[Xiomera]

Regional news: Sunemia

Upcoming elections: Osaina

In Osaina, the Progress Party has dominated in the past, with a multiracial coalition. However, with populism surging in Osaina, Progress is holding an extremely narrow minority government with 36 seats, versus the Conservative Front with 34 seats. The biggest race is in District 19, where incumbent Lin Markwood, a progressive icon who was the presidential candidate for Progress on 2018 and the chair of the Progress Coalition, the national organization for the Progress Party. But District 19 is changing. The Conservative Front won it 52.8% to 47.2% in 2018 in the second round of voting. The Conservative Front of Osaina is heavily targeting Markwood, but experts note that pro-incumbent sentiment is very strong in Osaina.

(information excerpted from the Sunemia Chronicle)

Regional news: Maraix

Maraix wins legal bid for independence in Laeral's High Court

Marking a capstone to a lengthy legal battle, the people of Maraix have triumphed in their bid for independence from Laeral, after a ruling in that country's National High Court.

The National High Court in Laeral ruled that it does not have jurisdiction over Maraix, rendering this decision: “Though the Municipal and Provincial courts handled civil filings related to the sale of the Maw Island, the establishing of land trust encompassing Maw Island its surrounding territory, and the incorporation of the HOA, the High Court recognizes that it did not actually have the jurisdictional authority to do so. Further, the High Court cannot rule on the contents of the CCC&R, as the documents must be filed in a court holding jurisdiction over the matter. It stands to reason, based on the evidence and documentation provided, that no court in Laeral holds this jurisdiction.”

In a statement issued to residents of Maraix, the president of the island's association, Karen Kreider, said that the ruling means that "Laeral recognizes it doesn’t have jurisdiction over the island, as it agrees our historic founder was neither a French citizen nor native to High Fells."

With Laeral's High Court seeming to confirm that Maraix does not fall under their jurisdiction, and the government of President Liu Mei-han also seeming disinclined to contest the issue, the residents of Maraix are celebrating their joining the ranks of the IDU as its newest nation-state.

Series: The changing face of Huenya

A house divided, Huenya diverges on two different paths

Despite a major military offensive taking place against the occupied city of Zapotlán, in which Xiomeran and Iskirami forces have brought Huenyan and allied forces under siege, the civil war in Xiomera seems likely to end not on the battlefield, but at the negotiating table. Both sides have agreed to talks hosted by the government of Laeral in the city of Jinyu. The future of what was once the Xiomeran Empire seems likely to be determined by discussions by two utterly opposed sides, as a clear divide is emerging.

In the western lands of what was once the Empire, a radically different state from its predecessor is rapidly emerging. Now dubbing itself the Huenyan Federation, the separatist state in the west seems increasingly determined to rid itself of any vestige of the old Xiomeran state. The physical and obvious symbols of the fallen Empire - flags, signs, statues, and such - are reaching landfills in the new Huenya at a dizzying pace. The reformed security forces, now dubbed the Federation Armed Forces and Federation Police, are already beginning to sport new uniforms and insignia. Institutions named after figures from the Imperial past are undergoing name changes at a rapid pace. Freed from centuries of Xiomeran supremacy, the people of the western half of Huenya are not wasting any time dispensing with the symbols of their past rulers.

The former Xiomeran Empress, Yauhmi, has dropped the title of Empress, now calling herself the Cihuātlahtoāni - the historic title of female rulers, one that was translated as "empress" when Xiomera adopted Western terms to describe its Empire and its rulers. Shedding both the ideology of the Xiomeran Empire, and the trappings of empire as a whole, Yauhmi has chosen to fall back on the original meaning of her title - Great Speaker. Her son Texōccoatl, abandoning the title of Crown Prince, is now calling himself the Cihuacōātl - a historic title of someone who was deputy to the ruler. While the titles have reverted to ancient ones, it doesn't appear that the plan for Texōccoatl to succeed Yauhmi as ruler has changed.

What has changed is that the Cihuātlahtoāni no longer rules alone. A Huenyan Assembly, made up of the leaders of all of the Huenyan tribes, now calls the shots along with Yauhmi. Their impact is already making itself felt. Once planned to be an empire similar to Xiomera, the Huenyan state is now rapidly moving along the path to becoming a federated state, with substantial autonomy for each region and a much greater helping of democracy than previously expected. Huenyan leaders are even floating the topic of possible elections once the issue of the pesky civil war is concluded.

What remains at question is whether or not what is left of the Xiomeran Empire will join Huenya on its path towards a more equal and democratic future. Xiomera itself, reduced to a rump state in the east of Huenya, and now having given up Manauia Island as well, shows no signs of giving in. Along with her new military offensive, the ruler of Xiomera, Calhualyana - who has no qualms about continuing to use the title Empress - has been taking measures to boost her support within Xiomera. While Xiomera still censors the media, DTNS reporters have managed to obtain reports of massive arrests, led by the Xiomeran secret police ASI, rounding up both supporters of the deposed Emperor Xochiuhue and anyone still supporting Yauhmi, as well as any dissenters in general. Xiomeran media campaigns are now encouraging Xiomeran citizens to report anything, or anyone, they deem suspicious or anti-Xiomeran to the government.

The new Xiomeran Empress has also embarked on a massive campaign to boost her standing among the Xiomeran people to go with the massive arrests. Her government recently announced that it was reintroducing the social security system that had been offered under Yauhmi, only with a catch. Renamed the "Loyal Citizen Support Fund", the social security system will grant monthly stipends to all Xiomerans provided that they have a high enough "social credit score", a national reputation system which will use multiple factors to assess a Xiomeran's loyalty to their Empire. The message being reinforced by the power of Imperial quetzals is that Xiomerans who are sufficiently loyal will be rewarded - and the disloyal, not.

Along with the suddenly free-flowing largesse from the new Empress, a campaign to completely discredit the old one is underway. Throughout Xiomeran cities, Calhualyana has been giving speeches denouncing Yauhmi as someone who abandoned Xiomera, split it in half to form an entirely new country, and threw her own people under the bus. Where she was once loved as a reformer, Yauhmi is now being labeled as a traitor. While public opinion in Xiomera is notoriously difficult to gauge, especially from the outside, it appears that the anti-Yauhmi campaign is gaining at least some steam. Support for Yauhmi within Xiomera itself, which had plunged following her announcement that she was disavowing the Obsidian Throne, appears to be even lower now. The rapidly progressing "de-Xiomeranizing" of the west has also angered many people in what is left of the Empire, as it is seen as a direct attack on their traditions.

Calhualyana has been using this to her advantage, presenting herself as someone who loves Xiomera and wants to preserve it. The new Empress has also been promising to raise Xiomera to even greater heights than before, even if she has to dispense with half of the old Empire to do so. In a nation that has suffered from both civil war and a battered economy, her promise of future glories has a seductive and dangerous appeal.

As the two sides of Huenya, one still defiantly Xiomeran and the other just as defiantly opposed to everything Xiomera stands for, continue to diverge down two separate and widening paths, it is unclear what possible agreement they can come to in Jinyu. The negotiators there will have a major task ahead of them.