This… Is Worldwide One, news and entertainment straight from the heart of San Dorado!
CoFoR: MESS Handling Of Byzantine Question 'Utterly Tactless'
"Utterly without tact and consideration", is how a spokesperson for the Commission for Foreign Relations described the MESS alliance has chosen to handle the eviction of the Byzantine Empire from its ranks. "This is a vivid example of exactly how not to handle a thorny situation like this. It is understandable that some might feel that the 'Byzantine Question' needed answering, but to so bluntly burn ones bridges, during a world summit intended primarily to resolve lingering issues between MESS and CATO no less... No, I would not be surprised at all to see diplomatic schools around the globe use this incident as a prime example of how not to handle a sensitive matter like this for many decades to come."
USDLP To Build Underwater City
Preliminary designs for the underwater base, clearly drawn by a hysterical and overambitious engineer.
The University of San Dorado and La Palma has announced plans to begin construction of an experimental underwater city later this year. The submersed hamlet will take the shape of a number of pressurized domes built on the bottom of the Orizaco Bay, linked to the mainland with either tube lines and mini submarines.
According to a university spokesperson the goals of the project are twofold: “first and foremost if we could extend our fair cities to the bottom of the sea that would solve the immense problem of space scarcity here in San Dorado. But the project would also be an opportunity to study how humans perform when they spend prolonged periods in relatively confined spaces surrounded by a hostile environment, something that might come in handy with the space program.”
Initially the city to-be will be populated almost exclusively by university researchers, but if the project turns out to be a success the settlement will be expanded into a fully functioning underwater community. The city as of yet has no name, but the university has named its ambitious submersed experiment ‘project Rapture’.
Sabika To Join Frequesuan Economic Community
The Sabikan Republic is set to join the nascent FEC as its third member. President Henry Kalawi of Sabika signed into law a treaty to that effect that the Sabikan Parliament ratified earlier this week. “I fully believe this treaty will bolster our economy and ensure the future prosperity of the Sabikan people”, Kalawi said in a brief statement.
Sabika is the third country after Indhopal and the North Frequesuan Trust to join the Economic Community, whose professed main goal is “preserve peace and liberty and to lay the foundations of an ever closer union among the peoples of Frequesue through economic cooperation and integration”, according to the organization’s official statute.
Some liberal pundits have already called the FEC the ‘spiritual successor’ to the now-dead Frequesuan Treaty Organization. “The FTO wished to be a military alliance first, and an economic entity second. What they didn’t understand is that military power flows from economic strength, not the other way around. This economic community is a far better way to uplift our continent”, wrote one prominent blogger.
Marine Energy Plant Inaugurated
Chairman Rory Lorenz today officially opened the Fallston Marine Energy Factory, an experimental tidal power plant park just off the coast from Fallston. The facility generates energy by harnessing the power of the tides and simultaneously acts as an artificial breaker for Fallston harbour and the nearby CATO and NFN fleet facilities.
The higher density of water, 832 times the density of air, means that tidal generators can provide significant power, particularly off Fallston where powerful undercurrents are prevalent.
According to the chairman the tidal park, a USDLP project made possible with subsidies from several large corporations, is a sign that the Second Wave Electrification Project is about to pay off. The project is an ambitious plan to overhaul Coilerburg’s ailing electrical infrastructure to effect a move away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy sources.
Other elements of Second Wave Electrification include the construction of three nuclear powerplants with help from the UCSR, the erection of a massive sea-based wind farm by MacMillan Multipower, and a prestige project aimed at building the continent’s first commercially viable fusion reactor in Rotherburgh, again with help from the UCSR, widely considered to be the world’s leading experts on fusion research after the success of the COMMUNE-1 reactor.
Legal Experts Agree: FNT Void
The North Frequesuan Trust is not beholden to the Frequesuan Neutrality Treaty. This conclusion is drawn by San Dorado-based law experts Stromberg, Anderson & Gerrard. SA&G were contracted by the Syndicate to conduct an impartial legal investigation into the matter after the NFT’s decision to join CATO caused confusion in international diplomatic circles. Membership of the international alliance broke several key aspects of the treaty, principally those forbidding signatories to allow foreign influence upon the continent.
“But”, explained Mark Anderson of SA&G, “whilst it is true that San Dorado did ratify the treaty Coilerburg never did, and neither did the NFT. Moreover it is our conclusion that the Treaty of Incorporation voids the NFT of responsibility to uphold any treaties signed by its members pre-incorporation relating to fields whereover the NFT has overruling jurisdiction, excepting those specifically mentioned in the Treaty of Incorporation. Since the NFT has overruling jurisdiction in all matters relating to foreign affairs and the Neutrality Treaty is not mentioned in the Treaty of Incorporation, the NFT cannot be held accountable to it.”
Commenting on the conclusions of the SA&G study comissioner Duquesne (CoFoR), currently in Cascadia for the World Summit, nevertheless reaffirmed that the NFT remains committed “to the underlying principles” of the treaty.
Grand Easterly Ceremoniously Re-Opened
In Halisbad, Coilerburg representatives of Sabika and Coilerburg today celebrated the re-opening of the ‘Grand Easterly’ railway. “A historic occasion” according to historians. The railway, connecting Halisbad in Coilerburg to Saffronburg and then Mar del Plata in Sabika, was originally built in the 1920s but fell into disuse after relations between Sabika and Coilerburg steadily worsened from the 1960s onward.
Large parts of the railway were blown up or otherwise sabotaged during Iler’s War, rendering the tracks unusable, but a joint NFT-Sabikan initiative saw the old railway restored. Currently only one set of tracks is usable, with another following early next year. The Grand Easterly is links the rail networks of Sabika and Coilerburg and will be used to efficiently move both freight and passengers across the savannahs of north-eastern Frequesue.
Many see the restoration of the railway as symbolic for the steadily improving relations between the NFT and Sabika. Certainly with the Sabikan entrance into the FEC the railway will play a key part in the economic integration of the region.
NFS Varuna To Greet Virtue Of Courage
NFS Varuna during a visit to Farbanti, Shroomania
The legacy gun cruiser and training ship
Varuna will sail out to meet the PeZookian
Virtue of Courage tall sailing ship on the high seas when it is bound for Frequesue, the North Frequesuan Navy confirmed.
Virtue of Courage, a sailing ship of the PeZookian navy, is set to embark on a journey around the world, and will be the first sailing ship to cross the Pacific since the times of the Great Discoveries.
Varuna is a venerable antique, a ship constructed by the Shroomanian Navy just prior to the Second World War and sold to the Mahrata Navy of Tanstaafl in the late 1940s. It and its sister ship
Vayu served in active duty until the formation of the CNFN, whereupon they were transferred to a duty as training ships.
New Assault Carrier Christened
Under the watchful eye of Miratian and NFT officials Mrs. Elizabeth Lewiston christened the assault carrier NFS
Adventure today by smashing a bottle of Vineyardian champagne against its hull.
Adventure, the fifth ship of the name serving in the San Dorado and subsequently North Frequesuan navies, is the first of two
Millennium class amphibious assault carriers currently under construction by Blues Brothers Steel & Shipping. She is slated to begin a year of trials sometime next month. The ship is notable in many respects, but perhaps mostly for its networked system of laser point defences, weapons of Byzantine manufacture.
“She’s a beauty, a fine ship” said Mrs. Lewiston, the wife of Captain Benedict Lewiston, formerly of the destroyer
Adventure and currently chief of operations at Port Regal fleet base.
SinTEK introduces Biomonitoring Chip
Biotechnology corporation SinTEK has introduced the Mk I biochip on the market, an electronically readable subdermally implantable microchip that will monitor a patients vital signs in order to help prevent a wide range of health hazards including strokes, several forms of cancer, high blood pressure, blood clotting and heart attacks.
According to a spokesperson for the megacorporation the biochip “will greatly help patients stay healthy by providing them with accurate feedback about their health, and has the potential of greatly reducing the number of unnecessary fatalities due to unnoticed ailments”. The company is working on an in-body chemical dispenser tie-in which will automatically release substances like anticoagulants, blood pressure control statins or aspirin into the blood stream as soon as the biochip detects a potential health hazard.
Several PeZookian conspiracy magazines have objected to the chip already, calling it ‘the Mark of the Beast’ and ‘the beginning of the Shroomwellian Society’.
Rocket Authority Announces Manned Orbital Laboratory
The North Frequesuan Rocket Authority, the civilian branch of the Rocket Forces, have announced plans to launch a ‘manned orbital laboratory’. Developed together with Ralson Aerospace the MOL is to be a space station where astronauts will conduct zero-gravity research “for industrial purposes”.
Ralson Aerospace has for some time been hesitant to involve itself in the building of space stations, citing concerns over profitability as a main concern. When asked what made them change their mind CEO Jenny Ralson commented that “times are changing. High-precision zero-gravity manufacturing is a potentially very interesting market, one we should do well to investigate before others monopolize the market. And besides, the Rocket Authority is paying us well.”
According to preliminary specifications MOL is slated to be launched aboard a Lucrelance III rocket, which is capable of lifting a maximum of 33 tons into low earth orbit, but the system would be fitted with standard docking hatches to facilitate easy expansion of the laboratory with multiple modules. Rocket Authority plans further call for resupply by automated Carnegie transfer vehicles and crew rotation by regular Silver Streak and Silver Star flights.
[OOC: That's pretty much it for me for the coming week. I'm off packing bags and such now. See you all in May!]
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- PeZook
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