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Another week has passed, and the great and powerful of the galaxy continue to vie for power and influence. Who has prospered? Who has struggled? Read on to find out.

Arissa Lavigny-Duval continued to expand at a rapid pace despite the fact that having her forces stretched thin and has lost the systems of Nunus and Varka. With little actual enemy activity, it's this over-expansion that spells trouble for the Senator’s future plans.

Aisling Duval continues to see huge levels of Commander support, and very little hostile action within her space. She continues to expand her influence at a staggering rate. However, in a first such failure to date, her supporters' attempt to expand into Sounti has been countered by Federal pilots.

Zachary Hudson continues to see extremely heavy enemy activity in the systems under his control, although countered by strong fortification. Hudson has attempted to secure four more systems this week, located within his current territory or in uncontested space.

Felicia Winters again had her pledged supporters successfully secure her sphere of influence in the despite massive incursions by hostile fleets. On the expansion front, Winters' results are more mixed, with Lambla and Carnoeck secured, but attempts to expand towards Imperial space firmly countered.

Zemina Torval continues to see a lot of enemy opposition to her expansion, particularly in the areas bordering Federation space. As a result, three of her expansion attempts have failed. However, Zemina Torval's influence has spread to several other systems, and her borders are well-fortified.

Denton Patreus is no longer in as dire straits as he was two cycles ago, having managed to secure and fortify most of his claimed space. His space continues to see significant hostile action, mainly in border systems. As a result, several of his expansion attempts have failed, although the Senator has managed to secure four new systems.

Edmund Mahon continued to shore up and expand his power base this cycle. While Mahon has seen extremely high levels of hostile activity in the strategically placed Bonitou, outside forces have not managed to compromise the security of his systems or stop his ambitious expansion attempts.

Li Yong-Rui of Sirius Gov is building a power-base in an area of inhabited space just as fine or better than Edmund Mahon's. While Akkadia and 39 Tauri, bordering the Federation, have seen high levels of hostile activity, overall this corporation continues to push its borders with little trouble.

Archon Delaine, the leader of the Kumo Crew has been subject to an Imperial counter-offensive this cycle. While the attempts to undermine his systems have been resisted, the pirate conglomerate's growth has been stopped this week. An aggressive expansion attempt into Cuchua, in Patreus space, and another into Matlehi have both been firmly countered.

Pranav Antal and his Utopia continue to have relatively modest political influence, slowly expanding in face of only minor enemy action and steadily shoring up the organisation's current borders. The exception is the Federation system of Ewah, where focused enemy response stopped the Utopian forces.

CMDR Cadoc

President’s Approval Rating Rocketing

When Acting President Winters was replaced by Hudson, many political commentators questioned whether or not Congress was truly representing the will of the people. Just two weeks later and the latest poll results suggest Congress was right, and Hudson’s support is very strong indeed.

Almost 75% of Federal civilians who responded to the poll said that they support Hudson’s right to act as President of the Federation, with 68% saying that if there was an emergency election, they would vote to see Hudson retain office.

In order to capitalise on popular sentiment, the Republicans have announced their intention to open five new conference centres in Analave, Brani, Zaragas, Te Uira and Bhritzameno. At time of press, the deals look certain to go through in Bhritzameno and Zaragas, although Analave’s future less certain due to the large number of Liberal supporters who call the region their home.

Systems Flocking to the Alliance in Face of Galactic Turmoil

As leader of the Alliance of Independent Systems, Prime Minister Mahon is no stranger to bureaucratic red tape.

Unlike the other major galactic powers, the Alliance is not a single entity governed by a shared set of rules and values. It is a collective of independent systems grouped together for mutual protection and economic benefit. Mahon has said he sees his role as a trusted guide whose job it is to keep the systems united. While this relaxed approach to leadership has seen Mahon maintain his position as Prime Minister for the better part of a decade, it isn’t without its pitfalls. Despite enjoying a massive amount of support among Alliance civilians, Edmund often finds it a struggle to focus his supporters on a single objective. Most recently this caused the Alliance to lose a significant amount of influence in both Dahan and Zeta Trianguli, where in both cases the Alliance lost ground to Shadow President Winters and her more focused Federal campaign.

Fortunately, the Alliance boasts highly skilled diplomats, resulting in a steady stream of worlds joining the Alliance. So despite Mahon’s lack of focus, the taste of freedom is enough to ensure that the Alliance will remain relevant in galactic politics for a long time to come.

Federal President Hudson announces 'The Games'

At today's opening of Congress, President Hudson laid out his plans to motivate our youth and strengthen the navy.

"As I said at the weekend, we are entering dangerous times, with the Empire becoming ever stronger. Today we are beginning a pilot program to encourage our youth into the navy. We will do this by introducing, and funding, gladiatorial contests, and once they are working well, we will roll them out throughout Federal space. These will be called the Close Quarers Championships, and the winners will have excellent piloting skills, and will be well rewarded. They will be treated as celebrities by our youth, and so they will want to take part too. It will give them something to practice for in their precious sims. It will motivate them, but also they will start to hold our navy in high regard as they once did in the past, and the best will sign up for service. Our navy will be great once again."

When we asked for comment, Shadow President Winters described it as a cynical way of dragging our youth into war. Nevertheless many pundits have responded positively, while other are busily buying shares in Core Dynamics - whose share price has continued to rise to an ever increasing all-time high on this news.

Simguru Offers to Share Tomorrow Today

Simguru Pranav Antal made an appearance at the original Utopian commune in Antal today, to address rumours that the Utopians had entered negotiations to ally themselves with Shadow President Winters’ supporters.

“It is only right for us to honour what came before us. Sol is the birthplace of our race, the shining jewel of our galaxy. At least, it is now that it has been restored to its former glory.”

“In that respect, the Federation is like an elderly relative, full of wisdom and useful life lessons, but ultimately unable to guide its children in finding their truth.”

“In Utopia we respect our elders, but we do not allow their love of the past to obstruct our path to the future. Members of the Federation are free to come to Utopia to study, to shape, to share in everything we have to offer. After all, the abundance of Utopia was created for all of mankind, and we wish for nothing but peace with our other selves.”

“An alliance though? No.”

“While it is our duty to be concerned with the workings of the lower worlds, the Utopians will not allow ourselves to become tangled in the petty politics of those whose only true worry is for their own personal power.”

“Our goods are for sale, but our integrity is not.”

As a reminder to all budding entrepreneurs working hard to scrape some credits from the black, Utopia is currently looking to source a large supply of metals. Traders and miners interested in acting as suppliers to Utopia are being asked to deliver metal to Lobachevsky Station in Antal.

For Some, President Halsey's Disappearance Is Not "Case Closed"

While the Federation considers President Halsey’s disappearance an open and shut case, some groups still doubt the official story. The Knights of the Black, whose members have sworn to defend all human systems against alien aggression, is one such group.

According to the group’s founder, “We aren’t entirely convinced Halsey’s disappearance is the work of an alien species, but we also aren’t convinced that it was an accident. Remember that Felicia Winters insisted, even from the beginning, that Starship One was lost due to mechanical failure. Zachary Hudson seemed awfully convinced of sabotage until he became the President. To me, it seems the Federation is covering up something.”

He went on to say, “Such a well-orchestrated strike against any of Humanity’s leaders would be a clear sign of an alien threat, which we take very seriously.”

Though the Knights aren’t actively searching for Starship One, they claim, “We’re keeping our eyes peeled.”

Winters Sends Envoys to Utopia?

In a move that many will see as being directly at odds with her predecessor’s hard-line stance against the spread of sim addiction in the Federation, emissaries of Shadow President Felicia Winters have been spotted meeting with representatives of Utopia aboard Tanner Settlement in Polevnic.

GalNet reached out to the Shadow President to ask why her support staff were seen visiting the Utopian headquarters, but a spokesman brushed it off as routine.

Political pundits have been quick to point out that visiting Utopia could be seen as a move to support sim fans – given Utopia’s strong connection to the sim gaming industry, though there are other rumours, fuelled by the call for a large order of assorted Metals to be delivered to Antal, has led economists to speculate that the Utopians may be looking to broaden their efforts into other markets.

Getting Serious About Tascheter

It’s been a little over a week since Felicia Winters assumed control of the Federal Liberal Party, and it looks as if the Shadow President intends to start her time in office by taking on her ex-employer in a bid to stabilize the Federation’s interests in the Tascheter sector.

Media agents working on behalf of the Shadow President are currently in the process of spreading information packages throughout the Oduduro system, with the hope being that once residents learn of the Shadow President’s new policies they will realise that their best option is to remain part of the Federation.

Unfortunately for Shadow President Winters, representatives of the Sirius Corporation have been extremely busy in the neighbouring system of Akkadia. Sirius has strong business connections with several Akkadian organisations, including Akkadia Inc and Akkadia Crimson Allied Organisation, both of which have been extremely receptive to Sirius’s overtures regarding a potential merger.

Both galactic powers have enjoyed success in swaying the population of their respective target systems, but in the end, only one power will be able to establish themselves as the most influential voice in the Tascheter Sector. While relations between the two groups have remained cordial thus far, everything is expected to change as both sides begin to make their final preparations to see who will successfully stake their claim over the region.