Great Sutherland News Section

National Bank of Sutherland (ÞSB) cuts interest rates a quarter-point

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ÞSB Chairman, Graham Zammit, told the press that "inflation has calmed down enough" to cut rates for the first time since February

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Godfrey Tilman-Holt
Political Correspondent
57 minutes ago
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After nearly a year of rate freezes, the National Bank of Sutherland (Þedessentralbænk Suþerland), Sutherland's central bank, has cut the interest rate in Sutherland from 2.5% to 2.25%.

This decision, reached by all but one of the nine board members, reflects the Bank’s growing confidence that inflation is under control. With inflation (CPI-H) down slightly at 1.6%, The ÞSB, whose statutory mandate is to maintain price stability and support sustainable economic growth, therefore judged that fears of rising inflation had dissipated enough to justify a modest rate cut.

A reduced interest rate means that investors have a higher capacity to borrow as their interest payments fall, as well as cutting flexible rates for loans and mortgages, although this also reduces the interest rate savers receive from commercial and civic banks.

Graham Zammit, who became the Chairman of the National Bank in April following his time at the Territorial Bank of Mellieħa, held a press conference at 14:00 ECST (04:30 Universal Time) announcing the first rate cut under his tenure. He also signalled that the country was "recovering", both from the 2017-2019 financial crisis (the "Crash"), and from stagflation issues during the early recovery period.

"During the last five years, we have had to first ratchet up the rate of interest in this country from its lows during the Crash into the heights of FY 2022, when it neared 4%, and then begin a series of controlled, reasonable steps back to a lower baseline. I am announcing today that we are to take another step-down, this time from the current rate to 2.25%, 25 basis points down from the current figure. The target rate of inflation in this country is 2%, and therefore we are increasingly comfortable in predicting that this trajectory will continue into the medium term."

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This cut to the interest rate brings it to its lowest level since the end of 2020, and follows a lower-than-anticipated inflation figure for the year to September 2025; estimates predicted that the rate would increase to 2%, but it in fact cooled to 1.6%, signalling an easing that has been seen in other areas of the economy. The unemployment rate has risen slightly to 4.5%, whilst wage growth has cooled to 3.9% in the year to September.

Economists and analysts have reacted quickly to the news, examining the surprise results from the BSS (Sutherland's statistics agency) that resulted in the rate cut. The right-of-centre Institute for Public, Economic, and Statistical Research (IPESR), a think tank on socioeconomic issues, has released an analysis of the figures as a result. "Across the board," the analysis began, "fears of overheating appear to have given way to an acceptance that the government and central bank may have overreacted, in fact, to the possible length and severity of the inflation spike that the country has been climbing down from since a few years ago." It went on to suggest that Zammit's statement that we "may be here again a few more times" was a strong hint the ÞSB would lower rates again repeatedly in 2026.

Sutherland's gradual cut to the interest rate is relatively unusual in modern times; the most recent time during which a gradual off-ramp was being performed by the ÞSB was after the 1989-1991 recession. The reason has largely been drawn to the transition of Sutherland from an "explosive, though uneven, recovery" into a "stable, but subdued, growth period outside the AI/tech sectors"; the AI/tech sectoral growth had in fact made speculators believe that a trimmed base rate was not on the cards.

Whilst the markets have rallied on the unexpected announcement - the H&H 100 has risen 2.7%, erasing most of the losses from the recent electoral results, while the EUTAV has risen 4% and the Breres Index by 2.2% - some more concerning undercurrents have been noted. Sutherland's economy in the post-Crash era has been referred to by some economists as "stagnant", with growth stuck at the 1.5%-2.5% mark until relatively recently - this is far lower than the 3-4% growth seen in the decade leading up to the Crash. The ÞSB's decision, the Centre for Public Policy Research (CPPR) - a centre-left think tank - was a "clear hint the Bank was weighing up an explosive rise in speculative gains in AI stocks and spending, and a relatively sluggish consumer market."

This conclusion arose from the latest PMI figures: the composite PMI rose modestly to 51.7 in November (whereby 50 marks the difference between growth and recession, thus 52 indicates moderate growth), while the manufacturing PMI stayed at 50.5, the services PMI rose to 51.6, and the construction PMI rose to 51.1; all of these are in the green, but just barely.

The rate cut has ignited political debate about the strength of Sutherland’s recovery from the 2017-19 Crash, with government ministers insisting that the news was a positive indication and would lead to greater investment, while the incoming left-wing parties of government implied that the lowering of the rate was an attempt by the Bank to ameliorate slow economic growth at the consumer level.

Labour's likely incoming Keeper of the Gavilsgild, Heather Symonds wrote on Wauker:

"It is clear that the inheritance of this incoming Renewal Government is dire, with anaemic manufacturing growth and falling wage growth. After six years of unsure government leading to uniquely poor growth, we will unshackle the Sutherlander economy through real investment, a pro-worker platform, and a Green New Deal."

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The demissionary (outgoing) government's Keeper of the Gavilsgild, Gutryck Hansson (Liberal), has stated that the latest rate cut demonstrates an increase in confidence in the Sutherlander economy.

"We came into power six years ago during a period of unprecedented recession and overspending. Through over half-a-decade of prudent, sensible reform, we have not only managed the recovery responsibly, but the markets are now repeatedly surprised with how positive the Sutherlander economy is performing. We hope that this legacy of responsibility and prosperity is not squandered by the incoming socialists..."

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Hansson also claimed that record GDP growth in the last year (3.3%), and the reduction of the deficit 2.2% of GDP, down from 7% in the last Labour budget in 2019, were "signs of Sutherland's boom under the Liberals".

Markets, economists, and consumers will now be awaiting the Bank’s next meeting, on the 14th of January, for signs of whether this marks the start of the broader easing cycle which Zammit hinted was upon the horizon.

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Also in the news:
— Labour and Greens agree to form "renewal government"
— VDA leadership contest "nearly confirmed", say insiders
— How the centreground shattered: an analysis
— President announces diagnosis with prostate cancer
— Rory Mackay: Election results prove the "radical left" on rise

Also in the news on the topic of Economics:
— Mixed PMI data undermines optimism from rate cut
— Sægan: We will rebuild manufacturing in Sutherland
— Lund stock up 24% this year after "bull market"
— How Averreþ became the Southern powerhouse city
— 51% would rather have higher spending than lower tax, ÞusHus finds

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Opinion: We need to talk about Cambers

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Graham Ilkestoun
International Correspondent
44 minutes ago
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Have you heard of Cambers?

If you're a Sutherlander, or from many other nations far-flung from Fianna, reading this then you may not have done. However, Fianna's official name is the Commonwealth of Fianna and Cambers - this brings to mind connotations of how Sutherland's own union and commonwealth developed including Atinea and the eastern isles, after all.

The region of 2 million inhabitants, which speaks a minority language distantly related to Atlish and other Gotic languages rather than the Fiannach spoken by the rest of the nation, is relatively well-known for being down-trodden.

Fianna's three non-Cambers regions recorded HDIs of around 0.900 - this is reminiscent of many other developed nations, with Sutherland's own at a little above this rate. The rate in south Cambers? 0.753; drastically lower than the HDI of Caminia (~0.84), and far more indicative of a middle-income, developing economy than a region of an otherwise developed economy.

What went so wrong?

If you talk to some of the residents there, the answer can be expressed in just two words: Maighread Tuoìdchear. Tuoìdchear is reviled across the region for a fairly simple reason, wherein her hardline conservative, anti-industrial and anti-Cambers policy saw the total degradation of livelihoods and employment in the region. Her name has even been given to an effect, the Tuoìdchear effect, referring to the absurdly poor living standards, health outcomes, and life expectancy in the left-behind region. While Tuoìdchear's actions may remind Sutherlanders of the Liberals and VDA's right-wing, neoliberal approaches in the 1980s and 1990s that seriously damaged the industrial economies of the South of the country, resulting in a less severe spike in unemployment and fall in living standards relative to the rest of the country during this period as in the case for Cambers, the targeting of Cambers by Tuoìdchear was incomparable and brutal in comparison. Tuoìdchear has emerged from the 1990s and 2000s from being a divisive, right-wing politician to a caricature, her main legacy being one of uniting an entire region (and many academics with it) against her policies - while she undeniably was likely the one person most culpable for the backsliding of Cambers, the emergence of her as the sole figure responsible overestimates just how much power she truly had as an individual.


(left) The Palace of Earminstear, the seat of the Seanadh - the Fiannach government has long neglected Cambers, leading to a long-term surge in resentment and Cambric nationalism

And of course, whereas the South is now a mixed bag with arguably some remarkable successes in the rapidly-booming cities Averreth and Dunmoure and some left-behind areas like South Barrowland and much of Ravenspur, Cambers' HDI is now significantly lower than even South Ibissia, which is an undeniably emerging - not developed - economy lagging far behind the rest of Sutherland.

By the start of the millennium, Tuoìdchear and her successors had stripped Cambers of its existing employment - which, as many Sutherlanders reading from the industrial south in Westmorland, Barrowland, and Ævon will recognise from their own experiences, was not satisfactory and was in decline at the time already - and, unusually, deliberately underfunded the region to the extent that its public services and remaining economic sectors simply could not sustain themselves.

Cambers has since slid even further back into the modern day, as the revolving door of Leothan politicians, whether the left-of-centre Labour or right-of-centre Sinn Fhèin are leaving or entering government, has bolstered the structures keeping Cambers' economy suffocated and marginalised, while refusing to assent to investment from international lenders and investors keen on capitalising on the undersaturated market.

This anger at the establishment, in many respects, has festered. The Cambric National Party, with its overtures to a lost age and destined future of greatness for the fallen nation, has energised a noteworthy - though still marginalised - bloc of support amongst Cambric voters, who seem increasingly frustrated with a system of government clearly refusing to deliver anything but poverty and misery to the region.

This festering of anger has also nurtured some far more aggressive demons. The Provisional Cambric Liberation Army (PCLA), a paramilitary revolutionary organisation designated as terrorists by many international governments including that of Great Sutherland, has perpetrated a number of attacks since 1994; these include the assassination of Jonn Seymore in 1994, the attempted assassination of Tuoìdchear the following year in the Grand Stavanger Hotel bombing, the 2000 New Year's Day shootings on Eamont Street with 103 losing their lives, and a further two sets of deadly terrorist attacks in 2013 and even this November respectively. As in Tìr 70 years prior, a mixture of ignorance by, and threats or persecution from, the nationstate have resulted in sympathetic sentiment being held by many towards the PCLA, creating a dangerous situation for Leothan.

Sinn Fhèin's anti-immigration rhetoric (as exemplified on the right) and support for conservative independent candidate for Prime Minister, Siobhan MacFlàchnan, has been credited to its victory, but also to fostering deeper xenophobia issues in Fianna

The Crisis, meanwhile, was a period of turmoil roughly equitable to the 2010s, which has seen a migrant and refugee crisis - driving the rise of right-wing parties, as well as the deployment of anti-immigration rhetoric by mainstream parties like Sinn Fhèin and conservative candidates such as Siobhan MacFlàchnan - and a debt crisis borne out of a surge in unemployment from a financial crisis after a housing bubble burst, amid a wave of trade union strikes, riots in 2016, and a currency crisis. This surge in instability has radicalised many in Cambers, and led to a rise in populist, conservative, and xenophobic attitudes, amid socioeconomic insecurity and an erosion of trust that Tuoìdchear's conservative tenure kicked off.

Hr. Anders Maddocks, professor in political science at the Lorestead of Dunmoure, has used Fianna often as an analogue of when socioeconomic turmoil created by neoliberal-conservative economics and poor, populist governance fosters "byrdism" (or "nativism", roughly). Byrdism, according to Hr. Maddocks, has a few common features as seen in the examples of the Fiannach right, Progress in Sutherland (as well as the VDA right), and the Santonian Radicals:

• The central tenet of byrdist parties appears to be protecting interests of the native-born ethnic majority. This is both explicit, in Tuoìdchear's policies on Cambers, and implicit, in the xenophobic rhetoric of many right-wing populist parties using Byrdism (such as MacFlàchnan's use of the line "reclaim Fianna's sovereignty and restore security and prosperity" after the recent Fiannach elections, or Progress party leader Salvador Renau Regaunt posing LGBT+ rights and immigration as mutually exclusive).
• The restriction of immigration, through hardline and oft-arbitrary policies, is universal.
• The view of immigration is that it "spoils" the national character, and displaces the status quo, while "refusing" to adopt the traditions of the nation that they have moved to.
• There is a consistent trope that immigrants are responsible for a drastically higher proportion of crime; Fiannach social media often targets Caminians, while the VDA's former leader João Afonso Almeida often speaks of "tendencies of the incomers". It was also a contributor to misinformation on the nationality and religion of the 25/8 bombers.
• Byrdism surges after socioeconomic crises; Fianna's Crisis, or the Sutherlander Crash, in the 2010s have provided a rise in their byrdist attitudes.
• Byrdists consistently argue that immigrants are a drain on the nation's resources in all ways; housing, unemployment welfare and available jobs simultaneously, and even "apparently disproportionately-low tax payments", says Maddocks.

There are signs that things could be on the up for Cambers, in spite of this political polarisation and government dereliction of duty. The Fair Development Act, while castigated by many in Leothan as unduly benefitting Cambers - as if the inequality of fixing the damage that Leothan had wrought was suddenly worthy of outrage - proposes to give Cambers the equivalent funding to three other counties. Sutherland has also often proposed investment and reconstruction loans, both from its SWS-S (sovereign wealth fund), and from the O10 pension funds, with the aim of rejuvenation of Cambric cities like Deercaister and Chesterfeeld.

Until then, though, Cambers will remain a cautionary tale for many across the world, as regards radical-conservative politics, nativism or byrdism, regional inequality, and the abandonment of industrial regions. It is crucial that nations like Sutherland, with its newly-incoming left-wing government and a Chancellor from the industrial city of Maltash in Westmorland, learn the fundamental lessons that are necessary, or we risk repeating the same mistakes and inequities that Cambers has suffered for decades.

Kristmæssærend 2025: Sagan praises "nation of citizens" in first address

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Chancellor John Blake Sagan has delivered his first Christmas Address, calling on the nation to embrace "the spirit of caring"

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Godfrey Tilman-Holt
Correspondent
5 hours ago
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The full address transcript of Kristmæssærend 2025 is below:

Good evening.

Kristmæss is an immensely special time of year.

It is a time to recharge, to step back from the day-to-day, and to reflect on the year that has come and nearly gone.

The barbecues are being set up, the roads and rails are carrying families home for the festive season, and kids are eagerly awaiting tomorrow morning.

Many of you are rushing out on Kristmæss-eæve to the shops, or defrosting the lamb or turkey for this year, and many more are making your final preparations for the big day.

For every family enjoying an evening at home, another will be out at the beach, and another at a restaurant or pub. Some of you will even be eagerly awaiting the rugby or cricket.

I celebrate each and every one of you.

For many, Kristmæss is a sacred time to celebrate and reflect on their faith; for many others, it is a secular season of family, tradition, and goodwill.

For all of us, Kristmæss gives us a chance to share peace, love, togetherness, and goodwill to all.

We are also one of the few nations to enjoy a summer Kristmæss. Not many nations get to spend their festive season sunbathing or having a family barbecue.

For many of us, for all of these reasons, Kristmæss is a truly special time of year.

I want to dedicate this address specifically to those of you, for whom Kristmæss is a harder time.

First, the volunteers and key workers. The LHA doctors and nurses caring for those who need it most over Kristmæss Day, or the volunteers at community kitchens up and down the Commonwealth serving hot meals, or the police officers on night shifts keeping our communities safe. I thank you personally, and raise my glass to you.

I urge the rest of us to take this spirit of caring in smaller steps - maybe it is in being more grateful for what you have, or what you receive, or who you have around you.

Maybe that spirit of caring calls for you to reach out to a neighbour you haven't heard from in a while, or an old friend, who you think may be lonely this Kristmæsstyde. Many of those around you are fighting silent battles with remarkable perseverance - so pay someone a visit, make a call, even a text.

Many families will have an empty chair at their kitchen table this Kristmæss. It is one of those occasions of the year that grief attempts to put a cloud over, so I can only offer my sincerest condolences to any and all of you who have lost someone recently.

Many more will be worrying about the stress that the expense Kristmæsstyde brings. Some of you have had to cut back on essentials, or rely on a helping hand, while many others may have simply had to make do. In these turbulent times, my focus is on easing that unfair burden however I possibly can.

Far too many people will spend Kristmæss without a roof over their head. Far too many children will wake up tomorrow morning with no presents. This is heartbreaking.

Yet, it is the effort of millions of you, volunteering to make sure no child wakes up without a gift, and that nobody has to sleep outside tonight. This is what makes us a nation of citizens.

It is your efforts that made sure someone felt like they mattered this Kristmæss. This is the best of Sutherland; it is who we are.

Whether this Kristmæss is one of joy for you, or of worry, or of loss, I truly believe that this time of year brings light and comfort to us all.

From the Sagan household to yours; Merry Kristmæss, Sutherland.

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Also in the news:
— Former Chancellor Lachlan MacAlpine dies at 97
— Labour "clears-out" welfare and employment law in week before recess
— Housing First "fully back in force", confirms Government
— Willem Menzies announces candidacy for Liberal leadership
— Progress leader Salvador Renau Regaunt claims Wauker CEO is "Szlavian agent"

Also in the news on the topic of Kristmæss:
— LIVE: Santa Claus tracker
— White Wine rated Sutherland's #1 Kristmæss song
— Eamont and Bridgwater both claim to host "nation's largest parade"
— How Atinea influenced Sutherland's festive season
— Lamb is Sutherland's favoured meat for Kristmæss, ÞusHus poll finds

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Inside the Sagan Project: How Labour ended austerity in six weeks

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The new Labour-Green government has launched a mission of "renewal", leading to Liberal criticisms of "loss of confidence" and "burning the house down"

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Godfrey Tilman-Holt
Correspondent
5 hours ago
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The Sagan government has scrapped Bystuden (welfare) cuts and new disability requirements, cancelled ongoing rounds of privatisations and outsourcing, and repealed Liberal-era employment reforms, in a bid to unroot the Ramsay government's legacy from Sutherland. A series of strikes by teachers' and doctors' unions have been ended by negotiated pay reviews, nicknamed the "Kristmæss bonus", while legislating a "right to disconnect" in the final week of the 2025 Almoot session. The changes into the New Year are now trickling in; a "Winter Budget" is likely, as are civil service relocations away from the capital, an injection of funds into state housebuilding to reverse Ramsay-era cutbacks, a moderate pivot for the sovereign wealth fund towards funding Sutherlander projects, provincial investment banks, and even the potential for airports' renationalisation.

The Daily Burherman has referred to this enslaught as "akin to Eadric's doomed charge east" - a hark back to a mediaeval battle when a royal challenger tried, and failed, to rush to victory and lost it all afterwards. The Liberals have similarly panned the decisions, calling it a "reckless bonfire that will set the whole house on fire", although leadership challenger Willem Menzies has attracted attention for praising the "sensible approach to public sector strikes." Menzies, however, targeted the speculation on airport nationalisation, calling it a "callback to the type of Labour government nobody misses".

Labour have stated that this is all towards the goal of ending "strænghood", the Sutherlander term for austerity. A spokesman said:

The Chancellor's mission is to renew Sutherland. From ending the fair pay strikes, to scrapping the cruel welfare cuts, and making a real plan to invest in Sutherland's left-behind regions, the Labour-Green government is well on track to meeting our ironclad commitment to make sure the recovery from the last 40 years of Lamontism benefits each and every one of us.

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The major reversals include a near-total reversal of the 2019-2025 welfare reforms. This includes reinstating the health top-up to disabled and unwell people at its historic rate - which Labour claims will lift 500,000 people out of poverty - raising and scrapping the ban on welfare to those undergoing eviction proceedings. A number of bureaucratic requirements, which one charity alleged required deeply unwell and disabled people to attend multiple interviews in person or be rejected for applications and welfare, have also been scrapped.

Another reversal has been in the disputes between the public sector unions and the government, where the new government has launched a new round of negotiations, and offered a series of backdated pay rises averaging 7.1%, as well as some guarantees as to rights and redundancies in the next few years, with the landmark "right to disconnect" being passed within the final week of the Almoot to satisfy the deal. The trade union Together, who represent roughly ten million public sector workers, have released a statement thanking the government for "swift, responsive, and open talks", with its general secretary Beatriz Lopes having been known for her increasingly fractious relationship with the Liberal-VDA government over pay and conditions. This brings to an end a strike that has lasted seven months, on and off.

The other issue that Sagan has targeted is the "rebalancing" - a plethora of investment changes have been made to restructure the SWS-S towards domestic investment projects such as a high speed rail link between Gosmere and Caerwen, a set of new towns in Huntandonshire, a metro system in Arkenwell, a wind farm off the coast of Southmynstre, and a new manufacturing plant in Conway. His new Keeper of the Gavilsgild (economic minister), Heather Symonds, has committed to moving over 200,000 jobs from the Eamont Horseshoe to the provinces, in a project to decentralise the federal civil service. While this policy has been attacked by the Liberal leader Allister Ramsay as "punishing Eamont for its success," the VDA have quietly approved it, as it is likely to result in greater devolution of civil servants to the Rosalian north-east and Beiran north-west.

It remains to be seen what appears in the "Winter Budget" that Sagan is floating in the next few weeks; but Sutherland's new government is keen to make an impression to voters.

President Correira-Rhodes urges restraint following Tangerine Sea incident

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The government has appealed to the international community, while Sutherland have joined the search-and-rescue mission in the Tangerine Sea

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Alveva Westbruȝ
International Correspondent
5 hours ago
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The Sagan government has called for "immediate restraint" following an incident roughly 250 kilometres offshore from Maarjamaa. The government has also joined the search-and-rescue operations, as well as issuing an advisory travel warning not to travel to either Scalvia or Sainaam unless absolutely necessary for the time being, or to register with Sutherlander consulates or embassies when conducting necessary travel if possible. The President, similarly, has released a statement:

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President of the Commonwealth of Great Sutherland; OFFICIAL CORRESPONDENCE; FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement from Aleixo Correira-Rhodes

Early this morning, the Stormaȝt (Government) confirmed intelligence of a serious military incident offshore Marȝamar (Maarjamaa), and we understand that one Scalvian aircraft has been lost. I have instructed officials to request any and all relevant verifiable information, in conjunction with examining our own intelligence on this incident.

The search-and-rescue operation remains ongoing, and I have offered our aid in this operation.

We urge all parties to exercise immediate restraint, and in the interim, strongly advise Sutherlander citizens to avoid non-essential travel to either Sainaam or Scalvia.

I am in correspondence with the Chancellor, international governments and the AN, as well as my counterparts in both Sainaam and Scalvia to investigate this incident, establish contingency measures, and prevent escalation. We also call for an international investigation.

We call on both parties to proceed in line with international law, condemn any unilateral military escalation and brinksmanship, and will take all appropriate measures as further information develops.

11 January 2026 (07h00 EST)

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Also in the news:
— VDA leader Márcia Téixeira: "We should take Lyvennter approach to discrimination, immigration"
— How Willem Menȝies went from zero to top contender for the Liberal leadership
— Arka Saga 2 release sees 50% increased sales on previous edition
— Heatwave blasts northeastern Sutherland as BME sets red alert in Rosalia
— Labour holds by-election seat in Westmorland

Also in the news on the topic of Auroria:
— LIVE: Scalvia states "all options on the table" after Tangerine Sea incident, scrambles armed aircraft
— Bourse down 1.4% on morning of Tangerine Sea incident, breaking two-week rally
— Ibissian PM Sana Kalimat calls for "contingency plan" in Calidian Ocean
— Isolda Shen: Unilateral aggression will not be tolerated
— Aurorian instability "highest in a generation", says Shadow Reeve for Ellands Yan-Marten Brown

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Chancellor releases statement, unveils sanctions against Sainaam

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The government states that it "stands in lockstep with Scalvia" against "unjustifiable escalation perpetrated by Zhujing"

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Alveva Westbruȝ
International Correspondent
3 hours ago
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The Sagan government has released a further statement in light of more recent information regarding the Tangerine Sea crisis.

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15 ÆÞELRÆDSGÆT
Medway B.H., Eamont, 1MW5 1AA1 [EAM]


THE CHANCELLOR
John Blake Sægan 12 January 2025


Statement on Tangerine Sea Crisis


I have been extensively briefed as regards the unjustifiable escalation perpetrated by Zhujing. On this sombre, dark moment for the Eastern Hemisphere, I would like to first send my deepest personal condolences to the families and loved ones of the two Scalvian aviators whose lives have been taken away by this senseless violence.

Great Sutherland stands in lockstep with Scalvia. We will not tolerate unilateral aggression of this scale, as my Reeve for the Ellands Isolda Shen has made absolutely clear. Commercial and civilian transport through the Tangerine Sea will be ensured.

There is no justification for shooting down a plane in international waters.

I have summoned the ambassador of Sainaam to Eamont, to demand a full disclosure and explanation of such an irresponsible action against a sovereign state, and against the basic principles of human dignity and international law that ensure that we are able to live day-to-day in peace and security, could be allowed to take place.

It is clear from the intelligence that we have received, verified, and corroborated that the Scalvian pilots were acting with due diligence, and legally, in international airspace at the time that the Sainaamese took the unthinkable step to illegally shoot them down.

The Commonwealth has already frozen the assets of a number of Sainaamese officials, elites, banks, and corporate leaders in Eamont. Further to this, I will present a comprehensive sanctions package to the Almoot tomorrow morning. There will also be a re-evaluation of existing trade barriers, as well as a review into sectors – especially defence – whose exports will be restricted or banned entirely to Sainaam in coming days.

We will continue to co-ordinate our response with our allies in S.E.A.L., as well as the democratic states of Auroria and the wider world. Furthermore, I will continue the advisory warning against travel to either Scalvia or Sainaam at this time.

We are also in the process of involving international bodies of law and diplomacy, such as the AN and IACJ, in this affair. We will continue to act in the interest of world peace, socioeconomic security, and the protection of freedom, democracy, and our allies.

Our most ardent intention in this affair is to ensure a lasting and secure peace. Whilst I urge all parties involved not to escalate, Scalvia has a right to self-defence in the event of further aggravation by the Sainaamese military, and we will help however possible if that situation arises.

I urge Zhujing to step back from the brink, and have deliberately prepared a number of further measures that can be undertaken in the event of further unilateral aggression. We reiterate that, above all else, all parties involved should exercise restraint, and to refrain from the use of military force. This is a preventable crisis if all parties involved step back.

The next steps must be taken through diplomatic means. War is far easier to start than it is to end.

It is now Zhujing's responsibility to de-escalate and refrain from further unjustifiable, provocative, illegal conduct.

12 January 2026 (17h00 EST)

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Also in the news:
— Red squirrel sightings increase for fifth winter in a row
— VDA membership records first increase in three years
— Sutherland Day preparations "well underway", say Eamont provincial government
— 5 dead from heatwave in Rosalia
— Labour unveils Regional Investment Bank

Also in the news on the topic of Auroria:
— LIVE: Scalvia states "all options on the table" after Tangerine Sea incident, scrambles armed aircraft
— Shilling crashes to two-month low, yet climbs against basket of Aurorian currencies, amid Tangerine Sea crisis
— Allister Ramsay: The time has come to "move on" from Sainaamese trade
— Isolda Shen: Unilateral aggression will not be tolerated
— Aurorian instability "highest in a generation", says Shadow Reeve for Ellands Yan-Marten Brown

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