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.

Emperor graduates with first class honours

The Emperor in formal academic robes at his graduation ceremony yesterday.

His Imperial Majesty Emperor Jonathan I has graduated from the University of Roehampton, receiving a first class with honours Bachelor of Arts degree in Theology and Religious Studies.

A graduation ceremony was held yesterday at the Royal Festival Hall in South Bank, London. Jonathan I attended along with his parents and Princess Consort Hannah.

The Emperor started his three-year course at Roehampton in September 2013, and spent most of term time over said years living in accommodation on campus, in a flat which was temporarily designated Austenasian Embassy to the United Kingdom.

During his course, Jonathan I took modules in which he studied topics including the Bible, Christian doctrines, classical and medieval philosophy of religion, the relation of religion to human rights and to art, the person of Jesus Christ, the history and doctrines of Islam, Judaism and Hinduism, and the religious make-up of London.

The Emperor chose to take two extra modules in his final year rather than write a dissertation. His highest marked piece of work was a 3100-word essay he wrote in his final term on the way in which Jesus is presented in St. John’s Gospel.

Change made to Imperial style

The official style of the Austenasian Monarch has been altered by Emperor Jonathan I.

Three of the titles in his official full style (which can be seen here, and is used only for formal ceremonial or diplomatic occasions) – “Emperor of Austenasia”, “Romanorum Imperator”, and “Basileus kai Autokrator Rhomaion” – have been merged into one: “Austenasian Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans”.

The idea that the Emperor of Austenasia is in some sense an heir or successor to the Roman Emperors was first officially taken up by Emperor Esmond III in March 2010, since which the Empire has adopted more and more Roman attributes (e.g. the names of military officers and units, a system of consuls, etc.). However, Austenasia first began to explicitly emulate Rome as early as November 2009, when the Imperial Diadem was modified to include pendilia (dangling chains emblematic of medieval Roman crowns).

A prefix, “by the Grace of Christ our God faithful”, has also been added to the Emperor’s style, adopted from the imperial style used by the late Eastern Roman Emperors. Jonathan I stated that this change was made to reflect his personal faith, with the changes to his style being made five years to the day that he joined the Orthodox Church.

The (ordinary) style of the Emperor now, then, is His Imperial Majesty Imperator Caesar Jonathan Augustus, by the Grace of Christ our God faithful Austenasian Emperor and Autocrat of the Romans.

The use of “our” in this style indicates the Emperor personally speaking (albeit in the majestic plural), not the implication that Christianity is in any way an official national religion of the Empire.

UK police helicopter hovers over Wrythe

The British police helicopter seen earlier today over the capital, Wrythe.

Around 16:00 BST this afternoon, a British police helicopter flew low over Wrythe and the surrounding area, hovering and circling for some ten minutes before flying away.

The helicopter is believed to have been a Eurocopter model belonging to the United Kingdom’s National Police Air Service. Ministry of Defence records show that a similar helicopter was observed in the area at the same time of day on 21 August last year.

Emperor Jonathan I, who is also incumbent Representative of Wrythe, has issued a statement on the infringement of air space:

“Earlier this afternoon a British police helicopter flew over Wrythe and the surrounding area for approximately ten minutes. There is no evidence that this action was directed towards Wrythe itself; nevertheless, we ask all residents to be vigilant for suspicious signs from the larger countries bordering the Empire. Should similar incidents recur in future, we shall discuss the formulation of a policy on air space with the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence.”