Nauru

Wylie Detemano and his Nauru Australian Football League team believe that having a proper grass field will be a great boost for the sport on the island; although the game has been played for more than 100 years, there is no grass field for players

No Taiwanese remained in the Nauru after the return home of the last conscript, a Taiwanese soldier previously investigated for allegedly burning a national flag of Nauru after the two countries cut diplomatic ties in January

Dave Kitson has been named Nauru's new national soccer team manager and international ambassador; he has played 81 times in the English Premier League and 155 times in the Championship, scoring a total of 69 goals

The governments of Nauru and the Marshall Islands have signed a memorandum of understanding on air services that facilitates negotiations for the operation of Nauru Airlines on the Majuro-Honolulu route

Amnesty International Australia and refugee rights groups have stated that the 40 people who recently sought asylum in Western Australia and were brought to the island of Nauru to be processed in offshore detention should head back to Australia

After China and Nauru officially resumed diplomatic relations, 26 international students from Nauru arrived in Beijing to participate in a month-long learning programme focusing on China's national conditions and Chinese language

Among the reasons for the break with Taiwan and the rapprochement with China would be the fact that the country faces immense financial pressure due to the imminent closure of the Regional Refugee Processing Centre

The country, where freedom of expression is constitutionally guaranteed but not always respected, has no daily newspaper; the government has introduced many restrictions for foreign journalists, including a several thousand dollars visa application fee

The island's main phosphate mines were closed in the 1980s, although phosphate mining and exports resumed in 2005; the government estimates that the secondary deposits have a remaining life of about 30 years, but the island's landscape has been devastated

Australian Defence Force explosive ordnance disposal specialists recently landed on Nauru to support the safe disposal of a 500lb bomb dating back to World War II as part of Operation Render Safe

The country has a new Taiwan ambassador, after Joseph Chow's transfer from his previous role as representative in Fiji was approved