Contact lost with Nauru, the phosphate-mined moonscape and offshore banking centre in the South Pacific recently used as a prison for Middle Eastern refugees headed to Australia. All telecommunications links with the island are down, and it is unclear who the current president is; additionally, the presidential residence is reported to have burned down last month. Have the detention-centre inmates (who, at last contact, had taken control of the detention centre) overthrown the government and established a Republic of New Iraq? Has Cthulhu risen from his aeons-long slumber and decided that Nauru will make a perfectly suitable light snack? Or perhaps someone's filming a reality TV show there or something?

Posted by: Doug | http://www.reallyquiteunlikely.blogspot.com | Sun Feb 23 21:53:10 2003

A reality TV feature "Survivor" with Cthulu as the special challenge, perhaps? (Grand prize: rule your own sovereign nation!)

Posted by: Michael S. | http://beebo.org | Tue Feb 25 03:52:05 2003

I'm so fascinated by this story that I actually called the Nauru Consulate-General yesterday. They confirmed that there is no way to call Nauru on the telephone, but were cagey about what the political situation was. The number is +61 (0)3 9653 5709, if anyone wants to try today. (I described myself as a "freelance journalist" yesterday...)

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