HNS: The Hungadada Report: Issue II - Edition II

[Emperor Tristar Majestica]

Hello and welcome to the HNS Hungadadada Report, where we look at the big stories affecting Hungadada right now. Join us as we delve into the truth. 

 

Ministry of Health Investigating Food Scare

The Ministry of Health and the Office of Food Security (OFS) has now joined a police investigation into allegations of animal abuse and allegations of poisoned produce after at least 75 different farms were found to contain levels of pesticide and insecticide 11x the legal limit. Combined, these 75 farms produced and sold over 900,000 tons of food, of which half was exported to other countries. Some of these farms were also found to have flouted organic produce labels, and instead abused and mistreated their animals, and grown their crops using potent and environmentally degrading chemicals. 

Health ministry officials are warning people to avoid any and all dairy products, organic fruit and vegetable products and beef products. A Ministry of Health official told HNS that it will be pursuing an investigation into the company that owns the 75 farms: ProductGreen. The company has been around in Hungadada for over 75 years and has seen its fair share of scandals and food scares. Most recently, eggs that were being sold under the ProductGreen label were contaminated with salmonella and the company was fined §12 million for their part in the scandal. 

ProductGreen gave this statement to HNS: "We are analyzing and reviewing the information that we have received as a result of a police and Ministry of Health investigation into farms that we operate. ProductGreen is committed to providing high quality, tasty produce and will work with the authorities to determine what has happened and how best to rectify the situation."

HNS' legal correspondent Hans Bekerhout said that depending on the investigation results and what digging reveals, ProductGreen may be facing criminal charges: "The company has broken quite a few laws and regulations, which are quite serious laws to break. The fact that this was not picked up earlier by the OFS suggests a coverup or something like that. Indeed, the police have just come out and said that they found shredded pieces of paper with pesticide codes and what appears to be dosage amounts on farms across the country. We'll have to wait and see what happens, but it does certainly look like ProductGreen may face criminal charges."

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Circle of Life Attack: Emperor "Doing Well", Investigation Wrapping up

The chaos that followed the aftermath of the Circle of Life Attack in Port Royalty had a feeling of dread and of suffering. However, a HIS official has told HNS that they will be ending their investigation into the attack soon. The official said that after months of effort, nearly all suspects of the investigation had been arrested, including former Scottish Hungadadian Governor Aonghus Argyle. At least 1 suspect is known to have fled Hungadada within a few hours of the attack and taken a plane to the Flanders region of Laurentia. Hungadadian authoritiies are reportedly working with the Laurentian government to find the last suspect and extradite him. 

The Emperor, who was critically injured in the explosion within the palace is reportedly responding well to treatment and has begun to talk. This comes after worries made public by doctors who were concerned that his brain had been damaged beyond repair, hindering the Emperor's abilities to communicate. However, the Emperor appears to be talking and neurological scans reveal brain activity is good, according to one source from the hospital. There is no report as to when the Emperor will return to official duties. 

Vice-Emperor Franklin Green opened a monument in memory of the event just hours go at Greenfield Plaza. A plaque commemorates the single victim in the attack, Officer Evan McFarlane, who was gunned down while attempting to protect a group of primary school students. The monument also commemorates the brave civilians who helped to save lives in the face of incredible danger, as well as the efforts of the emergency services in responding to the situation.  

 

CEI: "Red Alert" for Sea Levels

The Climate and Environment Institute of Hungadada (CEI) has released its triennial report into the state of the environment. The report paints a dire picture, one of urgency despite massive efforts to combat the effects of catastrophic climate change across Orbis. Most notably, CEI, for the first time in 20 years, declared rising sea levels to be a "red alert" problem. The report stated that "sea levels continue to rise despite Hungadadian efforts to reduce the amount of soot and carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere and contributing to melting polar icecaps. CEI's most recent findings show that beaches lost 7cm of land to the ocean, a worrying sign that sea levels are starting to rise. Coastal areas and much of Orbis' land is at high risk of flooding, and the economic damage will be enormous. For these reasons, CEI has declared rising sea levels a red alert."

The Ministry of the Interior released a statement that read "Hungadada remains committed to protecting the environment in every way we can. In doing so, we also urge foreign governments to pursue their own environmental goals so that, as one global community, we can work together to ensure that we protect our environment. After all, where would we be without it."

In Hungadada at least, carbon emissions hit an all-time low of just 78,446 tons of CO2 entering the atmosphere last year. CEI has attributed this to governmental action to pursue renewable energy as the only source of energy for Hungadada, and the banning of the sale of all petrol and diesel cars. However, hurdles still remain, with public transport and trucks being the largest emitters of greenhouse gasses in the transportation industry. Budget overruns and lack of innovation in pursuing eco-friendly public transport has meant that the program has stalled, with very little being done as of now. CEI also says that the government must do more to regulate the effect of polluting gasses produced by private companies. 

The Office of the Emperor issued this statement to HNS: "We are extremely concerned by the findings of CEI in their State of the Environment report. The Government of Hungadada will continue to work with CEI to find alternatives to current things that are better for the environment. However, climate change and the rising sea level problem is not something we Hungadadians can solve alone. It remains up to the global community to decide if they want to take action and, quite frankly, save our planet from horrific destruction, or standby and watch hundreds of years of effort and work go down into the depths of the ocean. We call upon all foreign governments to pledge to save the environment in a timely manner that will work not only to protect this generation but also future ones."