New Protector for the Commonwealth

Taoiseach's Winter Office- Adelwin, Aerlig (GC)- The Taoiseach today announced the first Protector of the Commonwealth, and extended his cabinet by one with the appointment of Thomas Cutterham to two positions this morning.

In a statement in the Apadana, Taoiseach Powers announced that Mr Cutterham would take up the role of Deputy Foreign Affairs Advisor, to help clear some of the backlog of Foreign Relations currently plaguing the nation. In the same statement, Powers also announced that Cutterham would take up the position of Protector of the Commonwealth.

The Protector of the Commonwealth is empowered under the Protector of the Commonwealth Act to act as the Taoiseach while the Taoiseach is on a Leave of Absence. Taoiseach Powers shall be taking a leave of absence next week.

This will be only the second head of government in the country, with Powers serving as the Taoiseach since the nations founding in March this year.

Karnali joins the GC

Protector's Office, CCT (GC)- The Republic of Karnali has finally completed the process of becoming a member state of the Grand Commonwealth, with Tribune extreme007 today accepting the Charter of the Grand Commonwealth on behalf of the Republic.

The Commonwealth's Majlis-i-Shahan-Ri voted three weeks ago to admit the Republic to the Commonwealth, but the representatives from Karnali have only just accepted the offer to the nation. One of the conditions of the union, the renaming of the Majlis-i-Shahan-Ri to the Majlis-I-Dharma, has also taken place effective today.

Taoiseach Lachlan Powers and Shahan-Ri Tahmaseb Shah Abakhtari welcomed Karnali to the Commonwealth early this morning, and since the union the Commonwealth has seen a surge in activity unseen in any other nation.

Karnali is the sixth member state to join the Grand Commonwealth.

Aryez threatens Commonwealth, exposed as fraud

MZM CAPITAL OFFICE, CCT (GC) - The Aralanic Empire of Aryez has been exposed today trying to lure Antica into an attack on the Grand Commonwealth with false and misleading information.

Aryez approached the Antican Foreign Office yesterday declaring that "war between Aryez and the GC seems to be imminent" and claiming that unidentified members of the Grand Commonwealth had made derogatory remarks about the nation. The approach followed similar comments at Aryez's own forums. The slanderous rampage then continued into the Grand Commonwealth's own foreign affairs headquarters, with Aryez calling for death to the Commonwealth and calling for the trial of the Commonwealth's Taoiseach, for crimes against humanity, although these claims were backed up with neither examples nor evidence.

A quick conference between leaders of the Commonwealth and Antica soon laid down fears of any conflict, and it was almost instantly apparent that the claims had all been falsified. Aryez then tried to jump on the back foot by claiming that their account had been hacked after it became clear that Antica would not get involved, even though there was an abundance of evidence to the contrary. Nothing has been heard of since from the Aryezian government.

For all the latest news, keep reading the Apollo Inquisitor.

Aerlig Elects New Parliament

ADELWIN, AERLIG - The Aerlig Electoral Commission returned results today for the twelfth session of Parliament of the Republic of Aerlig.

The election saw a record-matching seven candidates run for the five positions available in the Parliament, only the third time that an election has been held for the Parliament. While the campaign this year lacked the ferociousness of the last election campaign, many of the candidates petitioned hard for their positions on the Parliament.

Protector Lachlan Powers announced the results early this morning to a large crowd gathered on the lawns of the Protector's Office. The five returned members were Peter Krembs (Labor), Lachlan Powers (XP), Dugobert Wurmser (XP), Joe Sendler (ANP) and Carson Smith (Ind.). Iain Vembria and Jayce Adryn, both members of the Expansionist Party, missed out in a very tight vote.

So far, only one member has put his hand up for the role of Prime Minister, that being Mr Krembs. Krembs returned to Aerlig recently after a prolonged absence. With no party having a majority in the Parliament, and Powers indicating support of a Krembs ministry, there is a good chance he may get the top job.

For all the latest news, keep reading the Apollo Inquisitor.

MX2 Opens To International Trade

MX2, the long-awaited replacement for PHP MicroXchange, opened to international trade today. MX2 already has ten member nations signed up, and represents months of programming and testing by its creators, Sander Dieleman and Jouker Sendler.

Some new operating restrictions are in force in order to prevent possible misuse of the system. Firstly, no user may initiate more than 5 international transactions within a period of two hours, and secondly, no more than 15% of a nation's circulating money may be transferred abroad every week.

Jouker Sendler, who also hosts MX2, said: "We hope that these limits will not be too restrictive. However, they might be reviewed and changed if necessary. So anyone who cannot transfer money because of these restrictions should post that information in the MX2 Forums, explaining why they think the restrictions should be changed."

Micronational economics has been in the doldrums for many months, mainly due to the absence of any viable operating system, so it will be interesting to see if MX2 can revive demand back to the levels seen in the days of the old ICEO. Certainly the automation of transactions, developed from the initial system in Sander Dieleman's PHP MicroXchange, should help.

Board Restorations May Take a Week or More

Some micronational Ezboards may take a week to restore, following a devasting malicious attack on the Ezboard network yesterday.

The attack resulted in a signifcant loss of current and backup data, creating severe problems for most of the Ezboard communities, some with only recent posts missing, while others have all posts missing.

Rob Labatt, Ezboard CEO, said: "We are taking the fastest route to restore data, but it may take up to 48 hours to get data back to approximately 9,000 boards. A more manual method requiring upwards of seven to ten days is required to restore data to the other boards that lost data. Regrettably we may not be able to restore data to all boards that lost data."

Ezboard staff have requested that requests for board restorals and notices of individual board problems are not submitted as all boards will be restored (where possible).

All Ezboard users are advised to regularly check 'All the News You Need to Know' for updates regarding the latest situation.

They are also advised not to post new messages on affected boards as there is a risk that they may be overwritten during the restoration process.