CNBC 24H News - Military officials prepare for a post-election Cabinet Defense Review in 2011

[Confederal Republics]

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SOUTHPORT-ON-SEA - Republicans heckle CoN debate and vote in Parliament

The Commonwealth Parliament today voted in approval of a resolution to apply for membership in the Council of Nations in spite of stern opposition on behalf of dissenters in the Commonwealth Party and the opposition Republican and Christian parties. The vote was originally scheduled to take place on Friday, but was postponed until Monday due to repeated heckling by Republican Members of Parliament, which eventually got to go forward after an intervention by Commonwealth MPs.

Republican hecklers interrupted speeches by other parliamentaries, while well-known filibuster Lawrence Anderton (Rep.) interrupted the Friday session in Parliament with a four-hour filibuster speech. The Commonwealth Party headquarters criticized the Republicans for their attempts to block the vote and threatened to withdraw from the existing "gentleman's agreement" between major parties preventing deliberate filibustering in Parliamentary debate.

The proposal passed only by a slim majority after a number of Commonwealth MPs joined the ranks of the opposition in objection to the CoN proposal. The opposition itself was divided over the proposal with only the Red-Greens in full support of the membership, with the Labour Party divided and with the Republican and Christian parties in opposition of Council of Nations membership. The Commonwealth Party Parliamentary whip, Gregory Ashmore MP. announced his intention to take action against the dissenting Commonwealth Parliamentaries.

Cabinet Chancellor Joanne Wainwright (Com.), whose tenure as the Cabinet Chancellor has been marked by her stern support towards membership in the Council of Nations, described decision to seek membership in the Council of Nations as a "landmark vote that will help our nation secure its interests in the Scanian region and contribute by promoting our values in the field of international politics".

Opposition members in the Republican Party together with individual parliamentaries from other groups and a number of civil groups announced plans to stage a demonstration against Cornavian membership in the Council of Nations on Wednesday, decrying the ruling Commonwealth Party for what they described as an offense against Cornavian sovereignity and independence.

News in Brief
Farpoint - Officers of the Farpoint Canton Constabulary announce six arrests, confiscation of weapons and explosives in a case concerning a cell of proscribed separatist group Nordisk Frihet
Greater Bolton - Arlington Entertainment to begin the construction of a planned four-star skiing hotel and entertainment complex in Greater Bolton despite of environmentalist protests
Whitehaven - First Minister of Eastern March Canton Alexander Simmons (Com.) bestowed the Promotion of Enterprise Award by the Cornavian Chamber of Commerce
Southport-on-Sea - The year's first Commonwealth Premier derby between Southport Billmen and F.C Southport expected to draw in large crowds on Wednesday

 

[Confederal Republics]

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SOUTHPORT-ON-SEA - Breckenridge to stand down from Commonwealth Party chairmanship in anticipation of retirement

Commonwealth President Charles Breckenridge plans to stand down from his role as the chairman of the Commonwealth Party ahead of his expected retirement in 2012, and to silence the controversy concerning the involvement of the supposedly ceremonial president in daily politics through his chairmanship in the Commonwealth Party. A new chairman for the party is to be elected in its August party conference.

The vote for a new chairman of Cornavia's ruling party is seen as one of the most important in the party's history, as it could mark an end to the party's division between those favoring the Commonwealth's traditional policy of armed neutrality and those calling for a proactive stance in international affairs. The head of the latter faction, Cabinet Chancellor Joanne Wainwright whose cabinet forwarded a motion to bring Cornavia into the Council of Nations, has already stated her intent to pursue chairmanship of the Commonwealth Party. Should Wainwright be able to secure her hold of her party's chairmanship, it would strengthen its internationalist faction.

Commonwealth Party dissenters who rallied against Wainwright in the vote for the Commonwealth's application into the Council of Nations are expected to put forward their own candidate for chairmanship, and the ramifications the election could have for Cornavian foreign policy have already caused pundits to describe it as the "most important chairmanship vote in decades." As party chairman Cabinet Chancellor Wainwright could improve her control over government policy and lead to greater Cornavian involvement in the region.

The Commonwealth Party is to assemble in its party conference in the Southern coastal town of Inniswood in August. In addition to the election of a new chairman, the party conference is expected to discuss revisions to the accepted party program as well as the party's candidates in the forthcoming 2011 Parliamentary elections. Opposition parties will also hold their own conferences during the same period.

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea - "Proscription of Nordic separatists a necessity proven by the Farpoint arrests", says Commonwealth Security Service head Jonathan Wilcox
Whitehaven - Dealers in the Whitehaven Stock Exchange worried about a regional spillover in the Oikawan-Jizhou conflict
Marsden - Marsden's renovated Marsden Memorial Course confirmed to host a race of the 2011 Commonwealth Touring Car Championships, announce local businessmen
Rowlandstown - Two dead, one hospitalized after an apartment fire in the East Rowlandstown Municipal Estates
International - Batavian establishment of a Commonwealth with Fulanistan sharply condemned by Himyari nations, no comment from the Ministry of External Affairs at Claridge House
International - Regional tensions grow in Touyou as a result of fighting between Oikawa and Jizhou

 

[Confederal Republics]

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SOUTHPORT-ON-SEA - Billmen seize a 3-1 Derby victory

This year's first Southport Derby ended in a 3-1 victory in favor of Southport Billmen over F.C Southport at Southport's Old Stadium, where some 43000 people were in attendance. Christopher Svenson, the general manager of F.C Southport, blamed recent injuries in his team for their lack of successes in the year's first Derby. F.C Southport players Eric Farlane and Jens Petersen, both of whom are also members of the Commonwealth National Team, were notably absent from the game.

Two of the goals made by Southport Billmen during the Derby were the work of Billmen striker Matthew Amdale, who also rose by one goal to the position of Commonwealth Premier's top goalscorer over Daniel Gothberg of Whitehaven Rangers. After the match, Amdale received the Best Player's Award of the match and an accompanying award granted by the Old Southport Brewery, which has traditionally donated 10000 Sovereigns to the best player of every Southport Derby.

The leadership of Southport Billmen expressed satisfaction over the result, which team manager Alexander Drake said set a good example for the rest of the season, the Cornavian Cup and this year's international games in which the Billmen are to participate.

The traditionally volatile Southport Derby was accompanied by the presence of several thousand members of the Greater Southport Metropolitan Police in the Stadium area, and several incidents were reported between members of the two team's hooligan "firms". A spokesman for the Metropolitan Police said that over fifty arrests were carried out during the evening for disorderly behaviour and other reasons.

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea - Commonwealth Party whip Gregory Ashmore threatens to expel dissident MPs campaigning against Cornavian Council of Nations membership
Southport-on-Sea - Republican Party demonstration against Council of Nations membership draws in 4000 people, studies show 57% of Cornavians in favor of Council of Nations membership
Whitehaven - Whitehaven Municipal Housing Corporation to slate several apartment areas for renovation between 2011 and 2015
Castle Farpoint - Local politicians call for Farpoint Canton and Commonwealth officials to work for securing public transportation in commercially unviable areas
International - Tyskreich "not to follow up" with Cornavian Council of Nations application, say major local parties

 

[Confederal Republics]

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NORTHRIDGE - Controversial Christian school shut down by Canton authorities for curricular violations

In Northridge, the foundation-run Good Shepherd School has been shut down by educational authorities of the Canton of Coleridge-Anston for what were described by a Canton spokesman as "repeated constitutional and curricular violations on behalf of school authorities". The Good Shepherd School provided education in basic and preparatory levels.

Officials of the Cantonal Bureau of Education and Culture said that a decision to suspend the operating license of the Good Shepherd School had been carried out after the school's leadership had ignored repeated warnings issued by the Bureau of Education. These warnings were issued for violations which Canton officials said included violations of established curricular standards and violating a constitutional ban on denominational religious education.

The St. Peter Foundation, which owns and operates the Good Shepherd School, said that it would challenge the Canton's interpretation of the law in a trial which would take place in Northridge Lower Commonwealth Court. Minister of Education Mr. Edward Wordsworth (Com.) commented on the ban saying that it was "in line with his and the Ministry's interpretation of Cornavian law and the Commonwealth Constitution", sharply criticizing what he described as "circumvention of Cornavian law by bitter reactionaries".

Policemen of the Coleridge-Anston Canton Constabulary sealed the teaching buildings of the Good Shephard School today. Should the closure of the school and the revokation of the educational license issued by the Canton be permanent, the St. Peter Foundation might also face significant fines if the Bureau of Education will demand such measures from the government.

The opposition Christian Party and the small Free Evangelic Church of Cornavia, which has most of its supporters in Coleridge-Anston, have criticized the Canton's decision to implement a closure of the school. The Good Shepherd School teaches some 500 youth in total, who will study in other schools of the area until a permanent decision is reached in the feud.

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea - Cornavian Tourism Association to campaign to attract foreign visitors into Cornavia ahead of the summer's tourist season
Southport-on-Sea - School and higher education applicants all over in Cornavia to receive their results in June's last weeks
Greater Southport - Neighboring cities and municipalities announce plans to join Greater Southport in forwarding collective transportation cooperation in a joint Metro Transport Authority
Alcott - Commonwealth Armed Forces to conduct exercises involving thousands of conscripts and homeguards in the Greater Alcott Canton ahead of decommissioning of 2010's first conscript servicemen
Whitehaven - Billionaire and Beacon Media main owner Richard Markham to collaborate with local businessmen in establishing a new "Cornavia's largest" shopping mall

 

[Confederal Republics]

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SOUTHPORT-ON-SEA - Regional cooperation is the key, says Foreign Minister Fenner

Minister of External Affairs William Fenner (Com.), in his attendance of the Southport Institute of Foreign Policy's 50th anniversary dinner, that the Commonwealth Cabinet was working on drafting a new doctrine of foreign policy featuring "less isolation and more cooperation". According to Fenner, cooperation with regional governments in Scania was to be the key in this new policy.

However, Fenner emphasized that the Commonwealth had no plans of relinquishing its traditional doctrine of armed neutrality. Adopted in the aftermath of the Great War, the armed neutrality doctrine devised by Cabinet Chancellor Anthony Westings has maintained Cornavian non-alignment with major European alliances for over 50 years. "The main concept of armed neutrality itself won't go", said Fenner at the Institute of Foreign Policy, "But in a new Scania we might abandon some of its features to permit further cooperation with regional powers and to promote democracy in the region."

Foreign Minister Fenner referred to Tyskreich's transformation into a democracy in the 1990s and the more recent fall of the Batavian communist regime as key factors that necessitated a lessened importance on armed neutrality. "Armed neutrality is a concept that we developed in a time when the Commonwealth alone stood as a bastion of freedom in a red Scania", Fenner stated, saying that changes in contemporary European politics had opened new possibilities for Cornavia.

Fenner's outlining of new Cornavian foreign policies follows an ongoing trend of greater international involvement on behalf of the Commonwealth Party government, with Cabinet Chancellor Joanne Wainwright having forwarded Cornavian membership of the Council of Nations as a key policy of her administration. Changes to the established foreign policies are bound to be controversial, especially given the amount of criticism that Chancellor Wainwright's Council of Nations decision has already received.

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea - Nationwide poll shows a "slim majority" in favor of continuing the use of the death penalty, says NGO Center on Criminal Justice Policy
Southport-on-Sea - Friday's Midsummer festivities and the beginning holiday season to affect workplaces for the rest of June and July
Whitehaven - Environmentalist groups oppose billionaire Richard Markham's plans for opening a new shopping mall in Western Whitehaven
Bremerholm - Armed police shoot dead local farmer after the man shoots his wife in an alcohol-induced rage and threatens responding policemen with a shotgun
Northridge - St. Peter Foundation to challenge Coleridge-Anston Canton authorities' decision to close the Good Shepherd School in Commonwealth courts, say foundation members

 

[Confederal Republics]

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MARSDEN - Year's first execution carried out as triple killer faces lethal injection

This year's first execution of a criminal convict has been carried out at the Snowgate Commonwealth Prison after the Commonwealth Apellate Court rejected Mr. Liam Barrow's appeal against a sentence of death issued by the Coleridge-Anston Cantonal Court and subsequently upheld in all court levels. Barrow had originally been convicted in the Whitecastle Criminal Court for a life without parole for a triple murder, but his sentence was increased to a death penalty by the Cantonal Court after the prosecution's complaint.

Barrow's conviction came from a September 2009 triple murder in which he, armed with a billhook and a kitchen knife, burglarized the Whitecastle home of a family of three, upon being discovered stabbing the family's father and son to death and then proceeding to sexually assault and murder the family mother. Barrow, a 33-year old known felon with a previous record of numerous offenses including attempted homicide, was sentenced to death after the Coleridge-Anston Cantonal Court ruled that narcotic withdrawal symptoms that he was going through at the time of the killings did not quality for an insanity plea.

"Commonwealth criminal laws permit the application of the death penalty under particularly aggravating circumstances, and the nature of the offenses carried out by Mr. Barrow together with his pre-existing history of criminal conduct do constitute such particularly aggravating circumstances", said M.P. Devon Saunders (Rep.) who chaired the Apellate Court session which upheld Barrow's death penalty, during a Friday court session confirming Barrow's execution. His death by lethal injection was presided over by a number of guests, including the next of kin of Barrow's victims and Minister of Justice Mr. David Connington (Com.).

The execution was accompanied by demonstrators of the Cornavians Against the Capital Punishment group and the opposition Labour and Red-Green parties, which represent the chief opposition to the use of the capital punishment in Cornavia. With only 50-60% of people in favor of using the death penalty, each execution tends to be a politically controversial event. At the moment there are roughly sixteen death row inmates held at the Snowgate Commonwealth Prison, which houses Cornavia's only execution chamber.

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea - Ministry of External Affairs sources confirm a Cabinet committee is in the process of drafting a new foreign policy program mentioned by Foreign Minister Fenner on Wednesday
Southport-on-Sea - No significant internal opposition anticipated for Labour Party chairman M.P Stuart Fenwick in Labour's chairmanship vote this August
Whitehaven - Whitehaven Stock Exchange concludes the week's trades with an increase as Stratton Microsystems announces plans to release a new smartphone line in July
Eastwatch - Eastshore Cantonal authorities launch a search for two hikers gone missing near the border with Vitland
Farpoint - A sudden front of low-pressure weather causes regional storms, interrupts ferry services across North Cornavian Isles in the Farpoint and Iron Islands Cantons

 

[Großlausitz]

Das Auswärtige Amt

His Majesty's Government would welcome a senior minister of the Cornavian cabinet to discuss regional relations.

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SOUTHPORT-ON-SEA - Regional cooperation is the key, says Foreign Minister Fenner

Minister of External Affairs William Fenner (Com.), in his attendance of the Southport Institute of Foreign Policy's 50th anniversary dinner, that the Commonwealth Cabinet was working on drafting a new doctrine of foreign policy featuring "less isolation and more cooperation". According to Fenner, cooperation with regional governments in Scania was to be the key in this new policy.

However, Fenner emphasized that the Commonwealth had no plans of relinquishing its traditional doctrine of armed neutrality. Adopted in the aftermath of the Great War, the armed neutrality doctrine devised by Cabinet Chancellor Anthony Westings has maintained Cornavian non-alignment with major European alliances for over 50 years. "The main concept of armed neutrality itself won't go", said Fenner at the Institute of Foreign Policy, "But in a new Scania we might abandon some of its features to permit further cooperation with regional powers and to promote democracy in the region."

Foreign Minister Fenner referred to Tyskreich's transformation into a democracy in the 1990s and the more recent fall of the Batavian communist regime as key factors that necessitated a lessened importance on armed neutrality. "Armed neutrality is a concept that we developed in a time when the Commonwealth alone stood as a bastion of freedom in a red Scania", Fenner stated, saying that changes in contemporary European politics had opened new possibilities for Cornavia.

Fenner's outlining of new Cornavian foreign policies follows an ongoing trend of greater international involvement on behalf of the Commonwealth Party government, with Cabinet Chancellor Joanne Wainwright having forwarded Cornavian membership of the Council of Nations as a key policy of her administration. Changes to the established foreign policies are bound to be controversial, especially given the amount of criticism that Chancellor Wainwright's Council of Nations decision has already received.

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea - Nationwide poll shows a "slim majority" in favor of continuing the use of the death penalty, says NGO Center on Criminal Justice Policy
Southport-on-Sea - Friday's Midsummer festivities and the beginning holiday season to affect workplaces for the rest of June and July
Whitehaven - Environmentalist groups oppose billionaire Richard Markham's plans for opening a new shopping mall in Western Whitehaven
Bremerholm - Armed police shoot dead local farmer after the man shoots his wife in an alcohol-induced rage and threatens responding policemen with a shotgun
Northridge - St. Peter Foundation to challenge Coleridge-Anston Canton authorities' decision to close the Good Shepherd School in Commonwealth courts, say foundation members

 

[Confederal Republics]

Cabinet Chancellery
Commonwealth of Cornavia

The Commonwealth appreciates the Franconian response to the ongoing shift in Cornavian foreign policies, brought about by changing regional conditions and new cooperative opportunities. To that end, the Cabinet has decided to accept the Franconian invitation of conducting an official visit to Franken.

Regards,
Mrs. Joanne Wainwright,
Cabinet Chancellor,
Commonwealth of Cornavia

 

[Jydsken-Østveg]

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Das Außenministerium
Bundesministerium für europäische und internationale Angelegenheiten
Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs

The Republic of Tyskreich finds this new progressive policy to be enlightening between our nations and potentially a gesture of a renewed friendship. We hope that our nations in time can forge a new bilateral future for the North.

We'd like to invite representatives of your country to our own in the future to discuss possible business and diplomatic ventures.

Thank you,

Ihre Exzellenz Babett Kirchgasser
Her Excellency Babett Kirchgasser,

BABETT KIRCHGASSER​

Bundesminister für europäische und internationale Angelegenheiten
Federal Minister for Europeans and International Affairs​

 

[Confederal Republics]

Ministry of External Affairs
Commonwealth of Cornavia

The Commonwealth government welcomes the gesture made by the Republic of Tyskreich as one that is in harmony with the Wainwright Cabinet's plans for Cornavian foreign policy: Regional cooperation to deliver overall advantages to the whole of Scania.

Regards,
William Fenner
Minister of External Affairs

 

[Confederal Republics]

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SOUTHPORT-ON-SEA - Cornavians celebrate Midsummer

The traditional Cornavian celebrations of the Midsummer festivity took place last weekend, with millions of Cornavians in cities, towns and rural hamlets gathering in events including familial Midsummer dinners, neighborhood and local festivals and the number of popculture events organized for the celebrations. Thirty people were said to have been killed during the Midsummer weekend in various accidents and as a result of criminal incidents.

In Southport-on-Sea, the annual Urban Midsummer Festival gathered tens of thousands of attendees, as did the other events organized in the Greater Southport region to honor the Midsummer festivity. According to the Greater Southport Metropolitan Police, the celebrations went without major incidents in the Commonwealth capital, even though "larger than normal" amounts of incidents of vandalism and assault and battery were reported to the Police. Southport's Mayor Anthony Ford (Com.) took part in celebrations in the center of the Urban Midsummer in Southport's Commonwealth Colonnade. In Farpoint, locals and tourists gathered to watch the Midsummer festivities of the region's Sevet minority, which involve unique rituals such as bonfires.

For many Cornavian employees the Midsummer weekend also marked the beginning of the annual holiday season, and during July foreign tourists in Cornavian tourist resorts will be joined by Cornavian travellers. The Association of Restaurant and Travel Enterprises predicts an increase in domestic travel as regional tensions have reduced Gallia's attractiveness to Cornavian tourists, but at the same time analysts note that destinations such as Arendaal, Franken, Frescania and Eiffelland are likely to remain in favour.

According to rescue and law enforcement officials in different parts of the country, the Midsummer weekend's numbers in incidents of drowning and automobile accidents equalled those of previous years, as did the occurence of violent crimes. In Eastern Whitehaven, celebrations by local youth were marked by a lethal stabbing of two, with the perpetrator being sought by the Whitehaven Metropolitan Constabulary. Armed police responded to firearms incidents in several locations, most notably in East Anston where armed officers wounded a hunting rifle-wielding man reportedly under the influence of alcohol.

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea/Nürnberg - Cabinet Chancellor Joanne Wainwright (Com.) and other officials depart to Nürnberg on a high-level state meeting
Southport-on-Sea - External Trade Minister Mary Fieldman-Wilcox (Com.) visits Wendmark, Wainwright to follow up on an official visit to Tyskreich at the conclusion of her Franconian visit
Northridge - Commonwealth Canton Court in Coleridge-Anston to review the suspension of the Good Shepherd School in July
Farpoint - Cantonal prosecutors to press charges against the "Farpoint Six" for Nordisk Frihet membership, say officials

 

[Confederal Republics]

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FARPOINT - Prosecutor in the "Farpoint Six" case shot by gunmen

Unknown gunmen have shot dead a prosecutor in the ongoing criminal case of the Farpoint Six suspected of being a member of the proscribed terrorist group Nordisk Frihet, and arrested several weeks ago by Cantonal police in Alton Down, Farpoint Canton. In addition, a Canton Constable assigned as the prosecutor's chauffeur and bodyguard for the duration of the case was seriously wounded and has been hospitalized. The identity of the deceased was listed as Jeremy Peterson, the Cantonal Deputy Head Prosecutor for terrorism cases.

Officials of the Farpoint Canton Constabulary said that Peterson's car was heading to his residence in Western Farpoint when it was attacked in a crossroads by assailants who had apparently trailed the car over an extended distance. Traffic cameras apparently showed two gunmen, one armed with an automatic weapon and the other with a semi-automatic handgun, firing at the occupants of the car. Constabulary sources say that Peterson's chauffeur managed to return fire before being incapacitated, wounding one of the gunmen in question. The gunmen then made off in a van reported as stolen and later discovered burned outside Farpoint.

No claim of responsibility has been made over the attack, and the investigating Anti-Terrorist Branch in Farpoint is refusing to comment whether the Nordisk Frihet group is being suspected over the latest attack. If carried out by the Nordic separatist group, it would have been its first successful attack in 2010. The Farpoint Canton Constabulary has released traffic camera pictures showing the suspected assailants to the public, and are offering a reward for information leading to the arrest of the culprits. Both of the masked assailants are described as being of a fit physical build, with one being between 170-180cm in length and the other between 180-190cm. It is believed that further details on the assailants will be gained when Deputy Head Prosecutor Peterson's bodyguard's condition improves to warrant being interviewed.

Canton authorities say that the Farpoint Six trial, in which six Alton Down residents are facing charges of planning terrorist attacks and being Nordisk Frihet members, will continue in spite of the attack. Sarah Henderson, the Cantonal Deputy Chief Prosecutor for Organized Crime, has been assigned to take over the case. The Alton Down Prefectural Court opened the case last week.

With Jeremy Peterson's assassins still at large, the Farpoint Canton Constabulary and local law enforcers in the area have launched an extensive police operation in the Greater Farpoint area. Armed policemen are currently searching cars, buses and trains in Farpoint and the neighboring municipalities with the assistance of heavily armed tactical units. Rumors that the Public Security Wing and the Commonwealth Security Service have been called in to Farpoint have not been commented by local or Commonwealth authorities.

Deputy Chief Prosecutor Peterson, at 44 years old, was survived by a wife and two children.

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea Member of Parliament Stephen Wright (Com.) confirms plans to stand against Cabinet Chancellor Joanne Wainwright for Commonwealth Party chairmanship at President Breckenridge's retirement
Southport-on-Sea - External Trade Minister Fieldman-Wilcox (Com.) describes her visit to Wendmark as a success, presenting renewed trade agreements with Wendmark to the Commonwealth Parliament
Whitehaven - Stratton Microsystems confirms the planned release of its Paragon line of 3G smartphones to take place on the 23rd of July, IT pundits excited
Northridge - Christian fundamentalist demonstrators arrested by police after attempting to break the seals placed at the suspended Good Shepherd School ahead of the trial on its suspension
Whitehaven - Association of Restaurant and Travel Enterprises identifies travel to Arendaal and Franken as increasing trends in Cornavian tourism, but also says that domestic tourism is on the rise

 

[Confederal Republics]

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FARPOINT - Dragnet tightens around the suspects in the Peterson killing

Hundreds of law enforcement officers from the Farpoint Canton Constabulary and other law enforcement agencies in the region are continuing the manhunt of the two suspects in the recent killing of Deputy Head Prosecutor Jeremy Peterson. Though the focus of the search has moved away from Farpoint, officers in charge of the search are confident that they will be able to find the suspects, who are believed to have fled into rural areas north of the city.

Deputy Constable-in-Chief Robin Walker, head of the Farpoint Anti-Terrorist Branch, said that crime scene investigators had obtained the DNA of one of the suspected assailants and had sent it to a crime laboratory of the Commonwealth Specialist Crime Agency for analysis. In addition, Deputy CiC Walker said that the investigators had received several tips pointing out to the likely identities of the suspects and their location in the northern areas of the Farpoint Prefecture and the accompanying Prefecture of Hawk's Bight.

"We're expanding our dragnet of police patrols and road blocks with sniffer dogs and increased helicopter coverage, and we've also requested Commonwealth-level assistance in the form of several dozen Special Response and STARS officers", said Deputy CiC Walker, who added that three people had been arrested by police forces in the two Prefectures that are the center of the search. However, none related to the Peterson killing, and were unrelated offenders with outstanding arrest warrants accidentally caught by the ongoing police dragnet.

Yesterday, the proscribed separatist group Nordisk Frihet claimed responsibility for the Peterson killing and issued a demand for the immediate release of the so-called "Farpoint Six" currently being tried for terrorism. The group threatened further attacks against government targets. In response, the Alton Down Prefectural Court is said to be moving the trial on the Six to the Cailan Cantonal Prison, where the defendants of the case are being held in investigative custody. Deputy Chief Prosecutor Sarah Henderson, who's taken over the case since Peterson's death, has been granted additional protection by the Farpoint Canton Constabulary.

The 35-year old policeman wounded in the attack is still in critical condition.

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea - Minister of External Affairs William Fenner criticizes the lack of speed in processing Cornavian applications to the Council of Nations and the Northern Council
Southport-on-Sea - Human rights associations, political youth wings demonstrate against "ethnic cleansing" by the government in Freiheit
Coleridge - Neighborhood evacuated after the discovery of an unexploded 250kg Great War-era aircraft bomb of believed Franconian origin, Air Force bomb disposal experts are called in
Greater Bolton - Contractors lay the groundwork for Arlington's planned entertainment and hotel complex in Greater Bolton
Whitehaven - Whitehaven University of Technology granted Commonwealth funding to research "post-petroleum" profit-making options

 

[Confederal Republics]

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SOUTHPORT-ON-SEA - Cabinet reacts to European instability

Coming out of its summer holiday for a special meeting, Joanne Wainwright's Commonwealth Cabinet today took time to address continuing European unrest, marked by ongoing military conflicts in Freiheit and Akhalstikhe and a risk of regional spillover brought about by these conflicts. Of particular interest during the meeting was the dwindling oil supply from Akhalstikhe in the face of the Talemantine-Fulanistani invasion.

Before the ongoing war, Akhalstikhe produced about four billion barrels of oil per each day, and the drop in oil exports is likely to affect economies throughout the globe. Minister of Energy Thomas Svenson, in a press statement issued after the meeting, took steps to warn Cornavian consumers over the ramifications of an increase in the market price of petroleum, also saying that Cornavian oil companies would not be increasing their rate of production due to the size of domestic oil reserves. Though Svenson reminded that the domestic supply of oil would obviously continue, he said that increasing oil prices would have direct and indirect effects on Cornavian citizens.

The Ministry of Defense has retained its regular levels of alertness, saying that while Naval and Border Services patrols had been intensified to prevent exploitation of Cornavian territory by involved parties in the Freiheit conflict, there was little belief that a regional spillover could effect Cornavia directly. The Ministry of Immigration, on the other hand, is preparing to receive refugees from Freiheit and former Akhalstikhe. Minister of Immigration Sven Allard said that the Cabinet was preparing to receive refugees, but warned that "there would be a strict scrutiny of military-fit men to avoid the entrance of those involved in the security establishments of the countries in question and thus possibly involved in human rights violations.".

The Cabinet is also discussing the possibility of an aid mission in former Akhalstikhe, possibly with Council of Nations support.

Cabinet Chancellor Wainwright also addressed issues closer to home, condemning the communist regime in Vitland for its recent arrest of several journalists and political dissidents. Wainwright followed an earlier statement by Foreign Minister Fenner by saying that "The Commonwealth and Scanias a whole need to work against the proliferation of such offenses against inalienable basic rights in our region." Wainwright urged Vitland to release these political prisoners and reminded that the Cornavia offered a sanctuary for all victims of political persecution.

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea - Isolationist parliamentarians and other prominents gather for the foundation of the League of New Lightbearers
Southport-on-Sea - Demonstrators protest the involvement of Cornavian Private Military Contractors in the ongoing Barazi conflict
Farpoint - Law enforcers continue the manhunt for suspects in the Peterson killing, confirm arrests of two accomplices in a dawn raid by STARS special forces
Whitehaven - Stratton Microsystems and oil companies see a lone rise in stock values amidst a general drop in stock value among other companies
Dunmere - Commonwealth criminal agents carry out five arrests of illegal cannabis exporters, confiscate plants and growing gear
Anston - Commonwealth court in Coleridge-Anston upholds the suspension of a religious school for curricular violations, school officials "will complain" to the Supreme Court

 

[Confederal Republics]

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FARPOINT - One killed, three arrested as a hideout for the Peterson killing suspects is stormed by armed police

Armed officers of the Commonwealth Constabulary's STARS special forces have arrested two men and a woman believed to be involved in the recent killing of Farpoint Deputy Chief Prosecutor Jeremy Peterson, apparently perpetrated by the Nordisk Frihet separatist group. In addition, a man thought to be involved in the group was shot and killed by STARS officers during the raid.

The Commonwealth Constabulary and the Farpoint Canton Constabulary have in a joint press release said that one of the arrested is Einar Stenberg, a 28-year old Farpoint resident identified by DNA evidence as a trigger-man in the killing. A Farpoint local shot by the special forces during the raid, as of yet unidentified due to investigative reasons, is thought to be the other trigger-man involved. The two were found in Hawk's Bight, where the second arrested man and his wife were reportedly sheltering the two assassins.

The suspects were tracked down based on interrogation of two Nordisk Frihet members arrested earlier by the STARS in the city of Farpoint. Commonwealth Constabulary officers said that the unidentified deceased Nordisk Frihet member had fled to the upper floor of the building, and was shot and killed by armed officers after responding to their challenge by drawing a handgun. Reports indicate no foul play on behalf of the officers, though the incident will be investigated by the Ministry of Justice in line with Commonwealth policy on lethal firearms use by the law enforcement.

A 9mm Tyskreicher-made illegally automatized carbine and an unlicensed Oikawan 9mm handgun were confiscated from the house, along with several other automatic weapons converted from semi-automatic models, and equipment for manufacturing converted automatic weapons was discovered. It is believed by the Farpoint Anti-Terrorism Branch that Nordisk Frihet members are now using illegal arms sales to fund their operations, and are seeking contacts among organized criminal groups in South Cornavia.

The Anti-Terrorism Branch is continuing its investigation into the Peterson killing in concert with the Public Security Wing of the Greater Southport Metropolitan Police, and expects to charge Mr. Stenberg for murder and membership in a proscribed organization, and to charge the other Nordisk Frihet members arrested for aiding and abetting in a murder as well as membership in a proscribed organization. No comment has been made as to whether death penalty would be sought against Mr. Stenberg. As per the Terrorism Act of 1986, the case against Stenberg would be dealt by the Farpoint Commonwealth Court.

From Southport, President Charles Breckenridge issued congratulations to the policemen involved, saying that the "murder of the prosecutor [Peterson] represents an offense of the highest order against democracy and the rule of law, and that the culprits must be punished to the fullest extent of the law." The Farpoint Six trial Peterson was presiding on before his assassination is continuing.

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea - Sandown Security Solutions threatens libel charges after peace activists accuse the company of involvement in civilian killings in Barazi
Southport-on-Sea - Storm topples trees, causes numerous interruptions in supply of electricity in the Greater Southport area
Whitehaven - Labour Party chairman M.P Stuart Fenwick visits dockers' and harbour workers' trade unions in Whitehaven
Eastwatch-by-the-Sea - Commonwealth Navy begins exercises led by amphibious warfare vessel CSS Sebastian Quintaine off the shores of Eastwatch-by-the-Sea

 

[Confederal Republics]

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SOUTHPORT - "New Lightbearers" want renewed Cornavian isolationism

Pundits and politicians opposed to Cornavia's renewed involvement in European affairs are making a play for power under the name of the New Lightbearers, an organization which saw its first public meeting today in Southport-on-Sea.

The so-called Association of New Lightbearers has released a manifesto calling for Cornavian withdrawal from the Council of Nations and retaining the Commonwealth's commitment to the principle of armed neutrality. Among the signatories of this manifesto are included numerous Republican, Labour and Christian Party parliamentarians, most notably Lawrence Anderton (Rep.) and the Labour Party chairman Stuart Fenwick. Stern warnings by the Commonwealth Party whip, M.P Stuart Ashmore have reportedly discouraged the party's parliamentarians from association with the group, though rumors tie individuals such as Commonwealth dissident Stephen Wright with the Lightbearers.

In the inaugural assembly of the New Lightbearers in the Westings Square of Southport-on-Sea - where is located the Commonwealth Parliament - the association elected Republican M.P Lawrence Anderton as the chairman of the group. "We're about bringing back the true meaning of the Commonwealth into the modernity", Anderton said in his inaugural address, "The Old Lightbearers who've we've chosen our name after serve as a demonstration of what our movement aspires to, particularly in contrast with the rampant agenda of unchecked globalism that Cabinet Chancellor Wainwright has carried forward."

Analysts say that the new organization will mainly serve to agitate on international affairs in Cornavia and to develop new links between members coming from different sides of the political spectrum. Members are likely to seek to influence Cornavian policy through their own respective parties, a task some analysts warn might prove to be fruitful only in the case of the Republican and Christian parties. Though the Labour Party maintains armed neutrality as a keynote of its foreign policy, it has also advocated Cornavian membership in the Council of Nations.

Cabinet Chancellor Joanne Wainwright (Com.) and other opponents of these so-called New Lightbearers have already responded in kind. "Anyone should see the gross error in judgement in invoking the legacy of our Revolution and men like Gabriel Westings", Wainwright said in a blog post written in response to Anderton's speech, "Freedom belongs to everyone, and the Council of Nations and other organizations like the Council are the best means of upholding that truth."

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea - Commonwealth President Breckenridge to attend the centennial birthday of Emperor Friedrich Wilhelm II in Wiese
Southport-on-Sea - Parliament to renew legistlative debate and propositions on its return from official summer holidays at the start of the next week
Whitehaven - Award-winning director Frederick Myers signed to direct Frozen Hell, a three-hour epic of a Cornavian partisan unit in the Iron Islands during the Great War
Farpoint - Commonwealth court finds the "Farpoint Six" guilty of membership in a proscribed terrorist group, court to issue convictions on Friday
Bremerholm - Biotechnological firm VersaLife drafts regional farmers into a program of field testing of new GM crops to be brought into the market by the film
Bolton City - Earlier storms in Greater Southport followed by another emergence of thunderstorms in Central Cornavia, with authorities warning of toppled trees and electrical interruptions
[/QUOTE]

 

[Confederal Republics]

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WHITEHAVEN - Police prepares for unrest ahead of the anticipated memorial of the Whitehaven Uprising

Law enforcers in Whitehaven are preparing for unrest as the 10th of August - the memorial day for the beginning of the 1926 Whitehaven Uprising - approaches. It is believed that extremist leftists from proscribed political organizations will attempt to incite riots during the memorial day, which marks the beginning of a month-long Communist uprising in Whitehaven. The event has historically been marked by such unrest.

The Whitehaven Metropolitan Police has drafted support from the Eastern March Cantonal Police and other municipal departments in the Eastern March for the provision of security during the memorial day. While the Labour and Red-Green parties and trade unions have traditionally staged peaceful demonstrations during the occasion, the proscribed Communist Party of Cornavia, Communist Party of Cornavia (Post-Vanguardist) and the 13rd of September Council are expected to stage their own demonstrations. The Criminal Reconnaissance Branch of the Eastern March Cantonal Police has also warned that foreign left-wing extremists might be attempting to join the demonstrations on the side of proscribed Cornavian leftists.

In a statement released to the press, the WMP's Chief Constable Aidan Matheson warned leftist groups in the city for the demonstrations against provoking unrest, saying that the police would act "in the defense of public order" and in "defense of the right to democratic protest" against troublemaking.

The 10th of August marks the month-long siege of Whitehaven between the Commonwealth Army and leftist insurgents grouped under the banner of the Eastern March People's Volunteers. On the 10th, dockers and stevedores upset by the police's earlier crackdown of a regional strike, seized control of several Commonwealth Party arsenals and were joined by sympathizing conscripts and general citizens. The insurgents failed in their belief that the uprising might be able to incite unrest elsewhere in Cornavia, as the Commonwealth Army and the Police managed to break up their attempts at creating a broader uprising, and after a month of siege the city was finally stormed by the Commonwealth Army. Most of the leaders of the siege perished in a final assault on the Eastern March Cantonal Assembly where the insurgency had established its headquarters.

With the several hundred deaths of soldiers, rebels and civilians that occured during the siege, as well as the executions carried out by both parties, the Whitehaven Uprising represented one of the most significant civil upheavels witnessed by the Commonwealth before the Great War and the post-war Red Insurgency. The siege and the events preceding to it are still remembered as one of the most crucial occasions the Cornavian leftist scene. Though it resulted in government actions under what is generally considered to be the First Red Scare, it also saw concessions on behalf of Cornavian industrialists towards their employees particularly concerning the union movement.

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea - Cabinet Chancellor Joanne Wainwright calls her recent visit to Franken "fruitful", a set of agreements to be brought before the Parliament for ratification during the next week
Southport-on-Sea - Stuart Fenwick gains a second term in charge of the opposition's Labour Party without opposition
Ashland - Ashland-Carrington Industries to sell of its domestic appliances divisions in favor of increasing its focus on automobile, aircraft and industrial machinery sales
Anston - Anston City holds an extraordinary mayoral election as city mayor Cole Higgins (Rep.) resigns to attain a professor's position at the Coleridge-Anston Cantonal University

 

[Confederal Republics]

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WHITEHAVEN - 1926 Uprising commemorated, two hundred held in clashes between the police and left-wing extremists

Official commemoration for the 1926 Communist uprising in Whitehaven and the subsequent, month-long Siege of Whitehaven, today took place in the city presided over by First Minister Alexander Simmons (Com.) of the Canton of Eastern March. Representatives of the Commonwealth Parliament and Cantonal authorities, as well as those of the Armed Forces, trade unions and next of kin of those killed during the uprising took place in the commemoration.

Led by First Minister Simmons, the official guests of the commemoration laid wreaths to the memorials of members of the former Cornavian National Guard and the Eastern March Militia as well as the memorial of civilians killed in the uprising. In addition, a leftist delegation including members of the Labour and Red-Green parties held its own event in a memorial erected by the Brotherhood of Industrial Workers for the memory of dockers and other participants of the Red uprising. Later in the evening, official guests of the event gathered at the Whitehaven Orchestra House for a traditional concert of the Whitehaven Chamber Orchestra.

Whitehavenites and other residents of Eastern March were given the day off work, as usual, and restaurants and pubs in the city received a plethora of guests during the day, which has recently become an unofficial day of relaxation despite its somber origins.

Away from official festivities and citizen gatherings, the Whitehaven Metropolitan Police clashed with leftist and anarchist rioters from a number of groups including the Communist Party of Cornavia, the 13th of September Movement and the Syndicalist Assembly of Cornavian Workers. During the afternoon, riot policemen used batons and tear gas grenades to disperse groups of demonstrators which broke off from a Whitehaven Uprising Shadow March organized by radical leftists and attempted to head into Whitehaven's Business Center area. Later in the evening, the police was again called in to disperse a "black bloc" of demonstrators attempting to interrupt the Whitehaven Chamber Orchestra's memorial concert.

Whitehaven Chief Constable Aidan Matheson said that left-wing demonstrators had vandalized several storefronts and set alight multiple cars including police vehicles in an attempt to interfere with the police intervention, and that "two hundred" extreme leftists had been detained by the police during the afternoon and the evening. Though Matheson did not comment on injuries inflicted during the riot actions, hospital sources told local press that dozens of leftist activists and at least twenty police officers had received treatment.

A spokesman for the Shadow March organizing committee accused the police of using excess force and engaging in provocative conduct. Criticism against police behavior was also expressed by Cantonal and local left-wing politicians.

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea - Claridge House insiders say the Cabinet "deeply disappointed" with the Danish entrance into the LFS, no comment on behalf of Cabinet Chancellor Wainwright
Southport-on-Sea - National War Museum gains a donation of a private collection of up to a thousand original photographs from the Great War homefront
Whitehaven - Stratton Microsystems sued by former subcontractor on "copyright agreement and contract violations" related to the company's use of subcontractor work in smartphone design
St. Aidan - FiBaghaman believed dead after falling off a commercial trawler in storm in waters 16 kilometers south of the island of St. Aidan
New London - Cornavian Peace League member Jonathan Summers receives six month in prison after refusing to carry out pending military service

 

[Confederal Republics]

A Telescope into Europe
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Dr. Gerard Halmstrom - Will Armed Neutrality survive the decade?

When I taught the nation's future diplomats at the Commonwealth School of Diplomacy, the first course received by each student in this institution that's schooled every member of the Foreign Service was titled "Cornavia and Armed Neutrality in the Scanian environment." A fact to underline the importance of the policy of armed neutrality - which entered its seventh decade this year, having been adopted in the aftermath of the Great War in 1949 - in our nation's foreign affairs, even though this importance has become lesser with the ending of our Scanian cold war with the Communist dictatorships of the North.

The concept of armed neutrality is almost symbiotically linked with that of the state of siege. As most of our readers are likely to know, the Commonwealth's first post-war president Terrence Markham coined that term to describe a situation where Cornavia could "at any moment" face the invasion of neighboring Communist parties. The state of siege led in part to our decision to embrace the idea of armed neutrality in view of the European Defense Federation and the League of Free States, for the overwhelming danger of a Red invasion meant that Cornavia could not afford to antagonize either of the major European blocs of power.

"Many in Southport-on-Sea say that the traditional principle of armed neutrality has become obsolete..."

Now, however, with the recent democratization of Batavië and the Intersectionalist revolution in Kryobaijan, Vitland alone remains as a sign of the old Red danger against Cornavian democracy. Many in Southport-on-Sea say that the traditional principle of armed neutrality has become obsolete, and the Wainwright Cabinet seems to have embraced this view in part with its decision to enter the Council of Nations as well as the recent Cornavian policy moves that seem to indicate a desire to establish stronger ties with neighboring powers.

"Cornavian foreign policy has traditionally had a regional, Scanian focus..."

Cabinet Chancellor Joanne Wainwright's recent visit to Franken seems to indicate an interest with the EDF memberstates. Still, even with armed neutrality put aside, Cornavian foreign policy has traditionally had a regional, Scanian focus, and the EDF is an Europe-wide actor with interests beyond those in Scania. If the people calling the shots over at the Cabinet Hall and the Claridge House want closer ties with the EDF, case-to-case cooperation seems to be the best available option.

Also, there's the wild card of the Hertha Accord. However, many in Southport-on-Sea consider it an extension of Tyskreicher foreign policy. Tyskreich, in turn, is seen by Claridge House and Parliament insiders as being too belligerent for its own good, and certainly the developing regional power appears to be bent on using its foreign policy as a tool of Tyskreicher internal politics. It's easy to observe that this would conflict with the established Cornavian interests of regional security and democracy, though this might change if the Hertha Accord manages to establish itself as a responsible political player.

"Whatever its choices will turn out to be, Wainwright and her Cabinet appear to be working towards at least reformation of armed neutrality."

Whatever its choices will turn out to be, Wainwright and her Cabinet appear to be working towards at least reformation of armed neutrality. With the Council of Nations membership, the policy has by the very least become armed non-alignment, and this school of thought might become more prominent in the future. Given the increasing pace of Cornavian international involvement, armed neutrality appears to have been at least partly replaced with armed non-alignment, a situation of Cornavian international activity that regardless tries to avoid entanglement with the major alliances.

The suggestion that Cornavia should seek partners and allies among those not drawn to either of its region's dominant alliances is a popular one, but one hampered by a limited selection of choices in this regard. Therefore, it is likely that the development of relations between Hertha Accord and the European Defense Federation will be what will define Cornavian foreign policy in the long run.

In addition, one shouldn't discount the effects of Cornavian domestic policy. Though discourse on the fate of armed neutrality has grown steadily since the ending of the Tyskreicher communist regime in the 1990s, Cornavia's traditional stance of foreign policy still finds many supporters among all parties. The opposition met by Wainwright and her Cabinet in driving through their new policy moves certainly serves as an indicator of this.

Gerard Halmstrom is a Doctor of Civic Sciences with a specialization in International Relations from the Sebastian Quintaine University of Southport-on-Sea, a former lecturer of the Commonwealth School of Diplomacy and a former Secretary-in-Chief of the Ministry of External Affairs. A winner of the 2005 Dryden Award on Civic Sciences, Halmstrom presently acts as a free writer and political commentator.

On Friday, be sure to tune into a live show of A Telescope into Europe on CNBC 24H at 21.00 GMT. With our own Clyde Anderson hosting guests including Dr. Halmstrom, Members of Parliament Stephen Wright (Com.), Charlotte Levinson (Com.) (the Chairwoman of the Parliamentary Subcommittee on External Affairs) and Lisa Needham (Reg.) (the Chairwoman of the Red-Green party) as well as Professor Andrew Connington from the Whitehaven Academy's Institute of Foreign Policy, the program will focus on the topic of armed neutrality and the ongoing currents of European international diplomacy.

 

[Confederal Republics]

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SOUTHPORT-ON-SEA - Parliament ratifies treaties with Franken upon Wainwright's visit

On Friday, the Commonwealth Parliament voted to ratify a set of treaties agreed upon by Cabinet Chancellor Joanne Wainwright (Com.) during her visit to Nürnberg, the capital of the Kingdom of Franken. Wainwright along with officials from the Central Council of the Cornavian Chambers of Commerce met the head of the Franconian government, Minister-President, count Peter Solms.

The Parliament ratified three different agreements in total: The Agreement on Bilateral Trade between the Kingdom of Franken and the Commonwealth of Cornavia, the Agreement on Academic Co-operation and the Agreement on Policing and Justice. Commonwealth President Charles Breckenridge (Com.) is expected to authenticate the agreements with the Great Seal of the Commonwealth upon his return from his summer holiday on Monday, marking the formal approval and putting into practice of the 2010 Nürnberg Treaties.

The combined scope of the three agreements established between the Commonwealth and the Franconian government entails reduced trade tariffs, enhanced support for industrial and economic ventures carried out jointly between companies from the two countries and other provisions intended to increase the Cornavian-Franconian trade ties, as well as cooperation between academic institutions and schools and cooperation between the police and prosecutorial agencies in the two countries. Included in the latter is an extradition agreement, which however comes at the condition that individuals extradited to Cornavia for what would otherwise be capital crimes may not receive the death penalty. Ministry of Justice officials say that this will necessitate the establishment of agreements between the Commonwealth and those Cantons which use the death penalty.

Though the ratification of the treaties occurred as a matter of routine thanks to the majority enjoyed in Parliament by the Commonwealth Party, it was preceded by heavy debate among the Members of Parliament. Stuart Fenwick (Lab.) took a stance against the Nürnberg Treaties, warning that closer collaboration with Franken could risk the Commonwealth's relations with its Tyskreicher neighbor. These objections were echoed by other Labour and Red-Green parliamentarians.

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea - Belmontien Foreign Minister Jean-Jacques Villevan meets with Minister of External Affairs William Fenner (Com.) in Southport-on-Sea
Southport-on-Sea - Six are wounded as a Southport Raillink commuter train derails in the suburb of West Fenton, removal of the derailed train to bring traffic interruptions along the Northeastern Raillink for the day
Whitehaven - Eastern March Telephone Company sued by a civil rights association on handing over details of customer P2P use to copyright advocates
Redcastle - Redcastle Muslim Community Center imam Said al-Wabrouk to face a deportation back to Hajr after his residence is revoked by the Immigration Agency for "extremist agitation" in the mosque
Port Harlaw - Eldfell Energy announces plans to fund gas and oil prospecting by the Farpoint University of Engineering and Mining around Harlaw and Saltcliff
Farpoint - The "Farpoint Six" receive ten-year sentences for membership in a proscribed terrorism organization and multiple firearms offenses, Nordic separatists issue statements of protest