Inertia Broadcasting Network

[Northern Inertia]

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The Inertia Broadcasting Network is the public service broadcaster of Northern Inertia, tasked by law to provide informative high-quality programming to the Inertian public. Funded by the government budget, IBN is one of the leading providers of content for several media in Northern Inertia, including television, radio and online. IBN broadcasts over five television channels and 27 radio channels, local and national, in five languages.

IBN News, the news and current affairs division of IBN, is dedicated to providing informative and objective reporting on major events at home and abroad.



Expect the first piece tomorrow!

[Northern Inertia]

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”No crisis”, insists Health Minister

Uncertainty mounts amidst conflicting signals about the state of Northern Inertian hospitals.

At a press conference earlier today Minister of Public Health and Welfare Mary Richardson (DWP) insisted the situation at the nation's hospitals was ”in control”, despite widespread reports in media to the contrary. The furore over what appears to be a glaring national shortage of hospital beds and widespread difficulties in replacing faulty or worn-out medical equipment began earlier this week with an exposé by The Weekly Report, a current affairs magazine. The magazine claims several Northern Inertian hospitals regularly struggle to uphold a decent standard of care, especially during wintertime. The report, which on Wednesday sparked a lively and occasionally heated debate in Parliament, also highlighted significant differences in hospital standards between provinces.


No reason to panic, says Richardson

While the opposition, especially a resurgent Conservative Party, have been quick to point out what they perceive as the systemic nature of flaws in Northern Inertia's largely nationalised healthcare system, the government response has been more difficult to grasp. Today, MPs of the Democratic Workers' Party were happy to lament the ”catastrophic” situation in Parliament at the same time as Richardson, of the same party and only two doors down the corridor in the parliamentary press briefing room, insisted there was no crisis and that the government was already hard at work ”ironing out what flaws there are in the system”.

”While our hospitals can of course be improved I can not stress enough that there seems to be no reason to panic, or to conclude that something is broken and does not work at all,” said the Minister at a briefing where she was the sole government representative. Prime Minister Norman Wanger (SLP) is travelling in Southern Inertia and has not yet commented on the situation.

While Parliament seemed surprisingly united on the situation being more dire than Richardson described, MPs found less common ground on what should be done, and it was difficult to discern any detailed plan by anyone at all at the sessions of Wednesday and Thursday. The Care Workers' Union has today called for sweeping reform, but while their sentiment seems to be echoed by many in Enniskean, it seems likely they will have to wait until after the parliamentary elections of September.

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SLU to head to polls in Delegate election

Region to choose between incumbent Anaaxes and challenger Ceni.

Northern Inertia as Speaker of the Social Liberal Union is set to administer a week-long election for World Assembly Delegate, the chief executive of the region, beginning on Monday. The incumbent Anaaxes, who will be standing for their third consecutive term, will face off against Ceni, a former Speaker of the Union, in a two horse race.

Anaaxes, the incumbent, is running on a platform of continuity and improvement, promising an ”effective and transparent government”. An Anaxeese administration would include a reinvigoration of the Ministry of Immigration as well as weekly regional meetings.

Ceni is a long-time member of the SLU and has served not only as Speaker, but also as Minister of Defence and of Domestic Affairs, and is now running on a platform focused on promoting activity throughout the region. The Cenian campaign promises a multitude of regional events, including weekly meetings and a SLU World Cup.

The Northern Inertian vote will be decided next week by the cabinet, and delivered by the Inertian delegation to the SLU. In order to maintain the secret ballot of the election, the vote will not be made public.

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Union Leader Resigns Following Bizarre Balloon Row

Transport workers' chief ousted for misappropriation of funds.

In developments likened to a caricaturist's field day, Chairman of the Union of Transport Workers Michael Gummins has been forced to resign after it was revealed that he consistently used Union funds to pay for personal expences over a two-year period.

The scandal came to light after a shopkeeper in the city of Monforte noticed irregularities in a payment made by Gummins for an unusually large quantity of balloons and helium gas to be used at the birthday party of his son. When the electronic payment arrived, from a Union account, the party supplies salesman contacted the Union, who soon decided to file a police report. The ensuing investigation revealed misappropriation of tens of thousands of Inertian Dollars, used to fund everything from a set of porcelain plates to a copy of the novel Fifty Shades of Grey, the latter revelation especially prompting much hilarity in the tabloids.


An untested legal strategy

Gummins now faces criminal charges, and after consulting his family today decided to step down as Chairman, amid mounting pressure. His legal strategy remains unclear, but as one particularly witty columnist pointed out, he could, if worst comes to worst, use his plentiful supply of balloons to elevate his house and levitate abroad along with it.

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