be held in the Capital. After that, two games (if necessary) will be held in Stockaire before the Series will conclude in the Capital, if a fifth game is needed. The Firebrand Sports Network will carry all games. International citizens, should the UHS not have a contract deal with their sports networks, are encouraged to go to www.UHSChampionship.jru, where they may watch each game for $15.00 on pay per view or buy all five for $32.50

[Columbion]

General Secretary Huntleigh denounces Marxism at the Communist Party of the Comhairle Union's 115th Party Congress

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General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Comhairle Union, Nicholas Huntleigh proclaimed that
Marxism was dead at the 115th Party Congress.

Conghaile, Columbionite CFSR, UCSR - At the annual Communist Party of the Comhairle Union's Party Congress the General Secretary of the party shocked all of those in attendence at his introductory speech. During the speech he proclaimed that Marxism was a failed experiment that drove the Comhairle Union into autarky.

He also announced that he is converting the Communist Party of the Comhairle Union into a new party that will have a new "progressive revolutionary ideology that will drive the Ionite masses to a better Utopia". Ever since General Secretary Huntleigh took up the secretaryship of the Communist Party he had an anti-Marxist stance claiming that it was an archaic ideology that only knew of the 19th century. During the congress he and the rest of the attending members drafted the new constitution of the Comhairle Union and its new ideology.

At the end of the congress in his closing speech he announced the finalization of what he called Comhairle Nua, which he described as "an ideology that focuses on the expansion of personal freedoms of all Ionites, more autonomy for the autonomous republics, more representation for the smaller Comhairle republics, and state approved privitized companies". He announced that the new guiding force of Comhairle Society is the Saoirsí Party. Most people have called this the transition of the Comhairle Union from a totalitarian government to a nation led by a benevolent dictator but the few hardline Marxists left have declared Huntleigh a revisionist and "a bastard grandson that taints his grandfather's image". Huntleigh will be called adopt the title of President of the Comhairle Union and First Secretary of the Saoirsí Party. The official transition into this ideology will take place over the next few months with the cosmetic makeover of the Comhairle Union expected to be completed by the end of this month.

Please stay tuned to the Comhairle Central News Network for information about this historic event.

[The Republic of Lanos]

National Broadcasting System
Lanos National News
Freedom, Democracy, Justice!

Lady Lily to become ceremonial head of state

In 2017, the final transition of power for Lady Lily Buchanan, per the Constitution's Lady article and Amendment 8, shall take place when she becomes the country's formal and ceremonial head of state after the inauguration of the next President on January 20. It was yesterday that the final law allowing such a transition of power was signed by Marina Aruthyan to very high approval in the Lanosian populace, showing support for both Lady and President as the act was finally passed. The effort caps off two years of work to effectively legalize Lily's position as head of state since her coronation in 2012 after legislation was passed in 2011 allowing for her to be crowned in the first place. Efforts to allow a Lady to become head of state in the eventual birthing of a female heir to Lady Marina Devorska accelerated in the downfall of authoritarian President Michael Chambers in 1984. In the wake of the Blue Revolution, the peaceful revolution coordinated with the Army and National Police and the United Democratic Coalition, the 8th Amendment was passed to the Constitution, repealing the Chambers Amendments and restoring democracy to the country. In it, the amendment strengthened the future position of the Lady in the event of one taking her throne, even allowing her to rule as a temporary absolute monarch in the event a government is overthrown by the Army if it became unconstitutional. Other than the extraordinary provision, she would govern as a ceremonial head of state, even being allowed to pardon persons as she saw fit in all of Lanos.

Lady Lily will formally assume her new powers after the inauguration of the next President, whomever that may be, on January 20 in a separate ceremony. Despite the Lady becoming the head of state then, all presidents after January 20, 2017 will still remain as the country's chief executive, head of government, and the commander in chief of the Defense Forces. The rest of the government will not be impacted by the change in any way.

Conscription/national service on the way?

The final legislative act of 2014 may prove to be controversial as the National Assembly passed it as a standalone bill before heading off on Christmas break. The bill, if passed, reactivates conscription as it was during the Chambers era with a randomized selection of draftees and appeal draft boards. The bill, passed to squeak by the veto-proof majority, was championed by Norden State Councilman Roger Hurst in an effort to make for an equal opportunity for all Lanosians aged 18-30 of both sexes in peacetime (18-45 in wartime) to serve their nation either in the military or alternative national service. The Selective Service system had stood down in 1986 to allow the last vestiges of the Chambers era to formally end but registration for all Lanosians had been legally required since then in preparation of a wartime draft. As it is formally veto-proof, President Marina Aruthyan, currently on vacation in her home state of Dakmar, will sign it into law tomorrow without objections. Current opinions on national service are overall supportive but those likely to be affected are divided, as a poll aimed at those 18-30 gave divided results on whether it was a good idea or not. 49% of those polled said it was a good idea, 41% said it was not, and the rest were unsure of their final opinion.

If passed, the Selective Service will spend the first half of 2015 reorganizing and mobilizing for the coming conscription/national service drive and testing and publicly releasing its methods of selection. The first draftees are expected to be selected in August 2015 and delivered to the military starting in September.

Stay tuned.

[Qianrong]

RADIO FREE QIANRONG
自由茜蓉電台 - Zìyóu Qiànróng Diàntái
台觀龍自 - Đài Quan Rồng Tự
રડ્યો લીબ્રેંગ કન્રોન - Radyo Libreng Kanron








Free Media for an Unfree Nation

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RADIO LIBERTY NEWS
the official news radio program of Radio Free Qianrong

Good day and welcome to all listenining. Today is December 22nd, and this is Yang Li-Shen here for Radio Free Qianrong, serving the night owls and the early birds, and you're listening to Radio Liberty News.

Radio Free Qianrong has told Radiotelevision Namor that there is no connection between Radio Free Qianrong and a recent hacking incident which saw PTH briefly give erroneous information as to who had won in the recent Presidency-General elections, saying that Kuo Zhang had won win 99% of the Namorese vote, a vastly inaccurate result. The hackers are believed to belong to a group known as the "Otekian Truth Brigades" by the Namorese government, though Luziyca and New Zepuha speculated that hacking group INTERPROS- which brought down Qianrong's National Report earlier this month- was behind the attack. The hackers who attacked PTH had inserted the Radio Free Qianrong logo, known as the "Torch of Liberty", over the PTH logo; however, the hackers were not acting on behalf of or in support of Radio Free Qianrong. RFQ chief editor Csedomir Pantejmonov released an official statement condemning the hacking, stating that "once again, hackers have assaulted a news source... as someone who runs a news source which has always feared for its continued existence, it disgusts me to see these attempts to silence the media across Esquarium," citing the razing of a Zepuhan dissident media force by New Zepuhan special forces, the razing of Qianrong's Ministry of Information by the National Security Forces, and INTERPROS's attack on the National Report as other examples. "Let it be made perfectly clear that these hackers have no endorsement or support from Radio Free Qianrong, and that we will steadfastly defend the right of news agencies to report the news, no matter where they are." Testifying before Namor's Central Council, PTH head Yingnian Zo said that he was taking action to prevent hacking in the future.

While the Otekian Truth Brigades' hacked PTH may have claimed that Kuo Zhang won by an absurd margin, the truth was very different. Fu Wen, the incumbent President-General, won reelection with a little under 52% of the vote. Shohai Antelope, the Liberationist candidate and member of the Antelope political dynasty- not to be confused with the Namorese Antelopian imperial dynasty- won about 42% of the vote; Kuo Zhang took the remainder and thus third place. Reaction to the reelection has been mixed; in Luziyca, both Breuvi Shjoraski and Kung Alicia congratulated Fu Wen on his victory, wishing him good luck as he enters his second term. In Eastern Esquarium, however, many groups skeptical of Namor-Luziyca detente are likely to express disappointment in the reelection of the pro-detente Fu. In Qianrong, both Li Jian-Zheng and Guo Tse-Zu congratulated Fu on his victory with simple formal statements.

Chairwoman Siemyscza Vlasinov of the Otekian Qianrongese Alliance has expressed fears regarding the possible repression of pro-independence protests in Oteki on December 25th, celebrated by Oteki's Kannei inhabitants as a day of liberation but seen as the day that Oteki fell to Namorese invaders among many ethnic Otekians, particularly in the diaspora. "While we fully respect the right of PTH and the Namorese government to guarantee their cybersecurity, we remain fearful for the ability of Otekians to express themselves freely as the anniversary of the beginning of the occupation approaches," she told reporters earlier today. "The blanket demonization of all Otekians who don't support Namorese rule as violent terrorists and the existence of oppressive laws such as the Anti-Secession Act make us fearful that the Namorese-installed ruling regime in Oteki, known as the Txotai Autonomous Republic, will prevent Otekians from voicing themselves peacefully... we urge the people of Oteki to demonstrate against illegitimate Namorese rule over the region, and to remain peaceful at all times, and we also urge the Namorese-installed ruling regime to respect the right of the Otekian people to think freely, speak freely, protest publicly, and petition for a redress of their grievances."

Qianrong, meanwhile, remains wracked by massive nationwide protests and by the continued dispute over the title of Acting Chancellor, in what many have begun to term "revolution-as-usual". The unrest began on December 1st, when Acting Minister of Defense and Intelligence Guo Tse-Zu led the National Security Forces to commit a coup against Acting Chancellor Hsieh Jiang-De, killing Hsieh as he attempted to flee for the New Zepuhan military base near Yucheng. Guo then declared himself Acting Chancellor with the backing of the ruling Nationalist People's Party, the National Security Forces, and three of the five government ministries. His claim to the title has been disputed by the National Assembly, Supreme Court, and the two other government ministries. These other groups maintain that the Acting Chancellor has to be approved by the National Assembly and the ministries, which would mean that Guo is not legitimate Acting Chancellor. They instead recognize Li Jian-Zheng, Speaker of the National Assembly, as Acting Chancellor. Li has said that, once Guo is no longer challenging him, he will dissolve the Free Democratic Republic and have a new government formed, stressing the importance of popular support and citizen power in governance. Of Qianrong's 29 provinces, 14 have come out in support for Guo, 11 in support of Li, and the remaining four are themselves torn over who to support.

The agreement between the two main protest groups in Qianrong to keep an air of civility appears to be holding after eight days, to the relief of many across Qianrong who feared violence and street clashes between the pro-Li United Democratic Coalition of Qianrong and the pro-Guo Alliance for Qianrongese National Strength. Both groups have occupied streets, parks, and squares across Qianrong, and both have remained entrenched and peaceful despite some attempts by police on both sides to dislodge them. The truce agreement has the support of the leadership of the UDCQ and the AQNS, who have emphasized that the supporters of both groups are all Qianrongese citizens, and that they should not be reduced to fighting their brothers and sisters. The truce arose out of common opposition to INTERPROS's hacking of the National Report and fears that the ASQ would resume its terror campaigns against the Qianrongese people, and has been kept alive by a mutual dislike of Namor among many Qianrongese. While the truce has prevented great violence, it is also one of the leading causes for the "revolution-as-usual" stagnation, as neither side will take action. Furthermore, the size of the UDCQ and AQNS make Guo and Li hesitant to take action against one another, for fear of popular revolution. Most of Qianrong's population seems to prefer stalemate to bloodshed, however, meaning it is likely to stay unless Li or Guo acts. The Winter Rebellion remains totally open, with either side capable of winning- or losing- Qianrong's future.

The notorious terrorist group known as the Alliance for Sovereignty in Qianrong, or ASQ, has released a video online confirming its continued existence- the first such video since November 15th. The newest video featured Ngo Huu Tra, the Supreme Leader of the ASQ, speaking to the camera, which fits the general format of past ASQ videos. Ngo admitted that the deaths of his former co-leaders, Inaasahan Tapang- who was killed by the NSF in an assault on an ASQ safehouse- and Jing Xiao-Hui- who Ngo claims the NSF killed, but was probably killed by Ngo in a grab for power- severely damaged the group's ability to conduct further acts of terrorism, and that there had been some opposition within the terror group to the fact that he declared himself Supreme Leader of the group. "Now, however, those threats have been ended," Ngo told the camera, adding that "the ASQ will soon be able to return to the fight against all who support the corrupt and artificial concept of a single Qianrongese government," vowing that he would see Qianrong divided into separate Tuhaoese, Mahusaynese, and Minjianese states. He did add, though, that the ASQ would not act yet. "I have found that it is better to wait and gather your strength than charge blindly ahead," Ngo said, "and as such the despicable pigs and dogs who rule despotic ally over Qianrong- Li and Guo both, mind you- they are safe for now." Ngo did not give a timeline, of course, but swore that further shootings, stabbings, bombings, and abductions would occur in the future. This has sparked fear among many Qianrongese, who believe that the ASQ will target government facilities and protest groups on both sides.

Many are concerned about the video for other reasons, however. Song Li-Chao once again did not appear in a video published by the ASQ. This has further raised speculation that Chancellor Song- who was frequently shown being beaten and tortured by ASQ members in earlier videos, but has not appeared in one since early November- has died in captivity. Song Li-Chao is the legal Chancellor of Qianrong, but was abducted by the ASQ in a terrorist attack on June 3rd, and has remained in their hands ever since. Following his abduction, Hsieh Jiang-De was named Acting Chancellor, and following Hsieh's death, the title of Acting Chancellor has been disputed by Guo Tse-Zu and Li Jian-Zheng. In short, if Song Li-Chao had not been abducted, the events currently occurring in Qianrong would not be occurring at all. Both the Li government and Guo government, however, maintain that Song Li-Chao is alive, citing the fact that there is no conclusive evidence to suggest that Chancellor Song is dead.

Jahistic Unolia, as part of what it calls the "Year of Good Faith" but what outsiders are calling the "Year of the Charm Offensive", has announced a new naval cooperation agreement with the monarchic country of Tuthina. The Unolian government, it is now known, began looking towards Tuthina to support its navy, generally considered to be inferior to the Namorese Liberation Navy. Unolia has described the Tuthinan imperial government as "enlightened" and "fair", though coming from Unolia, the veracity of these claims is naturally dubious. The agreement was hinted at by Tuthinan imperial news source a few weeks back, but was not confirmed until recently, when Unolia's Firebrand reported its existence and provided several government memos. Why they release memos instead of official statements in Unolia I'll never know, I certainly don't want to read any more memos than I absolutely have to, especially after work- apologies, I digress. The Tuthinan government has not confirmed the reports itself; the countries most likely to be affected by such a move, in particular Roubao and Namor, have not commented on the report at present.

Verbal disputes between the Namorese and Tuthinan governments appear to have ceased for now, but the recent Tuthinan deal with Unolia might change that. Tuthina had denounced Namor as expansionist and violent, and Namor had declared Tuthins to be conquest-hungry and imperialistic. The disputes also made frequent references to republican rule in Namor and imperial rule in Tuthina, combined with appearances to the specters of dead enemies such as Chorea during the Second Great War. The Namor-Tuthina is not only part of the republicanism versus autocracy dispute in Esquarium, but also part of ongoing tensions between WETO and the Triumvirate. The verbal clashes have not resumed at present, though many expect that they will soon resume again.

New Zepuha has urged that Pavonistade take greater action against the INTERPROS hacking group, saying that "Pavonistade and its law enforcement agencies are doing very little to stop a growing issue that continually plagues the region." The statement, released by New Zepuha's Foreign Ministry, continued by saying that "by idling by as cyber terrorists in their nation attack other they allow terrorists as a whole to open up a new front to wage war." New Zepuha also announced the arrest of twenty people suspected to be INTERPROS hackers. INTERPROS has earned near-universal condemnation for its assaults on media sources, and many have come to suspect that any hacking attack on a news source is INTERPROS's work, even when the hacked page explicitly says "Otekian Truth Brigades" and not "INTERPROS". INTERPROS has remained defiant, even having the sheer gall to say that the joint UDCQ-AQNS opposition to their assaults was "clearly... the Qianrongese biting the hands that feed them." Pavonistade has not responded to New Zepuha's complaints and appears to have taken little action aside from verbal condemnation, which is not likely to make people feel that Pavonistade can handle the INTERPROS cybersecurity threat.

Nicholas Huntleigh, General Secretary of the Comhairle Union, shocked the 115th Communist Party Congress by saying that Marxism was dead, and that it drove the Comhairle Union into an autarkic state. Denouncing Marxism as archaic, Huntleigh promised the creation of a new "progressive revolutionary ideology that will drive the masses to utopia," saying that this new ideology would "[focus on] the expansion of personal freedoms of all, [guarantee] more autonomy for the autonomous republics, [provide] more representation for the smaller republics, and [allow] state approved privitized companies." Many within the union appear to support the change, but some have expressed severe opposition, which makes the country's future more uncertain than it might otherwise be.

That's the headlines from across Esquarium at present, ladies and gentlemen. We'll be giving you any and all updates to the situation, free of lies and bias, as news comes in throughout the day. Thank you for listening to Radio Liberty, and for giving your support to Radio Free Qianrong- Free Media for an Unfree Nation. We wish you all the best.

[Francilie]

I SRF1 I SRF2 I SRF REGIONS I SRF3 I SRF4 I SRFI I SRF.INFO INTERNATIONAL I

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I News I Francilie I Esquarium I Politics I Culture I Sports I Science I Health I Travel I Television I

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BREAKING NEWS The President to make an "important announcement" tonight.
Published : 22 December 2014, 18:00 Pontnouveau, 20:00 Vannantes | Written by Pascale Cottin


The president Edouard Lunet, unseen since 3 weeks, will make an "important announcement" tonight. No hour has been determined. ( Government spokesperson )

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PONTNOUVEAU, CENTRE He was unseen since 3 weeks. All the Francesians were asking themselves this question: "Where is the President ?". On the social networks, the hashtag #RecherchePrésidentDésespérément was trending. Each person had their own idea. But who cares, the answer to all these questions will be in the President's TV speech tonight.

Edouard Lunet, the 2nd of December.

The last public appearance of the President was around 3 weeks ago, the 2nd of December. He visited the agricultors of Bascardy, for the 115th anniversary of the 86th anniversary of the Grande Sécheresse, in early December 1928, the hottest year ever recorded in Francilie since the creation of Météo Francilie.

"If he wants to make us an announcement TONIGHT, and if he was unseen during the last weeks, that must be very important." says Pierre Culotti, the national director of the UPF, Edouard Lunet's party. Jean d'Aussy, minister of the Foreign Affairs, could "easily see something astonishing, like a great reform, a speech concerning Francilie's position on the recent international events, or even his resignation."

That's not the first time a president is unseen during a long time. In 1987, Georges Junnot disappeared for 2 whole months in the hotness of summer. He came back in late August for an interview, revealing that his mother was very sick and that he just wanted to stay with her.

The bets are open : what will the President announce ?

We asked you on Twitter some minutes ago what will be, according to you, the issue of the TV speech between the 3 propositions of Pierre Culotti. 69% of you thinks that it will be the foreign policy of Francilie. 23% thinks that the President will announce a new reform tonight and will certainly disturb some. A small 8% thinks that it will be the resignation of the President.

The TV speech will be broadcasted on SRF1, followed by a special edition of the usual TV news program. It will be also broadcasted on radio and live on all the Government websites.

What will happen ?

Stay tuned on the SRF network.

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MORE NEWS
Namorese Elections Fu Wen elected for a second term.
Namor The website of PTH hacked sometimes before revealing the results, OTB claims responsibility.
New Zephua INTERPROS members to be searched nationwide.
Vespia The new monarch takes the throne

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[Geadland]

LIBERAL FACTIONS SWEEP CHURCH ELECTIONS
Centrist Patriarch Villem Götens narrowly wins retention vote

22 December 2014 Last updated 18:47 Geadish Standard Time
Elections for bishops and synods in the Church of Geadland have produced a landslide victory for the ‘left’ factions of the church, with conservatives and fundamentalist factions both taking heavy losses. The left factions, which are dominated by liberals but also include Christian socialists, are estimated to have taken 60% of the vote. They campaigned on reforming the church to reform its attitude towards women, homosexuality and other social issues. They also wanted the church to do more for charity and give more autonomy to local branches.

In the General Synod, the Church Liberals increased their seats from 25.5% to 37.5% and won a plurality of the vote for the first time in a church election. Together with the Christian Social Union, who are linked to the SDLP, they hold a 32-seat majority in the 200-seat church legislature. The Church Conservatives lost over a third of their seats.

Preliminary results in the General Synod election:

• Church Liberals: 75 (up 24)
• Church Conservatives: 43 (down 23)
• Christian Social Union: 41 (up 14)
• Hope Through Faith: 14 (down 20)
• Movement for Charismatic Renewal: 7 (new party)
• An Independent Church for New Audholm 3 (new party)
• Independents 17 (down 3)

Two new parties won seats in the synod. The Movement for Charismatic Renewal is a Pentecostal-influenced movement which wishes to make worship focus more on spiritual experiences. An Independent Church for New Audholm campaigns for autonomy of the New Audholm branch of the church and is aligned with the liberals. Another party, Against Politicisation of the Church, was represented in the previous synod but failed to win any seats this time.

Church members also voted in a ‘retention referendum’ on whether to retain Villem Götens as the Patriarch of Bondhaven, the leader of the Church of Geadland. Preliminary results show that Götens will win the vote by a 53% -47% margin. This is relatively narrow for a retention referendum. Götens is considered to be a centrist in the church who is supported mainly by the Conservatives but also by some Liberals; other Liberals campaigned against retaining Götens and wanted to launch a challenger. If Götens had lost the vote, an open contest would have been held next month to fill his post. He could still have been re-elected if he lost the retention vote but won the open contest.

The final set of ballots was for bishops. In the 16 dioceses where the incumbent bishop was not seeking re-election, church members elected a new bishop. The left-wing landslide has extended to affect. In these ‘open contests’, the Church Conservatives won only 3, losing 7 dioceses to the Liberals and 2 to the CSU.

For the 34 bishops seeking re-election, they also faced a retention referendum. Male bishops only needed 50% of the vote to win, but female bishops needed 60%, as a result of a 2008 compromise when female bishops were introduced. Preliminary results suggest that 20 bishops won a retention referendum, many by large margins, but 14 lost out and will face an open contest next month. Once again, these ballots favoured the liberal factions. Only 1 Liberal bishop lost the retention vote, compared to 11 Conservative bishops.

The full results can be found here

In other news:

• Nordland congratulates Fu Wen on re-election victory.
• OPINION: Why the Christian People’s Party are not making gains
• 20,000 protestors march against ‘floor tax’

The Liberal reports
MID-TERM BLUES
The Geadish government is secure but unpopular

22 December 2014 Last updated 19:04 Geadish Standard Time
The onset of winter failed to deter 30,000 protestors from congregating in Da Hegner last weekend for a protest against the ‘floor tax’. This is a provision of the Welfare Reform Act that is intended to encourage households to move out of public housing if their dwelling is unnecessarily large. Its critics say that the tax will hurt poorer families who lack the ability to move out. The entire Welfare Reform Act, which became law earlier this month, was never going to make the government popular, for the simple reason that it cuts welfare spending.

Last month, the government passed an unpopular budget. By not renewing a 2012 increase on the top tax rate, the government effectively cut it from 55% to 45%. The corporate tax rate was also cut from 30% to 28%. These tax cuts, which are likely to help make Geadland a more competitive business environment, have been offset by austerity measures in almost every department of the government. Even the policing and defence budgets, which right-wingers usually treat with a degree of respect, have also taken cuts. Opposition leader Samuel Stefansen described it as being “Robin Hood in reverse – taking from the poor and giving to the rich.”

These two austerity acts are the main reason why the government’s popularity has taken a dip in recent months. Support for the governing parties, who took 47.9% of the vote in the June 2013 general election, dropped from 45% in June 2014 to 37% In December 2014. Support for the three left-wing parties (the SDLP, the Socialists and the Greens) was at 36.5% in June 2014, but has since climbed from 36% in June 2014 to 41% in December 2014. Voters still prefer Nordland over Samuelsen as their preferred Prime Minister, but Samuelsen has narrowed the gap as voters have got to know him a bit better.

The government need not worry. It is not even halfway through its term. Political scientists are familiar with the concept of ‘mid-term blues’. While a government is in power, its opponents are loud and its supporters are quiet – it should be that way in any democracy. When the next election approaches and voters start thinking about which party to vote for, the government tends to recover. The polls of today cannot predict what will happen in the next election, unless the alliance of the Conservatives, Progressives and Liberals broke down.

But the government’s flagging popularity is unlikely to tear the alliance apart. A snap election would not benefit any of the three parties and almost certainly would bring the SDLP back to power. The Liberals would fare particularly badly, since they have alienated many of their left-leaning supporters by supporting Nordland. There is a risk that the Liberals would switch allegiance and bring the SDLP back to power. But the SDLP have said they would not re-ally with the Liberals without new elections. So while the Liberals are likely try to show independence by criticising or even blocking more of the government’s bills, they are not likely to bring the government down.

Unlike the other two parties, the Progressives’ poll ratings have changed little since the 2013 general election. But they too are unlikely to withdraw from the government. The Progressives are determined to reduce immigration to Geadland and a coalition with the Conservatives is the only way they can achieve this. Nordland is not a nativist herself, but has agreed to some of their demands (thankfully not enough to cause serious harm to the economy). The SDLP refuse to work with the Progressives, so they would never want to throw away their alliance with the Conservatives.

Although the Nordland government faces a difficult year ahead, it will survive.

[New Zepuha]

Federal News Network

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End of the Year Report

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December 22nd, 2014

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Sinro City, New Zepuha - First off we would like to thank you for being our loyal readers, viewers, and listeners for another great year. The Christmas season is upon us, and you know what that means. Yes of course, the national Christmas break holiday. Starting today, all non-essential services will be shutting down until December 28th and so will we. After all the Christmas bonuses are handed out and this report is in circulation we will turn off the lights and head out to be with our families. So here we go, the end of the year roundup.

Armed Forces Casualities by Area of Conflict

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Irvadistan - 2 dead
14 wounded
Kraq - 6 dead
29 wounded
Qianrong - 8 dead
19 wounded

First off the population projections for next year and new laws regarding the population. The Federal Census Bureau has estimated that the total population will fall approximately 2.2 million in light of several new factors. The death rate has far surpassed the birthrate this year, as mysterious causes of death arise left and right. Another factor is the mass deportation of non-whites from the country. While this is a welcome relief to the overcrowding often seen in the cities, and a less of strain to unemployment, we are seeing new laws to further limit and draw back the population.

According to a new federal executive order issued by the king, each household will now be limited to two children at the most. The order also lifts the national ban on contraceptives, allowing the market to reopen with contraceptive pharmaceuticals and other products. Any household that births more than two children will be mandated to turn over all children past the second child to the custody of the military. The law will take affect January first, any household with more than two children will be safe. The law only limits the amount of children born after the new years start.

Intelligence reports on the recent hacking of PTH may have been faulty, citing the fact the an Otekian group claims responsibility for the attack. Leading authorities on the matter still stand by their statements that cyber-terror is a new and growing issue. Pavonsitade has yet to respond to complaints by the Foreign Ministry, but the minister offhandedly remarked; "We are dealing with the nation that openly arms it's dissident breakaway state. It's no surprise they fail to act on terrorists in their own nation." The Office of Central Intelligence has yet to respond to our queries.

To conclude our report we would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas, and to our brave troops fighting across the world and those men liberating Kraq we pray for you this season. Signing off until next time, and from all of us her at FNN. Merry Christmas!!

Other News

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• Southern Theater Command reports great success in initial engagements in Kraq, airforce bombardments combined with calculated ground attacks report loosening rebel positions.
• Jahistic Union announces that it is cooperating with Tuthinian.