The News - International Security Summit

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Tensions mount leading up to International Security Summit

This week several heads of state come together to discuss the issue of mutant terrorism under the thin veneer of international safety. Especially tensions between the US and Russia are high due to disagreements on how to best tackle the issue. Russia has famously declared it's borders open for mutant refugees while the US has tried to introduced a number of potential bills aiming to restrict mutant rights in response to a series of terrorist attacks perpetrated by mutants. This comes at an unfortunate time for US President Oswald as he seeks reelection this fall and his approval numbers are at a record low in response to passing what many feel is a too forgiving Mutant Registration Act. The Republican nominee Tucket has already promised to pass what he calls a 'wall of protective legislature' to get the situation under control and 'take executive action' once elected.

Many European countries are looking to side with the US on the issue, although Chancellor Marius Hofmann and Prime-Minister Gavin Sands famously oppose the anti-mutant notion, despite mounting violence. They are expected to take a strong pro-mutant stance at the summit and met yesterday, likely to discuss strategies. Officially the meeting was due to a recent attack of Nazi troops on UK soil that Chancellor Hofmann apologized for, an attack that was averted in no small thanks to the Mutant University in Maldon, Essex. The University couldn't be reached for comment at the present time. The terrorist group HYDRA along with other Nazi remnants have long since haunted Germany's image along with other remnants, likely contributing to their open-minded stance regarding mutants.

Numerous attempts to get Russia to join a political pro-mutant alliance have been met with little success as the nation under Vladimir Putin seems determined to deal with the problem on their own. Putin will not be attending the summit personally, instead opting to send his Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikodim Bogdanov. Numerous people have criticized Russia's isolationist stance, though it has found a lot of support, especially from former Soviet nations as well as the Middle-East. It's estimated that Russia has taken in hundreds of mutant refugees from Syria alone, however they continue to refuse to make their operations transparent and numerous sources claim that the refugees are not treated as well as Russia claims.

China, India and Japan are expected to attend but have historically turned a blind eye on a lot of issues in order to not upset the precarious balance in South-East Asia. The rogue nations of Madripoor and North Korea hold too much potential for conflict and many tolerate the situation in order to avoid destabilizing the region like the Middle-East has been.

The summit will take place in London due to the extremely high security concerns and the city's famously dense security camera coverage. Several Mutant Right groups have announced they will be protesting the event in response to the decision to not include noted mutant community leader Professor Charles Xavier in person. He is, however, expected to talk at the summit via video-conference.

[Narrator]

LIVE - Violence at Summit Protest

An unsteady overhead shot of a crowd of humans is being broadcast live on BBC1, a clearly visible ring of human beating on somebody in the center of the shot while a voice from off-screen is commenting.

"Only moments ago the protest seemingly turned violent. We don't know what caused it, but it appears anti-mutant protesters are attacking somebody in the crowd. It looks like security is trying to move into the area, but the crowd is pretty dense over here. We don't know how much security knows about the situation but it seems like they're trying to avoid firing water throwers into the crowd, probably to avoid escalating the situation."

That's when the ring of attackers is suddenly cast in a small cloud of dust as their victim just kind of crumbles away. "Oh my god!" a quiet voice exclaims from off-screen before the reporter finds his voice. "We... we don't know what just happened but it appears that the victim in the crowd has disappeared or exploded into dust. It's possible the mutant managed to teleport away, but we can't discard the possibility that we just witnessed something worse..."

The reporter begins speculating about mutant powers that might be involved, partially to inform an audience that might be less knowledgeable about the details of that sort of thing but possibly also to convince himself and the audience that they didn't just show a live broadcast of someone being beaten to death. He's still talking over the camera trying to get a good shot of the empty ground to show the fact that there's no body to be seen when suddenly there's a bright red flash off-screen somewhere that still tinges the shot of the rioting crowd for a moment while the reporter audibly gasps. "Did you... can you get that? Over there!" A hand can be seen briefly as the reporter reaches for the camera to try and tilt it towards the mutant side of the protest, where people seem to be increasingly agitated and a small circle free of people that seems to have formed around a mutant in the crowd with glowing red eyes and globes of red energy gathered around his fists.