International News, October 2011
ROME — The body of Cardinal Bennicio Salvatore of the Roman Catholic Diocese in Chicago, Illinois completed its journey to the Vatican today. Salvatore, who was murdered outside of his Chicago home in August was due to become the both the first living member of the Catholic church canonized with sainthood, but also the first Evolved saint. Pope Benedict received Cardinal Salvatore's remains at dawn, accompanied by the full council of cardinals. Salvatore is still set to be canonized, but review of his nomination has been postponed due to the untimely nature of his death and the questions surrounding the canonization of an "Evolved" saint within the Catholic church. The term "Evolved" has come under fire within the Catholic church and Cardinal Salvatore advocated for the use of the term "Gifted" among Catholic faithful, further pushing a dividing wedge between pro and anti-Evolved sentiments within the church. Cardinal Salvatore was able to reverse the conditions of advanced Parkinsons disease on Mary-Elisabeth Montgomery in August of 2009, prompting the Cardinal to be nominated for Sainthood. He was slain in August by a self-described "Human Purist". Salvatore's murderer, James Montgomery Locke, is slated to stand trial in Chicago for the killing next month.
MADAGASCAR — Following the tragic assassination of its Prime Minister in January, the nation of Madagascar has begun the long road to recovery since the military operation that led to its liberation in 2009. President Nathan Petrelli signed the first rollback of military forces in the Madagascar region into effect on October 6th, leaving just 1,200 US Armed Forces servicemen in Madagascar, the lowest number since the 2009 raid on the Vanguard terrorist organization. The United States Military is scheduled to remain in Madagascar through 2016.
IRAQ — For the fifth consecutive week, US Armed Forces in Iraq have sustained heavy losses against Evolved soldiers rallying from the city of Halabja. Soldiers in the Mazdak Liberation Front crushed a US counteroffensive and pushed the remaining American coalition forces back to the border of Kuwait. Baghdad has remained under Mazdak control since August and the organization shows no sign of relenting their defense of the city. General Sebastian Autumn spoke at length with the White House press corps earlier today about the activity in Iraq, citing "a clear advantage of Mazdak's Evolved forces." Autumn has proposed the deployment of US-based FRONTLINE assets to the war effort in Iraq, but has been met with staunch opposition from across both party lines. Mazdak has allowed United Nations observers into Baghdad as of last week to begin an assessment of the organization's treatment of the local population, but word of that assessment is still forthcoming. If Mazdak can continue to hold Baghdad, the US may be forced to fully withdraw from Iraq or commit more soldiers to the region. Sources in Washington speculate that the dialing down of military assets in nearby Madagascar may be a lead-up to a second Iraq surge.