Olympus RPG Blog

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE EMPEROR

The Holiday List for year 1123 will be delayed by a period of at least two weeks due to unforeseen circumstances related to the Emperor’s health and schedule. As reported previously, His Royal Majesty’s planned tour of the historical Sylean Worlds was postponed due to illness but has since begun, which by necessity prompted a delay in His additional duties. The Office of the Emperor expects the delay of this year’s Holiday List to be no more than 30 days and next year’s to be on time.

POROZLO TODAY / 347-1122 / Staff Writers

Global debt rose to a record 329 quadrillion in the fourth quarter of 1122, more than 70 quadrillion higher from a decade earlier, according to an analysis by the Institute of Planetary Finance.

Among mature markets, household debt as a percentage of GDP hit all-time highs in Anisinta, Hauvania, Morovic, Nemso, Turin and Zenerabi. That’s a worrying signal, with interest rates beginning to rise globally. M’Dwailei and New Dalmatia are the only major countries where household debt as a percentage of GDP is below 50 percent.

Still, the ratio of global debt-to-gross domestic product fell for the fifth consecutive quarter as the world’s economic growth accelerated. The ratio is now around 317.8 percent of GDP, or 4 percentage points below the high in the third quarter of 1121, according to the IPF.

Among emerging markets, household debt to GDP is approaching parity in Vyben at 94.6 percent.

POROZLO TODAY / 325-1122 / Staff Writers

ANJILIAC CITY – Count Para Anjiliac sought to push back Tuday on news reports that “chaos” has enveloped his court, saying that staff turnover and turnover are part of the normal course of business.

He also warned that more dismissals may be on the way but offered no comment regarding the unverified reports that his security forces were recently involved in arresting multiple members of his bureaucracy on Nemso Orbital three days ago.

“People will always come and go,” the count’s spokesperson said in a morning briefing with planetary media. “His Excellency has insisted that he desires a strong dialogue before making a final decision, but maintains that he will exercise his rights under Imperium law to dismiss those who are not proving their worth.”

Later in the day, during a joint news conference with the prime minister of Nemso, Count Anjiliac again dismissed the idea of staff turmoil and said he will not have any trouble filling all of the positions that have opened up within his court.

Staff turbulence has been a regular feature of Count Anjiliac’s administration since he assumed his fief in 1101 Imperial following his father’s demise.

Most recently, twelve crewman and officers serving aboard one of the count’s personal starships were taking into Imperial custody for unspecified crimes although experts close to the investigation indicate that they were jailed on espionage-related crimes. This marks the fourth such arrest in the last ninety days, prompting experts to suspect the long-simmering cold war between Count Anjiliac and Countess Varin Arabella of Rhylanor is once again flaring up.

MADUA NEWS / 325-1122 / SAKHILE NDLAZI

LACK of law enforcement lies at the heart of the drug scourge that has taken root in Lesser Madua and North Beach, with concerned residents claiming drug dealers continued unhindered because peacekeepers did not stop them.

This was the feeling expressed during a Regional Drug Meeting held in North Beach yesterday, where local councillors, NPOs, churches and concerned community members discussed the drug crisis and its impact on the city.

The meeting is part of an initiative to establish regional and local drug action committees across the province. Councillor Masello Mahwayyi claimed the metro peacekeepers showed no initiative in fighting drug use. As a result, the community had lost faith in them. When peacekeepers did act, she said, they focused on “catching the small fish” – drug users, rather than the “big fish” – drug lords and drug sellers, suggesting corruption was at play.

“The peacekeepers know exactly who the dealers are, and even who their big bosses are, yet are protecting the drug dealers because there is something in it for them,” she said.

She pleaded with law enforcement agencies present at the meeting at Landfall Hall to set a good example and lead the anti-drug fight in the city.

Recovering tempest addict Tebogo Makobe, said that when a dealer was arrested with a user he was set free, while the user was detained.

MMC for Health and Social Development Sakkie du Plooy said the aim of the local action committee’s task was twofold: to provide children and parents with information to prevent drug use, and to help users find the support they need. “We are using a community-oriented primary care approach, the Community Oriented Substance Use Program (Cosup) could become a model of effective best practice.

“This approach is making Nemso a global leader in community-based response to the care and treatment of people who use drugs.”

Cosup was founded in 1120 – eight sites are operational across the greater Madua area. More than 2500 people are enrolled, with 450 on medication to help them reduce and eventually stop tempest use.

ANJILIAC CITY, 324-1122. The latest round of peace talks between representatives of the Free Commerce and Private Ownership blocs ended in failure yesterday following a bitter dispute centered around the nature of reparations.

At the heart of this ongoing disagreement is the Republic of M’Dwailei’s continued insistence that the Almarac Federated States return the island Tychon which the AFS seized during the recently ended war, as well as pay for damages incurred. The AFS continues to insist that the seizure took place legally and has petitioned for further redress in Rhylanor courts.

Count Anjiliac, who has made establishing a planetary governing body one of his primary objectives, is claimed to have threatened both representatives with execution by fusion gun in the closed session for their continued belligerence, but this report remains unverified. Facing staunch opposition by Free Trade bloc representatives, his latest resolution to establish a ‘Global Security Council’ was voted down.

Notably, the Democratic Republic of Digloiotti and the Stepozhevac Union sent no representatives to these rounds of talks. Both nations are members of the Private Ownership Bloc but are currently engaged in a regional border dispute that experts fear may spill over into open war.