SV News 24

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Sunday 15 Nueva 1583 CE
PoT unveils anti-akhadist campaign poster!

Today Blair Gobnet McLucais unveiled a new campaign poster in the last weeks of the election season in Strathae. She unveiled a poster showing an Akhadist family beating up a gay individual and another one of Akhadists spitting on a women. The campaign poster slogan "Do you want an Akhadist living by you?". This is accompanied by the slogan "Vote PoT to protect real Strathae". The poster was condemned almost immediately by the Clan Progressive Party who have put out a statement saying "Todays poster clearly shows the choices, you can vote CPP for a tolerant , kind Strathae or PoT for a hateful, bigoted Strathae that discriminates against one religion. Do some Akhadists cause problems, certainly but just because some do does not mean all are trouble." Blair Gobnet McLucais in response has defended the campaign saying "This campaign poster highlights the real dangers faced by most people living near Akhadists. I reguarly have supporters from LGBT backgrounds as well as women phone up telling me of stories of them being abused , being called homophobic slurs , being alled names like whore and facing threats of violence from this dangerous community. I stand by these posters and their factual nature. Strathaens should be concerned by the CPP's weak leadership and failure to protect our countries women and LGBT from this extremist bigoted community."

We tried to reach out to the Clan Socialist Party but they have rejected to comment on the campaign saying they want to "campaign on real issues such as the economy, education and public services." Some progressive leaders have called on the CSP to make a statement and called for a progressive coalition against the PoT. Meanwhile several clan leaders have praised the PoT for their "bold and couragious stand against a dangerous community."

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Friday 27 Nueva 1583 CE
Blair Gobnet to "deal with Akhadist threat" after election victory!

Today Blair Gobnet McLucais's Party of Tradition won the Strathaen election with 130 seats out of 229 seats resulting in a 15 seat majority. The election is a devestating blow to Éimhear Dearbháil Scott's Clan Progressive Party which won just 35 seats and the Clan Socialist Party who won just 44 seats. The victory has been declared by pundits to be a rightwards lurch in Strathaen politics which has suffered from terrorist attacks over the last 5 years. Blair Gobnet McLucais has promised to eliminate Akhadisms influence within Strathae.

The victory rally has featured a 'Burn the Setgvek' event with a huge bonfire and over 20,000 supporters joining in with the burning of the Akhadist holy book. This move has been roundly condemned by the Clan Progressive Party and Clan Socialist Party.The party has announced the cabinet will be selected in the next week before the Clan Assembly is sworn in by the King and Blair Gobnet McLucais is sworn in.

Blair Gobnet McLucais has announced her programme for the Assemblyship.The programme has been announced to be as follows:
1:Act to deal with Religious extremism, hate speech and bigotry.
2:Extension of residency approval referendums to non clan areas
3:More respect for Brezhighist values and scaling back of laws against orthodox and ultra-orthodox
4:A rebalancing of the economy to a centrist economy
5:Extra powers for security services and police to deal with growing terror problem
6:Reinforcement of Strathaen Values

The first act has been revealed to have been completed ready to pass parliament in the first 2 weeks having been developed over months. The act was revealed to press with the main points being the following:
Protection against Akhadist and Religious Extremism Act(PAAARE))

Section 1
1.1: Immigration will henceforth onwards be banned from akhadist pluarity countries
1.2: Flights will henceforth be banned to and from Akhadist pluarity countries
1.3: All Akhadist citizens on visas in the country are subject to conditions placed on new visas
1.4: The akhadist full face covering garments are to be banned in all public places and subject to a fine set by the government
1.5 :Upon any security services or polices request Akhadists must unveil to allow for I.D
Section 2
2.1: Akhadist temples and religious buildings are to be monitored for extremism
2.2:Any religious organisation promoting such extremist positions and statements shall be banned from operating,or banned from receiving any state funding,holding organised community events and having tax exempt status.
Section 3
3.1: Security services shall set up a extremist preachers and religious leaders list of people who have said extremist statements.
3.2Any speakers or religious leaders on the list shall be banned from preaching in Temples or leading any religious building,event or holding down a public sector job.
3.3:Any Akhadist known to attend temples of extremism are to be monitored by security services
3.4: Any person found guilty of hate crimes shall be stripped of citizenship automatically upon conviction if born abroad
3.5 Extremist statements or positions shall include sexist,homophobic or transphobic words or positions including in relation to gay marriage or women's rights.
3.6 The Religious Extremism Police of Strathae(REPOS) shall be set up to monitor Religious extremism ,investigate at random or upon tip-offs religious temples or preachers and administer the List of Religious Extremists.

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Friday 20 Dein 1583 CE
Blair moderates after meeting with Honarine Peltier

Today Blair has announced a moderation of policy after meeting with Honarine including a moderation of the PAAARE bill due to go through the Clan Assembly. The moderation comes after talks between the two national leaders about their relationship and criticism within Eskkya for The Alternatives governments ties with the Kingdom of Strathae. The moderation is to affect the social as well as legal aspects of the policies and bills.

The first major change announced is the part requiring a veil ban for Akhadist veil. While it will still be legal for individual public funded places to ban religious symbols it will no longer be compulsory to do so allowing places to set their own policy. However public funded places will be banned from requiring an Akhadic veil. The second major change is in the hate speech code, deportation will not be allowed to be the first option unless the person already has two offences on their criminal and anti-social behavior record already. However fines for hate speech will continue to rise to 18,000 Copars ,36,000 Copars and 72,000 Copars respectively for the 1st , 2nd and 3rd offences with deportation being compulsory on the third recorded offense on ones record.

The third major reform is that organisations supporting the reform of Akhadism in sphere of LGBT rights and womens rights will be funded to tackle any extremism in the religion. The government will work with good Akhadists to promote a "Strathaen values Akhadism" that meets Strathaen values of tolerance and equality and liberal values. The groups will be funded for activities working with the education system, youth and affected communities as well as in providing support systems for LGBT and women affected by Akhadist violence or forced marriage threats. One major change is all visa holders will be required to go to weekly classes on Strathaen Values for a full 5 years to integrate into the culture as opposed to 2 years at present. The changes have been touted as major reforms of her bill and agenda on dealing with the problem of Akhadist extremism. The new bill is to read as follows.

Protection Against Religious Extremism Act(PAARE))

Section 1
1.1: Immigration will henceforth onwards be banned from akhadist pluarity countries
1.2: Flights will henceforth be banned to and from Akhadist pluarity countries
1.3: All citizens on visas in the country are subject to conditions placed on new visas
1.4: Religious garments or symbols may be banned by the administrators in all public places or publicly funded places and subject to a fine if such bans are broken or may be allowed to eject the individual on such grounds.
1.5 :Upon any security services or polices request any person must unveil to allow for I.D
Section 2
2.1: All religious buildings and organisations are to be monitored for extremism
2.2:Any religious organisation promoting such extremist positions and statements shall be banned from operating,or banned from receiving any state funding,holding organised community events and having tax exempt status.
2.3 The government shall be required to fund programmes focused on reforming extremists, tackling religious extremism and promoting LGBT and womens Rights in religions. An Anti-Religious Extremism Fund shall be funded by a 2.5% tax on all donations to religious groups and shall be put towards community engagement, programmes to protect LGBT people and women from Religious extremists and to promote Strathaen values and a Strathaen Identity. A Community Engagement officer shall be present in every town or political subdivision.

Section 3
3.1: Security services shall set up a extremist preachers and religious leaders list of people who have said extremist statements.
3.2Any speakers or religious leaders on the list shall be banned from preaching in religious buildings or leading any religious building,event or holding down a public sector, security or education job.
3.3:Any person known to attend religious places where extremism is known to be preached are to be monitored by security services
3.4: Any person found guilty of hate crimes shall be stripped of citizenship automatically and fined upon third conviction if born abroad. The first 2 offences shall result in fines. The fines shall be set by the government every year.
3.5 Extremist statements or positions shall include sexist,homophobic or transphobic words or positions including in relation to gay marriage or women's rights.
3.6 The Religious Extremism Police of Strathae(REPOS) shall be set up to monitor Religious extremism ,investigate at random or upon tip-offs about religious building, organisations or preachers and administer the List of Religious Extremists.
Vote in Voice of Goldecia. You decide!

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Monday 16 Treizen 1583 CE
Akhadic Society placed on Extremist Orgnisation, Preacher or Person list(REOPOP)!

Today the courts placed the Akhadic Society on the Religious Extremist Orgnisation, Preacher or Person list after evidence was provided by REPOS indicating the the organisation has extremist links and rhetoric including rhetoric that is homophobic and sexist. The conservative Akhadist organisation boasts on its website homophobic statements such as opposition to gay marraige and lgbt adoption and sexist statements such as ideas of womens role being in the house to provide for their husband. The extremist rhetoric was not the only concern as REPOS linked the Akhadic Society to recent bombers and terrorists within Strathae based on communications. The Akhadic Society were allowed to present their side.

REPOS today commented to the press saying "We are incredibly proud to have listed the now proven extremist group on the list. The group has been promoting homophobia and sexism through its statements and links with known extremist preachers and has been acting as a 5th column advocating Akhadic laws that are not in line with Strathaen Values. We will now take steps to limit the activities of this extremist organisation within Strathae. We will use all our powers available to us to restrict the activities of the Akhadic Society. We will furthermore bar any public funds going to the group or any event it is involved in, remove all tax breaks and bar any group receiving taxpayer funding from working with the Akhadic Society. We will ensure no pubic money goes to the group in any way. Furthermore we will monitor groups working with the Akhadic Society and proceed with cases against these groups if possible as well as proceeding with cases against members or partners of the Akhadic Society where appropiate."

Blair Gobnet McLucais was asked for comment and said "I fully support the hard working REPOS and back their decision 100%. I have full trust they have acted in a fair and transparent way. The Akhadic Society were allowed a defence and took up the opportunity to do so and lost. This is justice being served against a dangerous group in our country." We will update you if any more developments occur.

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Monday 9 Dein 1587 CE
Neassa MacLabhruinn's PoT Agenda on Religious Extremism announced

Today the PoT policy comittee voted in a variety of policies on religious extremism into the new party policies. The party released a statement today saying "Religious extremism is a growing problem with many homophobic and misogynistic religions such as Akhadism, Sentrecism and a variety of Messianic branches remaining with some influence. Despite recent attempts to discourage hate crime including hate speech remains at a level that is too high for society to be safe. Evidence has shown that the biggest drivers is Akhadics, Sentrecists and Messianic people. We can only conclude following the homophobic and misogynistic religions is a threat in itself as the attitudes will inevitably spread.That is why we will seek new measures related to employment and immigration in order to help solve these issues and make Strathae safe again."

The new policies are to be centred around two main planks with other policies to be included.
1:All religions doctrine to be investigated for Misogyny and Homophobia and listed if any is found such as seeing homosexuality as a sin.
2:Listed religions followers to be banned from immigrating except in the case of Eskkya and Lomarre where treaties do not allow for this.
3:Listed religions followers to be denied visas upon renewal to lower the level of Akhadic and Sentric populations to acceptable levels as close to 0 as possible.
4:Listed religion followers to be denied any job in organisations or projects that a publicly funded with all publicly funded organisations being required to sack any listed religion followers
5:Any non-publicly funded organisations to be required to list the percentage employees that are followers of the listed religions

Neassa MacLabhruinn in announcing the proposals that would take place next year if her party is elected said "We believe these are not only options but essential to protect Strathae from dangerous foreign outside imported homophobia, misogyny and bigotry. We will not stand and watch while these negative influences remain and a fifth column remains. We will also seek a merger with the CNP in order to allow for a strong government focused on law and order and Strathaen values."

The Clan Socialist Party have refused to comment but the Clan Progressive Party said in response to the announcement "We will oppose the new renewed extremism on the right. We are all united in our opposition to homophobia, misogyny and bigotry but we cannot fight bigotry with blanket bigotry. We must work with these religions to help them reform in a more progressive manner while allowing freedom of religion like we currently do and only go after those actively displaying such bigotry." The CPP have vowed to fight an election as the moderate centrist force and a party more focused on developing outside relations. The Clan Socialist Party are rumoured to be split on the best approach with some calling for a "moderate approach" while others support a "no tolerance approach" to homophobic, misogynistic and bigoted religions.

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Wednesday 4 Dosa 1589 CE
Aer Strathae brought by Luft Wurberg group

Today Aer Strathae has been brought by Luft Wurberg in the groups latest acquisition in the region with the government approving the merger despite competition concerns promising monitoring of prices to ensure that there is no exploitation of the consumer where there is a monopoly status on the route. The Luft Wurberg group owns Eskair among other airlines in Brignadia.The move has come as a surprise to analysts given its predominately Hughes Aeronautics and Sorosame 88 fleet and its profit of $100 million out of $2.6 billion revenue. A low percent margin for an airline carrying 13.4 million passengers a year in its 120 strong fleet.

The move is expected to come with efficiency savings, a switch to SL aircraft over the long term and reform of how routes are done possibly using bigger aircraft on certain key routes with less flights though plans so far have not been unveiled. It has also not been revealed if some flights for minor airports outside Kathmore International Airport where base costs are higher will continue to be maintained. Several times already the idea of moving all operations to Kathmore has been suggested by experts in the past. The aqcuisition is expected to significantly change the landscape of aviation in Strathae. Currently 13.2 million out of 35 million aviation arrivals and departures are Aer Strathae and the company is the only major Strathae carrier. Suggestions for a possible future for the airline range from efficiency savings and investment into more longhaul services to a full merger under a new brand name with Eskair though for now the airlines new owners have not yet commented or released a strategy document only saying they are reviewing all options for the airlines future.