MicroWorld Newsbites – April 2017
CAMPINIA On 4 April, the Principality of Campinia was officially dissolved by Prince Elias after discovering that the head of government, Shady Morsi, had been planning to depose him. Morsi, appointed head of government in August last year, had swiftly placed most state institutions under his own control. Morsi has not contested the dissolution of the nation, and Elias has joined the Grand Duchy of Flandrensis to work in heraldry. FLORENIA On 23 April, Florenia celebrated six years since its official date of foundation in 2011. KUMANO JIRITSU NATION On 13 April, Prime Minister Hatsu Ryuho conducted a Japanese-style ceremony marking the start of the Kumanoese agricultural season. MOLOSSIA On 10 April, the First Family’s pet Boston Terrier, Annie, passed away from heart failure at the age of eleven. She was buried with honours in the Molossia Cemetary, and Emperor Jonathan I sent his condolences to President Baugh. SABIA AND VERONA On 20 April, King Tarik of Sabia and Verona announced that he would soon promulgate a new constitution for the country, comprised of 104 articles concerning state institutions and the like, including relations between the kingdom’s human population and its famous plush toy “citizens”. SANDUS On 28 April, Sôgmô Gaius Soergel decreed the creation of a ceremonial Sandum nobility based loosely on that of the Russian Empire. USKOR On 11 April a referendum took place resulting in Chairwoman Charlotte Lindstrom extending her term of office for a year and announcing that the legislative People’s Assembly would no longer meet. No details were released of the referendum’s turnout or vote results.
MicroWorld Newsbites – September 2016
CALSAHARA The week of the first Monday in September has been declared Opera Week, during which all citizens are encouraged to listen to only opera and classical music. CAMPINIA The abdication of Duke Elias I in favour in Shady Morsi, as reported last month, has been revealed to be a misunderstanding. After several days of mistakenly claiming to be Duke of Campinia, Morsi was offered the position of head of government as Grand Constable by Elias I, which he has accepted. DELVERA/NOTTALOTTA ACRES On 1 September, NottaLotta Acres was annexed by the Grand Republic of Delvera with the consent of its citizens, having had an entirely stagnant administration for some time. On 21 September, the Empire signed a treaty with Delvera recognising it as a sovereign state and as the sole legitimate successor state of NottaLotta Acres. Many Delveran officials were previously NottaLottan political and military leaders. FLANDRENSIS On 4 September, the Grand Duchy of Flandrensis celebrated eight years since its foundation. KUMANO JIRITSU Hatsu Aki, son of previous head of state O-Hatsu Kenji-sama, has been unanimously elected to suceed the latter by the National Senate after his father retired in July. Hatsu Aki is expected to take office in early October. LEYLANDIISTAN & GURVATA On 14 September, the Confederation of Leylandiistan and Gurvata dissolved, ceding its territory to the Republic of Ireland. The Empire had held diplomatic relations with Leylandiistan since January 2014. MOLOSSIA On 17 September, President Kevin Baugh and members of his family appeared in the Dayton Valley Days Parade of Dayton, Nevada, it being the seventh time that Molossia has been represented in the parade. ÜBERSTADT On 17 September, King Adam I announced that from henceforth the Kingdom would aim to keep Edmount Island – Überstadt’s original territorial claim, which it initially hoped to one day settle – uninhabited and undisturbed for ecological reasons.
MicroWorld Newsbites – August 2016
CAMPINIA Duke Elias I, who has reigned over the Antarctic duchy of Campinia since 2013, abdicated yesterday in favour of Shady Morsi, who has become the fourth monarch of the sixteen year-old nation. UPDATE: This has since been revealed to have been a misunderstanding. The Duke merely offered Morsi the position of head of government; the latter mistakenly interpreted this as an abdication, which he then publicised. The situation has now been resolved: Elias I reigns as Duke, with Shady Morsi as head of government. JUCLANDIA Juclandians celebrated eight years since the foundation of their state’s current incarnation on 23 August; this begun almost three weeks of celebrations, which will culminate on 10 September, the fifteenth anniversary of the original foundation of the country. KUMANO JIRITSU Hatsu Ryuho, the prime minister and founder of Kumano, nominated on 11 August his younger brother, Hatsu Aki, for head of state, after their father O-Hatsu Kenji-sama retired from the position last month. The National Senate met last week to discuss the nomination. LEYLANDIISTAN & GURVATA On 22 August, a National Dental Health Initiative was signed into law, aiming to promote positive dental hygiene amongst the population. The government will be distributing free dental supplies to citizens. Two years since Leylandiistan and Gurvata unified into a single state were celebrated on 30 August, on which an announcement was made that a governmental plan for 2016 has, with four months of the year left to go, already been fully implemented. SANDUS On 18 August, Sôgmô Soergel appointed Jacob Valentine (né Tierney) as Minister of Diplomatic Affairs. The former Renasian premier is an experienced diplomat, as well as a long-standing and well-liked member of the MicroWiki community. This appointment comes after a steady decrease in the international standing of Sandus, with the state having recently lost diplomatic ties with former close friends such as Zealandia and with the Empire itself. ÜBERSTADT On 1 August, the King of Überstadt embarked on a naval voyage with Baron Ballinger, Vice Admiral of the Navy, conducting sea trials for a new amphibious warfare craft. The new boat has been named HMNS Duke of Edmount.
MicroWorld Newsbites – July 2016
FLANDRENSIS On 5 July, Flandrensis updated its Constitution for the eighth time since the Grand Duchy’s foundation in 2008. The revision has served mainly to insert the Grand Duchy’s environmental mission into its constitution, including a ban on tourists visiting its Antarctic claims and the statement that Flandrensis is the “only country in the world that doesn’t want its land inhabited by people”. KUMANO JIRITSU On 21 July, O-Hatsu Kenji-sama resigned as Kumano’s head of state. Senate leader Dr. Yamamoto Seiji has been appointed acting Sendatsu Daimyo (head of state) until elections take place in September or October. LADONIA The Ladonian cabinet has appointed Indonesian resident Cornelius Marpaung as its Minister for Anime and Hetalian Affairs. Other unusual cabinet posts in Ladonia include a Minister of Thermonuclear Eye Protection and a Minister of Raccoons and 42. ONGAL On 2 July, Ongal issued a claim to West Antarctica, i.e. those areas of Antarctica not already claimed by the seven UN member states of the United Nations which are signatories to the Antarctic Treaty. The Empire is unlikely to recognise this new claim, as the territory in question is already claimed by Westarctica, Flandrensis, Campinia and Arkel, all of which are states Austenasia has treaties with recognising their claims. On 6 July, Prince Milomir I met with former monarch of Bulgaria, Simeon I, at the National Museum of Military History in Sofia. The meeting was of an informal nature, with Simeon of Bulgaria not representing his country in any official capacity. SANDUS On 3 July, a membership application to the Grand Unified Micronational by the State of Sandus was rejected. On 27 July, the Empire suspended diplomatic relations with Sandus after its head of state Will Soergel published unfounded and untrue accusations that Emperor Jonathan I had masterminded a “conspiracy” to persuade GUM delegations to vote against Sandus. WYVERN On 27 July, the Statenraad of Wyvern decided against talks with Sandus which had been proposed in an attempt to resolve long-lasting diplomatic hostilities between the two states, considering it extremely unlikely that such talks would result in any meaningfully positive outcome.
MicroWorld Newsbites – April 2016
This is the first instalment of a new monthly feature for the Austenasian Times: MicroWorld Newsbites, in which a look will be taken at news stories from around the world of small nations, which are unlikely to be covered by major news networks. COPAN The fence around the Playing Field – part of which formed Copan’s international boundary with the United Kingdom and with the Grove – has been removed by Sutton Parks Service. FLANDRENSIS The Flandrensisian Commonwealth, a diplomatic partnership between Flandrensis, Arkel and Campinia, was dissolved earlier today. The three members of the Commonwealth – which was founded in October 2010 – all claim territory in Antarctica but have populations based in Belgium and the Netherlands. Due to its members sharing a diplomatic policy, a treaty signed in January 2013 by the Empire to formalise its by then four year old friendship with Flandrensis resulted in diplomatic relations being formed with Arkel and Campinia as well. The three nations remain on good terms, but according to Grand Duke Niels of Flandrensis, a renewed focus on environmental matters and a more global diplomatic outlook made the Commonwealth redundant. George De Feyter, Minister of Antarctic Environment, has announced “an ambitious programme which aims at alerting all the countries in the world about the dangers of pollution and damaging Antarctica”. A letter will be sent each week to another government, starting with the top ten most polluting countries in the world. MOLOSSIA On 5 April, Molossia welcomed its second native-born citizen, raising its population to 31. On 16 April, Molossia celebrated Obscura Day, a worldwide celebration of unique places. A group of sixteen visitors was given a tour of the nation by the President, First Lady, and Chief Constable. VIKESLAND A change of government structure in Vikesland is being discussed, with more power planned to be transferred to King Christopher to enable more efficient governance. ZEALANDIA Between 11 and 13 April, the former Queen Astrid of Zealandia (also known as Anna Lindstrom) launched a self-coup against her own government, replacing the monarchy with a communist state council of which she is now chairwoman as Charlotte Lindstrom. Known for its instability, Zealandia’s latest revolution has been criticised by other governments. Diplomatic negotiations to update the treaty between Austenasia and Zealandia concerning New South Scotland – of which the monarch of Zealandia was made ex officio governing commissioner – are currently underway.
