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The US military is set to conduct a test launch of a hypersonic nuclear missile hours after polls close on Election Day. An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is scheduled to blast off between 11:01pm and 5:01am PT from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base. **SNIP** But military officials noted that the 'test is routine and was scheduled years in advance.' They said the purpose of the test was to show the 'readiness of nuclear US forces' and provide 'confidence in the nation's nuclear deterrence' amid fears of the growing threat of the outbreak of World War III. The...

GLASGOW, Scotland — “Tuvalu is sinking,” Finance Minister Seve Paeniu proclaims of his island nation as he sits down for an interview with Yahoo News at the U.N. Climate Change Conference.

MANILA, Philippines – The Chinese have taken over another traditional Filipino fishing ground near Palawan where they have stationed up to five ships to keep local fishermen at bay, sources said. Now effectively under Chinese control is Quirino or Jackson Atoll, which has been a rich source of catch for a long time for fishermen from Palawan, Southern Luzon, Western Visayas and even Manila. Gray and white Chinese vessels have not left the atoll, which Filipino fishermen also call Jackson Five, because of the existence of five lagoons in the area. The Chinese are claiming almost the entire South China...

The president of the low-lying Pacific atoll nation of Kiribati said Thursday his country may already be doomed because of climate change. President Anote Tong said communities had already been resettled and crops destroyed by seawater in some parts of the country, made up of 33 coral atolls straddling the equator. Although scientists are still debating the extent of rising sea levels and their cause, Tong told a press conference marking World Environment Day that changes were obvious in his country of 92,000 people. "I am not a scientist but what I know is that things are happening we did...

I guess we could say that Arno Atoll is kind of loopy (click on image for BIG full-size):

At a makeshift refuge camp in the capital Male, a teenager vows never to go back to his tiny coral island after Sunday's deadly tsunami lashed the equatorial nation, killing at least 55 people. Before the disaster struck, the Maldives were the picture-postcard tropical paradise many well-heeled people dreamed about, with coconut palms leaning over crystal-clear lagoons and coral reefs promising great snorkelling and diving. Now a state of emergency has been declared, throwing the classic desert islands into crisis after they were deluged by the freak waves that crippled large swathes of Asia. While the tourist industry has been...

Link post: access the thread and get your Merry Christmas (Island) greeting using the link below -- and post any discussion and commentary there, of course. Geology Picture of the Week, December 19-25, 2004: Merry Christmas (Island)

The reason it's named Christmas Island is as one would expect: it was discovered on Christmas Day 1643 by Captain William Mynors. Click for double size: And since this is Christmas Island, the posting would not be complete without a couple of pictures of its most famous annual event: