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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: island

island stories: 12 news summaries

Palau's Prez
Makes Moral
Call to Take
in Detainees

'They're not monsters,' says island leader

Jun 15, 09 6:38 AM CDT
(Newser) - That Palau's president was once a defense lawyer may explain why he risked upsetting his island's 20,000 residents and their peaceful isolation from the world to take in 13 former Guantanamo detainees. "They should be presumed innocent because no one has proven them guilty," newly elected Johnson... More »

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island • Guantanamo prisoners • detainees • Uighurs • Palau • Johnson Toribiong

GLOSSIES

 Get Stranded on 
 Johnny Depp's 
 Private Island 

Notoriously private actor comes out of hiding

Jun 2, 09 1:18 PM CDT
(Newser) - Just about any female on the planet would have heart palpitations if, like Vanity Fair editor Douglas Brinkley, they were invited by Johnny Depp on a trip to his private Caribbean island—with no handlers tagging along—and told, “You’ve got all-access. Ask me about anything you want.... More »

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entertainment • Johnny Depp • celebrity • island • yachts

 Castaway 
 Pooch 
 Survived 
 4 Months 
 on Island 

Sophie Tucker washed overboard on sailing trip

Apr 7, 09 9:00 AM CDT
(Newser) - A family pet who was washed overboard during a November sailing trip has turned up on a remote Australian island, the BBC reports. Sophie Tucker, an Australian cattle dog, swam some 5 miles and survived on baby goats until she was found by rangers who patrol St. Bees Island. "... More »

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Australia • sailing • island • goats • dog • Sophie Tucker

(Newser) - Though the National Endowment for the Arts is encouraging communities to get together and devour the same book, literature director David Kipen has gone a bit further with tiny Kelleys Island, Ohio, the Sandusky Register reports. If the island’s 128 inhabitants don’t all read To Kill a Mockingbird,... More »

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Ohio • island • Harper Lee • To Kill A Mockingbird • National Endowment for the Arts • NEA • David Kipen • Sandusky • The Big Read

 Island Paradise 
 Seeks New Home 

Low-lying islands divert tourist funds to buy land

Nov 10, 08 11:02 AM CST
(Newser) - Under serious threat from rising sea levels, the government of the Maldives is saving funds from the islands' biggest industry—tourism—to finance the purchase of a new national home, the Guardian reports. Much of the country, near India, rises less than 5 feet above the water, and the UN... More »

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climate change • global warming • sea level • island • Maldives • homeland

 Traces of the Real 
 Crusoe Unearthed 

Character was based on marooned Scotsman

Nov 1, 08 1:38 PM CDT
(Newser) - A dig has unearthed remnants of the real-life Robinson Crusoe’s stay on an island west of Chile, the BBC reports. Daniel Defoe’s character is said to have been based on a sailor who was rescued from the island in 1709. Traces of his four-year presence include post-holes from... More »

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archaeology • literature • island • novel

ANALYSIS

 Ike's Message: 
 Don't Build on Sandbars 

The costs of living seaside on a barrier island can be huge

Sep 14, 08 3:37 PM CDT
(Newser) - The barrier islands along the Gulf and Atlantic coasts entice inhabitants with their balmy beachfronts, but prove an equal draw for often devastating tropical storms. As Hurricane Ike's path of destruction across Galveston Island shows, building houses on what amounts to an oversized sandbar can be a critical mistake—though... More »

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flooding • natural disaster • island • Galveston • Hurricane Ike

Lost Divers Fight Off Indonesian Dragon

Europeans pelt lizard with rocks during 36-hour ordeal

Jun 7, 08 5:58 PM CDT
(Newser) - European divers battled a Komodo dragon while waiting 36 hours to be rescued from a deserted Indonesian island, CNN reports. The group, which scavenged for shellfish and pelted the giant lizard with rocks, is dehydrated but suffered minor cuts. Asked if the dragons are dangerous, one expert responded, “Of... More »

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Indonesia • rescue • island • diving • dragon • Komodo dragon

Dutch Float Plans for Island in North Sea

If Dubai can do it, why not the Netherlands? Tulip-shaped, of course.

Dec 10, 07 6:35 PM CST
(Newser) - The Dutch are seriously considering building a tulip-shaped island in the North Sea to expand the severely crowded nation and shield the coast from the rising ocean, Reuters reports.  "People live on top of each other in the Netherlands," said a politician.  "We are hungry... More »

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global warming • Netherlands • island • North Sea • tulip

11,000 People With No Place to Go... Yet

Global warming will put Polynesian island underwater in 50 years

Sep 16, 07 6:03 PM CDT
(Newser) - Legal experts are debating what to do with the people of Tuvalu, a Polynesian island state which will be underwater in 50 years if the globe keeps warming. Many residents have found homes in New Zealand but others have met resistance in Australia, where immigration is an election issue. International... More »

MORE ABOUT:
climate change • United Nations • global warming • island • Tuvala • Polynesia

As Ice Shrinks, Islands Emerge

New, unclaimed territories raise fears of accelerated global warming

Aug 21, 07 7:44 AM CDT
(Newser) - The melting of ice in the Arctic Ocean has revealed previously undiscovered islands, one approximately the size of a basketball court. Reuters reports that the formerly submerged islands are unclaimed by any government but lie near Svalbard, the Norwegian territory north of the Arctic Circle. The discoveries raise fears that... More »

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climate change • global warming • Arctic • Norway • island • Svalbard • ice

Israelis Eye Building Islands

Israel approves plans for new international airport on artificial island

Aug 17, 07 4:02 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Israelis want to build artificial islands in the Mediterranean, off the coast of Tel Aviv, and put an international airport on one of them. It's been talked about, on and off, for more than a decade; the project has finally been deemed feasable by a planning committee. The panel’... More »

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Israel • environmentalism • tourism • ecotourism • airport • Tel Aviv • artificial islands • Ben Gurion • Mediterranean Sea • island

12 Stories


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