#Regulator Kiir | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

freelancer-chronicles · 5 years ago

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A story about someone new! And a nice nod to our Season of Skull hoods in the image lol

Kiir adjusted the magnification on her visor and peered at the almond-shaped karrid leaf. Its jade-green shine was marred by a dusting of white frost — the gift of an early Icetide.

The frost didn’t concern her. Instead, she peered at the lightning bolt of pinkish, luminescent crystals that struck diagonally across the leaf’s surface. Where the strange accumulation met the green flesh, odd aberrations swirled. Veins knotted into geometric patterns. Cell structures exploded.

Ember bloom. Chimeric mutations.

Kiir dropped the leaf and looked up at the karrid tree. Two parallel slashes of pink ember had crosscut its rugged bark. These crystals were much bigger, as large as her hand, and had formed into the typical square-based pyramid with the points shaved off. But the light within was rosy. Simmering with power.

Unlike any ember known.

Excitement surged in her. Triggering the jets in her suit, she leapt into the air and surveyed the valley from on high. It was typical of the Sundric lowlands. Here, the mountains of Heliost gave way to soggy heath. Thick fog blanketed the land, punctured by distressed trees and crumbling castles. All of this terminated at the Sundric Sea, a silvery expanse about ten leagues north. Beyond that, Stralheim — a strangled signature on the far horizon.

Ice crystals on the wind. And something else… an unfamiliar tang.

The sensors in Kiir’s interceptor whispered. They drew her attention to a northwestern promontory overlooking the valley. Tuning up her optics, she saw peaked roofs and a palisade wall. Both played ghost games in the fog.

She returned to the ground and hooked the air sled to her suit. Spying a decrepit castle outside the village, she rocket-jumped clear across the valley and landed amid its crumbling ruin. There, she hid the sled, packed with her weapons and camping gear, taking only her SMG and dagger.

She walked straight through the swirling ice fog towards the village. The palisade wall emerged. She leaped over it and landed noiselessly in an alley between two wooden buildings. Arabesques of pink crystals snaked across the walls on either side. She followed them into a wide plaza.

All around her — devastation. Peasant dwellings blasted to ruin. Bodies frozen in the mud. A Sentinel watchtower broken off at the third story, its upper ramparts smashed across the street.

Crystals everywhere. Etched in curious double rows across the ground and walls. Looming over the town like blushing titans hewn from pink gemstone. Erupting from the skulls of victims. Hissing their little ember song.

The echo of the Anthem.

The wailing again pierced the silence and it drew her to the town’s edge. There, a village girl, some twelve winters old, wept near a quintuplet of recently dug graves: her peasant clothes, tattered and burnt; the snowy ground, stained with blood.

Such unchecked grief was hard to watch. And yet...

A smile itched at the corner of Kiir’s mouth.

Yes. Yes, it was here.

***

She set camp in the exposed third floor of the Sentinel tower. From there, she could see all around the town and across the valley, antics of the fog permitting. She’d brought a suspension tent, a tripod for her spyglass, a notebook, and a small armory: sniper rifle, hunting rifle, two SMGs, a bolt lance, and the Leach, her signature nine-inch, green-glowing, poison-seeping dagger. Everything needed to execute her hunt.

Then she exited her javelin and checked it for damage. It was a custom-fitted Interceptor, decked out in metallic black plating and fireproof muslin half-cape, hood, and trailing skirt. She checked the ember rings on all the joints; the pin-thin orange hoops glimmered reassuringly in their ceramic fittings. The sigil of the Princess Zhim, her patroness, etched in silver along the jaw of her faceplate, reflected the falling snow.

Then she flew a recon pass over the valley. In summer, this was a verdant but cool paradise fed by a river from the Helossar glacier. Now, frozen falls crowned the southern end of the valley, and two hilly ranges extended outward like a “v.” There were five rugged peaks: two on the left, three on the right, with the village below the first peak on the left. Between the ranges: a vast wilderness of frosty muskeg, lake ice, and snow-blasted forest.

It would take days to search it all.

When the white sun touched the horizon, she returned to camp, lit a fire, and waited. Wolven lingered at the forest edge; their blazing, yellow eyes betrayed their intent. With her scope and hunting rifle, she killed five in one breath and stacked them beyond the fire’s heat, to freeze.

While she roasted one, the rest of the pack receded into the dusk.

Daylight began to dim. She ate the cooked wolven, the stiff scars on her face resisting the simple act of chewing.

For a long time, she sat. Listened to the sounds of the wilderness. Of the village ruins creaking in the wind. Watched as the sky turned violet, then indigo, then black. As the constellations emerged and recounted the legends of old.

Gods and monsters. Hunters and prey. The deeds of mortals engraved in the heavens, with stars for words.

She swallowed hard and drew a pinch of grey dust from the pouch around her neck, tossing it in the fire. A blast of sparkling silver figures and prismatic symbols erupted upward, writing their own mysteries against the twilight.

She scanned the obscure imagery for meaning. Attempted to divine a prophecy of what her hunt may bring. Glory? Fortune? Perhaps contentedness to come? A return to joyful days long submerged in a life of misdemeanor?

Kiir sighed and closed her eyes. She could not read Shaper words — no one could. They were the musings of beings far greater than anything left alive on Coda today. But she held out hope that somewhere, someone, something knew she was there. Validating their great works.

In return, she asked for the one thing she needed most.

Salvation.

***

The next day, she drew a rudimentary map in her notebook, jotting down all relevant landmarks: the village, the five peaks, the frozen falls, the coastline, two large frozen lakes, a scattering of lagoons. At the same time, she tracked the rosy, parallel trails of ember. They jagged and snaked all over the valley, sometimes congregating in snarled knots, sometimes running for leagues and terminating for no apparent reason.

Twice that day, she saw the survivor girl gathering berries from the mander bushes. Many the child ate voraciously; many more she carried through the snow back to the village. Later, Kiir spotted her entering the Sentinel barracks, one of the few buildings left standing after the attack.

Through her spyglass, Kiir watched as the girl nursed a wounded Sentinel. He was unconscious. Suffering. Still locked in the towering javelin of his order, propped up against a column inside the barracks. She fed him berries with gentle desperation.

After almost an hour of hand-feeding the dying man, the girl went about various tasks: propping up a wall on the verge of collapse; patching wind-torn gaps in their ravaged shelter; tending her meager fire. Kiir rubbed her jaw and frowned. Despite the hard work and singular focus, the girl’s situation was dire. The winter was young, and the wolven were starving.

Later, when the girl left again, Kiir entered the barracks and stood over the Sentinel. Something in the room smelled worse than decomposition: floral and acrid, like fermenting perfume.

The man’s head was a horror. A chimeric mutation had overtaken the left side of his head, the flesh bubbled and sculpted. Erupting from the centerline of the infected area was a ridge of that unreal pink ember: flat-pointed pyramids, glowing and humming, apparently anchored to his very skull. A wound on the man’s neck and collar had been bandaged by an amateur.

She avoided the ember wound and stripped the bandages off his collarbones. The whiff of rotting flowers rose like a cloud — not like any infected wound she’d known. She swallowed her nausea and peered closer.

Blood pumped easily from four deep, ragged tears below his neck.

An animal wound. Certainly fatal.

She dropped the bandages on the dirty ground and shook him. When he didn’t respond, she touched the freezing Leach to his neck. That brought him around.

“Who…?”

“What attacked you?”

His eyes drifted over her javelin. “You Corvus?”

“Did the creature make you smell like this?”

He took a long breath and seemed to grow suspicious. “Help her first.”

Kiir raised her faceplate to reveal her maimed and wretched leer.

All hope drained away. His voice quavered with disgust. “Regulator.”

“My questions first. Then I save you and the girl.”

But the Sentinel’s integrity was intact. He looked away from her and spoke no more.

***

Later, Kiir sat by her bonfire on the watchtower roost and rubbed at the stiff scars on her face. She’d picked off another half-dozen wolven during the day and one was nearly done roasting on a spit.

Meanwhile, the girl crept near. Her grubby feet picked over the rubble. Never taking her eyes off the black-clad hunter, she sat by the fire and shuddered with relief.

Kiir watched as the girl cautiously inspected the hunter’s possessions: the tent, the air sled, the tripod and spyglass, the array of modern weapons. Finally, she stared wide-eyed at the roasting wolven. After a moment, a question began to form on her lips.

But Kiir turned to reveal the injured portion of her face. Its ghastly texture rippled in the firelight, like molten metal. And so the girl’s question died right then and there.

Kiir smiled. Though the injury was truly disfiguring, she enjoyed its tendency to simplify discussions.

Instead, there was quiet for almost twenty minutes. Then, without warning: “Why did you come here?” the girl asked.

“I’m hunting.”

“For the mantikar?”

Kiir’s brow raised and a thrilled shiver ripped through her.

This is no legend. The mantikar is real to her.

“I didn’t see it. I was sleeping when it came. They said it was a young one.”

Kiir stared long at her, then sniffed and returned to the fire. “I would have traded you meat for that information. I couldn’t have known if you were lying.”

That didn’t faze the girl. “What do you want with it?”

“Can’t let a dangerous creature run around, terrorizing the folk.”

Silence and doubt.

“Okay,” Kiir grinned. “I’m actually just a wicked, greedy bitch. I’m gonna capture it and trade it to a crime lord to curry her favor.”

The girl pondered that and nodded.

Fourteen, maybe? Makeshift boots and nothing but a torn smock? Somehow still alive… everyone else dead. Kiir shifted and frowned at the fire, went back to rubbing her face.

“You won’t help him, will you.”

“Who, your Sentinel? He’s already dead. Or will be by tomorrow.”

“What happened to your face?”

Kiir snorted. “This? I did this on purpose. To scare children.”

“You’re not scary. You’re just old and ugly.” Then she got up and left without hesitation.

Kiir’s neck warmed with indignation. She suppressed the urge to shred the girl’s back with SMG fire. Instead, she snorted out a rough laugh, leaned her head back and closed her eyes.

But the laugh didn’t work. The girl had nicked something vital.

Doubts flowed up from below. Much closer to the surface than ever before. Dreads and regrets. Disappointments and betrayals. The threat of punishment if she failed. No… as redress for a long line of failures.

So many years since it all began. Zhim and Kiir. The girls who killed to survive. Now she’s a princess… and what am I? Barely her pitiful subject.

She swallowed hard and fished out a pinch of dust, flicking it angrily into the fire. In the blast of ethereal Shaper symbols, she hunted for a remedy.

But there was nothing. Just more Shaper nonsense. She kicked a burning log, erasing the ancient diagrams with a flurry of sparks.

***

On the third day, she went deep. Followed every trail. Roared through the forest, kicking up a wake of flurried snow, shattering the frozen trees with rocket wash and sending animals screaming into the underbrush.

The risk of failure nipped at her heels. Like a pack of starving wolven.

Late in the day, high on a rise leading to the third peak on the east side of the valley, under a vaulted cliff hung heavy with ice, she found it: a pile of frozen corpses. Nineteen wolven, three licked-clean arnisaur shells, a host of smaller wildlife, and twenty-seven humans — the majority of the village.

They were surrounded by a dizzying gallery of blushing ember striations, painted on the walls and ground, always in that perplexing parallel helix. The mantikar was definitely triggering these ember blooms. How was a matter for Arcanists.

And the smell... It was different here. Still floral but also deathlike. A mortician’s catastrophic mistake.

She fought through it and tried to get a sense of the animal. It was big, that was certain. Perhaps a cat-like quadruped. At least the length of two korox, end-to-end. Taller than a Sentinel. Maybe two heads taller than her diminutive Interceptor.

A young one, the girl had said.

She pondered this as she traced the ember up the flanks of trees, over and beyond cliffs, raking across the ground. Again, she noted how the crystalline lines sometimes terminated without leaving any trail. Almost as if —

As if it could fly. A winged predator stinking of necrotized aristocrat. As big as a strider cabin.

A primitive instinct made her take a step backward.

Should have brought the Colossus.

***

That evening, her state of mind was an even split between apprehension and glee. Some of the corpses had been fresh. She knew where the creature ate. She knew that it must return.

As she tore through a wolven leg and pondered the construction of a blind, a wail reached her on the wind. This time, it wasn’t the girl.

She leaned over the edge of the watchtower’s shredded ramparts and peered with the spyglass down through the hole in the barracks ceiling.

The Sentinel was dying now. With wracking seizures and giant white eyes. Absurdly, the girl was shaking him by the shoulders and holding his face. Crying the whole time. Wet streaks flowing down her cheeks. It did little good. In moments, his body stiffened. Then it went slack, for good.

Kiir watched as the girl embraced the body for nearly an hour. Later, she roused herself and took a shovel outside the palisade. Heavy with grief and lethargy, the girl dug a sixth grave alongside the others.

Kiir watched as the girl struggled to part the Sentinel from his suit. As she dragged the body through the village to the gravesite. As she failed in her attempt. As she was too weak to continue. As she fell half on the dead Sentinel, half in the snow. And as she lay there, still.

This Kiir watched with a pounding heart. The sun passing behind the peaks and the sky turning purple. Suddenly, the girl arched her back and screamed skyward. With renewed life, shrieking like a dying animal, she heaved the body towards the grave.

And then… yellow eyes blazing at the forest’s edge.

They came low and silent, their protruding ribs and sunken bellies betraying a desperate bloodlust. The girl was unaware. Single-minded in her task. Perhaps delirious with grief. Exhausted and starving.

The pack jumped forward, snapping at her hands and hair. She swung the shovel in wild, frantic arcs, both feet planted over the dead Sentinel. But, though malnourished, the wolven were massive compared to her — the leanest was fully ten feet long — their skulls pitted with metallic accretions. No human could stand against even a single wolven. Not without a javelin.

One got hold of the dead Sentinel’s arm and tore the body out from under her. She landed hard in the snow and struck her head on the ice-packed ground. In a heartbeat, the pack ripped the dead Sentinel to bloody, shredded tatters.

Then they were on her. Leaping forward. Snickering and drooling. Baring their gleaming fangs. She couldn’t get her footing. She was in a daze, momentarily stunned by the fall.

Suddenly... a luminous tangle of green light scribbled over a whirl of black, like a murder of crows eating a swarm of fireflies. One wolven was cut nearly in half. Two more died in the split second that followed. Their senses soon caught up to what was happening, but three more lay dead before the pack fled into the forest and Kiir slowed to a visible speed. Her armored chest heaved with tension; her suit’s padding slithered with sweat.

***

The girl woke slowly. She found herself tucked under a blanket by a roaring fire. A spot on her head was oozing and red. A wolven was turning gently on a spit.

Kiir sat nearby. Her usual leer was fixed in a resolved grimace. She laid a plate of wolven meat down beside the fire. “Eat.”

The girl rose slowly and looked all around. At the meat. At the hunter.

“Eat. You’ll need it for tomorrow.”

“... Why?”

“We hunt mantikar.”

***

No one mastered a javelin in a week. But Kiir made the girl a promise. She would shoot. She would fly. She would hunt and defeat the mantikar. All that — in one week.

The Sentinel's suit was a Captain’s designation, possessed of a few special capabilities. The ember rings crunched slightly when Kiir inspected them, and a wisp of glimmering orange dust sifted out onto the ground. But she brushed it away and made the suit ready. There was no time for details; there was no proof the mantikar would remain in the valley for long.

In a day, the girl was shooting and reloading. In two, she was recharging her energy shields. In three, she could work the Sentinel barrier, protecting both herself and one other ally from a frontal attack. On four, she had the knack of the Captain’s lightning burst ability. Might come in handy, if she got close enough. Flight would be the challenge. It always was with beginners.

In the meantime, they built the blind. It had to be done carefully. Every time they visited the feeding grounds, new animal corpses had been added. The creature was so near.

On the sixth day, the girl had the basic gist. Years more training was required. All Kiir could do was caution the girl against trying anything complicated. She’d seen more than one novice snap their spine while attempting a wingover.

But the girl was strengthening. Not only physically, but mentally. Her focus was inborn — that much was clear from the outset. But with the javelin under her control and a weapon in her hand, the focus was maturing into a dark resolve. Kiir recognized it well enough.

The power to fight back is the power to seize your destiny. To project your very existence into the future.

“He told me you were evil.”

They sat on a frosty bluff, overlooking the valley while resting from flight training. The girl’s silence had been growing.

Kiir smirked as she polished her SMG. “Who?”

“Sentinel Jenin.”

Kiir shrugged and went back to her work. “Smartest Sentinel I ever met.”

“So you are. Evil.”

Kiir frowned and looked up at the cold sky. “I’ve had my moments.”

“Did she make you this way? The... crime lord?”

Kiir put the gun away. “You speak of her Royal Majesty Princess Zhim. And no — we sort of did it to each other.”

The gap that followed would have normally suited Kiir. But something urged her to go on. “We were abandoned as kids. I’m told we met on a fishing boat. Gutting salt-larkins before I could even talk. That was out of Vadys, in The Reaches. You know where that is?”

The girl shook her head.

“Lucky. Most kids there are slaves. But when we were twelve, we decided slavery wasn’t really our thing.”

“What did you do?”

“Stole everything. Ate whatever we could scrounge. Traded things for favors. Traded those favors for friends.” Kiir paused and stared down the well of those long years. Through all the schemes and traps. Lies and poisonings. Four bloody hands and strangulations in the dark.

She sniffed and rubbed her jaw. “Things kinda escalated from there.”

The girl blinked heavily. “You killed people?”

“It’s how we survived.”

“But now you’re fighting?”

“Hm?”

The girl swallowed and selected her words. “With the Princess? You said you were hunting the mantikar to… ‘curry her favor.’”

Kiir looked sharply away. Sometimes this girl was too smart for her own good. It reminded her of Zhim.

It stabbed her square in the heart.

She stood. “Tomorrow, we go. Get yourself ready.”

***

They soared through the freezing air, rocketing towards the mantikar’s feeding grounds. Kiir pointed down at the overhang, at the concave dent in the hillside. The girl nodded. The blind they’d built was still there.

A cloud passed overhead. Something moved in her peripheral. She smelled it before it struck.

Death and flowers.

Her visor was blinded and every alarm in her suit blared at once. She was tumbling through the air and shouting inside her helmet. But there was no communication except in person; there was no cypher to relay those words.

Everything was dead. Her rockets became useless weights on her back. Gravity loosened its pull as her heavy steel body dropped like a stone amid the snowflakes. The world spun around and around, in total blackness.

A series of hard crunches. Everything gone still. She thought she was dead.

Then her faceplate blew off. The electrical system had sensed that she was running low on oxygen. But everything powered by the ember rings was offline. All her weapons had been flung away. All but maybe one…

White wilderness surrounded her. Snow fell in a lazy whirl. Not a thing stirred. All she could do was struggle hopelessly, and call for the girl.

If your suit dies, you die. One of the less cheerful Freelancer sayings. But it was true. A dead suit was just a lead-lined coffin.

She swore to herself not to panic. To breath and shout and hope the suit reset itself. But all she heard was the quiet clicking as the engines cooled and the metal contracted. And so the panic didn’t listen to her. It just did its thing.

Then the mantikar slammed down into the snow before her.

It was enormous. Like two ursix back-to-back. A cat-like body: long and low, with clawed feet, sinewy tail, and thick muscles. There, the similarity to back-alley fort cats ended.

It had a huge, heavy canine head with massive looping horns and a wide, thin-lipped mouth with multiple arcs of shining teeth. Its slate-grey body was covered in alternating rows of shining indigo scales and patchy fur. Five tiny. glowing pink eyes arranged in a diamond pattern on the front of its head. All five were looking right at her.

Kiir hollered for help as the beast stalked closer. The powerful odor intensified with every inch. Roses. Decaying meat.

But what she saw next was like something out of a Shaper myth.

Two pink tendrils — rope-thin and transparent — snaked out from the beast’s shoulders. They spiraled and twisted above it, forming into shapes. Diagrams. Figures.

Shaper words.

They wove and drifted as though underwater. And wherever they touched the ground, lurid, pink ember blinked into existence, fully formed.

She suddenly felt the suit twitch and the motors actuate. Like a dead body enslaved to a dying brain. The ember rings in her suit were hissing a screechy little song.

It’s talking to the ember.

In a flash of reason, she remembered the Sentinel’s crunchy ember seals. They’d been altered by the mantikar’s attack — probably warping and changing shape, grinding against the ceramic fitting. Even the slightest misalignment of ember could destabilize a jav. How could she have been so foolish as to have not seen this coming?

As if sensing this distraction, the mantikar growled and bowed its head low. Its hindquarters angled up and shifted back and forth. It would pounce next. Batter her body to death. Tear her out of the suit piece by piece, like a clam from its shell.

Assault rifle fire rattled out and a shadow landed nearby. The mantikar withdrew under a hail of bullets, the pink tendrils weaving themselves into a deflecting barrier. The girl in her Sentinel suit rushed forward and stood over Kiir, activating her shield barrier.

“Get up!”

“I can’t! Don’t let the tendrils touch you! They’ll glitch your suit!”

But the mantikar roared and leaped forward, drawing a double path of crystalline growths in the snow. It pounced over the barrier to swipe at the girl with a snarling, deep-gutted roar.

She dodged with incredible alacrity. Managed to flip the release buckle on the back of Kiir’s suit before drawing the beast off.

The suit unfurled. Kiir clambered out and grabbed at the suit’s thigh compartment. The bolt lance fell into her hand and she whipped it aloft. From the palm-sized cylinder, white lightning erupted from both ends, crackling with power. Then she took off through the snow, pursuing the two combatants.

The mantikar threw its flank towards the girl, deflecting all bullets with its indigo scales and snapping the gun from her hands with one swipe of its thick tail. All around them, pink crystals shot up from the ground, like geysers of frozen glass. The girl dodged another pounce, rolled in the snow, snapped up the gun, and came up at max boost. The deadly pink tendrils flung out at her, missing by mere inches.

In a flash of action, Kiir wound her body up like a piston and prepared to hurl the lance. But she hesitated; she would only get one shot — she had no suit to recharge the weapon for a second try.

The mantikar seized the moment. In a split second, the pink tendrils formed into wyvern-like wings, and the beast launched upwards.

The girl went after it, both of them rocketing skyward, disappearing into the clouds.

Kiir ran forward and looked above. The clouds thundered with blasts of pink, blue, and the stuttering flash of assault rifle fire. All she could do was watch. Listen with a heaving chest.

Suddenly, pink crystals pelted down all around, slamming into the snow with deadly force. Kiir ran for the trees. The creature had turned the clouds themselves into an ember hailstorm.

The mantikar punched out of the clouds and tore down through the deadly rain like a rider on the storm. It spotted Kiir and torpedoed straight towards her. The girl was in its claws, limp and lifeless.

Kiir ran desperately into the forest, straight for the densest patch of trees. The mantikar followed at freefall speed, its tendrils releasing from the wing shape and instead dancing and raking across the ground and trees, decorating the forest with humming garlands of deadly crystals.

But the trees did their job. The mantikar crashed headlong through them, snapping some in half and tumbling across the ground, kicking up a pall of whirling snow. The creature grew confused. It lost sight of Kiir. It did not notice her slip behind it. It did not notice her raise the lance.

A supernova of flashing electrical arcs, blasting snow, and erupting ember spikes suddenly consumed the creature. Kiir fell back and shielded her eyes.

When the storm quieted, she looked again. A crystalline garden of rosy ice had grown tall and expanded outward in rings to obscure all within; at the center, blue light and sparks zagged into the air. A low moaning ricocheted around the valley.

No sign of the girl.

Kiir walked carefully through the maze of standing, translucent stones, hands shaking from the battle, and beheld her quarry.

The mantikar was trapped in a glittering web of blue starlight. The blast from the bolt lance had condensed like a net around the monster, trapping its limbs and stunning it into a stupor. The tendrils floated lazily above, no longer under any conscious control. Its five eyes twinkled with sedate rage.

The girl was there. She stood over it, her suit steaming in the snow. The rifle was in her hand.

“You killed them,” she mumbled, as though in a surprised stupor.

Kiir knew what came next. The resisting pull of her own survival begged her to intercept. To stop the girl before the hunt fell to ruin.

“Everyone… everything I had.” She touched the barrel to the creature’s forehead, in the center of the diamond eyes. Pressed it down with the full weight of her body, as if to punch straight through into the creature’s brain. Her finger trembling on the trigger. Her face seized in the red heat of vengeance.

Kiir was paralyzed. She needed the creature alive. From the barrel of the girl’s gun, Kiir envisioned her future forking off into two very different directions.

But then the girl buckled. The gun tumbled from her grip and fell along with her knees into the snow. There, she wept, and the red heat washed away.

In Kiir’s eyes, she was again the wailing child at the village grave. Fighting with all her might against the cold dirt even as it drove her down into the earth. Next in line to join those who’d failed.

In that moment, Kiir knew this girl.

***

The fanfare blew and the page announced her entry. “The Lady Aushkiir.”

The “nobility” parted as the hunter — in her shining black armor, bristling with weapons — entered Zhim’s court.

“Well, well, well… the hunter returns from her legendary deed.” The lanterns waved in the cave wind, casting the princess in a shifting golden light. She smiled darkly, as ever.

Kiir glanced sidelong at those gathered and bowed. “Your Highness.”

Zhim smirked theatrically around the room as if playing hide and seek with a child. “What? No mantikar on a leash?”

The court tittered. Everyone knew the mission had been a sham to get rid of the Lady Aushkiir. A suicide mission. The hunter who had disappointed the Princess one too many times. The friend turned failure. “Instead, all I see is a bedraggled rat. And… phew!” she waved her hand before her nose. “One in need of a bath. I wonder where you shall ever find one,” she laughed, heavy with meaning.

But Kiir saw the tired resolve behind Zhim’s eyes. A commitment to her new “royal” role. Of the need to expunge any appearance of sympathy. Especially for an old friend who couldn’t pull her weight.

Kiir straightened up and produced an engraved box. The stink in the room grew exponentially. Even the Princess seemed to lose her sense of humor. For a moment.

“I found the mantikar — or one of them — in a mountain valley north of Helios. It had devastated a local village, killing all Sentinels, many villagers, and hunting the local wildlife near to extinction. I tracked it to its feeding lair and... it did not survive. I made a number of sketches for the Arcanists.” She produced a scroll case from her cape.

One of the Arcanists adjusted his spectacles and rushed forward to seize it. But Zhim held him back with a wave and a stern frown. “I wanted a pet. Not a picture.”

Kiir nodded. “On the hunt, I met the only survivor of the attack on the village. It had taken everything from her. Everything... but her will to survive.”

Zhim’s stare grew gloomy. It was a dangerous business this, cutting a crime lord to the quick.

“I gave her the mantikar, Your Highness. She needed it. More than us.”

Zhim stared at her in the face. Kiir felt it all hanging by a thread.

“As an apology, I brought a gift,” and she lifted the lid on the box.

Inside was an organ — some combination of starfish, mushroom, and squid — wriggling, squelching and smelling for all the world like a rose bouquet rolled in fermented carrion. “The pheromone sac of a young mantikar.”

Three nobles and the court Colossus vomited on the rugs. Most others bolted from the room. Soon, only Zhim and the Arcanist remained, the latter constrained by Zhim’s iron grip.

“I just felt you’d find a use for such a singular treasure.” And Kiir offered the box to the Princess.

Zhim smiled slow and wide. She closed the box and gestured at the Arcanist. He reluctantly took the box, snatched the scroll case from Kiir’s hand, and fled.

Then Zhim took her by the arm. “Aushkiir…” she spoke low and honestly. “You have reminded me that it is your gifts which I value most among all the treasures in our realm.”

Kiir breathed deep and started to bow. But Zhim denied her the motion and instead guided her into the tea lounge. “Now, about this mantikar. You must tell me everything. Spare no detail.”

They sat and drank. The tea disappeared and was refilled, accompanied by multiple plates of rare and imported delicacies. Kiir recounted the whole story — every detail. Zhim listened with growing attention. Soon they were laughing and reminiscing about other adventures from the long well of their years. And, for the first time in ages, Kiir felt content.

But, more than once, Kiir’s mind drifted back to the girl as she’d seen her last: standing on the bluff overlooking the shattered remains of her village. Clad in a bone-white javelin, the greatest weapon humanity had ever made. Projecting her very existence into the future.

With that image in her mind, Kiir smiled to herself and wondered if her quest would be told to children someday. The villain who came to capture a beast, but instead forged a hero.

On the surface, it seemed a tale worthy of a constellation. A story told with stars for words.

Special thanks to Jessica Campbell.

#Anthem #Anthem game #Icetide #Anthem stories #!!!#LORE #Princess Zhim #if Kiir gets a cape on her Inty why don't we #something to remember: the world is named #Coda #which is both a cute music nod and also VERY OMINOUS #while the continent is #Mirrus #which is also ringing some dragon age-esque bells in my head...hm #speaking of DA the ember Kiir is investigating sounds more and more like a pink lyrium #*crossover theory intensifies*#also.. what is an air sled #and where do I get one #and what does a mantikar look like #please give it to us in an update #Necrotized Aristocrat is a phrase I would like to remember forever #okay okay okay hold on. this #Sentinel #suit has a shield??? then why don't OUR sentinels use it????#oh I should have tagged this before I wrote an essay but #Regulator Kiir #finally done and.. I can't believe Zhim fed this treasure to Haluk #what an icon

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wsmith215 · 4 years ago

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The misinformation circulating in Africa about Covid-19

Students at a Madagascar school down Covid-Organics before classes begin

As coronavirus cases spread through African countries, misleading information continues to be shared on social media and online.

Here are some of the stories that have been widely shared recently.

1. The ‘plot’ to stop Africa developing its own curesScreen grab of article about Madagascar president

We start with a baseless conspiracy revolving around Madagascar’s President Andry Rajoelina, and the unproven herbal tonic, Covid-Organics, which he’s promoting to treat coronavirus.

Social media posts have been circulating that claim he’s being offered large amounts of money by the World Health Organization (WHO) to secretly poison the drink.

The baseless theory suggests that the WHO wants to prove that African countries can’t be self-reliant and find their own cure for Covid-19.

It appears to have first appeared in a French-language post on a Facebook account that was operating from Angola and DR Congo on 23 April.

The claims were later published by two newspapers in Tanzania on 14 May. One of these reports alleges President Rajoelina had admitted – during an interview with France24 – that he’d been offered money.

The story has been picked up and widely shared on social media across Africa.

Mr Rajoelina was indeed interviewed by France24 on 11 May, but at no point does he say he’d been offered any money by the WHO.

The WHO has told the BBC the story is fake, and the Madagascar government has dismissed the allegations.

“Since the launch of the Covid-Organics remedy, many words have been falsely attributed to President Andry Rajoelina”, government spokesperson Lova Ranoramoro has said.

The herbal drink Covid-Organics continues to be produced in Madagascar and has been exported for use in other African countries, but there’s no evidence it works against the virus.

The WHO says it welcomes innovations based on traditional remedies but has also warned against untested treatments.

2. Tanzania’s health minister didn’t test positive

An online article claiming Tanzania’s Health Minister, Ummy Mwalimu, had tested positive for coronavirus, was shared on Twitter by, among others, a prominent journalist.

Story continues

Screen grab of piece about Tanzania health minister

But this story is not true.

The basis of the story was a screenshot of a tweet, which the author claimed was posted by the minister.

The translation for the Swahili-language tweet reads: “It is unfortunate that I have tested positive for coronavirus. But I’ll continue to serve my nation remotely as if I was on the frontline until things get better”.

But the tweet doesn’t appear in the minister’s Twitter feed. The minister and the ministry of health have both dismissed the report as fake.

3. South Sudan’s bogus badges against the virusScreen grab of Facebook post by South Sudan government

South Sudan President Salva Kiir and other senior officials have used so-called “protective” badges that claim to repel viruses, but which don’t work.

Photos posted on Facebook by the president’s press unit show him and other officials wearing what look very similar to two kinds of badges that can be bought online – called “Air Doctor” and “Virus Shut Out “.

But there’s no evidence that these can ward off viruses and bacteria.

When contacted by the BBC, a South Sudan government spokesperson said they’d been supplied to them by someone who said they were working on behalf of the Japanese government.

But they added they’d stopped wearing them “as they are not approved by the WHO”. The Japanese Embassy in South Sudan has denied any link to them.

Similar devices are being sold around the world and have been spotted being used by members of the Russian parliament.

The substance released by such cards or badges – the bleaching agent chlorine dioxide – is potentially harmful, and the subject of a warning from the US drug regulator, the FDA.

4. President Magufuli didn’t ban wearing masks in public

Misleading messages have been spreading on social media claiming that Tanzania’s President John Magufuli has banned the wearing of masks in public.

Screen grab of tweet about Tanzania president

These posts claim the president had said wearing masks would spread fear, and send the wrong message to foreign visitors once international travel and tourism resume.

They use a screenshot of a tweet purportedly posted by the president, but it is fake.

There is also a fabricated press statement circulating, which is dated and signed from his hometown, Chato,

However, when we checked, we found that President Magufuli was in the city of Dodoma at that time.

The president’s spokesperson has called on people to disregard the claim.

The Tanzanian government encourages citizens to wear masks in public, and to practice social distancing.

However, the authorities are not releasing regular data on the coronavirus outbreak, and there are concerns that the president is downplaying the impact of the virus.

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amnonjakony · 5 years ago

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Time For President Kiir And Opposition To Appoint Competent MPs

“Do not abuse those powers. Seize the moment and put the Country on the right trajectory…While reporting from the National Legislative Assembly I came to realise that many of the legislators are even unaware of their own internal rules and regulations.”

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theconservativebrief · 6 years ago

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Vox Sentences is your daily digest for what’s happening in the world. Sign up for the Vox Sentences newsletter, delivered straight to your inbox Monday through Friday, or view the Vox Sentences archive for past editions.

Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call

The Trump administration is floating a proposal to merge the US Department of Education and the Department of Labor into one new department, tentatively titled the “Department of Education and the Workforce.” [Vox / Libby Nelson]

There are many experts who believe this would essentially be tantamount to eliminating the Education Department, which was a Donald Trump campaign promise. [NPR / Clare Lombardo and Alexis Arnold]

The Education Department is a $70 billion department, but its current leader, Betsy DeVos, has made it clear that she’s fine with the proposed changes. She’s long sought to “streamline” (a.k.a. cut) program and staff, arguing that public education is better done by states and local communities. [CNN / Sara Ganim, Juana Summers, Rene Marsh and Aaron Kessler]

But the two departments do some very different things. The Education Department is very powerful in the world of higher education because it oversees federal student loans. The Labor Department oversees worker training, safety regulations, and rules on wages. [WSJ / Michelle Hackman and Eric Morath]

Before you get all up in arms, know that this is something the executive branch can’t just do on its own. Congress would have to sign off on it … and it’s very unlikely to do so. [Vox / Libby Nelson]

In a more limited step, the administration may move over some workforce training programs from the Labor Department to the Education Department, like Job Corps and YouthBuild. [Education Week / Alyson Klein]

The president’s proposal has even gotten criticism from conservative and libertarian groups, who argue that the merger wouldn’t mean much if it wasn’t accompanied by drastic spending cuts to some programs. Education groups and unions are outraged at the idea. [Washington Post / Danielle Douglas-Gabriel]

The news, but shorter, delivered straight to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and European users agree to the data transfer policy. For more newsletters, check out our newsletters page.

Yet another attempt to stop a brutal civil war in South Sudan has ended in failure after the country’s President Salva Kiir refused to work with opposition leader (and his former vice president) Riek Machar. [Associated Press]

The two men both were in power when South Sudan gained independence from Sudan in 2011. But since then, South Sudan has erupted into conflict of its own, primarily driven by ethnic disagreements. [Washington Post / Paul Schemm]

The toll has been devastating, with tens of thousands of people killed, millions more displaced, and the country descending into famine. [Al Jazeera]

The peace talks were brokered by Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. But although Kiir and Machar met face to face, the president refused to let the rebel leader back into his government, ending any hope for an agreement. More talks are expected to continue. [Reuters]

Endangered European eels are far more hyperactive than usual. Blame errant drug users flushing cocaine into rivers. [The Guardian / Patrick Barkham]

Rapper Nicki Minaj shared her story of coming to the US as an illegal immigrant at age 5 as she spoke out against the Trump administration’s recent “zero tolerance” policy. [Teen Vogue / Zoe Weiner]

Just in time for summer cold season, here’s an ode to chalky, orange wonder powder Emergen-C. [The Cut / Katie Heaney]

Does your small town or large city not have enough money to fix road full of potholes and crumbling bridges? Never fear … Domino’s is here. [CityLab / Andrew Zaleski]

“Thank God I’ve had a girlfriend of three years, because the last person I would want to be is a single Trump supporter dating in D.C. right now.”

[Unnamed former Trump White House aide to Politico / Daniel Lippman and Ben Schreckinger]

Food labels don’t mean what you think they mean. [YouTube / Dean Peterson]

The Democratic Party is moving steadily leftward. So why does the left still distrust it?

House GOP delays their much-anticipated “compromise” immigration bill vote

Why humans are cruel

Summer is for meteor showers and stargazing. Here’s how to watch.

What went right and what went wrong for Luke Cage’s second season

Original Source -> Vox Sentences: Two federal departments for the price of one?

via The Conservative Brief

#IFTTT #The Conservative Brief

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ulrichwymark258-blog · 7 years ago

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Sean Anderson Named As Worker That Passed Away In Fall On BP's Unity

The procedure of creating emotional safety and security within a company is developed to fulfill the worldwide demands as well as requirements these days as well as the future, especially as multiculturalism becomes a dominant feature in the work environment. With this enhancement, Unity is type of running out of platforms to expand to. It currently sustains, amongst others: COMPUTER, Mac, and Linux, iphone, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, PS3 as well as PS4, Xbox 360 and also Xbox One, as well as the Wii U (though working with the game gaming consoles is far more complicated than working with mobile phones or computers-- for the most part, you need a thumbs up from the console manufacturer before you get started).

If you have any kind of questions concerning where and the best ways to use vesyrebyata.pt, you can contact us at the web page. It's really very early days (the firm calls it Very early Access"), so do not expect it to be fully featured in every browser instantly-- yet as of 5.0, Unity designers need to have the ability to start pressing Unity video games directly to compatible internet browsers, no plug-in called for. First, he said that God provides differing gifts to His people and that it is the "same Spirit" (1 Corinthians 12:4) that "empowers them all in everybody" (1 Corinthians 12:6). Nevertheless, Unity uses the exact same basic design as the very first, Virgin Galactic's exec vice-president of operations, Mike Moses, said. This allows for deep combination of Houdini Digital Assets into a Unity video game development pipeline. The United States president's comments come at a time when basketball's champ group, the Golden State Warriors, are considering denying an invitation to celebrate their NBA title success at the White Residence. The shock decision to state independence positions possibly the best danger to the EU's unity considering that Brexit, as well as is likely to sustain support for separatist motions in Ireland, Scotland and the Basque Country. Insurance coverage claims adjustors might utilize it to record damage; hotels and also property agents could use it to sell their area; museums could use it to develop virtual scenic tours; interior designers might utilize it to evaluate out numerous looks. On various other celebrations, I went across to East Berlin from West Berlin making use of the raised S-Bahn to Friedrichstrasse terminal, where the person of an allied power (or a German from outdoors Berlin) surrendered his passport to a guard behind a thick home window, sustained a delay made to show GDR sovereignty, and ultimately proceeded into "Berlin: Resources of the German Autonomous Republic" with an adjoining grim hall - called the Palace of Splits for the family members goodbyes that occurred just outside, as West Germans left their Eastern German loved ones. Download Unity from as well as start seeing the CG Cookie Unity Rudiments flow to get started with all the numerous facets of game growth in Unity quickly. You'll find your day and your life substantially enriched, as well as the experience will motivate you to locate time for longer spiritual methods. You can schedule this every month to maintain the family members unity burning if you have the methods and time. Obtain access to the one-of-a-kind artwork supplied by this Unity training course and add sophisticated functions to your games that make you look like you've been setting for several years. While there's no assurance that designers will certainly make the effort to bring their video games to the brand-new versions of Windows, there is at the very least currently an additional easily accessible path past Microsoft's own XNA and Silverlight systems. A feasibility study offers a plan for implementation, brings unity to the church, as well as ends up being the foundation for the layout and construction procedure. Methodism, originated by the Wesley brothers and also others in the mid-18th century, progressively escaped from the recognized church and came to be in time aggressive to it. Reunification would certainly be the most considerable development of the Anglican communion for generations. The anti-immigration, anti-EU Front National's fans asserted that the event had a central place as an opposition force in France. 2013 July - Head of state Kiir rejects whole closet and Vice-President Riek Machar in a power struggle within the regulating Sudan Individuals's Liberation Movement. These games might appear obsolete currently, yet they continue to be extremely prominent within the dedicated pc gaming community. Or instead, I love pc gaming but I dislike how my obsessive gameplay disrupts all various other elements of my life. In this Unity of Phoenix Wednesday Night Chapel meditation evaluation I am mosting likely to give you a general understanding of just what you could expect when from this experience of practicing meditation at Unity of Phoenix on Wednesday Evenings.

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jeanamansom3972-blog · 7 years ago

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Sadiq Khan Speech Disrupted By Brexit As Well As Trump Advocates.

Conciliatory Trump in plea for unity Jump to media player The US president claims it is time to heal the injuries that split the country and look for unity based upon typical worths. As Emily Cady creates, All delight and stamina as well as excellent emerge from a water fountain within one's own being, and if we only recognized this reality, we ought to understand that, because God in us is the fountain out of which springtimes all our excellent, nothing that anyone does or states or fails to claim or do, could eliminate our delight as well as good." We need to refute fear any of the power that derives from our imagination because the creativity will produce constructively or destructively. "10 refugee athletes will act as a sign of hope for refugees around the world as well as bring global focus on the magnitude of the refugee situation when they take part in the Olympic Gamings Rio 2016 this summertime," the International Olympic Committee said in a release announcing the formation of the group. For some half a centuries, four races have actually fiercely battled to make it through a globe torn asunder by the very hand that created it. The Skyfather, Lord of Creation, has actually watched over and nurtured the globe of Unity and all its residents given that time long past. Everybody of the timberland firm's personnel has the obligation as well as obligation to maintain the unity of the firm and also everybody of them wishes to generate an unified business and also makes a payment to it. Every member of personnel knows that one plus one equals to 2 nevertheless when appling it right into the firm's unity, one plus one is not only equals to 2, yet additionally 3, four, five ... The firm is able to overcome all problems as well as be effective when personnels do the job according to the similar belief, and also they have the same goal, act on the similar occupation at the exact same time. VIRTUAL TUTOR (without previous incentives): I will directly assist you in learning video game advancement in Unity through skype video clip phone call and also desktop screen sharing. If you're a fledgling 3D designer with time to spare, you can develop a globe personalized to your preference by yourself, but for those planning to go down a stock object like, say, a chair in their digital residence, they can go down some in-game coin on the item. When a little group is tackling an ambitious job, it's hard to spend a lot of money and time manufacturing as well as shipping physical items. We urgently need a united government to forecast its authority, to grab these important arrangements by the scruff of the neck" to offer absolute self-confidence" to organisation, he claimed, starting with a bargain that maintains profession moving easily in between the EU as well as the UK. Playing that video game was an incredibly developmental experience for me as a game developer, as well as has actually triggered me to reconsider whatever. Hit games like Bigpoint's Battlestar Galactica and also Billions's Marvel Super Hero Squad were built on Unity. The prepare for a unity government was part of a peace handle August to end the civil battle which began in 2013 when Head of state Salva Kiir accused his then-deputy Riek Machar of outlining a coup. But now Gameroom is exposed, with a myriad of shooters, technique titles, puzzlers and laid-back games for people to try. This long-lasting concept was grabbed by Manfred Weber, an ally of Merkel, that leads the centre-right European People's event. Team building tasks have the sole objective to create a unity within a group of workers by unifying them and enhancing relationships which will consequently lead to a much better total performance. A resource near Carles Puigdemont, the deposed president of Catalonia, told The Telegraph that Monday would be a working day" for the administration, formally ousted under unique powers triggered by Spain's government. If you loved this article therefore you would like to collect more info relating to your domain name nicely visit the page. Leaders, including French Head of state François Hollande, British Head Of State David Cameron as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, joined Sunday's rally, which is under limited security. This Kickstarter project is not simply to increase funds for printing but likewise to urge lovers of the Spencer household's art to participate in the enjoyment of releasing a significant magazine and exhibit. I think it's an impression to believe that individuals that have led us this much and also declared independence are going to simply leave because a regulation is released," Mr Olivella claimed of the imposition of Post 155 as well as the Spanish federal government's termination of Catalonia's whole ministerial team. She was able to draw on her individual wartime experience to highlight the benefits of unity and the risks of division. As with all the games in this collection, Assassin's Creed: Unity is achingly gorgeous. Unity is life, unity is power, unity is success as well as united will be victorious. Just a few Christian churches highlight that there really is no competing power with God.

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onikishi-blog · 7 years ago

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Analysis And Cooperation

Protape

In the middle of the scheme for regional incorporation, the Southerly Asian Association for Regional Co-operation is definitely relatively a brand-new idea subject to the huge reflection of socio-economic circumstances of these areas. Infact, that's the important reason Corporates obtain started getting their workers to numerous locations like the Avoid Space Singapore relating to Group Building Activities It's in these activities the workers discover that they each possess a special viewpoint plus they discover that after they talk about they're in a placement to develop greater options.

Of concepts mainly support the fourth vector developing mature social human relationships.”Two aspects of this vector are, (1)tolerance and gratitude of distinctions and(2) capability for closeness.Tolerance is usually both intercultural and interpersonal.Visibility and understanding , rather than stereotyping increases capacity for closeness aspect entails shifting from a

During two quests, in 2007 and 2012, Swedish reporter Tom Juslin journeyed through the Nordic countries to find out how climate transformation impacts people, animals and nature. Planktonic bacteria suspended around in oceans or lakes, for example, have only loose associations with one another, and selection would seem to favor varieties or pressures that make use of, but do not really make, any of these public

Actions require to become arranged in such a way as to increase involvement in effectively created methods and competitive possibilities, with stress reduced and development within the range and great sequential development of all group associates. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte is rebalancing his international policy aside from aged best friend the United Claims to previous U.S. Chilly Battle enemies China and Russia, in a move that may generate a windfall of aid for the developing Southeast Oriental nation.

Create a pre-incorporation agreement that include shareholder names, incorporation condition, corporate name, corporate purpose, number of stocks to be released, preliminary shareholder stock plan, and tax http://protape.pl/ position. Currently, the firm offers more than 60 energetic companies and successful true estate functions in most Middle Eastern countries including Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Morocco, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

The local group IGAD (Inter Governmental Expert on Development) in East Africa offers called on energies devoted to South Sudan Leader Salva Kiir and First Vice President Riek Machar to leave Juba and become replaced by a protection local power that would consider over protection in the capital. Have a tendency arrive unglued at every leak or incident, it will make your kids even more nervous and less most likely to desire to cooperate.

The income is certainly divided between the partners, usually centered on the amount of cash or possessions that each partner spends in the business and each must report his share of the income on his personal income taxes type. This can be the region where we help our kids build self-esteem, issue solving abilities, a can-do outlook, and positive anticipations toward lifestyle.

If this had been the case then state's could not really enforce laws and regulations against lender robbery, and medication smuggling, because any condition laws would pre-empt” the federal government governments rules, and enforcement of these legal actions. Some of those companions will attach themselves to a big business to trip the coat tails of its success and catch the breads breadcrumbs as it plunders its way through the marketplace.

It's the outdated proverb of, What goes around comes about.” Building a better lifestyle by considering through yourself suggests that you ought to rid your mind of pessimism and thought procedures about issues that are taking place or that are imminent occurrences in your very own existence. It will integrate a Russian-led surface area system and European-led rover, to become launched from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan.

It adds to approximately half of all deaths and morbidity in western countries and can be also a main trigger of loss of life actually in developing countries. Eyes contact became significant, and smiles and other non-verbal communications became more prevalent over period. Jackson Rising files the history of this motion, its advantages towards the radical alteration of the United Areas, and its politics effects for public movements throughout the United States, the global South and the world.

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studentofrhetoric-blog · 8 years ago

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Part 1, Tuesday, March 21st, 2017

International News:

--- "Tahrir al-Sham, an alliance of Syrian jihadist rebel groups, said on Tuesday it was launching a new offensive near the city of Hama in the central part of western Syria. The group said on a social media feed that it had carried out two suicide car bomb attacks close to the town of Soran in the countryside north of Hama. "The battle of Hama has begun, God be thanked," the group said in a posting on a Telegram channel it uses. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based war monitor, said there had been big explosions heard in that area and that there were intense clashes between the army on one side and Tahrir al-Sham and some other jihadist groups on the other. Rebels including hardline Islamist groups that joined to form Tahrir al-Sham staged an offensive in northern Hama last year that led to territorial advances in the area near Soran."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-hama-idUSKBN16S2DC?il=0

--- "Northern Ireland politicians could be given more time or face another election if rival parties cannot agree on a power-sharing arrangement by next week, Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny said on Tuesday. The province's main nationalist and unionist parties were given until March 27 to form a government following snap elections earlier this month, or risk decision-making taken back to London for the first time since 2007. Kenny, whose government is co-guarantor with Britain of the two-decade old peace deal that ended three decades of violence and introduced devolved government by power-sharing, said he did not want a return of direct rule from Britain. "If the latter (direct rule) is out, what are you left with - either 1) a functioning executive, 2) further elections or 3) some sort of further extension of time, so I do hope that the politicians come together," Kenny told Ireland's parliament."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-nireland-politics-idUSKBN16S2AZ?il=0

--- "Irish Prime Minister Enda Kenny said on Tuesday he will attend a meeting of European Union leaders on April 29 for Brexit talks, keeping his party guessing on when he intends to step down. Kenny came under pressure to name a date for his planned departure last month after his handling of a crisis in the Irish police force threatened to bring the government down. He told members of his ruling Fine Gael party a month ago that he would "conclusively deal" with the issue of his leadership after meeting the U.S. president on March 17. Yet on Tuesday Kenny did not say whether he would be prime minister when negotiations on Britain's exit from the European Union get under way in late May or early June. "I do expect to attend on April 29 at the European Council meeting," Kenny told parliament as opposition lawmakers demanded to know who would be in charge of the country when negotiations take place - a critical event for Ireland given its close ties to Britain. Kenny has already said he will not lead the party into a parliamentary election due as early as next year."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-ireland-politics-idUSKBN16S23T?il=0

--- "British Prime Minister Theresa May paid tribute on Tuesday to Martin McGuinness, the late former Irish Republican Army commander and deputy first minister of Northern Ireland, saying he had played a pivotal role in the province's path to peace. "While I can never condone the path he took in the earlier part of his life, Martin McGuinness ultimately played a defining role in leading the Republican movement away from violence," May said in a statement. "In doing so, he made an essential and historic contribution to the extraordinary journey of Northern Ireland from conflict to peace." McGuinness, whose journey from street fighter to peacemaker began in the 1970s during Northern Ireland's "Troubles", died aged 66 after a short illness, his party Sinn Fein said."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-nireland-mcguinness-may-idUSKBN16S0RA?il=0

--- "Tarek Chatt says he is one of only two Brussels policemen of Moroccan descent who grew up and is working in the same streets as the Islamist militants who attacked Paris and Brussels. Police and security experts say increasing police diversity in communities like the largely Muslim borough of Molenbeek, where a key suspect in the Paris attacks lived and then hid, is crucial for improving intelligence and spotting radicalization. While Belgian officials want more tip-offs to prevent the kind of militant attacks that killed 130 people in Paris on Nov. 13, 2015 and 32 people in the Brussels metro and airport on March 22, they have struggled to open the police to the country's Muslim minority. On the eve of the anniversary of the Brussels attacks, Prime Minister Charles Michel told Reuters Belgium was "very determined" to recruit a force that would better mirror the diversity of the population. Police say they struggle most with surveillance of communities like Molenbeek, where the mostly white force is viewed with suspicion by a largely immigrant population wary of being labeled as potential terrorists."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-europe-attacks-belgium-police-idUSKBN16S29V?il=0

--- "Pope Francis will visit South Sudan in October if the security situation in the country stricken by civil war and famine does not worsen, a bishop from the country said on Tuesday. The pope has said several times that he wants to go to the country to preach peace but so far no time frame has been given. "We have been informed (by a Vatican official) that he will come in October but we don't know the exact date yet," Bishop Erkolano Tombe of the city of Yei, told Reuters in an interview...Oil-producing South Sudan, which became independent in 2011, descended into civil war in December 2013 when a dispute between President Salva Kiir and his sacked deputy Riek Machar ended with fighting, often along ethnic lines. Both sides have targeted civilians, human rights groups say. Kiir's government and the United Nations have declared a famine in some part of the world's youngest country, where nearly half of its population of 5.5 million face food shortages...Last month, the pope said he wanted the Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the worldwide Anglican communion, to accompany him on the trip to the mostly Christian country in a sign of unity. "I don't want to lose hope but this hope has to be based on negotiations. If these warmongers don't come and sit together the war will continue," Tombe said."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-south-sudan-pope-idUSKBN16S21F?il=0

--- "Syrian state media said the army was clashing with rebels who had launched a dawn offensive on government positions on a major road artery into Damascus on Tuesday. A reporter on state-owned Ikhabariyah said the rebels had stormed government-held parts of the suburb of Jobar, a day after they were pushed out of areas close to the Old City in a counterattack. There was no immediate comment by the Syrian army."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-idUSKBN16S0MK?il=0

--- "Syrian rebels stormed a government-held area in northeastern Damascus on Tuesday for the second time in three days, sources on both sides said, the opposition's first such large scale foray in over four years inside the capital. For rebels, the assault has shown they are still able to wage offensive action, though their situation remains very difficult near Damascus and across the country as a whole. President Bashar al-Assad and the Syrian army, along with allied Russian, Iranian and Shi'ite militia forces, have gained the upper hand in the war for western Syria over the past 18 months, culminating in the full recapture of Aleppo in December. Witnesses in Damascus said several rockets were fired into central, government-held parts of the city by rebels and state media reported that the army had conducted numerous air and artillery strikes against insurgents. The spokesman for one of the main insurgent groups involved in the attack told Reuters new offensive began at 5.00 a.m., targeting an area rebel fighters had seized from government control on Sunday before being forced to retreat. A Syrian military source told Reuters rebel fighters had entered the area, setting off a car bomb at the start of the attack. The source said a group of rebels that had entered the area had been encircled and were "being dealt with"."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-damascus-idUSKBN16S0JW?il=0

Domestic & International News:

--- "U.S. banks should not cut ties with foreign clients over money- laundering worries unless officials have concrete cause for concern, a leading U.S. regulator is telling staff and lenders. The message has come through phone calls, speeches and an uncommon notice from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the top regulator for national banks, banking and regulatory sources said. A four-page memorandum sent to bank examiners last month said foreign lenders and their customers are hurt when Wall Street turns its back. "Customers that cannot make alternative banking arrangements elsewhere may effectively be cut off from the regulated financial system altogether," according to the "supervision tips" memo obtained by Reuters. The OCC typically issues only a few such memos each year to help examiners navigate complex banking issues. Policymakers have become increasingly concerned that banks are ejecting broad swaths of customers from the financial system out of fear of being penalized over money-laundering violations. For example, customers with ties to Yemen or Syria have a harder time maintaining accounts and banks have ended such relationships, according to a senior compliance officer at a major U.S. bank."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-banking-moneylaundering-idUSKBN16S2C4?il=0

--- "The dollar dipped to a three-week low against the Japanese yen on Tuesday as concerns about how quickly the Trump administration can implement pro-growth policies pushed stocks lower and kindled safe-haven demand for the Japanese currency. The greenback has been under pressure after comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve last week disappointed dollar bulls. On Tuesday, the dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, dipped below the 100 level for the first time since Feb. 7. The dollar was down 0.68 percent at 111.79 yen. "The current and ongoing breakdown in the U.S. dollar is representative, driving some short-term and nascent deleveraging of legacy 'reflation' trades, with DXY through the psychological 100 level," said Charlie McElligott, managing director and head of U.S. cross-asset strategy at RBC Capital Markets."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/uk-global-forex-idUSKBN16Q0X9

--- "The Trump administration is reviewing whether it will reaffirm the goal of a world without nuclear weapons, a White House aide said on Tuesday, referring to an aim embraced by previous Republican and Democratic presidents and required by a key arms control treaty. Christopher Ford, the National Security Council's senior director for weapons of mass destruction and counter-proliferation, said an examination of whether global nuclear disarmament "is a realistic goal," would be conducted as part of a wider assessment called the Nuclear Policy Review. Ford also said the administration is reviewing responses to Russia's deployment of nuclear-capable cruise missiles, which Washington has denounced as a violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty. He downplayed the chances of new U.S.-Russia strategic nuclear arms cuts and said Washington would for now adhere to the Iran nuclear deal. In negotiations scheduled to open next week, the administration also will oppose - as the Obama administration did - an international treaty abolishing nuclear weapons, he said. Ford, the only senior nuclear policy official appointed by President Donald Trump since he took office in January, spoke to a nuclear policy conference put on annually by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington-based think tank. His comments were the first by a top administration official that gave some indication of White House thinking on nuclear arms policy following a series of provocative comments and tweets that Trump made during and after the 2016 presidential campaign."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-nuclear-idUSKBN16S1M6?il=0

Domestic News:

--- "Wall Street fell sharply on Tuesday as investors worried that President Donald Trump will struggle to deliver promised tax cuts that propelled the market to record highs in recent months, with nervousness increasing ahead of a key healthcare vote. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average lost around 1 percent and were on track for their worst one-day percentage declines since before Trump's election victory in November."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-stocks-idUSKBN16S19H?il=0

--- "U.S. President Donald Trump warned Republican lawmakers on Tuesday that voters could punish them if they do not approve a plan he favors to dismantle Obamacare, as pressure grew on the businessman-turned-politician to win the first major legislative battle of his presidency. In one of the few visits he has made to the U.S. Capitol since taking office two months ago, Trump told fellow Republicans in the House of Representatives they would face "political problems" for opposing the bill that takes apart Obamacare and partially replaces it. "The president was really clear: he laid it on the line for everybody," House Speaker Paul Ryan, the leading proponent of the bill, told reporters. "We made a promise. Now is our time to keep that promise ... If we don't keep our promise, it will be very hard to manage this." While Republicans control both chambers of Congress, the party's leaders face a difficult task in uniting their members behind the healthcare bill, just the first of a series of reforms that Trump has promised including overhauls of the tax system and business regulations. U.S. stocks turned sharply lower on Tuesday, led by a fall in financial shares, as investors began to question how quickly the Trump administration can implement pro-growth policies. Sectors that could benefit from policies of lower taxes and fiscal stimulus were weaker as investors perceived those plans may take longer to implement if the Trump administration has to expend more time and energy to get a healthcare plan passed...Trump, who has not offered Obamacare repeal legislation of his own, did not talk "a whole lot about the healthcare bill except to vote for it," Jones said of the president's trip to Capitol Hill."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-obamacare-idUSKBN16R2P9

--- "The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday put new restrictions on presidential powers, limiting a president's authority to staff certain top government posts in a case involving an appointment to the National Labor Relations Board. The court decided 6-2 to uphold a lower court's ruling that then-President Barack Obama exceeded his legal authority with his temporary appointment of an NLRB general counsel in 2011. In an opinion by Chief Justice John Roberts, the court said that under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, a person cannot serve as the acting head of a federal agency once the president nominates him or her to permanently serve in the role if it is a position that requires U.S. Senate confirmation. SW General Inc, a Scottsdale, Arizona-based private ambulance company and a subsidiary of Envision Healthcare Holdings Inc (EVHC.N), had challenged the makeup of the NLRB as it sought to invalidate a board ruling that said it violated federal labor law by discontinuing bonus payments for longtime employees. The NLRB had argued that the law's restriction applied only to politically appointed "first assistants" who are first in line for acting positions when the heads of agencies leave office, and not to other officials. The ruling will give President Donald Trump and future presidents less flexibility in filling jobs that require Senate confirmation."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-executive-idUSKBN16S25E

--- "Former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, whom President Donald Trump fired earlier this month, will join New York University's law school on April 1 as a distinguished scholar in residence, the school announced on Tuesday. Bharara said in a statement provided by the school that he was honored to join NYU, and welcomed the opportunity "to continue addressing the issues I so deeply care about - criminal and social justice, honest government, national security, civil rights, and corporate accountability, to name a few." Bharara will be expected to collaborate with the school's research centers including those focused on cyber security and criminal law, and to participate in panel discussions and other events, school spokesman Michael Orey said. The position is considered full-time but will not preclude Bharara from taking on other engagements, Orey said. He declined to disclose Bharara's compensation."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-bharara-nyu-idUSKBN16S1QG?il=0

--- "The top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Banking Committee told bankers gathered in Washington on Tuesday that his party would not support drastic changes to the Dodd-Frank financial reform law. Sen. Sherrod Brown said he was eager to work on areas of bipartisan agreement, but made clear big changes to Dodd-Frank, created after the 2008 financial crisis, do not fit that bill. "What we will not do is a wholesale rollback of Dodd-Frank," he said at an American Bankers Association conference. "That would be counterproductive... the law is working." Brown argued that significant changes to the 2010 law, which Republicans are seeking, would actually be problematic for the banking industry, even as he expressed a willingness to revisit specific parts of financial rules. "Big changes create uncertainty, which is bad for everyone," he said."

Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-banks-doddfrank-idUSKBN16S20N?il=0

#international affairs #domestic affairs #source: reuters

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bordelessprospector-blog · 8 years ago

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Seven African Countries Great for Information & Communications Technology Investment

For the past decade, the African continent has had a remarkable economic growth. The factors favouring the economic growth include leadership reforms in most countries and creation of an enabling environment. There are numerous investment opportunities in different sectors in the various countries which have not been fully exploited. It is because of these reasons that many international investors have penetrated the African market to take advantage of these opportunities. They have as a result raked huge profits from their investment.

It is true that there are many challenges to investing in Africa. These challenges hinder many potential investors from investing in Africa. Many people perceive the African continent as poor and with little to offer. However, the successful investors in the African continent have proved that the best investment opportunities lie where perceptions differ from the reality. The ICT sector provides one of the best opportunities for investment. The revolution in telecommunications means that there is a huge demand for PCs, laptops, mobile phones and fibre optic cables. Although many Sub-Saharan African countries have done a lot to build modern ICT infrastructure, the technology gap still exists.

Most investment in this sector comes from private sector. Governments usually set regulatory frameworks that regulate the activities of the industry. Many African countries have comprehensive regulatory framework and agencies that make the business opportunities in this area more attractive to international investors.

Some large African economies such as South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria already have a significant share of foreign direct inflows in the ICT sector. This article presents seven emerging African economies with real potential for investment in the ICT sector.

1. Rwanda for Information & Communications Technology Investment

Rwanda was recently ranked fourth in Africa in networked readiness rankings. In the rankings, the country is only behind South Africa, Mauritius and Morocco. This is not surprising as the three countries are far much ahead of Rwanda in terms of economic development.

The country is the 3rd easiest place to do business in the Sub-Saharan Africa according to the World Bank Doing Business Rankings. The government of Rwanda has launched an ambitious strategy for ICT development in its Vision 2020. The sectors targeted by the plan are education, financial and healthcare industries.

Rwanda has developed a business environment that is rich in innovation, and the ICT sector is well supported by the government. The government has set up many ICT schools and has developed an ICT park with the aim of promoting growth in this sector. The kLab is the country’s ICT hub full of young talents, and it is a fantastic platform for the growth of the ICT sector in the country.

2. Cameroon for Information & Communications Technology Investment

The Central African country has a relatively fast economic growth. It has a population of about 25 million and the middle class is also rising rapidly. The government has introduced reforms in the legislation to promote a favourable business environment in the country to attract foreign investment into the country. The school curriculum in the Cameroon has had ICT since 2009.

There is a massive increase in mobile phones access in the country. The need for mobile internet, therefore, continues to grow at a very fast rate. This is an excellent investment opportunity for mobile operators.

3. South Sudan for Information & Communications Technology Investment

South Sudan is a new African country that only became independent in 2011. The country is therefore in the process of building its economy though it started on the wrong footing of power struggle and civil war. The country has made some progress in opening the market to foreign investors through the government’s efforts to encourage foreign direct investment. The Ministry of Telecommunications and Postal Services oversees and promotes the growth of the ICT sector in the country.

The ICT sector has been identified as one of the key areas for the economic growth. There is, therefore, remarkable activities in the industry specifically on the expansion of broadband connectivity as well as mobile services. South Sudan is among the least developed countries in the world as far as ICT is concerned. The sector has the real potential of profitable investment opportunities. However, this only depends on the agreement between President Salva Kiir and Riek Machar to bring peace in the country.

The mobile access in the country is among the lowest in Africa, but the future is bright. The mobile access is expected to rise in some years to come. The internet and broadband market is virtually untapped. This means that sophisticated infrastructure solutions are in dire need to be able to reach the wider population.

4. Djibouti for Information & Communications Technology Investment

Djibouti is a country with a population of just 850,000 people. The country has a stable political system. Despite the small population, the country has had a steady increase in opportunities in the ICT sector. The increase in consumption and the demand for international bandwidth connectivity is the reason behind this increase in investment opportunities.

The department set to oversee development in the ICT sector is the Ministry of Communication and Culture. The country has laws that encourage foreign investment. For instance, there is no screening of foreign investment or any discriminatory treatment.

5. Liberia for Information & Communications Technology Investment

In the recent past, Liberia has experienced challenges of Ebola outbreak, but with the help of the international community, the government has successfully fought the disease.

The ICT sector in the country offers investment opportunities with the real potential of success. The mobile penetration in the country has had a significant increase in the past, and it is set to experience more expansion. It is projected to reach 92% by 2018.

The country has already a comprehensive ICT policy in place that is aimed at promoting the growth of the ICT sector in the country. For instance, the policy provides for waiver of customs duties on imported equipment related to ICT.

6. Burundi for Information & Communications Technology Investment

The government of Burundi has come up with plans to encourage growth in the country’s ICT sector. The analogue to digital migration has opened many investment opportunities in the ICT and broadcasting market. The other projects carried out by the government, through the Ministry of Telecommunications, ICT and Parliament Relations, include Bujumbura broadband network project and the fiber-optic cable project.

The mobile phone access in the country has also experienced significant growth in the past few years. The sector offers many investment opportunities of which some such as high-speed internet market have not been fully exploited.

7. Gabon for Information & Communications Technology Investment

Gabon is an upper middle-income and oil-rich country situated on the Gulf of Guinea. The country has a population of about 1.7, and it enjoys political stability.

In 2014, the country launched its 3G and 4G mobile data coverage. This move has increased the number of internet users in the country. The government has shown a genuine commitment to transform the country into a digital economy. The development of digital infrastructure is a priority in Gabon, and that is why the National Agency for Digital Infrastructure and Frequencies was established in 2011. The competition in the ICT sector in the country is relatively fair.

Have you been looking to invest in a country that has a real potential in ICT? Africa is among the regions that have many untapped ICT opportunities. The above seven countries have excellent ICT opportunities that you can invest in.

Many opportunities are yet to be utilised as compared to other larger economies such as South Africa and Nigeria. The governments of these countries have taken significant measures to open the market for international investors with the aim of encouraging foreign direct investment. ICT sector is one of the key areas for economic development. As such, these governments have put in place policies that attract investment into this sector. These countries offer tax incentives to foreign investors in this area in addition to many more other attractions.

Just like in many other countries in this world, there are notable challenges that have hampered foreign direct investment inflows into these countries. The good thing is that the countries are doing a remarkable job to rectify everything. Looking at the history of each country, the improvements are just incredible. They indicate that the governments are dedicated to making the investment environment better in addition to making the countries more competitive. The investment opportunities available guarantee you good returns on investment if you are keen. Good luck as you choose to invest in the African country of your choice!

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