The libertarian utopia on a Caribbean island
| | ROATAN, Honduras, 22 August 2026 (ABC) - Alice Chen opens a glass door and leads the way past a wall of stickers bearing slogans such as "Make Death Optional" and "Live on Bitcoin". The room we've entered is part messy science lab, part share-house kitchen. Chen retrieves a beaker from a small fridge inside. "You can't find this anywhere else in the world," she says, holding up a vivid green liquid. This is what she came all the way from Canada to Próspera, a libertarian enclave on the Honduran island of Roatán, to develop - a live algae drink she says could add 20 years to your life. "It's only possible here in Próspera because of their meta-regulatory framework," Chen says. |
Why link to Sicily is still a dream despite 2,000 years of plans
| | MESSINA, Italy, 22 August 2026 (Guardian) - For more than 2,000 years, it has been an obsessive dream: a plan to link the Mediterranean Sea’s largest island to mainland Italy. It began with the Romans, who, according to Pliny the Elder, built a bridge of boats and barrels across the strait of Messina in 251BC to transport 140 war elephants captured from the Carthaginians.- |
Spain proposes 23 new MPAs in the Canary Islands and Med
| | SPOLETO, Italy, 21 August 2026 (Mongabay) - The Spanish government has launched a consultation process to establish 23 new marine protected areas (MPAs) in Canary Islands waters and the Mediterranean Sea as part of efforts to meet a national commitment to protect 30% of its waters by 2030. |
Russia's missile tests around disputed islands anger Japan
| | TOKYO, Japan, 21 August 2026 (Guardian) - Japan has criticised missile tests carried out by Russia’s navy around the disputed islands visited by Vladimir Putin last week amid continuing tensions between the two countries. Russia’s Pacific fleet said on Thursday that it had fired Bastion surface-to-ship missiles from Etorofu, the largest island in the disputed archipelago, simulating an attack on enemy vessels, hitting all of its targets approximately 300km away. |
The idyllic holiday island that once housed a Nazi fortress
| | WOLIN ISLAND, Poland, 21 August 2026 (CNN) - Something is hidden in the thick pine and beech forest. Just outside Swinoujscie, a resort town on Poland’s Baltic coast, Wolin Island greets you with endless coastal dunes and seemingly untouched nature. But there’s a darker side to this idyllic-looking escape. Its sandy soil conceals an enormous, once top-secret bunker city. |
Ancient Polynesians took a 1,700-year break from voyaging
| | WASHINGTON, US, 21 August 2026 (Nat.Geog) - The Polynesians were perhaps the ancient world’s greatest sea voyagers. But their epic explorations were not continuous. Clues in the archaeological record indicate that there was a period lasting roughly 1,700 years during which the Polynesians stopped making long-distance ocean voyages. Then, around A.D. 900, they returned to the waters and began a new era of exploration and discovery. Scholars call this gap “the Long Pause,” but the reason behind the hiatus remains a mystery. |
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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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ARCTIC COUNCIL |
| | UArctic Congress 26-29 May 2026, Torshavn, Faroe Islands |
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SICRI |
| | Island Studies International Conference 25-28 June, 2026, Tacloban City, Leyte Islands, Philippines |
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SPREP |
| | 11th Pacific Islands Conference for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas, 7–11 September 2026, Noumea, New Caledonia |
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ANATOMY OF ISLANDS |
| | 14th Anatomy of Islands symposium 15-17 Oct, 2026, Jelsa, Hvar Island, Croatia |
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SOCIETY OF ISLAND BIOLOGY |
| | 5th Island Biology conference 2-6 November, 2026, Atami City, Japan |
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IWRA |
| | 2nd Islands Water Congress 27-29 Jan, 2027, Montego Bay, Jamaica |
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ISISA |
| | 21st Islands of the Word Conference 6-10 June, 2027, Willemstad, Curacao |
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