Micronational Directory Relaunched at MNN

The team at Micronations.net, a driving force behind intermicronational cooperation and host to such respected organisations as the Micronational News Network, the Geographical Standards Organisation and the Micronational Recreational Warfare Society, also noted as the host of the famous intermicronational award ceremony, the FNORDS, announced the launch of a new micronational directory service on December 4th 2006.

The original micronational directory was hosted by micronations.org, and like its predecessor the new version retains much of the elegant simplicity that made the original such a success.

By utilising the directory, micronational leaders will be able to provide viewers of the site with a link to their micronations, as well as an icon-based summaries of their political cultures, aspirations, languages and diplomatic stances with regards to other members of the community.

The founder of Micronations.net, and leading the figure in the Grand Commonwealth and the United Baronies of Aerlig and Treesia, Sir Iain de Vembria, was quoted as saying "We are pleased to be able to be the first to relaunch this type of micronational directory, a few years after the unfortunate demise of the original that was hosted by Micronations.org. The basic features have been recreated, while any additional features will depend on demand or on voluntary contributions to the project."

Certainly his view echoes the widely held optimism that the introduction of the new Micronational Directory, together with the successful forum upgrade also completed in December 2006, means that Micronations.net will continue to serve as the primary hub for news and networking activity for the micronational community over the next five years just as it has ever since it's foundation in 2002.

NewsBlink #3: Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil...

NewsBlink #3

Hear No Evil
When you can't admit you're wrong, just put your hands over your ears and sing very loudly. And if you're a Stormarker to boot, turn it into a Viking saga and a Cult of the Emperor just for good measure. Because, so far, the bill for Stormark to sever ties with Cranda is not yet a dead cert, with those pesky voters having the sheer audacity to split the vote evenly both ways at the time of press.

See No Evil
So how's the new Attera geting on? We think the Grand Commonwealth sees it as a tame leopard rather than a roaring Lion of Judah, especially as the Atterans seem very in to things like constitutions and coronations for the time being.

Speak No Evil
All's fine at the GSO. Yes, it really is. No, really. Even though there have been no updates for almost two months, and no indication of any either. But it's ok really, it's only a service, so there's absolutely no need for any publicity or advertising.

And Finally...
Babkha celebrated its sixth anniversary yesterday, so go and congratulate them.

NewsBlinks: blink and you'll miss 'em ^MTM

Newsblink #2: Cranda and Stormark, the GSO, and... Attera?!

NewsBlink #2

Cranda versus Stormark
In a typical show of micronational legal prowess, the Viking Empire of Stormark and the Principality of Upper Cranda are locked in an epic struggle over the ownership of the Vaan Aujoen islands. For those of you not familiar with your history, these are the same islands that some years ago Babkha aggressively claimed from Cranda. Stormark, under the mistaken assumption that Cranda being removed from the MCS map under the Atkins plan made it defunct, had annexed the islands, and this had only now come to the attention of the Prince, Johanns fonn Klosso, famed Atteran ex-co-regent and ex-Prime Minister extraordinaire. So far, nothing has been resolved, but it appears that the Most Sovereign and Noble Viking Emperor will not be apologizing for the annexation, which means the Crandish Diet will likely expel him.

GSO versus Giess
In other news, the GSO has spent another straight week without updating the map or informing its members what, if anything, it might be doing. Sources within the GSO organization say that an attempt to shake the leadership from complacency may be underway, however, we have yet to get official word or any outward signs of it.

Attera versus the World
And finally, on our rather short list (I don't get out much, so sue me), rumors have been circulating about the resurrection of the Solomonic Empire of Attera, long-time hated enemy and rival of the Kingdom of Babkha. The Solomonic Empire was perhaps the only African themed nation around, and was made even more unique by also being Jewish. Its return is no doubt feared by all those in the Grand Commonwealth.

And Finally...
That's it for the news today.

NewsBlinks: blink and you'll miss 'em ^MTM

NewsBlink #1: Stormark Stalks, Cyberias Cogitate, Shireroth Snoozes

NewsBlink #1

Stormark Stalks State
Stormark is living up to its Viking heritage and trying to claim the territory of Oscland, even though the latter merely suffered an abdication and change of government. The Duchess of Romsdal has described the situation as a "Complex and Vexing Problem", but we all know there can only be one "satisfactory solution".

A Couple of Cyberias Cogitate
The VCC is discussing spam e-mail and looking for an electoral commissioner. Meanwhile the FRC is playing a new word game, which is more fun. Probably.

Shireroth Snoozes Serenely
Shireroth's forum is on the blink - the challenging colour scheme is too much even for PHPBB it seems, so it's moved to a temporary location with a readable colour scheme, so now's a good opportunity to catch up on all the stuff you couldn't read before, and discover that they've run out of things to do. Again.

And Finally...
Let sleeping micronations lie. Especially ones like Attera.

NewsBlinks: blink and you'll miss 'em ^MTM

Mapocalypse Now!

They said it would never happen. They said it couldn't be done. But today saw the launch of a new mapping service, and a consequential en-masse resignation of nine nations (so far) from an long-established micronational mapmaker.

The Geographical Standards Organisation is the new map on the block, and nine nations have already resigned from the venerable Micronational Cartography Society to join it, citing various reasons to do so, including dissatisfaction with the MCS, and the GSO having a better map.

The catalyst for the split occurred in April, after the MCS started to put its map on an "Atkins diet", belatedly held a vote about it, and controversially started backtracking on the previously non-negotiable reductions. The MCS had also previously ignored the 2005 mapping conference COMSAV, which had examined ways of improving the MCS Micras system. While the results of the Atkins Vote looked good for the MCS, some of the voters obviously hadn't been that truthful, as several disaffected nations met soon afterwards in secret to find a permanent solution to their problems, which they did not believe could be found within the MCS. The result, four months later, is the GSO, with most of the creative work having being by John Darcy of Anthelia and Lachlan Powers of the Grand Commonwealth.

The aim of the GSO is to operate a more realistic simulation of planetary mapping than its rival. To begin with, a physical map of a new planet named 'Giess' has been developed, with a detailed geographical backstory for its appearance. Two continents have been left 'unexplored' to assist with the simulated aspects of mapping and exploration.

The nations on Giess will also have more control over their depicted territories with regards to the "development of territories, negotiation of borders, exploitation of resources" and their eventual "decline and disappearance", within an overall framework of rules and guidelines managed by the GSO. They can also produce their own national maps from the GSO maps, at a level for detail that the GSO would not publish itself.

Nations on Giess will also be equal partners in the ownership of the GSO, which has its own elected board of directors and separate committees for managing admissions and designing maps.

The founding members of the GSO are Alexandria, Anthelia, Gotzborg, The Grand Commonwealth, Lemuria, New Brittania, Oscland, Paulovia, Stormark and Treithar, and the current board of directors comprises Lachlan Powers of the Grand Commonwealth, John Darcy of Anthelia, and Ben Gray of Treithar, who is also the President, and was unfortunately unavailable for comment.

Opinion: Matbaa versus Rastakhiz

While we have taken a break during the summer silly season, things have sufficiently cooled down this week to enable us to give brief consideration to a minor spat that has surfaced between two erstwhile micronational newsblogs: Dzez Matbaa and Radio Rastakhiz. We probably wouldn't have bothered if Dzez Matbaa allowed direct feedback, like ourselves, to published articles, but they seemingly don't, so we have bothered.

Anyway, it would seem that yesterday Radio Rastakhiz essentially accused the Matbaic government of hypocrisy by virtue of apparently permitting two of its key government figures to post messages from the same IP address, and thereby demonstrating that they were obviously one and the same person.

The only thing is, a brief bit of research of the Matbaic website, and of a thread about Matbaa in Micronational Eye, would have provided enough circumstancial evidence to significantly reduce that probability. (We're feeling generous so we'll offer a small prize to anyone who can identify the evidence and let us know if they can conclude what we have concluded from it).

Dzez Matbaa, in its haste to issue a suitable response, also skipped a bit of research. A quick search of the Babkhan forums and of Microwiki infers that Ardashir Khan is the Emir of Raspur all the time, but when he's Shah he's primarily Osman Shahanshah.

While we know we shouldn't jump to conclusions like everyone else, it's possible that a news blog like Radio Rastakhiz was called 'Radio' because its founders thought it was a good idea at the time.

Personally, though, we blame the Baracoãns.

Commonwealth Games off to a Flying Start!

The first Commonwealth Games have gotten off to a flying start with a variety of events in three different nations. The Games are being held to celebrate the first anniversary of the Grand Commonwealth.

The first event to be completed is the camel racing, held on the ancient camel racing grounds in Babkha. Three participants competed in four races, held in Vey, Raspur, Kamalshahr and Vayelon, with the final points awarded as follows: Sir Iain de Vembria - 7.5, Extreme007 - 3, Dugobert Wurmser - 1.5. Action replays of each race may be seen here.

Another event being held is a football (soccer) tournament, which is taking place in the MZM Superdome, Aurelict. The Trishuli Extremes led the Halberd Harriers, Vayelon Firewolves, and Adelwin Power through to the finals, for which the Georgetown Grenadiers failed to qualify, having put in a consistently miserable performance. The finals will be played on Thursday (June 15th) and will see the Halberd Harriers play Adelwin Power, while the Vayelon Firewolves meet the Trishuli Extremes. The Grand Final will then follow to determine the ultimate champion and runners-up.

Other events yet to be concluded include chess and dominoes championships.

Babkhan Heirs Announced

THE ROYAL SHAHYIAR PALACE, BABKHA - The long-awaited decision about the successors to the Royal Babkhan Throne was announced to the world on Tuesday by His Majesty Osman Shahanshah.

The decision was inspired by His Majesty being "mortally wounded" by the recent passing away of His Highness the Sultan of Hatay, Muhammed al-Baqir, known to rest of the micronational community as the erstwhile Master Robert Davis.

His Majesty's familial house, the Imperial House of Osmani, has now adopted the Imperial House of Rugahi, thus making His Excellency Mirza Darius Rugahi the new Crown Prince and Heir to the Kapav throne.

The second in line to the throne was revealed as being Rashid Arslani, of the Imperial House of Arslani, while His Imperial Majesty Tahmaseb Abakhtari, former Shah of Babkha and current Shahan-Ri of the Grand Commonwealth, is now the third in the line of succession.

The new heirs to the throne said they were very honoured in being chosen and wished the Shah of Babkha a long reign.

Commonwealth celebrates one year

Tara, CCT, Grand Commonwealth- Celebrations have been kicked off in the Commonwealth Capital Territory, with the Shahan-Ri of the Grand Commonwealth delivering the birthday address celebrating the Commonwealth?s first anniversary.

With the forums adorned in their new birthday banner, citizens from the many nations have begun festivities both in the capital and in cities around the nations, heralding in the second year of existence. The closure of the fourth session of the Majlis-i-Dharma is also imminent, with the voting on two final bills set to close in hours.

The past year has not been without troubles for the Commonwealth, who startled the microworld with its launch on April 29th last year. Nations were shocked that the planning for the merger could have gone on in secret without being leaked or uncovered by anyone. This caused many nations to see the Commonwealth as a threat, a perception that some still hold to this day.

The Commonwealth welcomed two new members into the fold over the past year; firstly the Republic of Karnali in the middle of 2005 and the Imperial Kingdom of Interland at the start of 2006. Interland?s joining occurred at the same time as one of the founding nations, the Empire of Lemuria, left to be refounded as the Confederated Rianites of Lemuria.

Having now been in existence for a year, the Commonwealth has proven to the microworld that large mergers are a possibility between nations, and that it is possible for nations with even the most distinctly different cultures to unite. Having surpassed the tenure of Tymaria now by 39 days, the prospects are only looking up for the burgeoning Commonwealth.

From Shirefox to Moogle, and iGlobe

Shireroth Plans New Search Engine

SHIREKEEP, SHIREROTH - Hot on the heels of Shirefox, the Shirithian toolbar for Firefox created by Fax Celestis, we can exclusively reveal the development of a new micronational edition of Google, to be called Moogle.

Based on the Google Web API for developers, the Moogle home page will feature special search features for micronations, based on those already included in Shirefox, and some other unique features that are still under development.

Moogle will also continue Google's tradition of displaying special versions of its name banner to celebrate special days. The banner system will initially be tested with Shirithian holidays, but will be expanded to show the holidays of other micronations that want to be included at an appropriate milestone during beta testing.

MCS To Go Global With iGlobe

THE MCS - News of other technical innovations has also come from the MCS, where an insider has informed us that the new activity index formulae are but the first part of a more ambitious plan for the MCS Map to accurately reflect the sizes of its members on a daily basis.

The MCS will set up an interactive database called iGlobe with special software that will allow each nation to be redrawn every day to an appropriate size, based on its citizen and activity levels. To achieve this, each nation will be required to include a very complex piece of javascript on its forum for the software to recognise, so that it can automatically monitor board activity and census statistics. At the end of each day the MCS map will then be updated with the amended borders and republished. This system will also allow random skins to be applied to the map each day. Apparently suggestions received for them so far include skins in the style of Shireroth, Aronphei, the People's Republic of Hell, and Pokey the Penguin.

It also is believed that the MCS will work in partnership with intelligence agency SHINE to include a more efficient way to remove unwanted nations. This will include reclassifying these nations as non-nations, and recalibrating their activity with a negative activity index number. That way, when an official non-nation is inactive, only a small land area for it will appear on the map, and when it is actually active, it will disappear altogether. It is believed that a preliminary test of this system has already been used on parts of the latest version of the map against unspecified "enemies of the Republic".

It is understood that the iGlobe database will be very resource intensive and as a result require external funding to secure its long-term survival. To do this the MCS will trademark iGlobe as a brand and develop a number of commercial services, which would include applying the system to the mapping of Planet Earth (ultimately being linked to surveillance satellites and cctv systems for an comprehensive automated global census) and producing pulsating luminous globes, which will be sold through IWOOT and also called the iGlobe, and that people would be able to customise with their own real or fictional maps, and set to interact with a selection of external influences, such as music or clapping, as well as real-time population data.

Experiments with producing "real maps" of Planet Earth have already begun, although apparently there is some way to go before the MCS will be able to put actual countries on them.

In Other News...

- Shireroth has denied that the MCS's ruthless reduction of land claims was the only way it could be guaranteed enough land for the anticipated expansion it will undergo as a result of a secret new recruitment plan and its subsequent effect on its MCS activity index rating.

- MCS Head Cartographer Bill Dusch has rubbished claims that he has followed Ryan Caruso's example and registered the entire copyright of Shireroth in his name with the State of New York, as part of a plot to revitalise the ailing nation as a new home for Soloralism and to create a fourth incarnation of Menelmacar.

- Film director Mike Newell has stated that allegations that his latest production, "Sealand the Movie", is an elaborate April Fool, are completely unfounded.

MNN Denies MCS Deletion Claim

Following claims made yesterday about threats that were allegedly made to delete the MNN-hosted forum of the Micronational Cartography Society, MNN has issued a statement denying that such had ever been made.

MNN said any claims of deletion would be "completely untrue", as the deletion of any forums it hosted would be impossible as its policy has always been to archive forums that are no longer required, and that this would have been the case even if it had decided to take action against the MCS in 2004 as part of the general protests that occurred when "the MCS removed the historic Apollo Foundation territories from their map".

MNN added that it believed that the true reason for the MCS's move was to remove its disputed owner Ryan Caruso from any obligations following his withdrawal from private negotiations that he was holding with MNN's founder Iain de Vembria at the beginning of this year.

Dreesbach's Interland to Stay with the Grand Commonwealth

Interland's Kaiser, Daniel Dreesbach, has vowed that it will remain a member of the Grand Commonwealth for the foreseeable future, and that it would not rejoin Attera if the latter "came back from the dead".

So far, due to the lack of a public internet presence, the only evidence of this has been the frequency of articles published by the state journal, the Red Shield III. It recently reported that Emperor Mik?el Tzion I had approved the creation of a new "East Interland" in Attera to "teach" Dreesbach how to establish a "viable entity". It will be interesting to see if this can be achieved, given that Interland was allowed to languish for many years under Atteran control.

The Kingdom of Interland voluntarily joined the Grand Commonwealth at the beginning of this month, following its independence from Attera after the change of government that saw founder Emperor Mik?el Tzion I (aka Diga Makonnen) retake control and refocus its presence away from the internet-based nation it had been for a number of years. Kaiser Daniel said that Interland was better off in the Grand Commonwealth as it "retained its sovereignty and own identity".

Commenting about Makonnen and the recent changes in Attera, Dreesbach added: "He has a very defined view of what Attera should be and not be, which has not changed over the years. On the other hand what has changed is how he deals with others, especially within Attera. Diga has been more unbending toward Atterans who disagree with him. That in itself may not be a bad thing but how he dealt with those issues did cause problems."

NEWS FLASH: Lemurian Ramu Assassinated!

Nista Ramure, Lemuria- The second Ramu of the Empire of Lemuria, Ramu Taiçardainre I, was found dead in his palace this morning, when attendants failed to rouse him from a strong night of celebrations last evening.

The Mu was rushed by ambulance motorcade to the Ramure Central Hospital at around 6:30am this morning, after failing to rise for a meeting with the new Government of the Empire. After spending an hour trying to revive the beloved leader, the Ramu was declared dead at 7:47am.

It was soon announced to the media by Meran Aauberman, who was to be sworn in today as the Officer for State Affairs, that the Ramu had died silently in his sleep from what appeared to be a poison inserted into his food or drink sometime during the previous night. The slow acting agent did not affect the Mu until well after he had returned to the palace last night. He had not complained of any pain or injury before retiring for the night, so it can only be assumed that he died peacefully once asleep.

Rumours are already circulating that the assassination may have been the work of a small splinter group who were unhappy with the nations withdrawal yesterday from the Grand Commonwealth. Police have not yet released a statement to the media, but an unusual amount of activity at police headquarters today show that they may have a number of leads on the case.

The Council of Elders has been called into emergency session this afternoon for the arduous task of appointing a new Ramu to the Lemurian throne. There is currently no clear contender amongst the Lemurian families to take the role, who were all very fond of the now deceased leader. Being the youngest Ramu to date, at just 28, there has been little previous discussion about a possible successor for Taiçardainre. A spokesman for the Aféñ family said that ?Mu Taiçardainre has been a uniting force for the Empire, just as Ségirdair was before him. It is hard to believe that we have lost two great leaders in as many years.?

A memorial service for Taiçardainre I will be held next Monday in the national capital. It has been declared that all flags will fly at half mast till this date.

Apollo Inquisitor will keep you up to date on the latest in this breaking story as it comes to hand.

Lemuria Leaves; Interland Joins

Meredosa, Lemuria- The Majlis-i-Dharma today voted 6-2 to allow the Empire of Lemuria to leave the Grand Commonwealth.

In one of the quickest votes to date by the council of Commonwealth states, the vote was proposed by Lemuria?s Ramu Taiçardainre I. All members of the Majlis voted in favour of the vote except for Babkhan delegate Osman Shahanshan, who was interested in seeing the Commonwealth stay preserved with its original membership.

On the home front, Lemurian?s began rejoicing in the streets when news of the vote reached the national capital. A vox pop on the streets of some citizens found, however, that there was a small minority of the population not happy with the outcome of the vote.

The passage of the vote marks the end of a remarkable third session of the Majlis, where it has admitted just its second new member state, the Imperial Kingdom of Interland, after the fall of the Atteran Empire. It also saw the introduction of numerous key pieces of legislation, such as the recently passed Banking Act, which has seen the introduction of a Commonwealth currency.

The third session of the Majlis has now retired, awaiting the swearing in of members of the fourth session, and the election of a new Taoiseach.

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.