The National Gazette (Official Publication of the Game Engine)

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

VOL. V | ISSUE 1
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
- BULLETINS -

NORTH KOREAN CIVIL WAR
PRC, Loyalists Form Treaty of Mutual Assistance

Envoys of the People's Republic of China and the regime of Kim Jong Nam on Thursday agreed to proposed terms for a Treaty of Mutual Assistance, establishing formal diplomatic relations between them and ratifying the de facto military alliance believed to have existed covertly since January, and which emerged in strength with the Chinese crossing of the Yalu River last month.

PLA Victorious at Chongju

A week-long battle in and around the North Pyongan city of Chongju has ended in victory for forces of the Beijing Pact, as the Republic of Korea Third Army begins its southerly retreat in the face of overwhelming numbers newly arrived from China. Whilst Allied forces took the early advantage and by Tuesday held most of the city against the 78th and 79th Group Armies, the arrival of Chinese reinforcements over Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning shifted the field in favor of the People's Liberation Army. Allied intelligence now believe the bulk of the Northern and Eastern Theater Commands are now arrived or en route to the Korea, bringing the total number of Loyalist and Chinese forces on the peninsula to an approximate 600,000.

. . .

KENNETH CLARKE MINISTRY
Smith Declares End to Coalition, Forcing Early Election

Confirming weeks of speculation, Deputy Prime Minister Owen Smith on Friday announced the Labour Party would end their membership in the coalition government, leaving Prime Minister Kenneth Clarke no alternative but to call the third general election in not quite three years. Clarke has led a national government of the Conservative and Labour parties for fourteen months, following the inconclusive 2016 snap election, which saw historic gains for nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales while leaving the leading Conservatives well short of 326 seats needed to form a majority. With the successful negotiation of Britain's exit from the European Union one month ago, Smith and others in the Labour leadership expressed the view that the national government has fulfilled its purpose and that voters should now be afforded the opportunity to determine the direction of the country in the post-Brexit era.

While Clarke remains personally quite popular, early polling shows his Conservative Party trailing Labour 38-34%, while the infant People's Party claims between ten and sixteen percent of the vote in most national surveys.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

VOL. V | ISSUE 1
FOREIGN AFFAIRS

NORTH KOREAN CIVIL WAR
Movement of the Armies: March 31 – April 7

Allies    Beijing Pact
(See enlarged)

[P. Clodius Pulcher did nothing wrong]

Oof, I can't wait for another British election.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

VOL. V | ISSUE 2
FOREIGN AFFAIRS

NORTH KOREAN CIVIL WAR
Taedong Blockaded, Atlasian Forces See First Combat

The Republic of Korea Second Fleet suffered a critical defeat twenty miles off the coast of the island of Ch'o do and has withdrawn to the mouth of the Taedong River, while divisions of the Atlasian Eighth Army joined Allied forces fighting south of the city of Anju. France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have all pledged to increase aid to the Allied Powers following Atlasian intervention in the civil war, while Australia and the Philippines have promised to defend Japan in the event of Chinese aggression in the South China Sea.

April 8   Atlasia declares its forces will begin offensive operations against the Beijing Pact, following Chinese intervention to oppose the Allied offensive against Anju. April 9   ROK Third Army recrosses the Taeryong River to rejoin the Allied First Army at Anju. April 10–13   The 78th, 79th, and 80th Group Armies (PLA) arrive at Anju in the early hours of April 10 and begin an assault on the Allied line shortly after dawn. The arrival of divisions of the Atlasian Eighth Army on the afternoon of April 11 halts the Allied retreat. The Allied line reforms along the north bank of a stream running south and east of the city. An assault by the Pact forces along the Hyangsan-Pyongyang Road is turned back on April 12–13. April 11–13   Ships of the PLAN North Sea Fleet engage the ROK Second Fleet in the Yellow Sea, twenty miles off the coast of the island of Ch'o do. Outgunned and outmaneuvered on the sea and in the air, the Second Fleet is forced to withdraw after thirty-six hours' heavy fighting, having inflicted only light casualties on the PLAN and suffered moderate losses in return. The Second Fleet reforms at the mouth of the Taedong River as the North Sea Fleet makes way for Nampo. Atlasian forces begin fortification of the beaches at Nampo and Onchon in anticipation of a Chinese assault to recapture Pyongyang.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

VOL. V | ISSUE 3
FOREIGN AFFAIRS


Owen Smith's Labour Party unveiled their election manifesto on Friday

KENNETH CLARKE MINISTRY
Smith Will Support Second Referendum on Scottish Independence, PP and UKIP Form Electoral Alliance

A promised second referendum on Scottish independence will move forward if the Labour Party emerges victorious from the impending snap election, party leader Owen Smith announced on Friday. The pledge is in keeping with the party's policy during the coalition government, when Labour MPs supported a resolution affirming the "right of the Scottish people to decide their own future" over the protests of Prime Minister Kenneth Clarke, and is seen as an attempt to woo voters who supported the Scottish National Party two years ago when the party carried all fifty-nine of the parliamentary seats in Scotland. Leaders of the Conservative and Unionist Party were swift to criticize the pledge as a "brazen and destabilizing measure" that threatens to plunge Britain once more into a constitutional crisis in the event of a successful vote for independence.

Controversy surrounding the promised referendum was overshadowed on Sunday by news that the U.K. Independence Party and the fledgling People's Party have agreed to a so-called "Euroskeptic Alliance," uniting opponents of the European Union on the right under a single banner ahead of the snap election. The alliance will be provisionally led by Michael Gove of the People's Party and Gerard Batten of UKIP.

[wxtransit]

What is the polling on the UK snap election?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

VOL. V | ISSUE 4
FOREIGN AFFAIRS

KENNETH CLARKE MINISTRY
Labour Ahead In Polls, Strong Showing Predicted for Euroskeptics

Despite a controversial pledge to approve a second referendum on Scottish independence, Owen Smith's Labour Party appears poised to win a decisive victory on May 8, as the Conservatives struggle to appeal to the middling voter despite the persistent popularity of Prime Minister Kenneth Clarke. Recent polling suggests that while most voters prefer Mr. Clarke to Mr. Smith as a potential prime minister, a plurality prefer a Labour government to a continuation of the Conservative ministry and believe Mr. Smith will be more able to bring stability to Westminster after the election. The Euroskeptic Alliance of UKIP and the splinter People's Party, meanwhile, appears headed for a strong showing at the polls—though as a new party, it is not entirely certain these figures are accurate. While the Alliance takes votes from both major parties, the Conservatives appear to be the hardest hit, in part due to the large number of former Tory MPs among the party's incumbents.

Polling average, April 19

Labour Party		34%
Conservative Party		28%
UKIP–People's Alliance		22%
Liberal Democrats		6%
Scottish National Party		3%
Plaid Cymru		3%
Green Party		1%
Others		3%

CORRECTION: The original version of this article erroneously reported that the general election would occur on May 8. The actual date of the election is Thursday, May 10.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

VOL. V | ISSUE 4
FOREIGN AFFAIRS

ITALIAN GENERAL ELECTION
Di Maio Will Lead Ministry of Outsiders

The Five Star Movement of Luigi Di Maio has concluded preliminary negotiations to form a government with the support of the Euroskeptic League, more than a month after an inconclusive general election ended in a hung parliament. The deal was made possible by the defection announced on Wednesday of two dozen members of Forza Italia, the main center-right party, to the League, giving the coalition a spare majority in the Chamber of Deputies. If all goes as planned, Di Maio's government will control 321 of the 630 seats in the lower house; Forza Italia and her coalition partner, Brothers of Italy, will have 161; and the center-left Democrats, 139.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

VOL. V | ISSUE 5
DOMESTIC AFFAIRS

SOUTHERN REGION | THE 9^TH CHAMBER OF DELEGATES
S.C. Nullifiers Split Over Response to 'School Is Cool' Act

The unity of the South Carolina Nullification movement has begun to fray in the face of harsh new measures imposed by the Southern Chamber of Delegates, which would impose a $1,000 per student excise tax on state universities which refuse compliance with the so-called SNOWFLAKE Act passed by the Chamber late in the last year. The law, whose provisions require public universities to sanction students who participate in 'disruptive' protests intended to "[prevent] another enrolled student or their guest from engaging in protected expressive activities," was denounced by the South Carolina legislature last month, who voted overwhelmingly to declare it null and void within their borders.

While the new bill does not explicitly refute the doctrine of nullification, it nevertheless seeks to impose strict penalties on institutions which do not comply with regional law: state universities which do not enforce the provisions of the SNOWFLAKE Act would face tax penalties and be denied future access to regional funds. Because the financial penalties are described as a tax rather than a fine, some proponents of nullification argue the law in effect recognizes the legitimacy of the nullification resolution and have encouraged lawmakers to annul the 'School is Cool' Act in turn. Yet even as legislators debated an official response to the regional measures, state universities were moving to take matters into their own hands. Since the 'School is Cool' Act was signed into law, several South Carolina Universities had announced they will comply with the provisions of the SNOWFLAKE Act, seeking to avoid a legal battle even as the protest the strong-arm tactics of the Chamber of Delegates. Student activist groups have likewise debated whether to respond to the measure with compliance or resistance, prompting heated exchanges on university campus that opponents of the law have compared to the 2014 Crimean independence referendum as an example of "the suicide of democratic freedoms."

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

VOL. V | ISSUE 6
FOREIGN AFFAIRS

NORTH KOREAN CIVIL WAR
President Orders 140,000 Reinforcements to Korea
Second Army Decimated; Australia, NATO Powers Declare for Allies

A series of orders by the commander-in-chief carried out in the last three days have dramatically increased Atlasia's presence on the Korean Penninsula, disrupted Chinese plans for an amphibious landing at Pyongyang, and expanded the Allied coalition to include Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom as the civil war in North Korea enters its fifth month. Allied forces have gained ground at Anju, haltingly and with heavy losses, while in the east the Allied Second Army is retreating to Hamhung after the joint Japanese-Korean force was butchered by Loyalist guerrillas in the Battle of the Hamgyong Mountains.

- BULLETINS -

• The Republic of Atlasia Seventh Fleet at Yokosuka, of sixty ships and three hundred aircraft, is ordered to the Yellow Sea to confront the North Sea Fleet deployed south and west of Pyongyang, near the mouth of the Taedong River. On Saturday morning, the NSF had abandoned their blockade of the Taedong and was sailing south towards the entrance to the Yellow Sea.

• Additional warships, including ships of the Royal Australian Navy, converge on the South China Sea.

• 34,000 Atlasian marines, including units of the Republic of Atlasia Forces Japan and 20,000 reinforcements ordered to Korea from Atlasia, join the Allied forces defending Pyongyang. An additional 80,000 army personnel are ordered to the peninsula to join in offensive operations against the Beijing Pact.

• The Allied Second Army has retreated to Hamhung after suffering casualties approaching 7,000 killed, wounded, or captured—some ten percent of its strength—in the Battle of the Hamgyong Mountains.

• Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have will commit a collective 115,000 air, land, and naval personnel to the war in Korea. In addition to Atlasian reinforcements bound for the peninsula, this brings the total strength of the Allied armies to more than one million personnel deployed in the region.

• Divisions of the People's Liberation Army Western Theater Command are en route to the peninsula.  Ships of the East Sea Fleet are deployed to the East China Sea.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

VOL. V | ISSUE 6
FOREIGN AFFAIRS

NORTH KOREAN CIVIL WAR
Movement of the Armies: April 25–28

Allied Powers    Beijing Pact
(See enlarged)

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

VOL. V | ISSUE 6
FOREIGN AFFAIRS

NORTH KOREAN CIVIL WAR
Alliances of the North Korean Civil War

(See enlarged)

[wxtransit]

Come on, Poland!

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

VOL. V | ISSUE 7
FOREIGN AFFAIRS

NORTH KOREAN CIVIL WAR
Allied Victory in the Yellow Sea, Armies at Anju Regroup

After four days, a furious engagement between ships of the Atlasian Seventh Fleet and the North Sea Fleet of the People's Liberation Army Navy that is the largest naval battle of the war thus far has ended in victory for the Allied forces, giving the Allies effective control of the Yellow Sea and ending the threat of an amphibious assault on Pyongyang for the immediate future. Both sides are reported to have suffered heavy losses. Current reports indicate some 300 to 500 Atlasian servicemen and women of the Seventh Fleet were killed in course of the battle; the AS Fitzgerald was incapacitated by enemy aircraft, and the AS Stethem was also seriously damaged. The best Allied intelligence indicates the PLAN took even greater casualties, with some 550 to 800 servicemen and women killed and five of the fleet's seven destroyers either sunk or incapacitated. 

On the Korean mainland, the arrival of 115,000 reinforcements from Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, in addition to 140,000 Atlasian land and marine forces, has placed the advantage decidedly in the Allied camp as fighting around the city of Anju intensifies. The arrival of two fresh group armies of the PLA Western Theater Command puts the combined strength of the Beijing Pact forces at Anju at between 420,000 and 475,000. These include the three group armies of the Northern Theater Command and several divisions of the Eastern Theater Command in addition to the aforementioned reinforcements. The opposing Allied forces, organized as the Allied First Army, number at slightly less than 575,000 with the arrival of the most recent reinforcements. That number includes something less than 60,000 Atlasians, mostly infantry forces.

In the east, the shattered Allied Second Army has been reinforced by 90,000 fresh troops, including French, British, and German forces, and both air and infantry units. Air forces of the United Kingdom and the French Republic have commenced a heavy bombing campaign against Loyalist positions in the Hamgyong Mountains in prelude to a second campaign to clear the region of Beijing Pact forces. Allied commanders have been assured there is no indication of any plan for an assault on Hamghung by the Pact, whose forces have mounted a successful resistance against Allied efforts to penetrate the interior of South Hamgyong Province.

Ships of the Republic of Atlasia and the Royal Australian Navy are arrived in the East China Sea, where they have exchanged scattered fire with the PLAN East Sea Fleet.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

VOL. V | ISSUE 8
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
- BULLETINS -


Premier Choe Ryong Hae (second from right) and other members of the PRK National Government

NORTH KOREAN CIVIL WAR
Against Backdrop of War, Work of Building 'Tenable Peace' Begins

Even as the wartime National Government is consumed with fighting an increasingly costly and seemingly interminable military conflict, Interim Premier Choe Ryong Hae spoke on Friday of the need to "begin now the work of building a tenable peace." In the present context, this means distributing humanitarian aid and ensuring access to essential medical care, repairing the destruction wrought by eight months of near-constant war, and establishing the foundation for democratic self-government in communities across PRK-held North Korea. Much of this work is being carried out in coordination with the governments of the Allied Powers, in particular Atlasia and the Republic of Korea, as well as with groups such as the Atlasian Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. Choe's government has sought to reach out to young Koreans, encouraging them to take a leading role in establishing a "democratic post-war Korea."

. . .

CATALAN REGIONAL ELECTIONS
Regionalists Sweep Indicated By Early Counts

Provisional ballot counts of the most recent Catalan regional election, conducted Friday amidst intense speculation, indicate a sweeping victory for the regionalist coalition led by former President Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó, whose Together for Yes slate finished first with 56.8% of the overall vote. The result comes five months after a binding referendum negotiated between the regionalist and the Spanish government resulted in a 59% majority in favor of separation from Spain, less than the two-thirds vote needed to achieve independence under the terms of the agreement. The result gives Puigdemont's coalition 80 of the 135 seats in the Parliament of Catalonia; the next-largest group, the Citizens Party led by Inés Arrimadas García, has 24.

Together for Yes		80 seats, 56.8% votes
Citizens—Party of the Citizenry		24 seats, 17.4% votes
Catalonia in Common—We Can		13 seats, 9.8% votes
Socialists' Party of Catalonia		9 seats, 7.1% votes
Popular Unity Candidacy		4 seats, 3.4% votes
People's Party		4 seats, 3.4% votes
Others		0 seats, 1.3% votes

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

VOL. V | ISSUE 9
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
- BREAKING -

KENNETH CLARKE MINISTRY
Labour Leads in Exit Poll, Alliance Underperforms Expectations

Owen Smith's Labour Party is headed for a victory the size of which has not been seen since the days of Tony Blair, according to an exit poll released by the BBC. The poll projects a Labour margin in excess of 140 seats over the Conservatives, who fall to just over 200 seats in the House of Commons. If these figures prove correct, it will be a dispiriting night for Prime Minister Kenneth Clarke, though nothing close to the disappointment felt by the Alliance, who had hoped to win as many as 50 seats in their first national campaign but are here projected to carry only half that number, becoming the fourth largest party in parliament behind Labour, the Conservatives, an SNP.

Labour Party		346 seats
Conservative Party		205 seats
Scottish National Party		34 seats
UKIP–People's Alliance		24 seats
Plaid Cymru		16 seats
Liberal Democrats		6 seats
Green Party		0 seats
Others		18 seats

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

How xd the greens lose their one seat?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

How xd the greens lose their one seat?

It was lost to Labour in the 2016 snap election, and they (apparently, thus far) have failed to regain it.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

VOL. V | ISSUE 10
FOREIGN AFFAIRS


Results by constituency of the UK general election

KENNETH CLARKE MINISTRY
Clarke Leaves Downing Street, Labour Returns to Government

In the aftermath of elections which saw the Labour Party gain a majority in House of Commons for the first time in thirteen years, now former Prime Minister Kenneth Clarke announced his resignation early this morning, transferring the reigns of government to his onetime deputy in the coalition, Owen Smith. His tenure of fifteen months saw an unlikely coalition of Labour and 'One Nation' Tories successfully negotiate Britain's exit from the European Union whilst preserving membership of the common market, surviving attempts by the Euroskeptic opposition within his own party to remove him. Boasting the highest approval ratings of an outgoing premier this century, he was turned out of Downing Street, polls suggest, not by any personal antipathy borne by the people, but by their greater fears that a fractured Conservative Party would be unable to provide the stable governance so desperately desired after eight years of coalitions and political limbo.

The incoming government of Owen Smith commands a majority of nineteen votes in the House of Commons, having gained just over one hundred seats over their result in 2016. Whilst Conservative defections to the Alliance cost the Tories seats in the Northeast and Midlands, the breakaway party barely improved on its pre-election numbers, with a net gain of six seats. Nationalist parties in Scotland and Wales likewise suffered setbacks over their landslide victories in 2016, when divisions within the major parties allowed SNP to sweep all fifty-nine Scottish seats and Plaid Cymru to elect carry thirty-eight of the forty Welsh constituencies. Results in Northern Ireland confirmed the SDLP (who held six of the seven seats they carried in 2016) and the DUP (who gained three MPs to become the largest party among the Northern Irish delegation) as the respective leaders of the Nationalist and Unionist camps; the UUP was wiped out, loosing both their seats to the DUP, while Sinn Fein broke even with three seats.

In assuming the premiership, Smith inherits an ongoing war in North Korea, in which 50,000 British troops are presently engaged, as well as the thorny question of Britain's direction in the post-Brexit era. As the first Labour prime minister since Gordon Brown surrendered the helm in 2010, he likewise faces pressure from the left to carry out long-desired reforms, as well as from Scottish Nationalists who now call on him to make good his promise to approve a second independence referendum, and Scottish Unionists, who demand the opposite. Then there is the question of Northern Ireland, where talks between Sinn Fein and the DUP continue in hopes of restoring the suspended Northern Ireland executive and ending a year of direct rule from Westminster.

Labour Party		334 seats, 39% votes
Conservative Party		209 seats, 30% votes
Scottish National Party		34 seats, 3% votes
UKIP–People's Alliance		28 seats, 16% votes
Plaid Cymru		18 seats, 2% votes
DUP		9 seats, 1% votes
Liberal Democrats		8 seats, 6% votes
SDLP		6 seats, 1% votes
Sinn Fein		3 seats, 0% votes
Green Party		0 seats, 1% votes
UUP		0 seats, 0% votes

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

VOL. V | ISSUE 11
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
- BULLETINS -


British forces with the Second Allied Army at Hamhung

NORTH KOREAN CIVIL WAR
Furious Fighting at Hamhung Ends in Draw, With Great Loss of Life

A surprise assault by Chinese and Loyalist forces against the Allied Second Army at Hamhung has ended in stalemate, leaving the Allies in control of the city but bleeding profusely after four days' fighting killed an estimated 4,100 Allied soldiers, many of them British and French troops newly arrived to the peninsula. The Beijing Pact is believed to have suffered similar casualties, with between 4,000 and 5,000 killed and an additional 500 taken prisoner. The attack was led by the Western Theater Command of the People's Liberation Army, divisions of which secretly crossed the Yalu River at Hyesan on May 5 and joined the Loyalist Army of the Hamgyong Mountains on the 7th. The undetected cross of the Yalu by the PLA was described as a "major failure" of Allied intelligence by anonymous sources within the Pentagon, and one with potentially catastrophic consequences as the Allies seek to regain the initiative in the east.

. . .

KENNETH CLARKE MINISTRY
A Final Triumph for Clarke as Stormont Executive Resumes

After months of tense closed-door negotiations, leaders of Sinn Fein and the Democratic Unionist Party have acceded to terms of an agreement restoring the Northern Ireland unitary executive, ending nearly a year of direct rule from Westminster. The agreement provides for passage of a limited Irish Language Act, an initiative favored by Sinn Fein, which would elevate Irish Gaelic to official language status after English in Northern Ireland. While it comes in the first days of Owen Smith's ministry, the deal is largely the work of his predecessor, Kenneth Clarke, who was the driving force throughout the negotiations and who, crucially, agreed to postpone announcement of the tentative deal until after the general election as part of the terms of confidentiality that were the  foundation for renewed talks.

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

- END OF ACT II -

[Mr. Reactionary]

Roll Star Wars credit music

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

VOL. VI | ISSUE 1
FOREIGN AFFAIRS
- BULLETINS -


Security forces open fire on demonstrators in Caracas

VENEZUELA CRISIS
Violence Erupts in Advance of Presidential Election

The terminal days of an inauspicious campaign for the presidency of Venezeula have been marred by renewed protests and violent clashes between citizens and security forces, as tens (or possibly hundreds) of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Caracas and across the country, whipped into fury against the regime of President Nicolás Maduro. Driven to action by the ceaseless and staggering inflation plaguing the country's currency—the price of flour has risen by more than 1,000% in the last four months—and an impending presidential election many consider a farcical imitation of democracy, the demonstrators have confronted police and military loyal to the Maduro regime in encounters that have grown increasingly numerous and violent. An estimated 140 civilians and more than two dozen police officers were reported dead or critically injured on Thursday alone, with no signs that the protests will abate after the election. While opposition candidate Henri Falcón has condemned the violence on both sides and called for the peaceful removal of the dictatorship, other opposition leaders have condemned Falcón and denounced the election as a sham, convinced Maduro will never give up his office unless and until the people force him to.

. . .

NORTH KOREAN CIVIL WAR
Philippines Join Allies as Tensions Rise in East China Sea

Two months after their government extended formal diplomatic recognition to the People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of the Philippines has taken their place among the Allied and Associated Powers, offering use of their air and naval bases to the Allied Fleet in what is seen both as a reflection of that country's historic ties to Atlasia and to pervasive regional fears of Chinese expansion into the South and East China Seas. The support of the Philippine government was welcomed as a major strategic victory for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, who visited the archipelagic nation earlier this year, and who negotiated the military alliance with the Philippines in coordination with the Atlasian White House and the Commonwealth of Australia.

[Former Lincoln Assemblyman & Lt. Gov. RGN]

Who is the President of the Philippines?

[Unconditional Surrender Truman]

Who is the President of the Philippines?

Duterte is still the president, as in real life. The decision to back the Allies comes as a considerable surprise to many, given his history of hostility toward the West; the details of exactly what happened to change his mind are mostly classified (for now), but a persistent Japanese effort and maneuvering within the Cabinet bear most of the credit.