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The Strange case of Nauru
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Gerard Jones, Nauru's weightlifting trainer (age 47, super class, 143 kg) hunting Noddy birds. Recording of a Noddy bird distress call is played. Noddy birds, coming back from foraging at sea, hear the call and then usually swoop down. The hunter catches them in a large net and then kill the birds by biting down on their necks. The birds, a local delicacy, are later cooked and eaten or sold 1 US$/bird, a way to compliment an income...Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru is an island nation in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Nauru was declared independent in 1968 and it is the world's smallest independent republic, covering just 21 square kilometers..Nauru is a phosphate rock island and its economy depends almost entirely on the phosphate deposits that originate from the droppings of sea birds. Following its exploitation it briefly boasted the highest per-capita income enjoyed by any sovereign state in the world during the late 1960s and early 1970s..In the 1990s, when the phosphate reserves were partly exhausted the government resorted to unusual measures. Nauru briefly became a tax haven and illegal money laundering centre. From 2001 to 2008, it accepted aid from the Australian government in exchange for housing a Nauru detention centre, with refugees from various countries including Afghanistan and Iraq..Most necessities are imported on the island..Nauru has parliamentary system of government. It had 17 changes of administration between 1989 and 2003. In December 2007, former weight lifting medallist Marcus Stephen became the President.

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Gerard Jones, Nauru's weightlifting trainer (age 47, super class, 143 kg) hunting Noddy birds. Recording of a Noddy bird distress call is played. Noddy birds, coming back from foraging at sea, hear the call and then usually swoop down. The hunter catches them in a large net and then kill the birds by biting down on their necks. The birds, a local delicacy, are later cooked and eaten or sold 1 US$/bird, a way to compliment an income...Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru is an island nation in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Nauru was declared independent in 1968 and it is the world's smallest independent republic, covering just 21 square kilometers..Nauru is a phosphate rock island and its economy depends almost entirely on the phosphate deposits that originate from the droppings of sea birds. Following its exploitation it briefly boasted the highest per-capita income enjoyed by any sovereign state in the world during the late 1960s and early 1970s..In the 1990s, when the phosphate reserves were partly exhausted the government resorted to unusual measures. Nauru briefly became a tax haven and illegal money laundering centre. From 2001 to 2008, it accepted aid from the Australian government in exchange for housing a Nauru detention centre, with refugees from various countries including Afghanistan and Iraq..Most necessities are imported on the island..Nauru has parliamentary system of government. It had 17 changes of administration between 1989 and 2003. In December 2007, former weight lifting medallist Marcus Stephen became the President.