This is the international home for the Stonebridge Times' NewsReport, an article-by-article news update for international and interregional viewers about the goings-on in North Prarie.
This is Prariean journalism at its finest.
This is the Stonebridge Times.

Midwesterner. Political nerd. Chipotle enthusiast. 
Minister of Culture of the South Pacific // Former Prime Minister

(This post was last modified: 07-29-2019, 09:42 PM by North Prarie.)

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President-Elect Lindon celebrates his victory with husband Finlay Lindon at a supporter gathering in Highland.
ALEX LINDON WINS PRESIDENCY
By Rose Morgan,  Head Domestic Correspondent | @flowermorgan

(HIGHLAND) The polls have closed, and the President of North Prarie will not be a Social Democrat for the first time since 1996. Even bigger? It will be the first time in the history of the country that the President is openly gay. Alex Lindon is that President.
At a supporter gathering at Memorial Park in Highland on Monday, Lindon and his supporters eagerly watched the live PNN news broadcast up on a big screen set up by the Lindon campaign. Lindon supporters from all over the country were there, including Reggie Harper, who traveled with his wife, Melissa, from McAndrews to be there.  "We love Alex. He's kind. He's charismatic. He speaks to voters from everywhere. He gives me hope for the future in North Prarie" Harper told one of our on-the-ground correspondents. The estimated attendance at the event was "around 500,000" people, a Lindon campaign spokesperson told the Times.
Those rural votes are a reason many think Lindon won the presidency. A representative from Farquhar's 1st constituency located in western Farquhar, Lindon's hometown has a population of 16,000 people. In weeks leading up to the election, voters told Times pollsters on the ground in states like Galaxy Plains, Freeside, and Lebanon that they felt 'betrayed' and 'disgusted' by the Social Democratic 'corrupt political machine' in Stonebridge,  and they felt that Ella Hall was the posterchild for those politicians. Additionally, many felt soured by the Valieant presidency, who they felt was "unlikable", "unseen", and "bitter". Voters thought President Valieant didn't do enough to unify the nation following the Pacifica Plaza attacks, and that gave them a bad view of any Social Democrat presidential candidate that the party would put out. 
At the event, the crowd broke out into frenzy when PNN called the Presidency for Lindon. Supporters started chanting "N-P, N-P, N-P" and "That's my President!" when Lindon took the stage with his husband Finlay, whose Chirper account described life on the campaign trail and was a gathering place for many Lindon supporters. 
Lindon's speech thanked his supporters, who had "the hope that it takes to get here" and said that "we are now in a new era of Prariean leadership; which we, I know, will win", following his oft-repeated campaign slogan, 'Win the Era.'
The scene was much different in Wescott at the Hall supporters gathering, however. The Coastal Center, an old warehouse converted to a convention center and gathering place, was silent as PNN called the election for Lindon. In her concession speech, Hall also thanked her supporters, while saying that "it is time to unify as a country under new leadership. North Prarie will go forward, albeit not with a woman named Ella Hall in office."
As for Parliamentary elections, the results aren't official yet, however, many news outlets are speculating an around 10-seat loss for the Social Democrats, with the Prarie First and Citizens parties being the big seat gainers.
The Stonebridge Times will keep you updated with Parliamentary election results and a further dive into Alex Lindon's history and what a presidency might mean for the future of North Prarie.

Midwesterner. Political nerd. Chipotle enthusiast. 
Minister of Culture of the South Pacific // Former Prime Minister

(This post was last modified: 08-05-2019, 10:07 PM by North Prarie.)

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The Anders-Marie is lit up blue for the still-standing Social Democrat membership lead.
SOCIAL DEMOCRATS KEEP PARLIAMENTARY LEAD BUT LOSE 10 SEATS
By Daveed Fleur-Jones, Lead Parliamentary Correspondent | @daveedfj

(STONEBRIDGE) The Parliamentary results are in, and some could say it's a win for the Social Democrats.
On one hand, they kept their Parliamentary membership lead on a night where it looked to be a Free Thinker wave, especially after Alex Lindon was elected President.
On the other, they lost 10 seats and are now in a situation where they may need to form a bloc to get anything to pass.
The Dems were attacked from the left-most tonight. Losing 6 seats to the socialist Citizens Party and 3 to the Greens, they were being attacked in urban areas with a high population of young people who felt that the Social Democrat government of their youth hadn't done enough. In particular, the Citizen comeback was felt, with former Social Democrat Parliamentary representative Elena Warren-Cortez leading the charge to take back Citizen seats from her former party that the Citizens had lost in 2017. And take back they did, as not only did they take back the two seats they lost in 2017, they gained 4 more in Durham's 2nd, Durham's 4th, Scott's 5th, and Wescott's 3rd, Wescott's 3rd, in particular, is a place where economic anxiety was felt after the automakers moved to the southern states. 
Tonight, we also may have seen the fall of the Republic Party. Losing 10 seats, all to Prarie First, Republic was seen by voters as too 'establishment' and too far to the left. The moderately conservative party's fall is telling of how the extremes now dominate in politics, Pacifica-wide. However, it will be interesting to see if Republic gains some momentum by forming a coalition with the Free Thinkers, which may be necessary when there is no outstanding membership lead in Parliament. 
With a Free Thinker win and a Social Democrat 10-seat loss, this will be a night to remember. However, once everyone wakes up, they may have to start working with other parties to get things done in Parliament.

A diagram of the new Parliamentary composition

Midwesterner. Political nerd. Chipotle enthusiast. 
Minister of Culture of the South Pacific // Former Prime Minister

(This post was last modified: 08-06-2019, 09:08 AM by North Prarie.)

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These Three Things
a daily news report by the Stonebridge Times

National labor unions unite to form the Association of Prariean Workers (APW)
(DURHAM) National worker's rights leaders announced today that unions from around the country in fields such as the auto industry, manufacturing, mining, and maintenance united to form a national organization called the Association of Prariean Workers, which is the first time this has been done since North Prarie was formed. The Association is set to elect a President next Monday. 
Citizens Party leader Elena Warren-Cortez applauded the move, saying in a tweet that "It is past overdue that the Working Class in this country unites to create an organization to fight for their rights and stand up to big banks and corporations." When we reached out to the President's office, we received a response saying that "The President thinks that unions built this country, and is happy to see them nationally organize."

President Lindon puts forward his proposed budget to Parliament
(STONEBRIDGE) President Lindon sent his proposed budget to Parliament today. Notably, he has revised the Prarie Dawn bill put forward by the Prarie First party, expanding the military's budget to 50 billion dollars, and not 75 as Prarie First leader Alex Claasen has proposed. At a press conference today, Claasen said he supports the revision by the President. The Prarie First party is not in a position to fight for their way, as they only hold 29 seats in Parliament. The budget needs 90 votes to pass, and if parties voted mainly on Prarie Dawn, which they are expected to, the budget would fall 3 votes short. A source for the Times inside Free Thinker leadership reports that they are already campaigning moderate Social Democrats to vote in favor of the bill. Some other parts of the budget include expansion of public transportation, as well as increased tax rates on the rich and better funding for welfare programs.

North Prarie set to claim 2 new territories
(STONEBRIDGE) The Department of the Interior announced today that they have made a claim to the World Cartography Board, headquartered in Sedunn, to claim territories 70 and 71, respectively. Under World Cartography Board rules, countries are limited to 1 territory, so the territories will under international law be considered puppets of North Prarie. There are already significant Prariean populations in both lands, which will be named Upper Prarie and West Prarie, respectively. Notably, the expansion will mean that North Prarie will have a border with Qvait, who President Lindon has stated he would like to advance talks with.

Midwesterner. Political nerd. Chipotle enthusiast. 
Minister of Culture of the South Pacific // Former Prime Minister

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The flag of the self-professed "People's Prarie" government-in-exile is flown over the Bondensbygning, the state capitol of Avtrær.
TREGÅRD CAPTURED, AVTRÆR OCCUPIED BY REVOLUTIONARIES
By the Stonebridge Times Editorial Staff | @stonebridgetimes

(TREGÅRD)  After a swift and strategic campaign of capturing villages, destroying supply lines, and fighting tough urban warfare against the Prariean Army, the President of the self-professed government in exile called the 'People's Prarie', 35-year old leftist scholar John Aberpool, declared the Prariean state of Avtrær to be "Territory of the People", ordering the occupation of the capital, Tregård, and the state at large, declaring it in a SwiftNet video Thursday morning.  This is the first time that territory of the Commonwealth has been occupied since the Great Prariean War of 1927.  Writers for the Stonebridge Times went behind the lines, following the movements of both militaries, the People's Army, and the Prariean Army. 

Aberpool declared himself "President for the People" on Monday, and called for wide-scale mobilization in the same announcement, but, according to a source within the Prariean Ministry for Defense, leadership showed no concern, as the Prariean Army, along with forces from Ryccia, easily dismissed the attack near the border in August. However, the potential for battle was clear after an attack occurred on a power grid in the Northwest of the country, operated by Forest and River Energy. The attack wiped out power for millions, from the southern part of Ciel Vanterre to Abbey in the southwest of the country. After this attack, the Prariean Guard in the west of the country was placed on alert but did not mobilize until it was clear that the People's Army was on the move across Avtrær. By then, it was too late.

Late Tuesday evening, reports circulated about People's Prarie operatives capturing villages across the state of Avtrær. Civilians and Prariean Army soldiers interviewed by the Stonebridge Times reported bombings of roads, bridges, and train tracks by People's Army operatives. Once these attacks occurred, eyewitnesses say,  the People's Army would march into villages, breaking into homes and businesses and waking up residents, demanding the confiscation of any weapons that could be used to conduct a counter-attack, such as knives, swords, and baseball bats. After this occurred, operatives would establish a defensive perimeter in the forests encompassing the state, conducting guerilla attacks and sniping Prariean Army and Ryccian Expeditionary Forces soldiers under the forest and nighttime cover. 
 

Prariean Army soldiers move through the Avtrær forests, seeking to respond to the widespread People's Army occupation.  

 

After the upper hand given to the People's Army was clear, a larger mobilization began to take effect. A mass of People's Army soldiers, some seen sporting Bruuman weaponry, used main roads to conduct their onslaught towards the capital, setting up land mines and ducking into the forest when Prariean Air Force planes were spotted overhead. Once they reached the outskirts of Tregård, where the Prariean Army had set up a defensive perimeter, urban warfare begun. The Prariean Army fought long and hard, however, they just couldn't keep up when facing the mass of People's Army soldiers that seemed to grow by the minute, with Tregård citizens sympathetic to the revolutionaries jumping out of their doors to join the cause. When it was clear that the Prariean Army couldn't keep up, the soldiers that remained in the city were given the order to surrender by the high command in Stonebridge. It is unclear whether this was directed by President Alex Lindon, however military protocol requires that the President sign off on the order to surrender in battle when given by high command. 
 

Prariean Air Force jets conduct a flyover of  Kingstown, a city on the border of the southwestern state of Queen's Mountain and Avtrær.

After the order to surrender was given, Prariean military all over the country mobilized, under the assumption that an attack elsewhere could come at any moment. The city of Abbey, the 7th largest in the nation, in particular, underwent a security mobilization, as the city is merely 30km from the Fjellelv, the river forming the border between the states of Queens Mountain (the state Abbey resides in) and Avtrær. The Governor of the state, Kaycie Gray, declared a state of emergency early Thursday and deployed the Prariean Guard to the river. Additionally, the Headmaster of Montclaire University, the most prestigious school in the nation, nestled in the heart of the city, sent all students home for online lessons, housing only international students who couldn't travel home and students from Avtrær itself. 
The city has natural protection in its position nestled in the mountains, however, the same tactics employed in the invasion of Avtrær could easily be employed. 

Owing to the mass amount of soldiers employed in the invasion of Avtrær, and due to the fact that the Prariean military is now on high alert across the country, a mobilization seen in this invasion is highly unlikely. However, the military and the country should be prepared for everything. In a press conference Thursday afternoon, Minister of Defense Benjamin Blanc expressed this view:

"This invasion really showed that when we are not on alert, a quick, large-scale mobilization can really cause harm to our stronghold across the country in this fight against these revolutionaries. While I have no doubt that they are receiving outside support, these are angry people who will go to any means necessary to cause harm to this country. Today I worked with President Lindon to order a large-scale mobilization of the military, so we can respond to any and all attack that comes our way, however, that doesn't mean ordinary citizens cannot be vigilant. If you see something, say something, and report to your local police or Prariean Guard installation."

When asked if he would seek support from the North Cordilian Union at large, Blanc answered:

"That is certainly an option we have, yes. I'm working with President Lindon and Parliament to determine whether that's the direction we want to go in."

While the Prariean military at large is already benefiting immensely from Ryccian support, calling in the help of the alliance that specifies military support for its members would be a large step in order to combat the revolutionaries. 
Ultimately, North Prarie has the numbers and weapons advantage over leftist guerilla soldiers. However, motivation is certainly something to question - how determined would Prariean soldiers, and potentially ones from abroad, be to fight an adversary that has only recently caused a serious threat, and hasn't shown up in the eastern, more populous side of the country since the original Cobblestone Lake City uprising, and attack at Bank of the Prarie in Stonebridge?  Why would young men seek to join a war that international heavyweights have signaled could be solved diplomatically? 
In a region that always seems to seek the peaceful option, do you seek to solve a historical issue with modern problems?
That's, ultimately, what will determine the tide of this momentous crisis. 

Midwesterner. Political nerd. Chipotle enthusiast. 
Minister of Culture of the South Pacific // Former Prime Minister

(This post was last modified: 10-29-2020, 11:29 PM by North Prarie.)

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