Xsampa

[DueWizard70]

_____________________________________________________
King Durga I falls ill
December 4855

On Wednesday, His Majestic Royal and Serene Highness King Durga was rushed to the Utembo General Hospital. He arrived at 4 in the morning and the Palace of Bajoum was completely silent about the matter. They gave a brief announcement in which they said that the doctors were doing everything they could. Speculation did not take long to arrive. People in social media saying things from appendicitis to a burst aneurysm. No one knew what was happening.

Many had spent a lot of time wondering about the King's health. He has spent the past months alone in his palace, barely going out. Many attributed this to the death of his son, Prince Dem back in June of last year, but now they are thinking it could be because the King is not well.

Today in the morning (Saturday), we finally received news. A spokesperson for the Palace held a press conference.

Apparently, King Dyrga had been suffering from pancreatic cancer for the past years. He had begun a chemotherapy treatment in August after his doctor told him his cancer was inoperable. What seems to have happened is that the chemotherapy caused the King to have renal failure. He was rushed to the hospital to treat it. On Thursday he received a liver transplant, that went according to plan. The Palace had waited to give an answer until the King had woken up and felt better.

With the good news, however, came some bad news. As the chemotherapy caused renal failure, it is no longer an option. The spokesperson announced that the King's doctors have given him about 6 months to live.

The Palace has announced that a protocol for after the King's death will be revealed to the public at a later date.


King Durga I

[DueWizard70]

___________________________________________________
Record low unemployement
June 4856

Following the collapse of the Deltarian economy and enactment of austerity measures in June of last year, the Utemban economy has been in free fall. We were already suffering from an extremely high unemployment rate of 37.6% only a few years back. It had slowly gone down to 35% but the crisis has made it worse. We are now dealing with a never before seen here 41.2% unemployment rate.
Not only that but leading economists in Utembo think that unemployment could reach an impressive 47.2%.
These same experts say that the national debt will soon be so large that we will be unable to pay it until 4900.


___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Royal Palace announces plan for King Durga's death
June 4856

Today, the Royal Palace has announced what will happen when His Majestic Royal and Serene Highness King Durga finally succumbs to his battle with cancer. Doctors are already calling the fact that he is still alive a miracle. He is, however, expected to die in the coming months. Because of this, the Royal Palace has announced what will happen.

First, when the King dies his senior advisor will inform the members of the Government of National Unity, as well as the Royal Family and foreign leaders. Then the press will be informed. There will be a 21-day mourning period. During this period all citizens will be mandated to wear black and all businesses will close at 3. At the end of this period, the King's son Durga Loday will be coronated King Durga II. There will be a week-long celebration for the new King and at the end of it, life will go back to normal.

There are rumours, however, that given Prince Durga's age (62) he will abdicate in favour of his own son Ratna. Time will tell if these rumours are true.


Prince Durga

[DueWizard70]

_________________________________________________________
Death of King Durga I
December 4856

As the past few months have been frantic here in Utembo, the Utembo Times refrained from commenting on them until everything was resolved. Now that it is, we bring you the full report.

The King died on the 4th of October following complications during a colon resection. The surgery had to happen after the cancer had metastasised to his colon. He died during surgery.
As previously announced, the country had a 21-day mourning period. Many went to the streets in processions of thousands to mourn him. They chanted his name. He was put to rest 5 days after his death and he was cremated. His ashes are kept in a special location in the Royal Palace.

On the 22nd day after the King's deaths, his son Durga was coronated. The ceremony was almost the same as it had been on the the late King's coronation.

After the coronation, the newly appointed King Durga II went to the Royal Palace. The next day, we received shocking news. He announced that he would be abdicating in favour of his son, Ratna. He abdicated officially on the 6th of November, having served as King for barely 12 days.
With an announcement so sudden, the transition to his son was difficult, as everyone was unprepared.

Finally yesterday, his son was coronated, King Ratna I.

Many fear what this will bring, as Ratna does not follow daenism. Many fear how he will act.

The Utembo Times will continue to report on changes as they happen.


King Ratna I

[DueWizard70]

____________________________________________________________
Yingdalan aid package
June 4858


After weeks of negotiation with the Yingdalan government, today it was decided that the Yingdalan government will provide an aid package to Utembo.

The package will consist of a 1.2 billion INS grant from their International Food Assistance Programme (IFAP). They will also bring Yingdalan workers to Utembo that will provide humanitarian aid. This aid will consist of mainly helping distribute food and other resources in difficult to reach areas in the country. The money will be given in 2 steps. The first 500 million will be given upfront and the remainder will be given or the next few months.

King Ratna was unfortunately in the middle of visiting villages aided by the "Educated Utembo" project. Instead, the meeting with the Yingdalan Ambassador in Utembo was conducted by his cousin Duke Doma.

The package is expected to bring help to many people in the country that currently struggle to feed their families on a day to day basis.

Delivery will start next week.


Duke Doma meeting with the Yingdalan ambassador

[DueWizard70]

_________________________________________________________

Although the international economy has started to recover, it seems that the shockwaves of recovery are yet to reach Utembo, as the Florin keeps sinking. As of today, a single Lodamese Dollar is worth an exorbitant 237.56 Florin. Just last month it was at 235.43. If nothing is done, many experts believe that a single LOD will be 1,000 Florin by December of 4860.

King Ratna has expressed his concern on the topic and h has announced that, now that the international recession is over, it is time to fix our own economy. The Yingdalan aid package is just the beginning, he says. He has announced that a project that will be known as "The Golden Roads" will be created. It will create jobs for about 50 thousand people and will consist of renovating the roads all over the country, mainly the highways. These are all extremely deteriorated, ad they have spent over 75 years with little to no maintenance. The project is expected to stabilise the economy and stop the fall.

It has to be mentioned that this is going to merely stop Utembo from digging deeper into the hole, but will NOT be climbing out of it.

King Ratna has announced more projects to come, and the Utembo Times will inform you as they happen.

[ChitinKal]

Utembo, Kurageri Added to Investment Bloc

[DueWizard70]

_______________________________________________

Today we are pleased to announce that His Majestic Royal and Serene Highness King Ratna I is now engaged with the Dolgavan Princess Cecilie. After being seen together multiple times, many wondered if the relationship was going somewhere, especially as the princess has had a big assortment of romantic partners in the past years. It seems, however, that the relationship between the two is final, as King Ratna proposed to her and she accepted.

The announcement came today, and wedding preparations have already begun. It is estimated that the total cost of the wedding will be of over 2.5 billion Florin, or a little over 10 million Lodamese Dollars. The wedding will be held at the Royal Palace and there will be a procession in which the couple will ride a carriage through Bajoum. There will also be a private reception for the couple's friends and families, as well as some prominent political figures from around Terra.

Many people were curious about the proposal, but the Royal Palace did not disclose any details in order to let the couple have some privacy. What we know is that the proposal took place during a trip to the Ring Po Mountains and that the engagement ring cost a little over 500 thousand Lodamese Dollars.

The wedding itself will be here in Utembo in December of the current year, and both the Utemban and Dolgavan Royal Families will be attending. Any other guests have not been confirmed yet.

The wedding is also the beginning of closer ties between ourselves and Dolgava.

[DueWizard70]

_________________________________

Today it was announced that renowned Utemban singer Pemkili Ngapo Thapa, better known as PNT, will be Utembo's entry to FOMAT VII in Lourenne. PNT is the greatest sensation here in Utembo, having ranked number 1 as the most listened in Utembo for over 6 years in a row. He has even had some minor international success, as he has visited some neighbouring countries for an international tour. He was eager to participate in the previous FOMAT, however, he was unable to go due to the loss of his son. He recently had to get a liver transplant, but his doctors say that he will be just fine in time for the competition.

The song he will be presenting, "Brtse Ba", talks about his love for his dead son and how he misses him.

This will be Utembo's first time competing in it, and everyone is very excited. PNT himself was invited to the Royal Palace for a dinner with King Ratna. There, the King expressed his condolences for his lost son and wished him best of luck in FOMAT. The Utembo Times also wishes PNT best of luck!

[DueWizard70]

__________________________________________________

As the last of the fireworks' loud cracks in the sky start to disappear, the UT team brings you all the information about the Royal Wedding between King Ratna I and Princess Cecilie, now Queen Dolma-Cecilie. The wedding had been anticipated greatly since it's announcement in June of 4860. It was delayed twice, due to issues that have not been revealed to the public.

Before the wedding had even begun, thousands had lined up to the streets where the couple's carriage would be passing, some sleeping on the streets for four days, just so they could get a good spot for spectating. The day of the wedding, an estimated three hundred thousand people were on the streets. Many people were arrested for assaulting others to get a good spot. Finally, the carriage started its procession to the Palace of Bajoum.

The couple was received with cheers. Everyone was very excited. The carriage moved slowly, and both the King and to-be-Queen are waving. Finally, the carriage reached the door. They get out and enter the Palace. Only a single reporter was allowed in, and the Utembo Times is proud to be the one. The bride and groom entered a room that has been decorated with traditional Xsampan symbols, as well as mantras and prayers, such as Om Mani Padme Hum. In the room, the families of both of them awaited them. The couple sat together in the living room and received compliments, gifts and blessings from the guests. Then, lamas were invited into the room and they blessed the couple. A fire puja was held to bless the marriage.

Following this, a banquet was held for the guests and the couple. PNT himself was invited to provide live music for the wedding. After the ceremony and banquet were over, our reporter was asked to leave. The celebrations will continue for the next week. After this is completed, the couple will visit Dolgava and stay there with the Queen's family, as dictated by Xsampan tradition.

[DueWizard70]

OOC NOTE: Date is supposed to be 4863. I misclicked.
________________________________________________

Today, shock went around the entire nation as King Ratna made the official announcement that both the Royal Court of Justice and the Board of Ministers are going to be abolished starting next month. And although many are concerned as to what is happening, many others don't even know what these bodies even do, or did. The Utembo Times is here to clarify that.

The Royal Court of Justice was composed of 9 "Royal Hearers" and served as something similar to other nation's supreme court. It was usually involved with some of the higher-profile cases in Utembo. They were also in charge of executing minor reform to the justice system. Bills that had a majority of votes in the Government of National Unity (GNU) could also be presented to the Royal Court. Although their decisions could always be overturned by the King, they usually weren't, and the Royal Court had always been highly regarded.

The Board of Ministers acted as some a sort of upper chamber to the GNU. They had to approve anything the GNU proposed. They were also able to draft bills, but they did not need approval from the GNU. The Board was composed of Cabinet Ministers and some other remarkable figures in Utemban politics, including 2 members of the Royal Court. The only figure above them was the King, and they needed his approval before passing ay bills.

So why are they being abolished? King Ratna says that they hindered the population with their power games and bureaucracy and that it is easier and better if the King has absolute power over bills and the justice system. He says that this way the rulings will be consistent, and won't change when we get new Hearers or Ministers. From now on, he will have direct control.