The National Dispatch
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The National Dispatch is a newspaper that focuses on news from all around the world, al. The listed writers are: Keith Haroldson, Jeff Franks, Molly Aoide, Doris Hunt, Richard Carlson.
July 6, 1993
Iraq may stop dealing with UN
By Molly Aoide (Staff Writer)
BAGHDAD, Iraq - In a press conference on Monday, the Iraqi president said that the country may stop cooperating with the United Nations on the destruction of non-conventional weapons if a standoff over missile site monitoring is not quickly resolved. "The Americans think we are weak," said the president from his palace. "We have weapons of such awesome power that they would cry like dogs were they even to learn of them. And yet, we are willing to give up such things, and pursue a path of peace, if we are dealt with fairly."
A spokesman for the US president refused to comment on speculation that the president's cancellation of his attendance at the G7 meetings in Tokyo, scheduled to begin on Wednesday, were related to the Iraqi announcement. The other six G7 member countries - Japan, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, and the UK, along with the European Community - are expected to discuss a range of international issues, including aid for further business privatizations in Russia, nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Union and North Korea, and the deteriorating situation in the area formerly known as Yugoslavia. This G7 meeting, the 19th, will be the first for President...
(See "Iraq," A10)
Two arrests for 'daring' Parisian gem heist
By Molly Aoide (Staff Writer)
PARIS, France - Police in the French capital made two arrests on Monday following a months long investigation into a daring heist at one of Paris's most exclusive hotels. Marie-Christine Lacour and Claude Beaumarchais were charged with deception, burglary, assault, drug possession, and grand larceny after police linked the pair to the theft at the Paris Havisham last October. The pair, who are famous socialites, are being accused of infiltrating the Havisham hotel disguised as staff and abseiling down seven stories to the balcony of a room, where a prominent European royal was staying. They drilled a hole in the room's window...
(See "Heist," A12)
July 7, 1993
Blockade in Kentucky
By Jeff Franks (Staff Writer)
KENTUCKY - The US military on Monday blocked roads and highways leading to and from the area of Kentucky informally known as "Knox Country," the counties near Fort Knox, without declaring the reason for doing so. Hundreds of military personnel, fully armed and in battle gear, arrived in the area early Tuesday morning, encircling thousands of civilians within the cordon, as well as displacing hundreds of people who live outside the boundary. Rumors abound of a military exercise, but all calls to army officials went unanswered. Telephone lines have also been down in the area for the last several days, making communication with the cordoned-off area almost impossible.
One West Point resident, Larry Stoddard, said that after finishing his usual night shift as a nurse in Louisville, he saw, "soldiers in the distance. Not unusual in Knox, but then I saw them putting up a fence all along the road. It was like a movie. Then this huge truck pulled alongside me, and told me I couldn't go any further. I told the driver that I live in West Point but he said I couldn't go there." Several residents outside the cordon report being ordered to move, with one claiming the soldiers were "apologetic" when doing so, and...
(See "Blockade", A10)
Op-Ed:Kentucky obfuscation will fuel paranoia
By Keith Haroldson (Opinion Writer)
The military's move to blockade a large area of Kentucky, rumoured to be due to some sort of toxic waste leak, along with the military's total refusal to answer questions about what is going on, carries eerie echoes of recent stand-offs between federal authorities and various armed groups. While those groups in general were almost certainly hostile and very dangerous, the new operation will add fuel to the fires of conspiracy theorists, including American separatist movements and anti-federalists, who see the federal government as increasingly trampling on the rights of its citizens. Indeed, even those of us in the center are shocked by the move to...
(See "Paranoia", A11)
July 12, 1993
WHO: "Ground all flights"
By Molly Aoide (Staff Writer)
GENEVA, Switzerland - Millions of travelers were thrown into limbo when the World Health Organization on Sunday advised that all flights, excluding military and medical ones, be suspended worldwide to stop the "Knox Virus" spreading. Though the WHO lacks any legal authority to enforce the advice, all flights were grounded almost immediately by airlines shocked at the sudden nature of the announcement.
In a White House briefing, the President has called the WHO's announcement "unwelcome and economically unsound". Air Erin CEO Ryan Byrne said, "We knew this was coming, but we thought we'd at least have time to prepare. We have to comply. None of us want to be responsible for an outbreak, but we have businesses to run. The cure can't be worse than the disease." Meanwhile, the European Community has advised all its member countries to close their internal and external borders as a precaution. It's understood that all EC member states will comply with the advice, though the United Kingdom has asked for a short delay before implementation. The unprecedented advice has caused concern that...
(See "Flights", A9)
Op-Ed: Worried silence prevails in Louisville
By Keith Haroldson (Opinion Writer)
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Despite riots and unrest in major cities, the streets of Louisville, only a short distance from the Knox Exclusion Zone, are quieter than ever. And yet, despite attempts by many residents to look on the bright side and downplay the threat, it's clear many feel a gnawing anxiety about the Knox Virus. Authorities are now saying that the virus, though deadly, spreads only through fluid contact, drawing comparisons to ebola outbreaks, which were eventually contained. But there's never been an ebola outbreak so near to a major city, and some residents have already relocated over the Ohio River. Others are making plans to join them, and...
(See "Silence", A13)
July 13, 1993
Bloody Knox image leaked
By Richard Carlson (Staff Writer)
KNOX EXCLUSION ZONE BORDER, Ky. - A new photograph that emerged Monday of an infected, dismembered, but apparently still-living man in a street full of bodies in the town of West Point within the Knox Exclusion Zone has raised more questions about the government's response to the Knox Event. Thousands of residents have been trapped within a cordoned-off zone of hundreds of square miles of Kentucky since July 6, with little communication with the outside world. The leaked picture has added yet more anger to the riots gripping cities nationwide, with curfews having little effect.
With the Army and National Guard now deployed in major cities, tear gas and water cannons are being widely used against rioters, with soldiers returning live fire in several areas, though no casualties have been reported. Authorities have stated that even peaceful daytime protests may have to be canceled, due to the likelihood of protestors being agitated to violence. Stock markets, already in freefall after the WHO's grounding of all flights on Sunday, plunged further as the picture spread to news agencies around the world. The Dow Jones was suspended for...
(See "Leaked", A10)
Hundreds dead in Japan earthquake
By Keith Haroldson (Staff Writer)
HOKKAIDO, Japan - A strong earthquake struck off the coast of Japan at approximately 10:15 p.m. local time (9:15 a.m. Eastern) on Monday. The earthquake, estimated at 7.5 on the Richter scale, created a tsunami which inundated parts of the island of Hokkaido and struck coast of southeastern Russia. Hundreds of people are feared dead, with fires and a landslide reported in the town of Okushiri on the small island of the same name near Hokkaido. The city was previously struck by a strong earthquake last January, which killed two people and injured more than a thousand. Monday's quake was far more devastating, with the...
(See "Japan", A13)
July 14, 1993
UN denounces Knox response
By Keith Haroldson (Staff Writer)
NEW YORK, NY - Thirty-eight nations issued a joint statement through the United Nations denouncing what they termed a "complete lack of clarity" over the details of the Knox illness outbreak. The statement came hours after Gen. John McGrew, the military overseer of the Knox Containment Zone, said there was "no need for further panic" after the leaking of a gruesome photo from the Zone on Monday, along with confirmation of extreme violence between the infected. President has left Washington, D.C., and could not be reached for comment. China was among the most vociferous critics of the US, with its delegates claiming the U.S. places, "the continued wealth of Wall Street above the common good of humanity", claims swiftly condemned by U.S. allies. Meanwhile, Vatican City is being closed due to the threat of the Knox illness.
The City's Swiss Guard has ordered all visitors to the city to evacuate, reportedly against the wishes of the Pope, who has called for, "forgiveness and prayers". The citadel, located in the heart of Rome, will implement strict measures to ensure the health and safety of the city's approximately 1000...
(See "Response", A9)
WHO decries threads
By Doris Hunt (Staff Writer)
GENEVA, Switzerland - The World Health Organization has decried the hundreds of bomb and death threats against its headquarters and staff in Geneva, calling them "an extremely unhelpful response in a time of unprecedented crisis." Swiss police are closely monitoring the situation, which comes in the wake of the WHO's advice on July 11 for international flights worldwide to be grounded due to the Knox outbreak. The advice, though voluntary, has been followed by almost every airline in the world, leaving millions of national and international travelers stranded, and forcing governments around the world to deal with the sudden stranding of vast numbers of tourists within their borders at the height...
(See "Threats", A11)
July 15, 1993
Infected overwhelm Knox border
By Molly Aoide (Staff Writer)
KNOX EXCLUSION ZONE BORDER, KY - At approximately 5 a.m. Wednesday morning, hundreds of people infected with the "Knox Virus" broke through military barricades from inside the Exclusion Zone south of Louisville, Ky. Heavy live fire failed to stop the large group's advance. Up to 100 Army personnel and civilians were killed, with many hundreds wounded. Witnesses report the sounds of battle attracted even more of the infected from a wide area. Both military and refugees near the border pulled back to Louisville. Large groups of the infected attacked houses in the suburbs throughout the day, moving slowly north towards the city, meeting only sporadic resistance, mostly by armed civilians.
The streets and bridges out of Louisville quickly filled with panicked citizens fleeing over the Ohio River, and traffic jams have been reported as far north as Columbus, Ohio, and Indianapolis, Ind. Rioting and looting in other major cities have mostly given way to an orderly despair as citizens stock up on food, ammunition and other goods in case the scenes of panic and looting in Kentucky are repeated further afield. Military authorities have refused to answer questions about their...
(See "Border", A9)
Virus may spread through the air
By Doris Hunt (Staff Writer)
KNOX REGION, KY - Some refugees and personnel outside of the Exclusion Zone claim to have fallen ill from the "Knox Virus" despite not coming into contact with the infected. The claims have called in question statements from the authorities that the sickness can spread only through bites and scratches. A CDC official said the emergence of aerial transmission represented, "a greater threat to humanity than the Spanish Flu or the Black Death". The WHO has said the virus is likely already around the world, and that its advice to ground flights "almost certainly came too late to make a difference." Screening programs for the illness...
(See "Virus", A11)
Notes
- Despite the agency itself being in New York, which had not fallen to the virus at least a couple of days later, there are no more editions of the paper after fall of Louisville.
Gallery
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July 6, 1993 -
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July 15, 1993 -
Model of the newspaper seller from The National Dispatch and other newspaper companies -
Previously teased version of July 7th paper from one of the blogposts
