News from Implaria

[Socialist Commonwealth]

Implarian Catholics Protest Invasion of Papal State
Westport Times

Throughout the country, Tiburan Catholics have taken to the streets to protest the invasion of the Papal State by a Remian rebel force. The Pontica Reformed Army was reported to have crossed into the Papal State with armed forces on thursday and announced the end of the "temporal powers of the pope", meaning a dissolution of the papal state in Tibur. The Tiburan Pope was reported to have left the city, though his current whereabouts are unknown.

With the Tiburan Catholic Church currently leaderless, officials of the church have struggled to articulate a common stance regarding the invasion. In the majority catholic state of Kent, protests remained peaceful after church representatives called for calm and coordinated with the Atwood administration to ensure an orderly conduct of protests. In return, the state government tolerated the protests despite the ongoing state provision banning public protest until the election in January.

Meanwhile, other parts of the Implarian States saw riots and mob rule as the Catholic minority took their anger to the streets and out on varying targets. Bishop of Westport Louis Taft had held an evening mass with record attendance on friday, reportedly slamming the invasion as part of a greater conspiracy to destroy the church. Without its temporal powers, Taft argued, the church would devolve into the puppet of "materialistic" powers. The Bishop reportedly stated that it was the duty of every catholic to resist, a statement that was answered by attendants taking to the street in a protest that eventually devolved into rioting.

During the riot, protestors attempted to breach the compound of the Remian embassy, but were repelled by police forces that had been swiftly mobilized. Rioters then dispersed throughout the city, targeting Remian owned stores, but also Jewish property. In particular a Synagogue of the Jewish sect known as Kaplanites was vandalized to the point of total destruction before police could intervene.

President Hart has urged a return to calm, stating that "events across the Thaumantic shouldn't cause Implarians to attack fellow Implarians," while also announcing his government was assessing the situation and would make an official foreign policy statement this weekend.

 

[Socialist Commonwealth]

Socialist Youths Occupy University
Implarian Weekly Review

Fifty members of the Social Democratic Party's youth wing have forced entry into the faculty building of the University of Occidentia, barricading themselves in the building. The act was a protest against the exclusivity of the institutions of higher education, such as the famous Laurel Union university in Westport which it targeted. In leaflets thrown from the top of the building and banners hung from its windows, the young socialists elaborated on their demands.

"A fair chance for working class children is all we want," their leaflets read. No more tuition fees and state loans for students are supposed to make attending college financially viable for their kind. An abolition of upper secondary degrees as requirement and the granting of a general qualification for university entrance upon obtainment of a high school degree are further demands supposed to decrease the class exclusivity of universities.

Neither of these demands are part of the presidential platform of the Social Democratic Party and education reform has not been a priority for their candidate James Strickland. It is clear the demands of the youths are directed less at governing parties and more at their own leaders. Will Strickland appease them? His campaign has not yet commented on the issue.

Meanwhile the occupation ended on the same day as it started: with the arrival of police forces on the campus, the occupants were convinced to surrender and escorted off the premises while being taunted by students of the elite university. So long, proles! But will they return, as students themselves, the coming year? Time will tell...

 

[Socialist Commonwealth]

Book Sparks Controversy
Westport Times

A newly published book by the Henderson University professor Julius Montefiore has sparked a nationwide controversy after critics accused Montefiore of supporting terrorism. The book, titled "The Noble Terror", is a lengthy theoretical essay on the ethics of political violence that unapologetically endorses violence in pursuit of a political goal. Montefiore cites numerous historic examples wherein the assassination of a political figure has advanced the cause of humanity, at least in his eyes.

Opponents of Montefiore have called for censorship of the book and for the Henderson University in Implarian City to distance itself from their lecturer. Neither Western Publishing nor Henderson University have yet reacted to these calls and Montefiore is said to enjoy considerable leeway with both organizations. "He is seen more as a curiosity than as a political actor," a source close to the university commented.

Reviews by major Implarian newspapers, too, have mostly been positive, treating the book less as a concrete call to action and more as a thought-provoking hypothetical speculation upon the topic.

 

[Socialist Commonwealth]

Armed clashes causes fatalities in Kent
Westport Times

The deployment of National Guard forces against protesters in the state of Kent has devolved into a series of armed firefights, leaving several dead over the weekend. Following the assassination of socialist candidate for president, James Strickland, supporters of Strickland and the Social Democratic Party hit the streets in mass protests across Kent, just in the rest of the Implarian Federation. Kents state government reacted as it did to most protests of the last few weeks by enforcing a curfew and a strict ban on public protests, rolling out the National Guard once again to enforce the emergency ordonnance.

While the emergency laws in Kent are controversial and currently challenged in front of the constitutional court, they are still active and enforced. However, unlike with the protests over the death of protesters in late August or the textile workers strikes earlier this month, socialists in Kent seemed unwilling to take the order to disperse their protests lying down and the intervention of the National Guard devolved into widespread rioting and the use of handguns by left-wing protesters was reported from several cities. State governor Atwood commented that he intends to restore calm in his state and that any violence "will be met with uncomprimising force."

Atwood has not commented on the death of James Strickland as to date.