World's longest underwater tunnel cost £5.2bn
| | LONDON, UK, 24 January 2026 (Express) - Stretching beneath the icy waters of northern Japan, this tunnel stands as one of the most ambitious engineering projects ever completed. At 33.4 miles long, the Seikan Tunnel is the world’s longest undersea railway tunnel and forms a permanent rail link between Japan’s main island of Honshu and the northern island of Hokkaido. 14.3 miles of the tunnel run directly beneath the seabed of the Tsugaru Strait, with trains travelling about 328ft below sea level. |
Greenland isn't the first territory America has wanted from Denmark.
| | NEW YORK, US, 24 January 2026 (USA Today) - Traces of Denmark’s 250-year imperial reign are still visible on St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. John and the smattering of tiny islets that today make up the U.S. Virgin Islands. Cities and street signs hold Danish names, like Frederiksted; buildings feature yellowish-red bricks brought on boats across the Atlantic; and the stone facades of sugar plantations where enslaved Africans were forced to labor still stand. |
A teenager's death on K'gari, previously known as Fraser Island
| | BRISBANE, Australia, 23 January 2026 (CNN) - The sun was still low on the horizon when 19-year-old Piper James walked toward the Pacific Ocean for a morning swim on an island whose name in the local language means “paradise.” Within two hours, she was found dead, her body surrounded by dingoes, wild Australian native dogs that roam freely on K’gari, a national park famous for its natural beauty off the country’s eastern coast. |
Chagos Islands debate delayed as Tories call for halt to bill
| | LONDON, UK, 23 January 2026 (BBC) - A bill aimed at enshrining in law the government's Chagos deal will not be debated in the Lords as previously planned. The legislation, which would see the archipelago in the Indian Ocean handed to Mauritius with the UK leasing back a key military base for £101m a year, was due to be debated in the Lords on Monday. But late on Friday, the Conservatives - who have long opposed the deal - tabled an amendment calling for a pause "in light of the changing geopolitical circumstances". The government has now decided not to go ahead with the upcoming debate and said the bill will return to the Lords at an unspecified later date. |
What natural resources does Greenland actually have?
| | LONDON, UK, 23 January 2026 (BBC) - Greenland is believed to sit on top of large reserves of oil and natural gas. It is also said to be home to the vast majority of raw materials considered crucial for electronics, green energy and other strategic and military technologies – to which Trump has been pushing to secure America's access. Overall, 25 of 34 minerals deemed "critical raw materials" by the European Commission are found in Greenland, including graphite, niobium and titanium, according to the 2023 Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland. |
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SIDS |
 | | 4th International Conference on Small Island Developing States 27-30 May 2024, Antigua and Barbuda |
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NAF |
| | North Atlantic Forum bi-annual international conference 17-21 June, 2024, Connemara, Ireland, |
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IWRA |
| | 1st Islands Water Congress 4-6 Sept, 2024, Torshavn, Faroe Islands |
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ANATOMY OF ISLANDS |
| | 12th Anatomy of Islands symposium 26-28 Sept, 2024, Jelsa, Hvar Island, Croatia |
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CIS |
| | Critical Island Studies 4th international conference 3-4 Oct, 2024, Manila, Philippines |
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CBD |
| | COP16 21 Oct-1 Nov, 2024, Cali, Colombia |
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UNFCCC |
| | COP29 11-22 November, 2024, Baku, Azerbaijan |
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ISLAND DYNAMICS |
| | DARKNESS II conference, 20-23 January 2025, Nuuk, Greenland |
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JICAS |
| | Islands And Island Studies conference 3-7 June, 2025, Jersey, Channel Islands |
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UNITED NATIONS |
| | UN Ocean Conference 9-13 June, 2025, Nice, France |
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UPEI |
| | 3rd international conference on SIS and SNIJs 16-20 June, 2025, Charlottetown, PEI |
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ISISA |
| | 20th Islands of the World Conference 7-11 July 2026, Shinan County, Jeollanam-do, South Korea |
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