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

[Polesia]

পররাষ্ট্র মন্ত্রক
Ministry of External Affairs

All acts of terrorism are condemnable and the People's Republic of Vangala sincerely hopes the hostages are freed successfully and the vile criminals responsible are apprehended and punished appropriately.

 

[Confederal Republics]

Ministry of External Affairs
Commonwealth of Cornavia

Again, the Cornavian people wishes to relay its thanks to the Seven Republics and other members of the international community who have expressed their sympathies.

Regards,
Mr. William Fenner,
Minister of External Affairs

 

[Serenierre]

Foreign Office

This act of terrorism cannot be condemned enough, The Kingdom of Belmont stands in solidarity with our friends in Cornavia. Furthermore, The kingdom sends its condolences to the families of those killed and sends its prayers to the families of the hostages for their safe release.

 

[Confederal Republics]

Ministry of External Affairs
Commonwealth of Cornavia

Again, the Cornavian people wishes to relay its thanks to the Belmontien people for their expressions of sympathy.

Regards,
Mr. William Fenner,
Minister of External Affairs

 

[Confederal Republics]

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SOUTHPORT-ON-SEA - Proscribed political groups, sympathizers protest against the National Security Act

As the 2011 Parliament Elections approach, proscribed radical groups and their sympathizers protest up in Southport-on-Sea's Oldtown calling for the abolition of the National Security Act of 1953. Among other things, the Act allows the Ministry of Justice to proscribe political groups "acting to change the Constitution to abolish the system of democracy, or otherwise working against the principles of the Constitution and the Commonwealth", in effect barring them and their members the ability to take part in electoral political activities with the exception of voting.

Both leftist and rightist groups as well as Nordic separatists timed their demonstrators to occur on the 1st of December, primarily in Landing and North Park which house the Commonwealth's key government buildings. The largest event of the day occurred at Westings Square in front of the Commonwealth Parliament, where Communist groups accompanied by Red-Green Youth as well as free speech advocates and Järnmark Freedom Party members held a rally attended by some three thousand people protesting the proscription of leading groups CPC-M, CPC-PV, M13-S and JFP under the aforementioned National Security Act of 1953. According to the Metropolitan Police thirteen people were arrested for various reasons during the demonstration, including disturbing the peace and carrying items suitable for violent acts.

Järnmark Freedom Party also held a march gathering up to a thousand people in Farpoint, where the organization is campaigning to be allowed entrance to the elections of the cantonal legistlature. The march was allowed to go ahead in spite of the heightened terrorist alert, even though it took place under extremely heavy police security.

In a smaller event, a hundred members of the neo-Maxwellist Anglo-Saxon Front attempted to march from the Westridge Hub Station towards Oldtown, but the march was cancelled by police after a violent confrontation broke out between ASF members and several hundred anti-fascists gathered to oppose the demonstration. Several people were wounded and 50 arrested during the incident, which saw the police use batons, tasers and less-lethal shotguns to break up the fights. Minor damages were also inflicted upon parked vehicles and storefronts.

A surprise attendant in the Westings Square demonstration was Member of Parliament Catherine Benedict (R-G), who expressed her solidarity with the campaign against the National Security Act. "The government's so afraid of the left because we, and those of us barred their right to take part, represent the voice of the disenfranchised", Benedict said in a speech, "The continued use of the National Security Act, a 1950s throwback, and the propaganda campaign of tying us with the violent neo-Maxwellists also the targets of these laws, which only demonstrates the fear the Southport-on-Sea elite has for social justice and progress that the working-class movements continue to profess.

Traditionally, proscribed groups and human rights advocates have increased campaigning against the National Security Act ahead of the Parliamentary elections, from which they are banned from participating. However, major parties and Cabinet officials continue to express support for continuing the National Security Act, which has been in force for 60 years in 2013. In fact, some politicians including Republican chairman Lawrence Anderton have called for the tightening of the National Security Act in response to growing support for left and right-wing radicals. "President Quintaine said that the Fifth Freedom of our society is the right to act in the defense of democracy", Minister of Justice David Connington commented, "I think that we still need to reserve the right to defend our freedoms against dangerous and potentially violent groups, especially seeing that their folly can be unfortunately witnessed in a number of European countries where they're in charge."

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea - Authorities throughout the Commonwealth "will maintain COMSEC RED" at least for the duration of the week, says Cabinet Chief Security Advisor Christine Collins while meeting with GSMP senior leadership
Southport-on-Sea - Cornavia "will not" join the Northern Council's unified currency zone within foreseeable future, says Minister of Treasury Jonathan Samuels but does not rule out involvement in the NC free trade area
Whitehaven - Stratton Microsystems makes deal to finance a 4G mobile technology research unit at the Whitehaven University of Technology, company to get exclusive rights on new technology developed in the unit
Cresswell - 22-year old student stabs dorm neighbor to death after the latter spams him with "several hundred" messages to join his "mafia" in a browser-based social networking site game
Coleridge-Anston - Military Policemen arrest six anti-war activists for attempting to trespass into a Winter Storm maneuvering exercise area
Farpoint - Negotiation contact is established with Colton Ridge Oil Refinery hostage-takers, terrorists release catering and security personnel, but identities and numbers of remaining hostages are currently unspecified

 

[Confederal Republics]

24 Hour News​

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REDCASTLE - Controversial Professor arouses discussion, calls "corporate involvement main hindrance to Cornavian academia"

Discussion has been stirred in the Cornavian academic scene after Professor Emeritus Jon T. Braddock, former head of the Faculty of Civic and Social Sciences at the Cantonal University of Eastern Crownland, released his later non-fiction piece How much is knowledge worth in coin? The 370-page book contains a critique of the practices used by Cornavian universities to attain funding, and particularly criticizes the role of private corporations and corporate interest groups in operating and funding institutions of higher education.

During and after his time in the CUEC, Professor Emeritus Braddock has been a renowned scholar primarily in the fields of sociology and social policy, and has written multiple books and academic articles primarily concerning Cornavian and European welfare systems and the roles that public and private actors play in these. Therefore, his latest work builds on that tradition but instead directly concerns the higher education system, a topic which Braddock has not explicitly discussed yet.

"The problem's most glaringly obvious among private universities that get funding either directly from corporations or indirectly through corp associations, but also with public universities, something that is often ignored", Braddock said in the release event of his book. He claims that though public universities gain a certain amount of base funding through Commonwealth and Cantonal governments and tuition fees, more often than not their freedom to gather additional funding has "created a twisted situation where institutions with already existing resources will nevertheless seek to acquire more, which in turn creates a competition for corporate funding among the Cornavian academia." He advocates greater public funding of universities to remedy this.

The core thesis of Prof.Em. Braddock is that because corporations often fund universities with the intention of gaining graduates as potential employees and gaining first-user access to economically viable research date, the current model of university funding is turning Cornavian universities into "teaching into production facilities for corporate vocationalists instead of academics, and research into extensions of companies' research departments risking academic neutrality." He cites numerous practical examples: Cornavia's smallest university, the Cantonal University of the Northolts keeps its Center of Marine Biology up and running with financial grants from oil firm All-Cornavian Energy, while tech companies such as Stratton Microsystems are leading sources of funding for the nominally-Cantonal Whitehaven University of Technology.

In response to discussion stirred by the publishing of the book, Minister of Education Mr. Edward Wordsworth has been quick to deny the accusations made by Braddock. "On the contrary", the Minister of Education said when Labour Party chairman M.P Stuart Fenwick asked a question on Braddock's books on Parliament floor, "I'd say that by allowing and encouraging universities to attain funding from parties of our society, we are guaranteeing them with a diverse base of support that encourages neutrality. The assumption of universities entirely funded by the state is a Communist one, and would only lead to a system where political favor instead of academic merit decides which universities get the Sovereigns and you end up with commissars out to make sure that the professors do as the government tells you to."

Catherine Lynley, Rector of the Cantonal University of New Sutherland and the chairwoman of the Association of University Rectors, also criticized the book released by Professor Emeritus Braddock.

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea - Cabinet to bring several Northern Parliament acts for ratification in the Commonwealth Parliament during the next week, says Minister of External Affairs William Fenner
Southport-on-Sea - Commonwealth Museum of Cornavian and Scanian Art, Cantonal Universities of Farpoint and Iron Islands, team up to begin a special exhibition on indigenous art of the Sevet minority
Southport-on-Sea - Customs and Excise Agency pays back annual tax returns accorded to nearly fifteen million Cornavian citizens and residents
Snowgate - Minister of Justice David Connington calls an unspecified delay in the execution of Nordisk Frihet member Einar Stenberg, connections to hostage crisis under way in Farpoint are denied by officials
Whitehaven - Municipal and Cantonal officials eye Whitehaven as the site of the first-ever Great Council Meeting of the Northern Council, assure officials of the city's safety in spite of recent Northern terrorist incidents

 

[Confederal Republics]

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SOUTHPORT-ON-SEA - Wainwright says Cornavia "will opt out of" the Northern currency for now

As the Northern Parliament prepares to pass the so-called Single Currency Procedure Act, a set of legistlative reforms paving way to the development of internal markets within the Northern Council, Cabinet Chancellor Joanne Wainwright has stated that currently the Commonwealth intends to opt out of the joint currency. The announcement comes after the Aren government announced its intention to enter the joint currency, a gesture likely to be followed by several other Northern Council memberstates.

Cabinet Chancellor Wainwright spoke before Parliament today, delivering commentary interpreted as part of the Commonwealth Party's drive in the next year's upcoming Parliamentary elections to address concerns expressed by the public over the foreign policy that has been implemented by the Wainwright Cabinet. According to Wainwright, Cornavia intends to "opt out of the Northern currency" but would fully participate in the internal market of the Northern Council. Cornavia already grants the memberstates of the Northern Council extensive visa and tariff privileges, which have been cemented by recently passed Northern Council legistlation such as the Freedom of Movement Act and the Single Currency Procedure Act.

"I can assure the members of this Parliament and the Cornavian people that this Cabinet has no intention whatsoever of relinquishing our financial independence", Wainwright spoke, also adding that "The Cabinet is well aware of the controversy and questions its foreign policy stirs in the Cornavian people, and endeavors to meet those questions with proper answers and policy." She pointed out the need to draw satisfying compromises between "direct and specific" Cornavian national interest and the need of developing Northern Council as a viable political block, but emphasized that "making compromises with national interest does not mean making compromises with national independence."

However, boreoscepticists in the Parliament were not amused by Wainwright's statements, and Republican chairman Lawrence Anderton accused the Cabinet Chancellor of "running a policy of appeasement". "With all due respect to the Honorable Cabinet Chancellor Wainwright", Anderton spoke out to applause from fellow Republican MPs, "I think that this talk of compromises coming at a time ahead of the elections and growing popular favor for the Republican Party reeks of damage control, and that if the Cabinet were interested in our national independence they'd run a very different foreign policy!"

Northern Council issues have been in particular light with the public as Whitehaven prepares to receive the first meeting of the Northern Council's Grand Council of representatives appointed by memberstates. The meeting, which is centered at the Whitehaven Executive Convention Center is expected to be accompanied by heavy security due to the ongoing terrorist threat and announcements of numerous demonstrations which are to take place in the city. On Wednesday, the Parliament is set to vote on ratifying the Northern Parliament Freedom of Movement Act and portions of the Single Currency Procedure Act.

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea - Minister of External Affairs Fenner issues a travel warning for Cornavian citizens in Belmont and Coronado after heightened regional tensions and removes nonessential embassy personnel
Southport-on-Sea - Red-Greens, Communist organizations intent on staging sympathy demonstrations for Coronado amidst rumors of an armed confrontation between the two Southern powers
Whitehaven - City authorities laud a boost to Whitehaven's reputation as Northern Council prepares to undertake the first meeting of its Great Council in Whitehaven, urge cooperative attitudes from citizens as for security measures
Bremerholm - Archaeologists uncover believed 9th century Viking mounds with significant historic objects outside of Bremerholm
Hartsburg - Tobacco company Bennett&Myers wins lawsuit against 55-year old female lung cancer patient in the Greater Hartsburg Civil Court, woman's lawyers to take the 10 million Sovereign lawsuit to Cantonal level
Haven - Memorial for 18th century Arctic explorer and colonizer Captain Terrence Northolt, for long accused by some of cruelty against natives in the Northolts, blown up by suspected Sevet activists

 

[Confederal Republics]

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WHITEHAVEN - Conference of Whitehaven gathers the Northern Council into Cornavia

Cornavia's leading business city of Whitehaven will for the next week or so also be the center of attention of Northern Europe, as the Conference of Whitehaven gathers the Great Council of the Northern Council into its first-ever meeting in the city. High Representatives of all the Northern Council's memberstates are to be in attendance at the meeting, in addition to the organization's Secretary-General Hans-Erik Rasmus of Batavië.

The agenda of the meeting is expected to span standing questions related to the expansion of the Northern Council as well as the implementation of the recently passed Single Currency Procedure Act and the Freedom of Movement Act, two legislative pieces considered to be among the most important ones passed by Northern Parliament, but also the recent matter of the ongoing military conflict between Belmont and Coronado based on rumors from Claridge House and sources in the Batavian government.

In Southport-on-Sea, the Conference of Whitehaven has been considered a major opportunity for the Cornavian government. "We're looking at this with satisfaction", said the Cornavian Northern Council High Representative Ryan Conway upon arriving to the country from Hilversum, "It is a sign of trust in us from our friends and partners in the Northern Council that Cornavia got to host the first assembly of the Great Council, and it highlights our vital position in the organization." These sentiments have been echoed by the City of Whitehaven, which has used the Conference to promote the city to governments and possible investors within the Northern Council countries.

Due to the recent terrorist incidents in Northern Cornavia and the continued maintenance of the COMSEC RED alert level, the Conference of Whitehaven has been accompanied by heavy security measures. An operation under the command of the Commonwealth Constabulary involving over fifteen thousand policemen, Home Guard volunteers and regular members of the Armed Forces is at full swing in the city, and portions of Whitehaven have been placed under movement restrictions. The extensive security effort has drawn criticism from the opposition and locals in Whitehaven.

At the same time, over twenty thousand demonstrators are expected into Whitehaven for the duration of the conference. The opposition Republican Party, which has campaigned against the Northern Council ahead of the 2011 Parliament elections, plans to hold an election rally in Whitehaven during the conference. In addition, the boreoscepticist League of the New Lightbearers as well as numerous environmentalist, anti-globalization, trade unionists and radical leftist groups have announced their plans to stage their own events.

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea - Cabinet Chancellor Wainwright invokes the Defense Conditions Act to empower Navy to lead neutrality patrol 'Operation Bulwark' in response to the outbreak of the Belmontien-Coronadic war
Southport-on-Sea - Anti-war groups and leftist political organizations announce their intent to stage demonstrations against "the Belmontien attack on Coronado" on Monday, thousands expected to gather in Southport-on-Sea
Whitehaven - A snowy Christmas and -10 degree temperatures expected throughout the country by the Whitehaven Weather Institute
Whitehaven - The Commonwealth Cantonal Court of Eastern March begins reviewing the industrial espionage charges against 22-year old Vangalan Amardev Sandhar, trial is conducted amist high security measures
Coleridge-Anston - Exercise Winter Storm concluded with "satisfactory" results by Commonwealth Armed Forces
Bolton - Military-assisted rescue personnel in the search for the wreckage of a three-passenger propeller aircraft gone missing in the Awl mountains after sending in a distress call

 

[Confederal Republics]

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SOUTHPORT-ON-SEA - Senior MP's comments stir controversy on future alliance policies

There's more fuel in the fire of the election debates on the future of Cornavian foreign policy after Member of Parliament Charlotte Levinson's (Com.) latest installment of her "Musings from the Fifth Floor" blog has been met with controversy by leading politicians and political pundits. Levinson, who chairs Parliament's Standing Subcommittee on External Affairs, commented on changing European alliance dynamics and the Belmontien-Coronadic war in her blog's most recent update.

In the center of most controversy have been her opinions on the Frescanian-Suionian Karlskrona Accord, and what has been interpreted by some as an advocation of the organization in stating that "the states in it operate from an almost identical ideological basis as the Commonwealth itself", and that should Cornavia relinquish the standing post-war policy of armed neutrality "we'll have as many options on our table as possible" with the advent of the Karlskrona Accord. In addition, Levinson spoke against closer association with the EDF on the account of differences in focus and a lack of "ideological echo" and against military association with the Northern Council.

Particularly controversial has been a section on the Batavian government that Levinson included in her commentary, where she quoted an unspecified Armed Forces general as saying [when he joined] " the range targets were dolls of Batavian soldiers. I'm not quite sure that we're entirely ready to give up our lives for them, and that goes vice versa too." and saying that the NC memberstate still had a way to go.

Though M.P Levinson's statements occur as expressions of her individual views, they've stirred plenty of controversy among the major parties. Fellow partymember and Minister of External Trade Mary Fieldman-Wilcox was quick to criticize Levinson for "unwarranted sowing of discord within the Northern Council" and calling her to stay "with the party line". At the same time, Republican chairman M.P Lawrence Anderton also seized upon Levinson's comments. "It appears that in her unwarranted globalophilia Cabinet Chancellor Wainwright has lost sight of the ball. A timely metaphor this time of the year would be to say that when you see that the lake's become frozen, it's for the best to try the ice a bit before stepping to it", Anderton said in an interview with the Whitehaven Times.

At the same time, Levinson met sympathy from some commentators, who congratulated her assessment of the Karlskrona Accord's growing international importance. Colonel-General (ret.) Timothy Carter, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces between 1998 and 2004 and a current freelance security commentator, backed Levinson's assessment on Batavian development, saying that "it's nearly the same people still running the show, the only thing's different is that De Graaf and his closest lackeys are gone."

With alliance politics and external policy in general turning out to be one of the key topics in the forthcoming Parliamentary elections, slated to occur on January 30th of 2011, the alliance politics are expected to continue as a hot potato. Cabinet Chancellor and Commonwealth Party chairwoman Joanne Wainwright is yet to comment on her party comrade's commentaries or the response to it.

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea - Labour Party chairman Stuart Fenwick says he will make "provision of increased education opportunities for poorer kids and youth" a key political point in his party program
Southport-on-Sea - Anti-war demonstrations take place against the Belmontien government, several held by Metropolitan Police militant communists throw rocks and red paint at the Belmontien embassy
Bremerholm - Experts worried about an increase in hate crime after a report by Ministry of Justice Criminal Research Institute shows a 7% increase in racially motivated hate crime in comparison to 2009
Whitehaven - Whitehaven Stock Exchange's indexes continue to be on a drop as uneasiness over the Belmontien-Coronadic War and blockade delays affect exports and shipping business
Whitehaven - Country's biggest game company Next Level Entertainment says it will release new "blockbuster" FPS Resistance on partisans in the Great War in time for "the Christmas market", alongside other scheduled titles
Plessley-on-the-Rocks - Manhunt in progress after a New Sutherland Canton Constabulary traffic officer is shot and killed by an unknown assailant after pulling him over for speeding
Bolton - Rescue officials call for the families of the three aviators missing in the Awls to "prepare for the worst" after four successive days of unsuccessful search operations

 

[Touzen]

Bureau of Media and Entertainment of the Imperial Ministry of National Cultivation and Education

Should Next Level Entertainment seek to distribute Resistance within the Empire of Greater Oikawa, the Bureau of Media and Entertainment seeks to acquire a test copy to verify reports that the game could potentially include sections that could be considered objectionable under the Degenerate Arts and Anti-Revisionism Bill of 1956. Especially sections situated in virtual representations of Touyou could potentially require changes for the Oikawan market.

 

[Confederal Republics]

Marketing and Public Relations Division
Next Level Entertainment

Next Level Entertainment is happy to provide the Oikawan authorities with such a test copy, specifically of a localized version translated into Oikawan and intended for release within the Touyou market with compatibility for personal computer and network standards in use within Oikawa and other memberstates of the League of Free States. Our company works to assure that its products are accessible in as many market areas as possible.

The game Resistance has been made by Next Level with courtesy and respect towards the sacrifices of millions of Cornavian men and women in the Great War, as well as the men and women of each and every nation that fought during the Great War. Its fifteen levels of realistic military action, implemented with the advice of real-life partisan and military veterans as well as historical advisors, set in Cornavia and the other battlegrounds of warfighting countries in Scania and Germania. Fifteen weapons of the time are accurately modelled, in addition to several military and civilian vehicles.

Regards,
Mr. Jonas Hague,
Director Marketing and PR Division,
Next Level Entertainment

 

[Confederal Republics]

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SOUTHPORT-ON-SEA - MoD, General Staff gear up for a Cabinet Defense Review 2011

Even though it's still nearly two months to the 2011 Parliament elections, officials at the Cairns House and Fort Westings have already set to work in anticipation of the future Cabinet's planned commissioning of a new Cabinet Defense Review. Both the Commonwealth and Labour Parties have stated that they intend to commission a new Review after the elections in the event of a victory in order to set the tune for the near future of Cornavian defense policy. The most recent Cabinet Defense Review was held in 1995.

"The fact that two out of three major parties have promised a new Defense Review makes it almost certain that there'll be one, and it will also be more significant since the 1995 Review because then all that happened was a reaffirmation of existing policy, whereas now we are dealing with a situation when a traditional Cornavian enemy no longer exists", said an anonymous Ministry of Defense official interviewed by the CNBC. However, MoD and General Staff sources have indicated that a Cabinet Defense Review is still unlikely to change the way the Armed Forces operate in a major way, owing to the existing but vaguely reduced risk of conventional military conflict.

"I think that the main change we'll see is ditching the current assumption where Cornavia fights alone against a multitude of superior enemies", said Colonel-General (ret.) Timothy Carter. According to Carter, it is more likely that CDR 2011 will place greater attention on threats "in the Cornavian interest zone, but not immediately in our borders" and that more emphasis will be placed on cooperating other states in the region, particularly Northern Council memberstates. When asked what he considered to be the greatest threats to stability in the Scanian region, Colonel-General (ret.) Carter identified political instability in Oelar and Drakun as well as possible attempts by the still-communist Kryobaijan to try and exert greater regional influence.

Analysts say that because of the continuing European geopolitical situation, defense cuts are unlikely to be proposed. Instead, it is likely that the Cabinet Defense Review will propose changes to add to the deployability of units in the Commonwealth Armed Forces, which is also likely to change the dynamics between the volunteer and conscript portions of military manpower. At the moment, the so-called Commonwealth Rapid Deployment Force of readily deployable volunteer and volunteer reservist units could put to deployment about "six brigades and their support units" while the remaining twenty-one conscript and reservist brigades cannot be deployed abroad expect in the event of a full war as defined by the Defense Conditions Act. While experts say that it's unlikely that the said brigades would need to be deployed at the same time, they point out that such a small amount of useful units will mean very short rotation periods for the deployed units.

However, bolder changes to the system are unlikely to come as long as the often-discussed policy of armed neutrality remains intact. Considering the extent to which alliance policy of even non-military angles has been a popular topic for the parties preparing for January's elections, the Cabinet Defense Review is almost certain to touch matters of alliance politics. Alliance discussion has so far focused in Cornavia's existing commitments within the NC and the Council of Nations. While the implications of civil alliance policy in matters of defense is yet to be touched upon to a significant degree, at least Commonwealth and Republican parties are believed to be siding with NC and bilateral involvement respectively in affairs of defense.

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea - No official reaction from Commonwealth Cabinet or General Staff on controversial readiness drills carried out in Batavië, but individual politicians and Chamber of Commerce officials criticize "lack of transparency"
Southport-on-Sea - Cabinet Chancellor Wainwright to meet with Aren Prime Minister Björnsen to seal a deal on Aren state-owned firm StatOil's development of oil and gas fields in Northern Cornavia
Southport-on-Sea - Threat-making between Karlskrona Accord and European Defense Federation members over naval commerce in the middle of the war between Belmont and Coronado creating uneasiness for maritime commerce and export
Whitehaven - Commonwealth Court in Eastern March to issue a verdict in the Amardev Sandhar espionage case during the next week amidst heavy media and Cornavian Vangalan attention
Bolton - New Sutherland Canton Constabulary releases details of a 36-year old "armed and dangerous" suspect in the killing of a traffic police officer this week, Commonwealth authorities providing assistance in ongoing search
Farpoint - Ferry service into the Iron Islands, Old Pyke and the Northolts interrupted by heavy blizzards

 

[Confederal Republics]

24 Hour News​

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SOUTHPORT-ON-SEA - Once again, the winter holidays get a political slant to them

Even though over 30% of Cornavians don't profess to any religious affiliation whatsoever and only 5% of members of Christian churches are said to be regular weekly church attendants, the Winter Holidays, Christmas, Yule or whatever one wishes to call it continues to be the most popular Cornavian festivity. As such, it's not a surprise that once more matters related to the festival have become subject to political and religious debate among Cornavians.

This year's round of obligatory Christmas debate in the media started out when M.P Corinne Haynes (Com.) also the chairman of the Cornavian Union of Freethinkers, criticized the secular Holiday tradition long enforced in Cornavian schools in a post to her online blog. "I think that pretending that these cultural traditions do not exist is dangerous in the modern multicultural society that we've found ourselves in", Haynes writes in her blog, proposing that instead of the present "secular one-size-fits all" celebrations the schools should hold events "showcasing religions of their students and the appropriate winter events from Eid-ul-Adha to Hanukah to Christmas." The Supreme Court ruled in 1984's "Eastern March vs Catterick" that school festivals are included in the nondenominality requirements enforced by the Commonwealth Constitution.

Indeed, Haynes' comments were quick to draw criticism from both the traditional secularists of the political elite including her party comrade Minister of Education Edward Wordsworth in accusation of "trying to compromise Cornavian secular values", but also from Church leaders and the Parliamentary Christian Party over what has been described as an attack against the Christian nature of the festival in itself. Republicans including Lawrence Anderton retorted by accusing Haynes and her party of "immigrant-orientated appeasement."

At the same time, the usual suspects of Holiday-season political discussion have engaged in their own antics. Christian Party chairman Alistair Keaton has again filed a constitutional suit to the Supreme Court over the Commonwealth-level policy of nondenominational schooling, this time in the context of an incident where several students of the Alderton Grammar Preparatory in Alcott were banned from featuring religious programs in the school's Christmas festival they were responsible for arranging. Due to a large amount of affirmative verdicts since Eastern March vs Catterick first upheld the nondenominational policy, Keaton is not expected to face much success.

Amidst the annual debate over the secularization of the winter's festivities, the Lutheran Church's senior cleric Archbishop John Pembleton during his today's declaration of a Christmas Peace criticized both the "politicization" of Christmas as well as what he described as "overwhelming commercialism". Unfortunately with politicians and pundits very much at it again, and with Christmas sales expected to go strong in spite of geopolitics-induced economic uncertainty, voices like his are expected to fall on deaf ears.

At the same time, students and workers are busy retreating to starting holidays, and both intercity transport systems and roadways are expected to be heavily congested over the following days ahead of the Christmas Eve.

News in Brief
Southport-on-Sea - "Critical" diplomatic cable recently sent to Batavië by Fenner in connection with recent "nation-shutting" emergency drill, which left in-country investors and officials in Cornavia and Franken not too amused whatsoever
Southport-on-Sea - Community activists petition to city administration for disturbance action as estimates show an increase in drug tourism, special effect on Haslam as a "center of the legal Cornavian drug culture"
Whitehaven - Continuing Northern Council meeting accompanied by violent clashes between the police and demonstrating political radicals, Whitehaven Metropolitan Police reports "several hundred" arrests carried out
Whitehaven - "Long-term consumer mistrust" might be sparked by the ongoing Southern war as it expands with a Carentanian entrance and shipping delays are likely to continue, warns a report of WSX-owned Stock Analysis Group
Bolton - Hunt still out for suspected 36-year old cop killer in the New Sutherland countryside, one believed accomplice caught by constables in suspicion of hiding the man from the search earlier
Holden - Awl mountains skiing hotel for the Arlington Entertainment seizes Christmas mythos by the opening of a "Home of the Santa Claus" theme park