Interland Joins, Lemuria Leaves

CCT, GC- The Grand Commonwealth looks set to change its face, with the Imperial Kingdom of Interland applying for membership of the Commonwealth, and the Empire of Lemuria seeking to secede from the union.

Interland, which recently left the Atteran Commonwealth, immediately took up protectorate status within the Grand Commonwealth upon its withdrawal from Attera. Kaiser Daniel von Dreebach has been quick to move, applying for full membership within the Grand Commonwealth almost immediatley. Full membership will give Interland voting status in the Majlis-i-Dharma; an equal say with any of the other member nations.

On the other side of the post, the Empire of Lemuria, has presented a motion to the Majlis-i-Dharma to allow its secession from the Commonwealth. The Ramu of Lemuria, ejen ranti taicardainre, has presented a motion amending the Charter to remove the nation from the Commonwealth. What the plans are for the nation are yet unknown, and being the first nation to apply to leave the Commonwealth it is unsure how delegates will vote. The motion requires two-thirds support to pass.

Depending on how delegates cast their votes in the Majlis, the Commonwealth could have a very different face by the end of the week.

Norton Awards Revived!

Following his special appearance at last year's FNORD Awards as Guest of Honour, President Kevin Baugh of Molossia has decided to revive the original Norton Awards this year, at the suggestion of Carson Smith, the King of Ronen, among many other things.

As before, the Norton Awards are held to celebrate Emperor Norton Day on January 8th, to commemorate the anniversary of his death in 1880. A short biography of his life and achievements may be found here.

The winners of the 2005 Norton Awards are:

Cultural achievement: President Kevin Baugh - for developing the Republic of Molossia's culture.
Intermicronational achievement: Marjorie Boodlesmythe of the NFA - for getting Micro-Net back on the Internet.
Political achievement: Northern Forest Archipelago - for being mentioned in 2 articles in the macronational press, one article focusing mainly on the NFA.
New micronation of the year: Utopia - for its promotion of individual sovereignty, and Interlingua as a common tongue.
Personal achievement: Kieran Bennett, Julian Starr, and Richard Shears - for the founding of Kallidéa.

Blast From the Past: Micro-nations.org Returns!

After an absence of several months, the latest incarnation of the what is arguably the mother-of-all-micronational boards of recent years is in the process of returning.

Originally set-up as an alternative to the long-defunct Micronations Today by Lars-Erik Bryld of Corvinia, the last incarnation was in the care of Alteria's Chas Jago, under the name of Micro-Nations.Net (not to be confused with Micronations.Net), under his internet service provider ceased trading last year.

In the intervening period the missing forum was replaced by a temporary blog, and then by two successive boards provided by Majorie Boodlesmythe of the Northern Forest Archipelago. Meanwhile the actual archive of the micro-nations.org and micro-nations.net era boards had come into the possession of Richard Shears, once of the Democracy of Cherusken-Insonomia, but now of Kallidéa.

Following extensive negotiations with Chas Jago, and a meeting in Paris on January 4th, a skeleton site has been set-up, with the domain name of www.micro-nations.com, to host a revived board, plus eventually all the available archives. The actual site is hosted by Kallidéa, with the webmaster being Martì-Páir Furxheir, Foreign Affairs Minister of the Republic of Talossa and co-founder of ESTO, and while former MNO moderators Sogoln yg Ysca and Kevin have been invited to resume their former positions.

FNORD! Malarbor Green with Envy as 2006 Winners are Announced!

THE NORTON LOUNGE, MNN - This morning His Majesty the King of Gotzborg presented the 2006 FNORD Awards, in association the Royal Institute of Micronational Antiquities (RIMA), but the Shireroth's Evil Tree God (TM) Malarbor (TM) was so jealous at the winner of the journalism award that he created his own.

Addressing the assembled audience, His Majesty thanked the awards committee and applauded the new awards, commending this year's changes and improvements, and declaring that they "represent the best examples of the people, efforts, projects and micronations which make up... the most dynamic community in our online world".

He added that, irrespective of the numerous reasons for people coming together to participate in micronations, in the end everyone walks away from their experiences "better for the interaction, better for the opportunities and better for the time spent".

The official award winners are:

Best New Micronationalist - Carson Smith
Best Revolutionary Concept - The Kingdom of Lovely
The Bill Dusch Award for Micronational Cultural Development - Ric Lyon
The Odlum Award for Individual Achievement - Ryan Caruso
The Norton Award for Excellence in the Field of Journalism - Novaya Zemlya
The Peter Little Award for Excellence in Micronational Literature - Greg Russell
The RIMA Award for Excellence in Micronational History - The Staff of Microwiki

Meanwhile, Malarbor's (TM) Malarbor Award for Journalistic Nift (TM) went to Nick "Foghorn" Leghorn.

Babkhan Crown Pushes Agenda

KAMALSHAHR, BABKHA - After weeks of relative quiet on the home front following the passing of a new Constitution thatgreatly expands the role of the Babkhan Crown vis-a-vis the Babkhan legislature, Shahanshah of Babkha - Osman Shahanshah - in a series of Imperial Farmans, has effectively sealed the dominance of the Throne over the domestic agenda even as the Royal Shahiyar Palace secured a major legislative victory in Majlis.

Between Christmas and New Year's Day, the Palace has issued seven Imperial Farmans ranging in scope from setting up a new government, establishing an economic system and awarding titles to friends abroad.

His Highness the Sultan of Hatay, Muhammed al-Baqir, a relative newcomer to the Kingdom of Babkha, but one who has seen great advancement in a relatively short time, assumed the Grand Viziership under Imperial Farman 031205. He replaced Amir Shervanis, also of the Behsaz Party. Sultan al-Baqir has been a unwavering supporter of the Palace, and critics claim that his appointment to the Grand Vizierate only cements the Palace's hold over all political power outside of its immediate grasp. To his credit, Sultan al-Baqir quickly moblized the Kingdom's various ministries and helped guide the Subjugation Bill through the Majlis despite the vehement protests of Satrap and former Grand Vizier, Rakesh Maziar Ackbar. It is widely rumored that Sultan al-Baqir will be named as Crown Prince when Osman Shahanshah announces the line of succession on Saturday January 7th.

The infamous nation-state of Aryez along with its founder Aryeztur formally joined the Kingdom of Babkha as a Sultanate held in direct fief to the Imperial Crown under Farman 051205. After a short stint as part of Lavalon, rejection by both the Dinarchy of Antica and the Imperial Republic of Shireroth - Aryez has finally found a resting place in Babkha, even as its founder Aryeztur was stripped of his Sultanate less than 24 hours after joining the Kingdom.

Following the tradition of past Shahanshah's, New Year's Awards were presented by and through Farman 081205. While eight prominent micronationalists were awarded for their various accomplishments, no Babkhan were recognized, which was seen as a significant departure from previous New Year's Awards. King Danny I and presenters of Radio Lovely, all of the Kingdom of Lovely, were awarded the Grand Collar of the Order of the Rastakhiz and the Order of Merit respectively. Novaya Zemylan citizens were also recognized as Premier Vladimir Alexi was also awarded with the Grand Collar and Krasniy Yastreb was honored with the Nishan-i-Liaqat for his unique approach to space exploration.

The Palace was unavailable for comment on any of these Farmans.