Luthori

[Robert F. Kennedy]

Emperor-King Albert and Empress-Queen Elizabeth set to visit Beiteynu.
The Orange Palace and the Palace of Moreshet announced in a joint statement that the imperial couple would tour all of Beiteynu during a year - meaning that for the first time in history since the 43rd Century - the Luthorian monarch would not reside in Luthori but rather live in another realm.
19th, November 5478

Fort William, Principality of Orange, Luthori - The visit from His Majesty into his other realms would have been something that would have been bizzare to propose when Beiteynu was at war - today it seems that with Prince George coming of age in 5478, the Regency Act could be invoked if - and only if - the monarch see it fits - with his heir assuming most of his duties as the monarch. This is a "gamechanger" as now the Orange Palace has announed that both monarchs - the King-Emperor and the Queen-Empress would go on a tour of their realms during the year. The realm in question is Beiteynu, the Homeland State of Beiteynu - as its official name says. Beiteynu is the "newest" addition to the Luthorian monarch's realm and one of its most controversial one. As Monarch of the Yeudi Homeland, the Meleh (King in Yeudi language) is the Defender (Y: Magen) of the Yeudi People and of the Holy Land. Many people saw this as an obligation for Luthori to enter any war where Beiteynu was attacked - as they are the defender. Yet as we all know, Beiteynu came to war with the United Kingdom of Lourenne and its Union of Canrille - and promptly lost the war against the better Lourennais navy - even seeing most of the Yeudish fleet's aircraft carriers being sunk off by the Royal Navy and the - unpromptly - intervention from the Kundratijan Navy - which also caused a Luthorian utilmatum to be sent to the Kundratijan Embassy to Fort William - and the total collapse of Kundrati's power - in the medium term. But, things didn't go as how many people thought the war would go - become a world war - Luthori's played the "Great Game", under Prime Minister Derby, msotly searching a good balance between neutrality and mostly showing off muscles when needed. This came to light when Luthori sent an ultimatum to Kundrati - for their action against Beiteynu. While Luthori didn't declared war (Kundrati backed down), Luthori mostly was "resented" in Beiteynu for not coming off at their ally's defence.

And that's where the imperial couple comes in. As Luthori's reputation in Beiteynu is quite bad recently, the Imperial Couple will go there to repair, not only Luthori's reputation in Beiteynu, but also the monarchy's institution reputation, as many are now accusing the monarch of having not respected his oath of defending the Yeudi people while they were at war. While His Majesty never abdicated the Throne of Yishelem or never showed sign of doing so, this is likely to be a problem for him when he comes out of the plane to live in the Palace of Moreshet during the next year. But still the Monarch's popularity in Beiteynu remains high, as at least 67% of the population have a good opinion of the Meleh of Beiteynu. The Meleh's presence in Beiteynu may also make the monarchy less of a "unrelated" institution in Beiteynu, as compared during the Gabrielian Era or Ishmaelian Era. For both of his predecessors, the Emperor would give a speech in the Knesset (if the Palace of Moreshet confirms it) giving an eulogy to his predecessors, especially to the late Elias Ishmael IV.

The Royals is a weekly editor who recounts life, scandals and information about the imperial family.

[Robert F. Kennedy]

Emperor grants peerage to Prime Minister Day, according him the title of Duke of Pernigh.
His Majesty, the Emperor has today created by letter patent, the new Dukedom of Pernigh, which should be held by Prime Minister Day and his male successors - as part of "his dilligent and incredible service" towards the Empire. While the Prime Minister has not yet reacted, he will become a full member of the Imperial Senate.
21st, November 5478

Rottingham, Grand Duchy of Erneshire, Luthori - While this isn't excepted, the news comes without caring of it we are prepared or not, as today, Rottingham Palace announced the official list of the Monarch's Honours List 5378, a list of awards given out to people all across His Majesty's realms to reward them with titles and awards for their accomplishments. Many people, the Duke of Derby, the Duke of Threwiford received an award after the end of their premiership, for example, Prime Minister Reynolds or Prime Minister Bennett both received a nobility title after the end of their respective premierships even though their legacy remains controversial (Bennett) or just unheard of (Reynolds). Yet today, Emperor Albert seemed to have decided towards another way, as he just awarded Prime Minister Day - the current sitting Prime Minister - with a peerage, the Monarch stated that "in lights of Mr. Day commitment towards social justice and his tireless work towards rebuilding the Home Territory's economy - His Majesty, the Emperor has decided to award him with the honor of becoming the Duke of Pernigh" - the Dukedom of Pernigh is a new title which was created for the Prime Minister and his family to be the heads of. As the Duke of Pernigh, the Prime Minister would have access to the Imperial Senate - with the Leader of the Opposition, Lord Derby, but would be barred from entering the Imperial Diet, leaving most of the daily government's job to the Leader of the Imperial Diet, while he would defend the government's agenda in the Senate in place of the Leader of the Imperial Senate. As it has been stated, it's not unusual for a Prime Minister to receive a title after his tenure as Prime Minister, but now, it's the first time that a sitting Prime Minister receive a title during his tenure.

While it's merely the first disclosed title given to any political representatives, the Duke of Pernigh and his ministry will continue - according to political supporters of the Labour Party to deliver on their promise of building a welfare state in Luthori.

The Emperor is excepted to grant more peerage during his stay to Beiteynu, for example to Prime Minister Jacobstone or Mr. Aristocrat-Goldbloom, leader of the first party in the land - the Democratic Movement of Beiteynu. Many other politicians, like Andrew Meyer, also received peerages, Mr. Meyer received the title of Earl of Rockingham while other politicians also received some. The former Leader of the Conservative Party in the Imperial Diet, Lord Babington, received the title of Viscount of Marley, while his successor, the Duke of Threwiford, didn't received any but received an award to the Order of the Eternal Crown.

The Times is a foreign policy-orientated newspaper, but also commentating on domestic politics, it's editorial view is considered to be fairly centrist but rightist economically.

[Robert F. Kennedy]

Watford Electronic releases new products to the wider public.
Watford announced from its newly-inaugurated headquarters in Shippington (Shipleyriding) that new brand products would be awailable to the public and the world as a whole - in a matter of a month.
5th, December 5478

Northminster, Grand Duchy of Northriding, Luthori - Last month, the CEO of the Watford Electronic Company, Matthew Bigard (of Lourennais-Luthorian descent) inaugurated the company's newest headquarters in the city of Shippington, replacing the current headquarters in Fort William. This changes in the headquarters' location comes with the current trend of "De-Williamitation", the meaning that most business (at least big business) desert the city of Fort William towards the provinces, while it's a little trend - it's a trend nonetheless. Many companies like the MABC announced moving their headquarters and their reference stock exchange from the City of Fort William to the Alchester Stock Exchange, now that is widely considered to be representating the Eastern Part of the Empire. This trend continued - with, so - the opening of this new headquarters, representating a gradual weakening of the City of Fort William as an economic motor in Luthori, while the Grand Duchies, with their recovery programs favorable towards companies in general. With this trend, the economic power of the capital decreased, but didn't collapsed, as the Fort William Stock Exchange remains the largest stock exchange in Luthori - and most companies remains within the cities - and even companies that left their headquarters in the city for other cities in the provinces, still made their former HQs as a divisional headquarters, which remains a powerful hub for companies and the economy as a whole. Mr. Bigard announced that new products would be awailable to the public in January or February, depending of the location of the store in the world or in the Luthori Homeland. These new products (that will be detailed later in the articles) are new smartphones, headphones and a new laptop. This comes after Mr. Bigard promise of a "renewed" electronic market to his shareholders at his arrival in 5467, and since then, the Watford's R&D team worked tirelessly towards creating new instruments, either alone or in collaboration with other companies specialized in this type of manufacture.

The brand new smartphone unwield during the conference was the new Watford 14 (OOC: Xiaomi 14), which is believed to be a reaction to Watford's competitor, Axning's release of the Axning IX (OOC: Galaxy S24 Ultra), while Axning is making rapid gains at the national and international level, this up-to-the-art smartphone is Watford's attempts at regaining the hold over the smartphone industry and trade, in that aim, the company announced that 12,000 jobs, all around the Industrial Heartland would be created, while in the same time, signing a deal with Invergn's most fierce competitor, Mawell for the sales of processors for their smartphones. While this is likely to drow Invergn away from Watford, according to the leaders of the company, it's a necessary hardship towards propserity. The other product that would be launched next month is the Watford Headphones (OOC: Airpods), also known as "Watphones", these new headphones are working via connection with your smartphone's devise - from any brand - thanks to the Bluetooth. This is hailed as a "good economic" decision from the brand, as no other companies is doing that, making it, technically, the sole company in the world - as of now - producing headphones at a decent level and it might help the company's goals economically. Finally, the last product unwield is the new laptop of the company, called the Watford XVI (Selucian numbers are reserved for laptops) (OOC: Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3) - based on the enormous demand for laptops in Luthori, the company is trying to ride off this storm by allowing its customers to get a new laptop, in fears that they would go towards their competitors.

As the three products are likely to be off next month, Luthori isn't the sole country which will pay attention to these products as exportation is excepted to be high, as Luthorian shipping begin expansion towards other countries, facilitating and fostering trade relationships between Luthori and these countries.

The Market Headlines is a Fort William-based media, talking about economics and trade informations.

[Autokrator15]

Luthori Daily
Humperdinck Media Group
Luthori and Dundorf sign friendship pact, opening both countries for greater cooperation
Former Rontin states grow closer through the treaty as Labour showcases Foreign Affairs isnt foreign to them!

January 5479

Fort William, Luthori - In a strategic move highlighting the global competence of the Labour party, the newly established Labour government has successfully negotiated a groundbreaking treaty with Dundorf, solidifying a promising partnership between the two nations. The agreement encompasses a wide array of areas including trade, cultural exchange, and a commitment to fostering amicable relations.

This bilateral treaty, hailed as a milestone, underscores the astuteness of both governments in recognizing the mutual benefits of collaboration. With Dundorf and Luthori standing as two of the largest economies on the continent of Artania, the accord promises substantial gains through the exchange of resources, goods, and expertise. Moreover, it aligns seamlessly with the broader vision of the Imperial Government to diversify its economic partnerships, thereby reducing dependency on the economies of Lourenne and Beiteynu.

The Labour Party's ascendancy in recent years has been evident, propelled by a combination of economic imperatives and a resolute focus on international engagement. Despite facing criticisms from the opposition regarding their foreign policy stance, the Labour government's decisive action in securing this treaty demonstrates their efficacy and stability on the global stage. This diplomatic achievement not only enhances their domestic standing but also elevates their international prestige, signaling their capability to address the concerns of the Luthorian populace while adeptly navigating complex international relations.

Through this landmark treaty, the Labour government underscores its commitment to fostering prosperity and cooperation on both national and international fronts.

[Autokrator15]

Imperial Business Monthly
Mixed views at corporate giants as Luthorian economy recovers
January 5479

As our economy recovers we look at the corporate giants in our country and see how they are doing. In this issue we look at the Humperdincks and Hexlon Imperial. Two of the most well known companies in our nation.

The Humperdinck-De Witt Group
The Humperdincks have had it hard lately as been told by various insiders. First the recession and the steady recovery of our Luthorian economy has hit them hard. Though not the biggest family business it is one of the best known businesses in our country. Especially the Media Group of the holding is the best known part of the Humperdinck-De Witt family conglomerate. We went out to see what is up with this titan of Luthorian business and see if we could find people on the record to speak to us. And we were able to.

In the last years the Humperdinck-De Witt Family Holding, the overall holding company that controls all the subsets of their family assets, released figures that its various subsidiaries, except Humperdinck Media, had to fire staff left and right to keep afloat. Worrying as this happened directly during the crisis. Though even as the Luthorian economy is recovering the signs of the company hiring people remains out. According to outsiders the company is thinking of ways of better restructuring itself by seeing if jobs can be merged and if some assets can be reformed. This we all got from insiders but we are currently not aware of what is going on. The cuts and reforms are mostly in the Fresh4You and Boulangerie, the food and dining business of the Humperdincks, this is not surprising as the first thing people cut out to save money is luxury foods.

Hexlon Imperial
The greatest conglomerate of the Empire, Hexlon has seen mixed results in their recovery. It is unsurprisingly that Hexlon’s mining operations are continuing to grow and to strengthen. Though their Beiteynu branch is stable, it is less healthy than it was a century before, which is concerning as it helped the company growing. However its deal with Gaduridos to create new opportunities in mining by setting up their own division in the country has helped the country immensely. At least the mining division that is. As we all know the Imperial conglomerate still has various other subsidiaries which are all hurting.

The electric, petroleum and building subsidiaries of the company have not seen great business. With the economy slowly recovering the requests in these branches have seen a slight uptake, but not enough to bring the company back to the levels prior to the crash. The company also faces stiff competition. The crash had one healthy aspect and that is that it made sure that competitors could finally enter the market and bring competition back. Difficult, yes, but most of these small to medium businesses were aided by the local government. This has hurt Hexlon quite. For instance the electric company, Hexlon Electric, owns quite parts of the imperial infrastructure of the electric net. It also has various electric powerplants. With this company they also do electric maintenance and other works related to it. On the latter part they have seen great competition as small competitors are asking lower wages and are more flexible. On the energy front, the call for more green energy, inspired by Lourenne, has caught Hexlon by surprise and though not a lot of competitors are out there its is a gap in the market which Hexlon is already losing.

Socialist laws circumvented
Many companies have struggled with the new socialist laws which require half of the board to consist out of workers. Now Luthorian businesses aren’t stupid and have found ways of either meeting the word of the law but circumventing the spirit of the law or have found real ways of making the effort to establish something that resembles the law. For those who do not know, the Labour government approved a bill that forces companies to have 50% of their board of directors to be employees. Many of the bigger more conservative companies hate this law and have protested against it. The Humperdinck-De Witt group for instance has made the by-laws as such that only shareholders can be in the Board of Directors and thus have named family members or trusted shareholders employees as consultants and elected them to the various boards. In this they comply with the law but circumvented what the law makers wanted to do.

This is different with for instance McClair Tea, Southern Oceans, Hexlon Imperial and various others. These companies have demonstrated that the law can be to their benefit. They have created works councils filled and elected by employees who can give advice, asked or unasked and have the right to approve certain policies that would effect the employees. In this way the workers are consulted on matters that concern them the most as well as give input without allowing them a seat at the table of the board of directors.

[Robert F. Kennedy]

Dr. Linbrow publishes the "Greatest Disease"
Dr. Linbrow of the Imperial Academy today published a new booked called: "The Greatest Disease", this book - anti-communist in nature - retraces the story of an Xsampan immigrant to Luthori.
January 11th, 5379

Fort William, Principality of Orange, Luthori - Luthori's history with both immigration and communism is difficult to say the least - as the political sphere is mostly divided around the issue - yet, culturally, the Empire has for - most of its history - thrived under the anti-communist slogans. While today it's no longer the case, anti-communism remains a great force within the political elite, the population and the influential circles. Immigration on the other hand, was an issue that the far-right always took over for its own political gains - spreading illegitimate xenophobic claims about immigrants and immigration as a whole. While today, the far-right and the far-left are domestically dead, the threat of communism and fascism still hangs in Terra, and this book, written by Doctor Engeling Linbrow, professor at the Imperial Academy, relates the history of one of the victims of communism, his name - for nnow unknown - is one of the mere historical footnotes that forms History, yet, with this book, this historical footnote may now become more apparent to the public's image - which would likely seen the dangerosity of such extremist and violent ideologies such as communism and the importance of "containment" of these ideologies within the world. Dr. Linbrow stated that it was "his upmost honor" of telling this story to the most people possible and the National Review stated that it was a "fine piece of reading, true with their words" giving it a rate of 8.21 out of 10. The Leader of the Opposition also bought a copy of the book, for "personal reasons", as the former Prime Minister is a great fan of reading. Today, with this article, we'll try to tell most of the story in comprehensive ways for the public, as this article is aim at explaining the story and - maybe - encourage people to buy the book.

The protagonist of this story is Mr. [REDACTED], a now Xsampan-Luthorian citizen, but beforehand, an illegal immigrant to Luthori after his flee from the communist nation of Xsampa, when he was born, he was the son of Mr. [REDACTED], one of Xsampa's former bureaucrats - who was purged by the Communist chairman of the Xsampan state [Kesang Ladakh] - in 5459. While he was the son of an hardliner bureaucrat, who thought that the revolution wasn't going too far, he thought differently - he was more linient towards the ideals of Western democracy than of revolutionnary socialism - yet as his father was purged, he was sent to a camp in the mountainous part of the country - for "re-education" methods towards the "good communist thought". During his "trip" within this "reeducation camp", he says that he was beaten, insulted, injured, tortured by his captives - and that's what made him make his decision of trying to escape his prison and this abuse. On October 23rd, 5467, after almost 8 years of capitivity, he tried to escape, and technically succeded - but the bad note was that his father and his siblings whereabouts are unknown - and are still are. He escaped Xsampa for the country of Medina, a fundamentalist country - yet it wasn't there where we wanted to live, he decided to go to Dalibor and after sacrifying all his money - went to Yingdala, where he lived for the next 5 years, working as a construction worker - but at the same time, educated himself with the little he made. After 5 years of savings - he won a ticket for going to Luthori at vacations, this trip was sponsored by Luthori Airlines and approved by his boss. And when he was there, he dedicated himself at never leaving this country, this "Green and Pleasent Land" as everyone calls it. During his stay in Yingdala, he decided to learn Luthorian - for no particular reason - but this helped him greatly while in Luthori. He decided to stay here after receiving an authorization from the Ministry of Internal Affairs (Department of Home Affairs) after studying his case and him completing a test of Luthorian almost perfectly. Now, he founded a small construction company - which was chosen for the completation of the new Fort William - Alchester high speed line.

He stated to Mr. Linbrow that the years between 5459 and 5467 were the most difficlut for him at the personal, physical, and mental level and he stated that the "communism utopia" sold by Xsampa to the world was just an "illusion" created by the regime to solidify its "iron grip" over its population. He also said that he joined the "Association of Friends against Communism and its percecusions" - a small organization of anti-communist and calling for the end of any diplomatic relations between Luthori and communist nations. He stated that he was "happy" to be in a "free, democratic country" respecting human rights in comparaison to the tyrannical, dystopian country of Xsampa, one of many example - according to him of a dystopian country in Terra. The book is excepted to be best-seller due to the truthful and hurtful story that it contains.

The Voice of the Citizens is a right-wing orientated media, reporting religious, social, economic, and political issues, always trying to make the voice of the "Forgotten people" heard in Fort William.

[hopesfor2]

The Progressive Tribune
The Progressive Tribune is a newspaper focusing on the political events at Luthori. Its editorial view is fairly centrist on economics but leftist socially.
"Greatest Disease" sparks criticism and controversy

15th January 5480

The anti-communist book "Greatest Disease", released a few days ago, sparked some controversy within the public, many like it as a truthful story while many others criticize it for being an exaggeration, some left-wing figures also publicly criticized the movie. A look at the Luthorian history on communism would show that the nation, while seen as largely anti-communist in its history, and even though many right-wing groups claim that Luthori thrived under anti-communist slogans, which is not quite the case, saw the far-right abusing this sentiment for political gain, and the left-wing groups tried to counter anti-communism through anti-fascism, which led to extremism from either right or left largely subsiding within the country and the moderate groups have shaped politics since then. Despite this being the case, anti-communism has persisted in many groups particularly right-leaning ones, while left-leaning groups continue to dismiss it as a distraction from more important issues, and the center-left political parties and groups have been largely seen as rather ambivalent towards communism than being strictly pro-communist or anti-communist, with the prominent example being the Labour Party which engages in absolutely no rhetoric about communism.

Those aside, the book sparked criticism from various figures within the Labour Party, which has been the primarly Luthorian left-leaning party since 5413. The "Tough Left" faction, the most radical Labour faction known for its strong left-wing populism, anti-monarchism and anti-capitalism, and for its departure from the party mainstream of social democracy and ambivalence towards the monarchy, has strongly and negatively reacted to the movie. Prominent Tough Left politician Elwin Ewart, known for his republican views and strong criticism of capitalism and conservatism, while he is not a communist but instead a socialist, just being more radical than the Luthorian socialist mainstream, said that the book "is hardly academic, it is rather clearly and purely political, lacking careful analysis over what is communism, not verifying their claims over what is happening in Xsampa, and clearly propagating a completely distorted view that would otherwise only promoted by the fascists" in a strong criticism of it. Though, the Third Way faction, a centrist-to-center-left and liberal faction within the Labour Party, praised the book, as a "truthful story showing the true face of such a violent and extremist ideology as communism".

Despite reactions from the Tough Left and the Third Way, no other Labour Party factions has publicly reacted to the book in any way. In a statement, Andrew Wells, who is the General-Secretary of the Labour Party and a member of the center-left "Soft Left" faction, urged the party figures to avoid public arguments over a simple book, saying that it would tarnish the reputation of the party; those events within Labour reflected divisions within the party over the movie. The book has proved to be controversial as many within the public either liked or disliked it and various groups either expressed support or criticism.

[Robert F. Kennedy]

Yingdala-Luthori trade increases as friendship treaty is ratified.
Parliament recently voted - the Yingdala Friendship Treaty Act - officially ratifying the friendship treaty drafted by Yingdala with Luthori. The Foreign Economic Council (private institute) observed that trade between the two nations begun to increase slowly as a new market opened for both countries.
5th, February 5480

Fort William, Principality of Orange, Luthori - The Imperial Parliament, under the leadership of both the Shadow Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Lord Malin (Orville Horgan), the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, the Hon' Kacper Fischer and the Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Imperial Diet, Andrew Meyer - although he is stated from having only worked "from the shadows", recently passed an act which would officially rafify a friendship treaty between the two nations. This proposal of a friendship treaty was first brought up by Yingdalan officials in the embassy of Yingdala to Luthori and was then brought up to bigger circles - then negociated heavily between the two countries - and finally being brought up to this. A model treaty implementation. While this may seem disappointing - as it seems that representatives from both countries negociated a lot for this to happen, it's not at all. The Yingdalan model treaty - which served as a basis for the Luthorians' own model treaty model - calls for better economic, cultural ties between the two countries - something that the Empire's representatives have been sent with that aim. The last obstacle - well it's a great name for this - was the Emperor's veto, yet as this has not been used for centuries - it wasn't going to be a problem for the Pernigh ministry. The Duke of Pernigh today has scored a victory at the national level, showing that the Labour Party was more than able to create its own style of foreign policy while in office - in collaboration with the Tories - showing cross-partisan consensus. In the international level, for now, results are not yet showed - depending on what is happening in the future.

Yet - as of today - the Foreign Economic Council has published an article about Luthori-Yingdalan trade, which is increasing slowly due to the more favorable settlement between the two countries - formerly the size of trade with Yingdala in Luthori's exports was merely of 1%, with this new settlement, it seems that Luthorian companies have seen some "midling" success in Yingdala, but Yingdalan trade is representing 2,7 % of all Luthorian exports, but this is excepted to be increased due to the sheer size of the Yingdalan market and mere interest of Luthorian companies towards Yingdala. Yet, in the meantime, Luthorian exports have increased in topics like automobile and technological devises (smartphones, computers...), this is broadly associated with the recent technological pushes coming from Luthorian corporations (Watford 14, Axning IX...), trade in these areas - at least on Luthori's side of exportation have seen a great increase due to the demand for these "fancy Luthorian electronic devises" in Yingdala. With the signing of the Treaty, Luthori also was offered some presents from the Son of Heaven (the Yingdalan Emperor) as part of friendship gifts - the King-in-Beiteynu (the monarch is currently living in Beiteynu - the Prince of Orange is representating him in Luthori has thanked the gesture from a statement from the Palace of Moreshet and aim to "repay the gesture" as soon as possible.

The Times is a foreign policy-orientated newspaper, but also commentating on domestic politics, it's editorial view is considered to be fairly centrist but rightist economically.

[Autokrator15]

Defense Ministry gives out new contract in line with DOER plan
The Luthorian Military and the Defense Ministry have given out the first contracts for the construction of various new military hardware in a bit to stimulate the Luthorian economy through the Defence Operative for Economic Recovery
7th, February 5476


Fort William, Luthori – As announced back in 5476 the Military planned, backed by the government, to spend a considerable amount of money to increase not only the military capacity of the Empire over the next 40 years but also use these investments to stimulate the economy of the Empire. The extraordinary spending and investment plan set in motion various tenders for the contracts for the next hardware.

The contracts put up for tender were by design meant to be won only by Luthorian companies. And this happened, sort off. The tenders were for the new weapons for the military police who guard important assets such as the Imperial Family, the airports and marine ports as well as entry into the country. The Imperial Military police found that besides the uniform the side arms and the main weapons were in need of major replacement. To that end the tender was to purchase a new long term contract for the manufacturing and purchasing of said arms. The tender got a lot of Luthorian and one Baltusian company joining in.

The first tenders were published by the Luthorian Navy who had the biggest focus on the investment plan made by the Defence Staff. The first tender to be won was for the production of 3 Type-45 destroyers and 3 Type-23 Frigates the by Reynolds Maritime Company. The Reynolds Maritime Company is one of the three biggest maritime military companies in Luthori. The construction of these ships will take 4 years in total and will then after construction completion be launched the next year after trials. Meaning the ships will come into service in the next five years. This tender is the first contract of the plan to increase the Luthorian navy’s blue ocean capacities as outlined by the defence staff in 5475. After this tender, three new tenders will be for the construction of the Emperor William-class Aircraft carriers, three of them to be precise. Each of these aircraft carriers will be a specific contract 8 years in between. Meaning that the naval expansion will be done in 24 years.

The expansion of the navy of course also means that the military ports have to be expanded as well as support, maintenance and engineering teams for the navy have to be drasticly expanded, especially to service the in 24 years’ time 6 aircraft carriers. The Imperial Navy has there for published a timeline of recruitment. The navy will begin slowly increasing the staff and begin training in the academies and hiring. Currently an advisory bureau specialised in training and recruitment of technicians and the sort has been contracted to write a plan for the gradual increase in staff and how to set up a good roster and technical team.

That leaves the ports. According to the Imperial Government it is quite the investment, but according to Kindall Shipyards who won the tender for the upgrade of the ports as well as Hexlon Imperial Construction for the extra offices, barracks, docks, roads and other such facilities needed to accommodate the Navy at various places along our coastlines. The companies have stated that they will hire several more people to accommodate the completion of the project and that the employment will be for a very long time. This is because the contracts stipulates the construction will be done in phases that go alongside the expansion of the navy.

In according to the policies of the Labour Government the tenders had various social return on investment requirements added to the various contracts, ensuring that people with a distance to the labour market are ensured of jobs and training to give them a job. To the surprise of everyone, the companies stated that they found it odd that these provisions were never added earlier in government contracts. Especially Kindell Shipyards stated they believe that through these contracts and with this provision they can give back to society and give meaningful jobs to those who have a hard time due to circumstances in finding stable jobs.

The various tenders for the purchase of the new aircraft and the tanks for the airforce and army have not been announced yet. The Imperial Airforce and Imperial Army have stated that they are tirelessly working on writing the tenders and contracts at this moment and hope to release them soon.

[Autokrator15]

Luthori offers mediation between Dolgava & New Endralon
‘’the animosity can and should be resolved’’
March 5480

Fort William, Luthori -The Imperial Government has on the advice of the Foreign Office invited representatives of two friendly nations to Luthori, Doglava and New Endralon to come to Fort William and discuss normalisation of relations. The two nations have a now decades old animosity that began with New Endralon wishing to distance itself from Trigunia and Dolgava. The dispute between the two then grew due to what the Imperial Government calls unfortunate misunderstandings and a tense situation. Sadly the dispute was never resolved, now the Foreign Secretary and the Minister of State for Keris wish to showcase Luthori can solve the issue.

Though the deal is still being discussed the nations of Dolgava and New Endralon have already stated interests in coming to Fort William, a neutral ground for both, to discuss how the relations between the two can be mended and the animosity of the last decades can be buried. For the two countries it is crucial for a stronger and more united Keris, one of the smallest continents, to resist more foreign influences and cooperate on matters more, especially economic ones. For Luthori it is a big win if it succeeds. To the outside world it can show its commitments to stability and peace go beyond Artania and its interest in helping others go beyond Artania and Seleya. It is not surprising however, Luthori has of late made a great pivot north, growing its bonds with the Northern nations step by step, especially with the new NSTO treaty being signed. It is not clear if Luthori seeks to include New Endralon in this new alliance.