Yenchin wrote: He turned back to the leaders, "On the alliance, besides the cooperation of trade, education, and crime prevention, perhaps we can further the alliance into the cooperation of underwater surveying, for resources. On a more conservative note, I'm also considering military cooperation in the Pacific, such as the increasing problem of illegal sea activity."
MariusRoi wrote:Pan Pacific Conference
The Alaskan Delegation had been noticeably quite up to this point when suddenly a loud snore was heard to emanate from the Alaskan President, loud enough to wake even himself up.
"Wha?" was his first response after coming to consciousness.
Stephen only gave a slight look to the Alaskan President before turning his attention back to Yenchin and Leighton. "I'm not opposed to cooperation in surveying underwater for critical resources or matters of trade, education, and reasonable practices relating to crime prevention. But beyond some joint training to enhance ability to protect shipping on the seas I cannot support tighter military relations beyond day-to-day intergovernmental agreements such as my government had for a time with Serenity. To commit to any full military alliance is to counter decades of Cascadian military neutrality and, today, would be giving more support to Zorian expansionism in Veleria than I or the Cascadian Senate are prepared to give."
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Cascadian Navy confirms sinking of Kida was deliberate attack
BREMERTON, OLYMPIA - Cascadian Naval authorities have announced the findings of the crew of the CRS Puget Sound, a Cascadian Salvage/Recovery ship that journeyed to the Kida's last reported position. After 10 days of searching underwater drones have located the wreck of the Kida which was lost with all hands after a mysterious explosion nearly two months ago while en route to Rangatara from San Dorado. The last panicked radio message of the container ship said a "series of explosions" had rocked the ship.
The Puget Sound's technical experts and other shore-based sources have attributed the explosions to torpedo hits, stating that the damaged hull of the ship showed "clear signs" of "direct torpedo hits". "No less than two torpedoes, probably three, went off under the waterline, one beneath the keel. The blast under the keel was responsible for breaking the ship in half and explains why the crew failed to get to the lifeboats."
According to the Navy, the remains are being recovered by remote-controlled drones to be brought to shore for DNA identification before being handed over to families of the deceased. There are no current indications as to who sunk the ship, particularly as the vessel was clearly not Zorian and was far from the current area of pirate submarine activity.
1st Court of Appeals upholds lower court ruling in Burley case
VANCOUVER, OLYMPIA - The 1st Court of Appeals in Vancouver has upheld the lower District Court ruling in the case of John Burley and his daughter Mayuko, age 12. John Burley is fighting a request by Zorian authorities to have Mayuko brought back to Zoria, the home of her deceased mother Himiko Burley, to be raised by her maternal grandparents, who won a case in Zorian courts to have custody granted to them. Burley has admitted to authorities that he and Mayuko slipped out of the country the night of the court-ruling with the help of a friend with Trans-Pacific Air Freight Ltd., stating he believed his daughter had a right to live "a free life as a Cascadian citizen, away from the prying eyes of the Zorian police state". The Appeals court did not deign to respond to charges on either side of the bias of either the Zorian courts or of the 5th District Court in the case, merely upholding the ruling made by the lower court.
Despite arguments from Zorian authorities and their legal counsel that the court ruling of the Royal Zorian Judiciary was in the best interest of the child and that Mr. Burley acted inappropriately, 2nd District Court Judge Janice Call ruled last October that the father had the stronger claim to custody of his child and that "the ruling of the Zorian court, while certainly a factor in any ruling this Court could make, is not by itself sufficient to overturn Mr. Burley's right to raise his daughter". Judge Call did not make any reference to the accusations of bias by the Zorian court against Mr. Burley, merely stating that Mr. Burley's right to custody was greater than the maternal grandparents, but that has not stopped Zorian counsel from accusing Judge Call of "bias against Zoria". "Judge Call, as a card-carrying member of the Church of Christ, was clearly biased against Zoria because of our tolerant multi-religious society", one member of the team, speaking on the condition of anonymity, charged. "We will investigate whether similar religious prejudices influenced the Appeals Court or rather they were simply motivated by other considerations."
When asked about the legal basis of the case, the Zorian made their position clear: "Mr. Burley is a kidnapper and the ruling of the Royal Courts was a sound legal decision. Mayuko Sagamoto (the name of the girl's mother's family) is a subject of His Majesty King Leighton and it is the responsibility of the Cascadian nation to have her returned to her homeland and the Sagamoto family." The Zorian did not state whether or not kidnapping charge proceedings in Zoria would commence against Mr. Burley, a move that the Burley attorneys of Schatten & Miller believe is possible in an attempt to have Burley jailed as a result of the likely extradition request and thus paving the way for the Zorian authorities to press Olympian state officials to turn Mayuko over for return to Zoria.
Schatten & Miller is also petitioning the Appeals Court to grant a further injunction against Zorian officials and government agents from approaching John and Mayuko Burley or being within a mile of her school, the Burley home, and the road in between. They cite a fear by John Burley that officials may try to seize his daughter at school or elsewhere and have her put on a plane back to Zoria. An official at the Zorian consulate in Seattle considered the charge "utterly preposterous". "It is a sign of Mr. Burley's paranoia and intense pathological hatred of my country. Unlike him, we have complete respect for the Law."
Jan Torgensson, acting as Ambassador since the deadly Embassy bombing in Adams killed Ambassador Kanagawa, has said that the decision will be further appealed to the 1st Federal Court, the last step in the system before the case would be presented to the Cascadian Supreme Court.
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- PeZook
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