Shirekeep Gazette

The Shirekeep Gazette: More reputable than the ravings of a lunatic...

Welcome to the Shirekeep Gazette. The Gazette is a newspaper printed in Shirekeep, Imperial County, the Imperial Republic of Shireroth, and distributed across Micras. It was founded in 4926 ASC by Vilhelm Benkern with the intention of providing a free and frequent source of information in the following categories:

News: Relaying domestic Shirerithian affairs faithfully and according to the highest standards of journalistic integrity, for the domestic or foreign reader.

Reportage: On the ground reporters across Micras bearing witness and informing denizens about matters beyond Shireroth's borders.

Comment: The regular supplement Raynor Village Magazine provides interest items, poetry, letters, historical articles and more.

Anyone interested in writing as a reporter or columnist should contact V Benkern, Editor.

The Gazette also carries summaries of newly promulgated Imperial Decrees, Edicts and Ministerial Ordinances.

Past editions can be found here

Recent Headlines

Date	Headline	Subject	Summary
1652.6616.AN.ASC	Tensions Rise with Jingdao	Diplomacy/Military	Shirekeep (IRS): Following the Auspicious Occasion the territories of the former Kingdom of Batavia were liberated from Elwynnese occupation and granted limited self-government by the Imperial Republic. The Jingdaoese Empire responded to this, after spurning a generous adjustment of the Armistice Line by announcing its intent to form a new province of Badawei in Western Benacia utilising displaced persons and the descendants of slaves captured by the Jingdaoese during their own brief occupation. This, combined with other provocations, resulted in the Imperial Forces being obliged to conduct a precautionary artillery bombardment against suspicious persons and structures in the enclave of 's Koningenwaarde (Tianhoucheng). Making the usual allowances for Jingdaoese provocations and propaganda, the Ministry of Military Affairs has ordered a significant reinforcement of the western provinces, with air assets arriving in the next few days and auxiliary reinforcements arriving at intervals through the remainder of the year. It is likely that other steps will be taken as the extent of USSO perfidy becomes more apparent.
1652.6616.AN.ASC	Publication of the Shirekeep Gazette Resumes	Domestic	Shirekeep (IRS): The Shirekeep Gazette today celebrated publishing its first edition since publication was suspended in 1646 following the arrest and detention of several editorial staff and correspondents for spreading anti-state subversion and opposition to the dynastic succession established for the descendants of Our Lady the Radiant Sun, the late Kaiseress. We celebrate in our first full edition the commitment of the Imperial Government to righteous thought, freedom of lawful expression and the defence of our established liberties.
1646.6440 AN.ASC	Sxiro-Natopian Defence Cooperation Deepens	Military	Lindstrom (Natopia):As part of the integration of Shirerithian and Natopian Forces within the framework of the Shirerithian-Alexandrian-Natopian Entente the Natopian Defence Force announced that it had assumed responsibility for the Cibola, Keltia, Space, Tapfer and Trans-Euran "theatre commands". The Cibola Command would be apportioned to Alexandria once it completes the ratification process for the SANE treaty. At present the Apollonia and Benacia Commands fall under the responsibility of the Imperial Forces of the Imperial Republic of Shireroth, which serves as the lead nation on those two continents. Isabella Simrani-Kalirion, the Natopian Defence Minister, stated that the door had been left open to the possibility of Theatre Commands being reallocated to other partner nations as they signal their alignment with the Western Alliance. A Theatre Command is a continental region in which a lead nation has responsibility for the command and control of all allied forces deployed on operations, that is to say away from their day to day domestic defence and security responsibilities, in that region. Theatre Commands are answerable to the Joint Military Council (JMC) of the Western Alliance, comprising of the heads of government and defence ministers for each member nation, which coordinates the overall strategic and defence priorities of the armed forces of the member states. In practical terms, the new dispensation means that Shireroth will take primary responsibility for containing the threat of Jingdao and the Voorpost Pact (the so-called USSO) in Northern Apollonia whilst Natopia takes over responsibility for coordinating military support to the Hammish Republican Army and the conduct of freedom of navigation and counter-piracy operations in the Sea of Storms. Shirerithian military assets, which include a naval task force and teams of military advisers, deployed to the Sea of Storms and on to the Hammish mainland, now come under Natopian operational control.
1645.6415 AN.ASC	Defensive Preparations Continue	Military	Goldshire Hamlet: With the apparent refusal of the USSO to countenance lifting the illegal, immoral and hypocritical blockade on Neo Patrova, where a ceasefire and unity government has continued without incident, the Shirerithian and Natopian Governments yesterday announced that they deemed the Shireroth-Alexandria-Natopia Entente (SANE), otherwise known as the Western Alliance, to be in effect. This announcement comes even though the Alexandrian ratification process has been stalled by a defeat in the Empire's legislative assembly in Geneva. With the Entente in operation the two allies can formally begin to coordinate their armed forces through an integrated command structure. This has already resulted in a flurry of orders opening Natopian ports and air space to Shirerithian forces and placing the 3rd Expeditionary Fleet at the disposal of the Eastern Armada[1]. At present the deployed reinforcements in the Northern Sea remain at a numerical disadvantage to the combined fleet of Jingdao and Gerenia. However, spikes in activity observed in the Mesior Naval Base and around dockyards throughout the islands of Amity and Yardistan, suggest that this may not remain the case for much longer. Rumours are also circulating that Shirerithian fighter and heavy bomber squadrons are being redeployed from the frontier with Minarboria to dispersal runways in the Shirerithian Imperial State of Goldshire, suggesting that the Imperial Republic is preparing to use long-range strike forces to off-set any numerical disadvantage in-theatre.
1645.6414	Envoy to the Maritime Markets	Trade	Ardashirshahr: ESB Group director Huldah Llynadorion, acting as a personal emissary for the group's chairman, Daniyal Dravot, today boarded the Luftangriffschiff Zerstörer LZ-019 for a journey to Blore Heath. A spokesman for the ESB Group said that the purpose of the visit was to begin negotiations for the listing of the ESB Group's Keltian operations at the Port of Blore Heath and that any suggestion that the Imperial Government might be seeking to hire the Fleet of Blore Heath, the Bacchian Vine Fleet or the Knights of Mt.Nysa, in light of the recent and ongoing confrontations with the USSO, were egregiously wide of the mark.
1645.6413	Ceasefire in Neo Patrova	Military	In a brief statement released to the press, Royston Merrick, commander of the SHAM Forces in Neo Patrova, declared that the military objectives of his campaign in the western districts of that territory had been substantially achieved. The Magister's statement stressed that the SHAM had not come to Neo Patrova to as conquerors but rather to provide humanitarian assistance and to help rebuild Hamland's shattered agricultural sector, which had been devastated by both the civil war and an ongoing long-term ecological catastrophe, to the point where the Hammish would be in the position to resume exports of wheat. The statement concluded that it was for the factions in the Hammish Civil War to reach a negotiated settlement and that the SHAM would not and could not be writing blank cheques for the combatants in perpetuity. The Magister will be attending talks in Freedom City with the leadership of the Samerican Militia to discuss the implementation of the ceasefire and the delivery of Shirerithian food aid from the nearby colony of Crowsilver.
1645.6413	Jingdaoese Provocations Risk War	Diplomatic	The joint Jingdaoese-Gerenian declaration of a blockade upon the Hammish territory of Neo Patrova[2] has resulted in reciprocal mobilisations[3][4] by the powerful Shirerithian and Jingdaoese navies, adding yet another contentious chapter to the long history of the Sxiro-Jingdaoese Confrontation.
1645.6412	Fighting continues in Neo Patrova	Military	Shirerithian naval assets arrive off-shore in the Camoleo/Samarne Estuary. Neo Patrova: Following a dawn assault, the naval base held by Samerican Militia allies of the Ravaillac Loyalists and the Hammish Republican Army was captured by the 2nd Army Corps of the NPA. The defenders fought valiantly and disdained the opportunity to surrender meaning that there were, regrettably, no survivors. The NPA reportedly endured heavy casualties with 2,740 fatalities and 6,500 wounded, during the six day operation. With the fall of the naval base, which will take months to restore to operability, the entirety of the Neo Patrovan side of the Camoleo/Samarne estuary is in the hands of the NPA, providing a firm bridgehead for the NPA in northern Apollonia and the springboard for an overland advance towards Freedom City. The majority of the NPA flotilla is now proceeding eastwards, in parallel with the shoreline towards Freedom City. Monitoring the ongoing impact of the Hammish Civil War, Task Force 41 of the Imperial Navy of Shireroth's Eastern Armada, has diverted from its normal patrol pattern to take up station in the Northern Sea. The Kalir Class Carrier-Cruiser ZNS Yarad I, escorted by three Duchy Class destroyers, has been observed from the Shoreline and carrier based aviation has been conducting continuous patrols on the edge of territorial waters since their arrival.
1645.6411	Humanitarian Work in Hamland	Military	Neo Patrova: Magister Royston Merrick today announced, during a tour of territory liberated by the 2nd Army Corps from Samerican Militias, that far from extorting grain from the Hammish overseas territory, the Sxiro-Hammish Agricultural Mission had been obliged to organise food aid. "Although the long term aim is to see Hammish agriculture restored to the point where exports can resume, this will not be possible if the workforce starves in the meantime. Our purchasing officers in Crowsilver and the overseas Elwynnese territories are bulk buying wheat, rice and oats in order to replace the winter stores lost during the fighting. We will do everything in our power to mitigate this humanitarian catastrophe."
1645.6410	Alexandria and Natopia Make a Stand	Diplomacy	Following on from the Shirerithian decision to deploy Task Force 90 to the Sea of Storms to protect its commercial shipping from interference by overzealous Passian revenue collectors, the Empress of the Natopians authorised the deployment of the 1st Exploratory Group of the Natopian Navy to the Sea of Storms as part of the intriguingly named Operation Butterstorm[5]. In that same order, the Court of the Verdant Gardens (the Natopian ministry of defence) was also tasked with cooperating with its Shirerithian counterpart, the Ministry of Military Affairs, to provide safe and unfettered transit for Shirerithian merchant vessels passing though the international waterways of the Sea of Storms by any means necessary within the limitations of international maritime law. Meanwhile the Empire of the Alexandrians, in a strongly worded communique[6], denounced the actions of the Greater Pallisican Trade Association as being "completely outside of ... international custom and tradition". The communique, in response to correspondence received from the Shirerithian Ministry of the Exterior, concluded with a declaration of intent to work alongside Alexandria's Natopian allies put the issue before the Micras Treaty Organization, with the intent of securing the authorisation of an Festivals de las Armadas, an international naval coalition last mooted against the Maritime Free Republic to ensure the safety and security of global commerce in the face of what the Emperor of the Alexandrians described as Passasian piracy.
1645.6410 AN.ASC	International Condemnation of Passio-Corum Mounts	Diplomacy	The Imperial Republic of Shireroth reacted with outrage to news that the Realm of Passio-Corum was imposing a "Targeted Tax" on Shirerithian vessels found to be carrying agricultural or dual-use equipment bound for the Commonwealth of Hamland. The claims of the so-called Supreme Arbiter that Shirerithian merchant vessels sailing on the Sea of Storms had previously been targeted for extortion by agents of the Realm of Passio-Corum in no way explained or excused the imposition of this new charge on vessels of another sovereign nation operating in international waters. The revelation that Passio-Corum has had the effrontery to seek to lay claim to an entire ocean as its own sovereign domain has set the international community in uproar. The most widely accepted international standard with regards to what can be defined as a territorial water is found MTO's Convention on the Laws of the Seas, which clearly upholds the time honoured custom that it is only within a distance of 24 kilometres from a country's base shore line that a nation's laws on customs, taxation, and immigration can be imposed. In response to the Imperial Republic's announcement that it was dispatching a task force to the Sea of Storms to uphold the rights of navigation that are the right of all nations, statements of support have been received from Minarboria[7], Natopia[8] and Talenore[9]. Practical offers of support to the Shirerithians have included safe anchorage for Shirerithian commercial vessels as well as intelligence sharing on the movements and dispositions of assets of the Navy of the New Zimian War League.

Recent Decrees

Year	Decree Title	Issued by	Summary
1645	Imperial Decree 856: On the coming into force of the Shirerithian, Alexandrian, and Natopian Entente[10]	Kaiseress Noor	Shirerithian, Alexandrian, and Natopian Entente enters into force, but will not, until Alexandria ratifies it, apply to Alexandria.

Recent Edicts

Year	Edict Reference/Title	Issued by	Summary
1645	1645/M/E/004	Ministry of Military Affairs	With a declaration of blockade by members of the Blackrock Pact, the Imperial Navy of Shireroth is placed on an immediate war footing. Any attempt to fire upon or board Shirerithian flagged or chartered shipping operating in the international waters of the Northern Sea will be met with massive and disproportionate reprisals upon all parties involved.
1645	1645/M/E/003	Ministry of Military Affairs	Task Force 41, the 1st Marine Division & the 12th Submarine Squadron are redeployed from their current patrol areas to the Northern Sea until further notice.
1645	1645/M/E/002	Ministry of Military Affairs	Task Force 90, the 2nd Marine Division & Wolfpack Frans Erkinpoika are redeployed from their current patrol areas to the Sea of Storms to protect Shirerithian shipping.

Recent Ordinances

Year	Ordinance Reference/Title	Issued by	Summary
1645	1645/X/O/001	Ministry of the Exterior	The employees of the Ministry of the Exterior shall from henceforth commence their workday with Biodanza and a group hug.