2018 Presidential Election

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Monday, 13 May 2019

ANC wins reduced majority in South African election

The governing African National Congress (ANC) has retained a majority in the South African National Assembly, but with its majority reduced from its previous result in 2014. With the country's final votes from its 8 May election counted, the ANC, which has governed the country since the permanent post-apartheid constitution was enacted in 1996, has won 230 seats out of 400, down from its previous total of 249. Incumbent President Calvin Radebe, who took over for the scandal-ridden Simon Tambo in January 2015, is almost certain to be elected president for a five-year term of his own on the basis of the ANC's majority when the new parliament is set to convene on 22 May.

Many political analysts and betting markets predicted the outcome, based on public approval of both Radebe and the ANC in general. The party, which was a major force in opposition to the white minority government that ruled South Africa until 1994, has ruled the country without interruption for nearly one quarter of a century and can claim credit for a peaceful, growing South Africa. But it has also seen two of the four presidents it has elected resign in disgrace after investigations into official corruption, and has largely failed to change systemic legacies of the apartheid system that economically disadvantaged the non-white majority. The latter is why issues such as land redistribution, youth unemployment and high crime rates dominated the election, with opposition parties from the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters to the right-wing, Zulu nationalist Inkatha Freedom Party criticizing the ANC for its perceived failure to ameliorate those social ills.

Radebe, 70, called the election a "great success" and said he had "heard the voice of the people" at the ballot box. "We will root out and expel all the bad elements, and try to end all bad tendencies," Radebe said in his victory speech. "We in the party leadership have heard the voice of the people...those who have shared their concerns with us, and those who feel we have not heard their concerns. We will go into those communities and seek out those who feel abandoned or frustrated, and hear their concerns."

Despite Radebe's mandate for a five year term, some in political circles say that his age and health issues (Radebe has suffered from several kidney ailments and had a pacemaker installed in 2008 after years of suffering from cardiac arrhythmia) might result in him resigning ahead of his term's end in 2024. Several high-profile ANC leaders have been positioned as his possible successor, including Deputy President David Tshali (who is viewed as the current favorite and would be the first ANC leader who was not an active party member during the apartheid era), Premier Vusi Mabuza of Mpumalanga and Minister of Health Joyce Didiza-Kuzwayo (who would be the first female leader of the ANC).

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President Radebe reacts to returns (photo credit: Fred Amugi)

--------------------------------------------
Casting
Fred Amugi as Calvin Redebe

OOC: Here is a list of South African presidents I drew up with backstory:

State Presidents of South Africa
01. 1984-1989: P.W. Botha (National) [1]
1987: 123/166 seats (Majority)
-- . 1989: Chris Heunis (National) (acting)
02. 1989-1996: Frederick Hymans (National) [2]
1992: 94/166 (Majority)
1994: 377/400 (Majority) [3]


Presidents of South Africa

01. 1996-2006: Mkhuseli Mbeki (African National Congress) [4]
1996: 266/400 (Majority)
2001: 279/400 (Majority)

02. 2006-2008: Jonathan Ngcunka (African National Congress) [5]
2006: 263/400 (Majority)
03. 2008-2015: Simon Tambo (African National Congress) [6]
2009: 251/400 (Majority)
2014: 249/400 (Majority)

04. 2015-0000: Calvin Radebe (African National Congress) [7]
2019: 230/400 (Majority)

[1]- Botha served as the first executive state president after the Constitution of 1983 was adopted, transferring power to the formerly ceremonial office and abolishing the post of prime minister. As the international community, including South Africa's allies such as the United States began to turn uniformly against the apartheid regime, Botha remained a staunch defender of the system of racial discrimination, even as he made some moves to moderate the system's excesses. However, his presidency would mark the height of violence during apartheid, with thousands of anti-apartheid activists attacked, detained and tortured by government forces during his tenure.

Following a stroke in early 1989, Botha was persuaded to resign the presidency following a brief acting presidency under National Party stalwart Chris Heunis while Botha was incapacitated. He would campaign against his successor's efforts to end apartheid and would defend his tenure and the system he upheld until his death in 2006.

[2]- After taking over from Botha, Hymans began an almost complete break from his predecessor. He began lifting parts of the apartheid laws that banned certain political parties like the African National Congress (ANC) that had advocated violence against the apartheid regime and freeing political prisoners, most famously ANC leader Nelson Mandela. Hymans also would order the destruction of South Africa's nuclear program and its nuclear stockpile, and saw open negotiations with anti-apartheid, majority-black parties begin in 1991. His National Party won the 1992 all-white elections, giving him a political mandate to end the apartheid system. The CODESA (Convention for a Democratic South Africa) negotiations laid out a framework for the transition to majority rule, with a universal constitutional assembly becoming the de facto legislature ahead of permanent elections under a new constitution. After ANC leader Nelson Mandela opted not to seek the presidency, citing his age and health issues owing to his time in prison, Hymans' term was extended until a new constitution was proclaimed in exchange for his cabinet being required to reflect the partisan makeup of the Constituent Assembly.

[3]- The 1994 Constitutional Assembly elections were the first elections with universal suffrage in South African history and were won overwhelmingly by the pro-CODESA parties led by the ANC. Per the CODESA agreements, Hymans' cabinet was reshuffled to reflect (as closely as possible) the partisan makeup of the Constitutional Assembly. With the ANC holding a majority of cabinet posts and members of the constitutional assembly, Hymans' final two years saw him shift radically to the left as he hoped (in vain, it would turn out) to attract newly-enfranchised black voters away from the ANC to prevent the party from winning a super-majority in the new National Assembly.

[4]- Mbeki became the first non-white head of state in South Africa since the country achieved self-governance in 1910. A former ANC leader and political activist, Mbeki finalized the transition from apartheid, extending an olive branch to the members of the former apartheid regime and security state while the Truth and Reconciliation Committee cataloged the crimes and human rights abuses perpetrated on the majority of South Africans during the nearly five decades of apartheid. While applauded for taking over the leadership of the ANC from Mandela, the economic growth he oversaw during his tenure and for his guidance of the country into a liberal democracy with universal suffrage and human rights, Mbeki was heavily criticized for his statements on HIV/AIDS. Despite nearly 1 in 4 South African adults being infected with either HIV or AIDS, Mbeki publicly questioned the link between the two, and banned antiretroviral drugs in public hospitals, which his critics say caused the premature deaths of hundreds of thousands in South Africa during his tenure.

[5]- The heir apparent to Mbeki, Ngcunka's presidency was notable for his complete failure to work alongside other high-ranking leaders in the ANC. Combined with investigations into corruption, this resulted in an unprecedented amount of floor-crossing to opposition parties or the creation of new parties during the window that South African law (at the time) allowed. Following this embarrassment, Ngcunka was persuaded to resign in favor of the new party president, Simon Tambo.

[6]- Tambo was barely in office when he announced that he would call for early elections at the earliest possible time constitutionally. In 2009, with the previous parliament having sat for the necessary three years, the ANC MPs voted as a bloc to dissolve the National Assembly for new elections. The result was that while the ANC lost seats compared to its 2006 performance, it gained back most of the seats that had been lost to party-switching during the Ngcunka administration. After the ANC-led Parliament amended the Constitution to outlaw floor-crossing, South Africa briefly became the center of the sporting world as it hosted the 2010 World Cup, with its administration and hosting of the event praised by the world community. Tambo was in office when his predecessor, Frederick Hymans, served on the Provisional Governing Council of Jerusalem and then was killed during the attack on the inauguration of President Ben Sawahili by Syria.

After winning a second term of his own in 2014, Tambo's presidency quickly became engulfed in a massive corruption scandal after it emerged that he had knowingly allowed several political friends and allies to embezzle public funds and misuse their government positions for personal gain. With his public support evaporating and with the ANC leadership under great pressure to end the scandal before the party's centennial celebration in 2015, Tambo resigned on New Year's Day 2015, just a week before his party turned 100.

[7]- Calvin Radebe had previously been considered to succeed first Mbeki and then Ngcunka, but his poor health had led to him being passed over both times. Now, with his strongest rivals in the party discredited, he easily captured the ANC leadership and then the presidency. Filling out the rest of Tambo's term, Radebe waffled publicly about whether he would seek a term of his own, before deciding to stay on to contest the 2019 elections.
 
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Monday, 13 May 2019

Asia

Japanese Coast Guard disables anti-whaling ship in Southern Pacific, Austalia Furious

The Japan Coast Guard is facing hard questions after disabling a ship of the Australian based Ocean Guardian Conservation Group in international waters off of Australia on Tuesday the Seventh of May. The MV David McTaggart is a converted feeder cargo ship with a length of 103 meters and a beam of 16 meters with two on ship cranes. It was modified to ram Japanese Whaling ships. The David McTaggart was in the South Pacific pursuing a Japanese whaling fleet. The Japan Coast Guard vessel Yashima, a member of the Mizuho-class Patrol Large Helicopter class, disabled the David McTaggart with Oerlikon 35mm cannons on her rudder and screws. The David McTaggart was left adrift at sea for two days before Australian Maritime Border Command was able to reach it and tow it to port on Saturday.

The Japanese Government released a statement today defending the actions of the JCG as necessary and essential to defend the lives of civilians on the "scientific research ship". The Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism called the action a bold yet perfectly legally act for the Coast Guard to do.

The Prime Minister of Japan, Ayeka Juchiro, while at a school in Tottori Prefecture stated, that the Japan Coast Guard was willing to help but the crew of the MV David McTaggart refused. "We will not put our sailors at risk with violent individuals. It was decided to let them drift as the protest ship likely had a lot of provisions of food. But the decision was not as punishment but for the safety of the crews of the Japanese flagged ships." The Kantei hammered down the claim that any footage that Ocean Guardian Conservation Group produced would likely be false. Juchiro, who is tied with several pro-whaling factions, is not expected to back down on this.

Ocean Guardian Conservation Group spokeswoman Tiki Reed told the press that the Japanese claim was "utter nonsense." Mrs. Reed elaborated further, "We video each time we protest their whaling. The MV David McTaggart has a hard drive for just videos. I have seen footage of the attack it was not without warning but the McTaggart was turning away from the Yashima at the time the ship was disabled."

The Australian Government has released a statement criticizing the Japanese actions in international waters but also for frequent violations of Australian Waters and acting close to the Australian Antartic Territory. It is expected and leaked by sources in the office of Prime Minister Dominic Rogers that he will make a statement on the MV David McTaggart either later today or in the next day or two.
 
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Atlantis Cable News

With Primary over, things turn red hot in Mississippi


Jackson, Mississippi- With the Primary results having been officially certified by the State Secretary of State over the weekend, we now are headed for a re-match in Mississippi. With both Democratic Governor Alan Fisk and Republican former Governor Katie Hodder-Shaw facing only token opposition in their respective primaries, both have amassed sizeable war chests for the general election. However, what has many pundits concerned is the ratcheting up heated rhetoric from the Hodder-Shaw Camp, which plans to formally kick things off today with a rally in Tupelo. Hodder-Shaw's first quarter fundraising summary shows a disturbing number of donations from "prominent nationalist organizations", including the League of the South and the Southern Party, a minor political party that contests elections exclusively in the South. There have been reports that Hodder-Shaw's campaign has been circulating petitions to get Hodder-Shaw an additional ballot line as the Southern Party candidate, but the Hodder camp has refused to comment.

On the other side, the FBI has confirmed an sharp uptick in death threats directed at Governor Fisk, who drew the ire of many of the state's old right when he made his push for marriage equality two years ago. The Mississippi Marriage Equality Act failed to pass the State House of Representatives.
Many expect the race to be tight as Fisk has also irked his own left flank when he retracted his endorsement of then-Senator Sam Seaborn in favor of his chief rival, Senator Andrew Thorn during last year's Democratic Presidential Primary.
 
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Monday, May 13th 2019

US fighter pilot presumed dead as F-35 crashes in Iranian-controlled area of Qumar

The Department of Defense has confirmed that an Air Force F-35A fighter jet has crashed in the section of Qumar controlled by Iranian forces after its pilot, Major John "Jed" Elker, reported a catastrophic mechanical failure shortly after striking a Bahji target in northern Qumar. American and Iranian sources have confirmed to NBS that the jet exploded on impact near the village of Ar-Ruddin.

White House Press Secretary Cassie Tatum said that Major Elker did not report taking fire during his strike on what he described as a reported Bahji supply depot and that a body has not yet been recovered. She nonetheless said that the Department of Defense has informed Elker's family that he has been tentatively listed as missing in action until confirmation from Iranian authorities whether human remains were found at the crash site.

A spokesman for the Iranian Air Force has stated that no "mayday" transmission was broadcast and that Iranian authorities were investigating whether the plane had a secondary mission of testing Iranian air defense positions in Qumar. Since the Qumar crisis began three years ago, several incidents of American, British and Chinese fighter jets straying into airspace that Iran claims as part of its occupation of northern Qumar has led to Iran claims that these incidents are probes into Iran's air defense network and part of a plan to eventually push the country out of northern Qumar. International forces in the rest of Qumar, however, say that these incidents are usually routine pilot errors and that very few have strayed more than five kilometers (three miles) across the "Stop Line" marking the delineation of Iranian and American-British-Chinese control before returning to their zone of operation.

Secretary of Defense Jack Shannon has ordered a temporary grounding of the remaining F-35 fighter jets in Qumar until the cause of the crash is known.
 
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Monday, 13 May 2019

Asia

PM Rogers, “Australia to issue formal complaint.”

The Prime Minister of Australia, Dominic Rogers, today in Canberra announced that his government will seek a formal complaint in the coming days to be issued to the United Nations and to Japan. The complaint will be issued while the investigation of the Ocean Guardian Conservation Group ship MV David McTaggart is underway but the Rogers Government is very certain the evidence the OGCG has shown Australian a federal authorities is genuine.

Prime Minister Rogers stated that his government will push back on Japanese whaling in the Australian Antarctic Territory waters “This government is opposed to such actions by a foreign government acting under a flash pretense of ‘scientific research’ and disabling an Australian flagged ship in international waters off of so they cannot record and harass the Japanese whaling ships.”

A major issue between Australia and Japan is Japanese whaling ships pursuing a pod of whales into the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Australia. An EEZ is the 200 mile limit that the UN Law of the Seas Convention, that gives the right to a state to use the resources in the the water around the nation. The Japanese whaling ships have pursued whale pods at least five times into an EEZ. At least twice the Japanese ships have been chased out by the Australian Maritime Border Command.

In Japan, Prime Minister Ayeka Juchiro has stated that the Coast Guard stated that she supports the Japan Coast Guard story that the protesters and crew of the MV David McTaggart refused help. “The ship was disabled and the McTaggart’s crew was hostile towards the crew of the cutter Yashima, the captain of the ship decided under anti-piracy police to let let the ship float adrift. It was a hard choice but the cutter decided to protect the research ships. I believe our Coast Guard acted in the best way it could I’m a bad situation.”

In Australia, at the Japanese Embassy in Canberra and the consulate in Sydney protesters have begun to amass outside both diplomatic mission grounds. More protests are expected in Australia at other Japanese diplomatic missions in the country. Other animal rights groups in America, Canada, France, and Britain are setting up similar protests.
 
west wing
Important Story Announcement
From @Marky Bunny @MountainDew17 @lord caedus

From tomorrow Wednesday May 15th until FURTHER NOTICE, we are asking all stories outside of the United States to be run by us for story concerns and that any article/story on any non-US topic not pre-approved by us will be disregarded.

We have a major "story arch/s" starting and we just wish to make sure that these are not interrupted or contradicted by other posts.

Kind regards

The writing team
May 14th 2019

 
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Tuesday, May 14th 2019

Democrats win House special elections

Democratic candidates have won both of tonight's two special elections to the US House of Representatives, one in Florida and the other in New York. In Florida's 13th district, encompassing the city of St. Petersburg and the area around it, former governor Luke Minnear defeated Pinellas County Commissioner Dave Bellinger by nearly ten percentage points. Minnear's victory flips the seat, which had been held by Republican Adrian Galway for a decade until his death in January, to the Democrats. In New York's 11th district, which includes Staten Island and swings up to include just enough of Brooklyn to include the residence of former House Majority Leader and current Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mark Richardson's residence, the Democratic candidate Eli Rosen won a very narrow victory based on impressive turnout in the Bronx sections of the district and stories that his Republican opponent, State Assemblyman Tom Spallone, and his family members, had been previously investigated after coming to the attention of authorities during probes into organized crime fronts.

Both Minnear and Rose, although in the ideological center of the Democratic Party, are very different men. Minnear served as governor of Florida from 1993 to 1997, not running for a second term because of health concerns. He would later quit drinking and smoking and become a vegan, while staying involved in Florida Democratic Party politics and St. Petersburg affairs. He will become one of the very few House members with executive experience. Rose, on the other hand, has only recently begun his political career. Joining the military to help pay off his student loans, he served as an platoon leader in the invasion and subsequent occupation of Qumar, where received a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. After resigning his commission in early 2018, he became the director of a free clinic in Staten Island and was recruited to run for office, where he defeated Richardson's protege and former aide Quanzey Jones in the Democratic primary. Rose will become the first veteran of Qumar to serve in Congress.

The victories come two weeks after the Republicans won the special election in Oregon's 4th congressional district, which had previously been held by now-White House Chief of Staff Will Bailey. Chair of the Democratic National Committee Stephen Collins was quick to call the results a rebuke to the notion that the electorate has lost faith in President Seaborn. "I wonder what the right-wing narrative will be now that we've won two tough special elections to [the Republican Party's] one," Collins said. "I don't think it will be distorting the president's approval ratings like they have been for the past two weeks."

On the Republican side, House Minority Whip Andrew Casey (R-NY) said the results were "disappointing" but said that they did not change the party's reading of the political environment. "The American people want a Congress that will keep this president and his administration accountable, and a couple of fluke election results will not change that." Casey did, however, congratulate Minnear and Rosen on their election, and said he would look forward to working with the latter on issues affecting New York.

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Former Governor and Congressman-elect Luke Minnear celebrating his victory at campaign headquarters (photo credit: Wayne Knight)

Results of the US House Special Election for Florida's Thirteenth District
Luke Minnear (D): 54.18%

Dave Bellinger (R): 45.82%

Results of the US House Special Election for New York's Eleventh District

Eli Rosen (D): 51.42%

Tom Spallone (R): 48.58%
 
BBC.CO.UK/Politics
Wednesday May 15th 2019

Liberal Democrat MPS plotting for Leadership election as Euro Election polls spells potential disaster

With half of the Liberal Democrat's seats at Westminster (seven of the fourteen seats) coming from north of the border, in the European Election the party under acting leader Christopher Campbell are focusing on Scotland.

Campbell, the MP for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross had been expected to be elected unopposed (as Robert Richardson was in 2012) but more and more questions are being asked of his leadership after the parties poor showing in the local elections in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Polls for the European Election which is being held next Thursday (although the results in the UK will not be counted until the following Sunday) having the party polling on average 5% nationally, and would be enough for them to lose all their currently held seats, six.

The two front-runners likely to get into the race which the details of which are due to be announced by Party President former MP for Hornsey & Wood Green Damien Nicholls, on June 3rd are Logan Ross,48, MP for Edinburgh West and the MP for Dunbartonshire East, James McQueen. McQueen,35 who won the seat at the General election last September with a 13.84% swing from Labour as the parties only gain in Scotland and as seen by many commentators as the future of the party.

Logan Ross, at the 2017 Party Conference
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James McQueen
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(photos by Ewan McGregor & Richard Madden)
Notes

@MountainDew17 would never speak to me again if I didn't cast Richard Madden!!!
Bonus points if you can spot a 1980's TV reference!!
 
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OOC: If Georges Lucas & Martin are correct, McQueen will mount a brilliant campaign before destroying his candidacy by alienating his allies within the party, while Ross wins by holding the moral high ground.
Ha, ha
I know we hadn't cast McGregor so he seemed the perfect fit. Logan Ross BTW is the name used by Murdock in a episode in the final series of the "A-team" which is a homage to James Bond, Logan Ross is basically James Bond, he even plays him with a Connery like accent, so I thought that it would be a great nod, and lets be honest it is a great name!!
 
Ha, ha
I know we hadn't cast McGregor so he seemed the perfect fit. Logan Ross BTW is the name used by Murdock in a episode in the final series of the "A-team" which is a homage to James Bond, Logan Ross is basically James Bond, he even plays him with a Connery like accent, so I thought that it would be a great nod, and lets be honest it is a great name!!
Lib Dems new songs

Or

 

mspence

Banned
INS News Briefs
International News Service Wire Reports


Marriage Equality Act Faces Numerous State & Court Challenges


Washington-while the historic Marriage Equality Act may have been signed into law by President Seaborne, it is facing numerous court challenges and potential election challenges in the 2020 mid-terms as various state lawmakers have proposed challenging the Act with legislation and potential Supreme Court challenges. Among many issues facing same-sex couples in these states are medical coverage, and hiring and firing practices. The Reverend Donald Butler, who has become a leading opponent of same-sex marriage, has said that he will continue to challenge the Act "as a moral test for our nation." Most governors and state legislatures, however, have taken a more cautious approach to the Act, while Republican opponents in Congress say they plan to introduce their own challenges through piecemeal legislation and bills that they want read on the record through roll call votes.

Reality Show Scandal Erupts Over College Admissions

Los Angeles-Several leading reality TV stars, their managers, and a number of high-profile agents were arrested or otherwise questioned by the FBI in what the Justice Department has described as a "mushrooming scandal" involving elite colleges and the children of reality TV stars who were part of an alleged bribery scheme which the FBI says has "nationwide" implications. The scandal only worsened for those involved after one of the stars was found dead in her Westwood, California, home of an apparent overdose...a planned awards ceremony, the first of its kind, for reality television has been postponed in light of these events and may be cancelled altogether as the scandal spreads.

Surprise Tremors Worry Geologists

St. Louis, Missouri-geologists working for the Atlantic Institute for Maritime Research say that they are becoming increasingly concerned over a wave of tremors and small aftershocks which rumbled through Missouri and several bordering states. "It may or may not be part of a growing pattern of an event which has not been seen in at least two hundred years," Professor Ian Malcolm of Princeton University said. "What concerns us is that there are of course far more many people in the region than there were when the last major event, which took place in 1811, happened...the damage from such an event today could be catastrophic, if it happened."
Several other scientists, along with state emergency agencies, are reportedly keeping a close eye on the region's fault line for signs of any further increase in activity.
 

mspence

Banned
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Tuesday, May 14th 2019

Democrats win House special elections

Democratic candidates have won both of tonight's two special elections to the US House of Representatives, one in Florida and the other in New York. In Florida's 13th district, encompassing the city of St. Petersburg and the area around it, former governor Luke Minnear defeated Pinellas County Commissioner Dave Bellinger by nearly ten percentage points. Minnear's victory flips the seat, which had been held by Republican Adrian Galway for a decade until his death in January, to the Democrats. In New York's 11th district, which includes Staten Island and swings up to include just enough of Brooklyn to include the residence of former House Majority Leader and current Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Mark Richardson's residence, the Democratic candidate Eli Rosen won a very narrow victory based on impressive turnout in the Bronx sections of the district and stories that his Republican opponent, State Assemblyman Tom Spallone, and his family members, had been previously investigated after coming to the attention of authorities during probes into organized crime fronts.

Both Minnear and Rose, although in the ideological center of the Democratic Party, are very different men. Minnear served as governor of Florida from 1993 to 1997, not running for a second term because of health concerns. He would later quit drinking and smoking and become a vegan, while staying involved in Florida Democratic Party politics and St. Petersburg affairs. He will become one of the very few House members with executive experience. Rose, on the other hand, has only recently begun his political career. Joining the military to help pay off his student loans, he served as an platoon leader in the invasion and subsequent occupation of Qumar, where received a Bronze Star and Purple Heart. After resigning his commission in early 2018, he became the director of a free clinic in Staten Island and was recruited to run for office, where he defeated Richardson's protege and former aide Quanzey Jones in the Democratic primary. Rose will become the first veteran of Qumar to serve in Congress.

The victories come two weeks after the Republicans won the special election in Oregon's 4th congressional district, which had previously been held by now-White House Chief of Staff Will Bailey. Chair of the Democratic National Committee Stephen Collins was quick to call the results a rebuke to the notion that the electorate has lost faith in President Seaborn. "I wonder what the right-wing narrative will be now that we've won two tough special elections to [the Republican Party's] one," Collins said. "I don't think it will be distorting the president's approval ratings like they have been for the past two weeks."

On the Republican side, House Minority Whip Andrew Casey (R-NY) said the results were "disappointing" but said that they did not change the party's reading of the political environment. "The American people want a Congress that will keep this president and his administration accountable, and a couple of fluke election results will not change that." Casey did, however, congratulate Minnear and Rosen on their election, and said he would look forward to working with the latter on issues affecting New York.

1aHKF0v.png

Former Governor and Congressman-elect Luke Minnear celebrating his victory at campaign headquarters (photo credit: Wayne Knight)

Results of the US House Special Election for Florida's Thirteenth District
Luke Minnear (D): 54.18%

Dave Bellinger (R): 45.82%

Results of the US House Special Election for New York's Eleventh District

Eli Rosen (D): 51.42%

Tom Spallone (R): 48.58%
"Oh boy is this great!"
 
INS News Briefs
International News Service Wire Reports


Marriage Equality Act Faces Numerous State & Court Challenges

This is non-canon. Please consult with the writing staff before doing stuff like abruptly altering major ongoing plot points (FFS we had Sam address Congress on this issue).
 
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Thursday, May 16th 2019

Former Acting President Bush becomes longest-lived American president

Chilmark, MA
Former Vice President George Bush, who acted as president from 1985 to 1987, has set the record for longest-lived person to act as president today, surpassing the nation's second president, John Adams. Bush, who acted as president for the final 15 months of Ronald Reagan's abbreviated second term after the nation's 40th president was rendered comatose by a stroke, is 90 years and 248 days old today, one day older than Adams was when he died on July 4, 1826 (just hours after his successor and political rival Thomas Jefferson).

The George P. Bush Library and Memorial Center in Bowling Green, Kentucky issued a statement celebrating the "long and storied public service of the Bushes and their efforts to make the world a better place."

The son of oil magnate Roger Bush, George Philippson Bush started his public career by postponing his college career to serve a four-year enlistment in the army, spending most of it in occupied post-war Germany. An alumni of Princeton and Yale, Bush moved to Kentucky to manage one of his family's businesses. In 1966, he was elected in a Republican wave year, becoming the first Republican to represent his district in its history. After ten years, he retired after the tragic death of his son George Jr. from a cocaine overdose before being coaxed to return to public service in 1978 and becoming Kentucky's 55th governor. His governorship would be short, as he was selected as Reagan's running mate in 1980 and served in that capacity from 1981 to 1987.

Bush, along with the rest of Reagan's top officials, concealed the severity of the president's health issues from the nation even as it became clear that he could not physically withstand the strains of the presidency. On September 19, 1985, the nation faced an unprecedented crisis when Reagan was rendered comatose by a stroke and Bush was sworn in as acting president. With no constitutional provision to remove the comatose Reagan (sans the politically unthinkable and legally questionable solution of impeaching a comatose president) and Bush becoming engulfed in scandals over covering up Reagan's health and the administration's illegal weapons sales to Iran, the nation eventually turned to abbreviating Reagan's term to end two years early and holding a special election for a new four-year term in 1986. Bush, probably wisely, decided not to run in the 1986 election and handed the presidency over to D. Wire Newman and the vice presidency over to Roland Pierce when Reagan's second presidential term ended on January 20, 1987.

After leaving Washington, Bush spent his political retirement as an author, writing his memoirs and serving as a goodwill ambassador for Presidents Owen Lassiter and Josiah Bartlet. Both he and his wife Jane have had several health issues in the past five years, with Bush having been hospitalized several times, most recently in August 2018 for low blood pressure and fatigue.

Bush also holds the record for longest post-presidency, having lived for 32 years after last acting as president, having passed Herbert Hoover in 2018. But he is not the longest-living vice president, nor has he had the longest post-vice presidency. He will need to live past April 21 of next year to pass Richard Nixon for the longest post-vice presidency, while if he hopes to outlive John Nance Garner (vice president to Franklin D. Roosevelt from 1933 to 1941), he will need to live past August 26, 2027 when he will nearly be 99 years old. The oldest living person who served, not acted, as president and one with the longest post-presidency is D. Wire Newman, who will turn 89 this October. Newman will have to live past June 11, 2021 to surpass Adams and become the longest-lived president.
 
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BREAKING: Iranian ships enter Qumari waters near Strait of Hormuz

NBS has confirmed that thirty minutes ago, approximately 6:00 AM local time, five ships of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy entered Qumari territorial waters near the Strait of Hormuz.

According to sources in the Department of Defense, Iranian ships broadcast a message asserting their right to "patrol waters belonging to the Islamic Republic of Iran" and "prevent chaos in the Strait of Hormuz" as Chinese forces begin to withdraw while Qumar prepares for the upcoming July elections.

Pentagon sources say that American and British naval forces have been ordered to maintain position and not intercept the Iranian vessels. It is unknown what Chinese naval forces reported to have been in Qumari waters have been ordered to do. President Seaborn is reportedly meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and other top national security officials in the Situation Room.
 
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BREAKING: Seaborn orders carrier task force to Strait of Hormuz; forces in Qumar on "high alert"

The White House has issued a statement written by National Security Adviser Jack Reese confirming reports that President Sam Seaborn has ordered the USS Abraham Lincoln and Carrier Strike Group 12 to the Strait of Hormuz. The Lincoln and Carrier Strike Group were previously in transit to the South China Sea before receiving their orders.

Reese also confirmed that US military forces in Qumar have been placed on high alert, and Secretary of Defense Jack Shannon has raised the DEFCON level to 3 in the Persian Gulf.

NBS has been able to verify reports that one civilian vessel registered to a company in Malaysia had been briefly detained by two Iranian vessels in Qumari waters, but was allowed to resume travel after only thirty minutes. Pentagon sources say that Iranian forces detained the vessel after mistaking it for one that the United States, China and Iran suspected of smuggling weapons and supplies to Bahji forces in rural Qumar.
 
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Friday, May 17th 2019

US, and UK issue joint statement on Iranian incursion

With Iranian ships still patrolling the Straits of Hormuz, the United States and United Kingdom have issued a joint statement condemning what they call the invasion of Qumari territory by Iranian naval forces. Released to the press this afternoon, the statement, signed by both President Sam Seaborn and British Prime Minister Richard Samuels, calls the entry of five Iranian ships into Qumari territorial waters "dangerous" and a "clear violation of internationally-recognized territory belonging to the nation of Qumar." The joint statement outlines that both American and British ships not on anti-piracy patrols have been ordered to port and that communications with the Iranian government have been ongoing. There has been no statement from Chinese military officials about the incursion, but it has been reported by national security analysts that Chinese ships have altered course to avoid encountering the Iranian vessels in Qumari waters during routine patrols around the coast of Qumar that forces of the People's Republic are based.

Iranian President Azim Mirshahi has stated on Iranian television that the patrols were due to "heavy-handed Western attempts to sideline Iranian forces...under the guise of anti-piracy flotilla movements." President Mirshahi has said that Iranian forces have been ordered by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Afkham to "protect all peaceful travel and commerce" in the disputed waters and "continue cooperation...with anti-Bahji and anti-piracy patrols."

It is estimated that the USS Abraham Lincoln and Carrier Strike Group 12, ordered to the Strait of Hormuz by President Seaborn, will reach Qumari territorial waters on Sunday morning, local time.
 
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Saturday, May 18th 2019

Iranian naval forces seize cargo ship, escort it through Qumari waters

Naval forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran have seized the MV Maersk Ur, a Danish cargo ship, escorted the vessel through Qumari waters to the Iranian port of Bushehr.

The seizure happened at 10:30 AM local time (2:30 AM EST), when the vessel was in international waters and on a course that would take it to port in Qumar. Iranian officials say the ship was seized owing to an Iranian court decision fining Maersk, the company that owns and operates the ship, $3.6 million for breach of contract over 10 shipping containers it charged Iranian companies for and then did not deliver back in 2017.

Both Pentagon and shipping industry sources say that a distress call was issued by the captain of the Maersk Ur, but non-Iranian naval vessels did not move to intercept even as the group passed through Qumari waters.

Secretary of Defense Jack Shannon called the seizure "reckless" given the tense situation in the Persian Gulf and the imminent arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln and Carrier Strike Group 12. Danish Prime Minister Lars Hesselboe said Iranian actions "flagrant violations of naval law" and "threaten the international system of trade and the rule of law." International naval law recognizes the ability of countries to arrest vessels that nations have civil claims against in port or territorial waters, but no maritime legal expert NBS spoke to said that current law allows for seizure in international waters.
 
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