After over a decade of waiting, the long anticipted fourth reconciliation conference between the Republic of Ubesii and Dominion of Tekarai is scheduled to take place in Passan, the capital of the Barkan state in Tekarai on June 10th of this year.  

            The Assembly has agreed to send Tennon Sekai, one of Ubesii's finest diplomats, to speak for Ubesii during the proceedings of the Fourth Ubesii-Tekarai Reconcilliation Conference.  


             The conference has been scheduled to take place in the Passan royal palace, the historical home of the royal family of Barkan, and the place where Ubesii’s history with Tekarai began more than two centuries before.  This conference will be the fourth reconciliation conference between Tekarai and Ubesii in the ongoing attempt to mend ties between the two nations that began in 1965 at the first reconciliation conference in Sanis.  

              According to most experts, this reconciliation conference will most likely end like the three previous conferences, where effectively nothing changed in the relations between the two nations, the borders of Ubesii and Tekarai stayed closed and no long term agreements were made other than an agreement on the date for the next conference.  According to the government, however, they will be making sure that the conference will not end until an agreement is signed.  

              The U.N.S. Mokana, which has been the flagship of the Ubesiian Navy since the 1930s, is finally being retired and is to be added to the Ubesii National Naval Museum in Segana.  This battleship was built to be the largest and most powerful ship in the world in order to act as a symbol of the might of the Empire of Ubesii in the years before the War of Terror.


              The Mokana is to be succeeded by the U.N.S. Seris as the flagship of the Ubesiian Navy once the Mokana is fully integrated into the Naval Museum.  The Seris is one of the newest models of carrier, the Emperor class, which is nuclear powered and can carry up to ninety aircraft and a complement of up to five thousand crewmen.




              After a week of negotiation, a historic amount of progress, although little, has been made in repairing relations between The Dominion of Tekarai and The Republic of Ubesii.  Thus far, the Ubesiian and Tekarian delegations have made progress in the formal apologies of both nations for their past transgressions, the point at which all other negotiations have fallen apart, and have begun discussing ways to concretely re-establish relations between the two nations.  With negotiation lasting over a week, this reconciliation conference is also the longest negotiation that has ever been held between Ubesii and Tekarai.

              With the upcoming 52nd annual celebration of Ubesii’s Victory over The Dominion of Tekarai in the War for Survival coming up, the government is planning on holding its sixth military parade celebrating the event, this time in the capital city of Segana.  Ever since Ubesii’s final victory over the Dominion of Tekarai on July 3rd, 1963, the government has hosted military parades every ten years in a celebration of Ubesii’s victory in the war and as a statement of the republic’s military might.  
             
              Over the years, the annual military parades have been held in multiple cities throughout The Republic of Ubesii, and this will be the second to be held in the nation’s capital city of Segana.  Although normally the parade would be held one year later, the Assembly has decided to hold the parade one year early for both the two main reasons for the parade and as a historic symbol of the unity of the fifty-two clans of Ubesii.

              The Reconciliation Talks in Passan finally ended two days ago, successfully ending bans on trade and travel among other things, and the two nations have finally agreed to apologize for their crimes committed against one another so long ago, however, soon after the agreement was signed, tragedy struck.  When the delegations of Ubesii and Tekarai were leaving the Passan palace after signing the final agreement, a lone gunman attacked the delegation, injuring several members of the delegation, including both ambassador Sekai and chief negotiator Drake.

              The gunman was quickly apprehended by nearby police and his trial is currently pending, meanwhile, those injured were rushed to the nearby Barkan Royal Hospital to be treated for their injuries, and although ambassador Sekai survived, chief negotiator Drake died soon after they arrived at the hospital.  The next day the celebration that was meant to follow the end to the negotiations was canceled in favor of a day of mourning for the tragic loss of Francis Drake so soon after the end of negotiations, and a state funeral was held today in the traditional Tekarian fashion, with a grand procession leaving the local government building (in this case the Passan palace), with his family taking possession of the coffin in order to bury him themselves in the state cemetery of Ramaan, his native state.  Ambassador Sekai expressed wanting to attend the procession, but was unable to leave the hospital at the time due to his wounds.

              The small island off the coast of mainland Ubesii known as Tanis has called for a referendum on independence for their island.  The Tanisans, sometimes considered the fifty-third clan of Ubesii, had a clear and separate history from Ubesii before the mainland’s unification under Parkai Seris Mokana, with a unique culture and form of government.  Before the unification of the mainland, Tanis was a place of relative peace while Ubesii was in near constant power struggles between the fifty-two clans, always able to defeat any would-be invaders.  They functioned under a dual kingship and focused mostly on trade with other nearby islands and various clans within Ubesii, bringing the island great wealth compared to their neighbors, but their fortunes quickly changed when Parkai Mokana unified the island for the last time.  Within two years, the island had been conquered and Tanis began to be seen as an integral part of Ubesii to most mainland Ubesiians, although not to the inhabitants of the island itself, who have, throughout the centuries, held on to their culture and independent streak.  Now the small island of about fifty thousand citizens is calling for a referendum on their independence from the rest of Ubesii after the next election.  The government is not expected to take this idea very seriously, as all other attempts at independence for in the past Tanis have never succeeded, and it is questionable if the new country could stand on it’s own if it were to achieve this goal.

              Election season has begun in the Republic of Ubesii, and it is likely to be one of the most important elections in the history of the Republic, as this will most likely be the year that the National Socialist Party finally loses its majority control of the Assembly.  Throughout almost all of Ubesii’s history after the final war with Tekarai, the NSP has kept nearly complete control of the Assembly with most of it controlled by their party.  Despite their nearly total control of the Assembly for most of the Republic’s history, over time, their power has slowly been waning until, at this point, they are barely holding onto their majority, and this election is expected to finally take that away.

              The major parties in this election are the National Socialist Party, which, despite the imminent loss of complete control, is most likely going to remain a very influential force in government, the National Restoration Party, which has been slowly gaining support and campaigns in support of various traditional Ubesiian systems, including the restoration of the Imperial Dynasty, and the Ubesiian Liberty Party, which wants to see the abolition of the caste system which has been in place since the nation’s founding, and wants to loosen regulations on the economy and various other systems.

              Other minor parties that will be running in the election are the Tanis Liberation Party, which is expected to be the weakest of all parties due to a promise by the NRP to work to make sure that the Tanis referendum will take place, the National Communist Party, the Ubesiian Democratic Party, which advocates a pure democracy, the National Isolation League, and the Ubesii Ascendance Party, which mostly focuses on strengthening national security.

After a lengthy hiatus, Ubesii International has returned, and with a slightly different and superior format.  

• Instead of a new article every Friday, articles will be posted whenever there is news to report.
  
• Articles will often, but not always, be shorter so as to cut out unneeded content, in this way, more than one news story can be fit into one article, thus allowing for more news and at a faster rate of delivery.
  

Now onto today's news stories:


         After decades of neglect, the slowly crumbling Tomb of the Parkai has started to be restored after a recent resolution made by the Assembly at the prodding of Emperor Cyrus and the National Restoration Party.  The Communist, Liberty, and Democratic parties fought against the resolution, with members of the other three parties wavering, until the National Socialist Party joined the NRP in order to pass the legislation.

         The tomb of the Parkai was originally built by Parkai Seris as a simple tomb resting atop Mount Tarei, where his spirit would be able to watch over his empire and its people.  Despite his wish for a simple tomb, all Parkais after Emperor Seris constructed their own tombs on top of the original, until, by the end of the Empire, the Parkais of Ubesii had constructed the largest tomb complex in the world to this day, along with one of the largest Atash Behram dar-e mehrs in the world.  During the fall of the Empire, the tomb was damaged by the Tekarian military and repairs were forbidden.  After the reestablishment of the Republic, the idea of the tomb's restoration was popular, but ultimately never passed the Assembly, until now.


         The Ubesiian Space Development Ministry has recently launched a new experimental satellite named the D-Sat EX-01, although they have stated that they are not at liberty of disclose the purpose of the new state of the art device, merely stating that it will be a significant step forward in the Ubesiian space development program.
 
         The new satellite launched earlier today from the Makalis Launch Zone in northern Ubesii.

         A new statue of Thomas Carter has been erected in the city of Tarei in order to honor the Ubesiian born Barkanian composer who was instrumental in the success of the resistance during the Great War.  Throughout his life, Carter stood up for the equality of all within Ubesii, opposing both the Empire's treatment of Tekaranists and the Dominion's treatment of Ubesiians, and was one of the founders of the sixth sons resistance group, a group made up of mostly Barkanian Ubessian rebels who were essential to the victory of the resistance.  Unfortunately, just two weeks before Tekarai was finally pushed off of Ubesiian soil, he was captured by enemy soldiers and was executed.


         After months of negotiations with the Imperial Household, the Assembly of the Republic of Ubesii has decided to construct a new Assembly Hall outside of the capital city of Segana.  Similarly, all allied embassies will be reconstructed near the new Assembly Hall following the imperial request.

---

---

After two years of painstaking work, the restoration of both the Tomb of the Parkai and the Imperial City have been completed, the latter of which was completed along with the new Assembly Hall recently built on the outskirts of Segana. The two grand pieces of architecture now stand, fully functioning and as grand as they were a century ago, the pool of souls in the Imperial City having its first eternal crowns re-introduced since the end of the Second Tekarai War, and the eternal flame of the tomb’s dar-e mehr has been re-lit as the temple restores regular duties, along with the tomb itself. Most of the residents of the town of Gelan, which originally grew alongside the tomb with its caretakers, but floundered in the latter half of the twentieth century, has witnessed something of a resurgence with the influx of jobs related to the restoration, which is expected to continue due to continuing government assistance to bring in more jobs and business. The people have hailed it as a renaissance, as their community now looks to be on the road to eventually being its most prosperous in centuries thanks to this project and the expected future benefits it will bring.

These restoration projects have been hailed by many, especially those within the NRP, such as its leader Parkai Cyrus Mokana, as “great steps in reminding our people of their heritage, and in showing our respect to those leaders who worked to make the nation of Ubesii what it is today”. Others speaking in support of it have also described it as the last wound of the wars of the twentieth century to be healed, restoring the dignity of the nation that was lost in during those decades. It has also been stated that these projects, in conjunction with other projects to advertise the country as both a place to do business and visit, are likely to bring in larger numbers of tourists to Ubesii in the coming years.

While most celebrate the return of these historical objects to their former glory, others have seen the complete restoration as a continuation of what is tended to be described as a resurgence of dangerous nationalism, and as an attempt to recreate the Imperial cult of personality, claiming that this could have dangerous consequences for democracy and diversity within the nation today.

While these projects may be somewhat controversial today, the simple fact is that these monuments have been restored, and will stay that way for the foreseeable future, and while some seem to see these architectural treasures as political tools against their enemies, most simply seem to want to enjoy these pieces of Ubesii’s history. The Tomb of the Parkai has been completely opened to the public, and certain sections of the Imperial City have been as well, with the Inner Palace and the Central Tomb being labeled as view-able but not to be entered. The Tomb of the Parkai is in the center of the town of Gelan, situated on top of the mountain for which it was named, and the Imperial City in located along the Kendai River, south of Segana. Both are reachable by high-speed train, although numerous other methods of transportation, including river cruises and, especially, hikes, are available as alternative travel routes.

All embassies of allies of the Republic of Ubesii have also been moved out of the Imperial City as part of the restoration, and have been relocated into new buildings constructed alongside the Assembly Hall in Segana.

---

---

---

With the conclusion of historic talks between The Republic of Ubesii and The Tekarian Federation in Sanis Landing, and a hard fought and narrowly won victory in the Assembly, the two countries, historically bitter enemies and imperial rivals, have recently signed and ratified a treaty of cooperation, named by its proponents, largely in the Liberty and Democratic Parties in Ubesii and the Leinsters in The Federation, as the “Reconciliation Treaty”. It has also received unanimous support from the Council of Five Nations as well as from the majority of the Socialist Party of Ubesii.

This document broadly targets three areas of cooperation between the Republic and Federation, those being the movement of people, as well as both economic and military cooperation, although other provisions within the treaty also target areas such as the exchange of stolen objects of cultural significance and future provisions for cultural exchange:

Broadly speaking, the treaty will lift the last of the travel and migration restrictions that have been in place between the two countries since the end of the Great War, bringing travel laws to be more in line with Ubesii’s policy with most other nations in the world. This will effectively allow for greater tourism, exchange, and immigration between Ubesii and Tekarai since the brief period of openness that lasted from 1890-1901, often called the "Brokering of Mantis and Lion". The treaty is also designed to create a stronger economic relationship between the two countries, allowing both businesses and workers more power to cooperate. The final major section of the treaty is the creation of provisions allowing for greater cooperation between both countries military forces, with joint naval exercises already scheduled to be starting next month.

The treaty came about following numerous talks between the countries that, despite beginning with tragedy in 2016 with the assassination of Tekarian diplomat Francis Drake in Passan, only grew stronger over time as part of a longer reconciliation process in an attempt to make amends for centuries of conflicts, and in particular the repression and later outright genocide of the Ubesian people by the Fletcherist Regional Government during the War, although similar actions have been occurring intermittently since the late 1970’s.

As would be expected, a treaty this dramatic has also inspired a surge of resistance from many on both sides, namely the Ascension and Communist parties, an odd combination, in Ubesii, as well as the National Front and certain other far right factions within the Tekarist Party. Both the Ascension and National Front have staged numerous protests of the process since its inception, and resistance increased in both countries, with some even resulting in violence, in the lead up to the official signing.

The treaty received what could at best be described as lukewarm support from the Restoration Party, the current majority in the Assembly, with a large section of the party remaining quiet on the process, and even Parkai Cyrus mentioning the reconciliation only in passing in his most recent addresses, although his daughter Sinkai Atryotu, one of the lead researchers in the recent restoration of the Tomb of the Parkai, has spoken largely in favor of the signing and ratification.

---