https://www.scmp.com/rss/519150/feed The British Indian Ocean Territory (BIOT) is a UK Overseas Territory situated halfway between Tanzania and Indonesia and comprising the seven atolls of the Chagos Archipelago, itself comprising over 1,000 individual islands. It was originally part of Mauritius, but separated into its own territory by Britain in 1965. From 1968 to 1973, the native Chagossians were expelled from the land to aid the construction of a US-UK airbase, and have been fighting to return since, gaining support from the... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Britain is sending short-range air defence systems to the Gulf to help counter Iranian missile attacks, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday. “We’re deploying short-range air defence systems to Bahrain at speed,” Starmer told a parliamentary committee, adding the UK was “doing the same with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia”. The UK is working with industry to “distribute air defence missiles to Gulf partners”, which have faced waves of Iranian barrages in retaliation for US-Israeli strikes, and has... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3347637/uk-sending-air-defence-systems-gulf-help-counter-iranian-missile-attacks-starmer?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3347637/uk-sending-air-defence-systems-gulf-help-counter-iranian-missile-attacks-starmer?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Mar 2026 17:35:24 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse By firing ballistic missiles at the UK-US Diego Garcia base nearly 4,000km (2,485 miles) from its shores, Iran is sending a message that it still has cards to play after three weeks of war, according to experts. A UK official source said Iran was “unsuccessful” in targeting the Indian Ocean military facility, one of two bases that London has allowed the US to use for certain missions in its war against Iran. Until now, most had believed Iran – under US-Israeli bombardment since February 28 – was... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347468/what-4000km-diego-garcia-missile-launch-reveals-about-irans-intentions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347468/what-4000km-diego-garcia-missile-launch-reveals-about-irans-intentions?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Mar 2026 07:30:16 +0000 Reuters Reuters US President ⁠Donald Trump and Iran threatened to escalate their war, targeting energy and fuel facilities in the Gulf, which could again roil global energy and financial markets and deepen a regional crisis. Trump on Saturday threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power plants if Tehran did not fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours, a significant escalation barely a day after he talked about “winding down” the war, now in its fourth week. Iran warned on Sunday it would target US... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3347454/trump-issues-hormuz-ultimatum-threatens-obliterate-irans-power-plants?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3347454/trump-issues-hormuz-ultimatum-threatens-obliterate-irans-power-plants?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:32:14 +0000 dpa dpa Iran launched ballistic missiles at the joint US-UK military base in Diego Garcia on Friday, showing a missile capability that goes beyond what Tehran was known to have possessed. The base, a strategic airfield that can host B-2 stealth bombers located nearly 4,000km (2,500 miles) from Iran, suffered no damage, according to a person familiar with the matter speaking on condition of anonymity. The attack was the first time in the three-week-old war that Tehran was reported to have used weapons... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347434/iran-fires-missiles-uk-us-base-diego-garcia-indian-ocean-us-media?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347434/iran-fires-missiles-uk-us-base-diego-garcia-indian-ocean-us-media?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Mar 2026 11:19:47 +0000 Reuters Reuters The UK ⁠government gave authorisation on Friday ⁠for the US to use military bases in Britain to carry out strikes on Iranian missile sites that are attacking ships in the Strait of Hormuz. British ministers met on Friday ‌to discuss the war with Iran and Iran’s blocking of the Strait of Hormuz, according to a Downing Street statement. “They confirmed that the agreement for the US to use UK bases in the collective self-defence of the region includes US defensive operations to degrade the missile... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347394/uk-allows-us-use-its-bases-strike-iran-missile-sites-targeting-hormuz?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3347394/uk-allows-us-use-its-bases-strike-iran-missile-sites-targeting-hormuz?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 20 Mar 2026 19:07:36 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer and US President Donald Trump held a call on Sunday about the Middle East war, the UK government said, after fierce criticism of the British premier by the US leader. Trump had insulted Starmer over the latter’s initial refusal to have any role in the US-Israeli war with Iran, which began on February 28. “The leaders began by discussing the latest situation in the Middle East and the military cooperation between the UK and US through the use of RAF bases in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3345906/starmer-holds-call-trump-discuss-war-middle-east-after-latest-rebuke-over-iran?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3345906/starmer-holds-call-trump-discuss-war-middle-east-after-latest-rebuke-over-iran?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 Mar 2026 17:23:13 +0000 dpa dpa More United States bombers have landed in Britain after a week of strikes on Iran by the US and Israel. A first 146ft B-1 Lancer arrived at RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire on Friday evening and three more followed on Saturday morning. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has granted permission for “defensive” US action against Iranian missile sites from UK bases. The huge plane, capable of carrying 24 cruise missiles, weighs 86 metric tons and is the fastest bomber in the US Air Force, according... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3345834/4-us-bombers-land-uk-iran-war-continues?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3345834/4-us-bombers-land-uk-iran-war-continues?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Mar 2026 14:43:24 +0000 Khushboo Razdan Khushboo Razdan US President Donald Trump on Wednesday sharply criticised British Prime Minister Keir Starmer over the UK’s agreement to transfer sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, warning the deal could create strategic vulnerabilities amid concerns about China’s growing ties with Mauritius. The deal, finalised in 2025 between Britain and Mauritius, would see Britain transfer sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius while securing a 99-year lease to maintain full operational control of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3343944/trump-flip-flops-again-saying-uks-chagos-deal-would-be-big-mistake?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3343944/trump-flip-flops-again-saying-uks-chagos-deal-would-be-big-mistake?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Feb 2026 20:19:43 +0000 Mark Logan Mark Logan Winston Churchill wrote his four-volume masterpiece, A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, at the very moment a new era of world history was taking shape: victory over the Nazis, the birth of the United Nations, the Bretton Woods institutions. All signalled continuity of Anglo-Saxon leadership in world affairs, the baton passing fairly peacefully from Britain to America. But 80 years on from the end of the second world war, the world is reconfiguring itself once more. And what it means for... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3341102/anglosphere-fractures-starmers-china-visit-could-be-historic?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3341102/anglosphere-fractures-starmers-china-visit-could-be-historic?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Jan 2026 12:30:10 +0000 William Zheng William Zheng The launch of the Fujian, China’s third and most advanced aircraft carrier, has been cause for celebration in Chinese media, with mainland analysts hailing it as superior to its US counterparts and a force for projecting power further into the western Pacific. But overseas analysts have been more tempered, suggesting that there is still a big gap between the naval force of the People’s Liberation Army and the United States in terms of the number of carriers, combat systems, personnel proficiency... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3332050/can-fujian-aircraft-carrier-catapult-pla-navy-deep-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/3332050/can-fujian-aircraft-carrier-catapult-pla-navy-deep-pacific?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 08 Nov 2025 14:00:09 +0000 Mark Magnier Mark Magnier A senior Chinese diplomat implicated the United States on Monday for holding back developing countries and called on Washington to stop tearing down global institutions. The comments in New York by Fu Cong, Beijing’s ambassador to the United Nations, did not mention the US by name. But his remarks appeared clearly directed at the administration of US President Donald Trump, with its focus on eroding institutions worldwide and breaking norms. “Unilateralism, driven by some countries, is wearing... https://www.scmp.com/news/us/article/3325650/chinese-envoy-calls-out-trump-administration-eroding-institutions-breaking-norms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/us/article/3325650/chinese-envoy-calls-out-trump-administration-eroding-institutions-breaking-norms?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Sep 2025 21:31:07 +0000 Maria Fernanda Espinosa Maria Fernanda Espinosa Some 26 world leaders gathered in Beijing on September 3 for China’s military parade, a rare moment when the eyes of the world turn to a single event. This serves as a reminder that even amid geopolitical rivalry, leaders continue to seek opportunities to meet, discuss and pursue avenues of dialogue. In such moments, a question arises: how can the United Nations, the organisation created precisely to foster cooperation and prevent conflict, assert its relevance in the 21st century? Perhaps the... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3324017/how-united-nations-80-can-still-make-itself-useful?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3324017/how-united-nations-80-can-still-make-itself-useful?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 06 Sep 2025 21:30:10 +0000 David Dodwell David Dodwell Few economies depend as heavily as Hong Kong on a free and open multilateral trading system. Few have as much to lose if the current US administration succeeds in disembowelling the World Trade Organization and miring international trade in tariffs and other forms of protectionism. Yet as the global trading system faces a protectionist assault, Hong Kong’s voice is nowhere to be heard. Our economy has a vested interest in pushing back against the chaotic trade protectionism that US President... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3324357/trade-dependent-hong-kong-must-push-back-against-trumps-tariff-onslaught?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/hong-kong-opinion/article/3324357/trade-dependent-hong-kong-must-push-back-against-trumps-tariff-onslaught?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Sep 2025 08:30:08 +0000 Kandy Wong Kandy Wong President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin stood shoulder to shoulder at this week’s Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit, fuelling speculation about their countries’ “no limits” partnership. But beyond the optics, many analysts focused on energy: specifically, the long-delayed Power of Siberia 2 gas pipeline. Valued at US$13.6 billion, the project was expected to be high on the bilateral agenda and would likely have featured when China, Russia and Mongolia – whose... https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3324084/major-china-russia-gas-pipeline-deal-spotlight-sco-summit-faces-key-obstacle?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/china-economy/article/3324084/major-china-russia-gas-pipeline-deal-spotlight-sco-summit-faces-key-obstacle?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 02 Sep 2025 13:30:07 +0000 Bloomberg Bloomberg India’s top air commander has advised caution about an ongoing military overhaul that is the largest in seven decades, in a show of scepticism over a plan Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is embracing. “Disrupting everything and making one structure now at this time” may not be the best way forward, India’s Chief of Air Staff A.P. Singh said on Tuesday at a seminar to discuss new technologies and warfare. India should not pick up “theatre commands” from any other country, Singh said at... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3323284/indias-air-chief-urges-caution-over-modis-military-reforms-inspired-us-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3323284/indias-air-chief-urges-caution-over-modis-military-reforms-inspired-us-china?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Aug 2025 04:45:11 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz vowed on Friday to destroy Gaza City if Hamas did not agree to disarm, release all remaining hostages in the territory and end the war on Israel’s terms. “Soon, the gates of hell will open upon the heads of Hamas’s murderers and rapists in Gaza – until they agree to Israel’s conditions for ending the war, primarily the release of all hostages and their disarmament,” the minister posted on social media. “If they do not agree, Gaza, the capital of Hamas, will... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3322873/israel-vows-destroy-gaza-city-if-hamas-doesnt-disarm-and-release-hostages?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3322873/israel-vows-destroy-gaza-city-if-hamas-doesnt-disarm-and-release-hostages?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Aug 2025 12:20:03 +0000 Maria Siow Maria Siow Japan is positioning itself as a partner offering a transparent and “human-centred” approach to development in Africa, providing an alternative to China’s economic influence through what analysts describe as a rules-based and mutually accountable model. Unveiling a proposal to create a regional economic zone linking the Indian Ocean to Africa, Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba told a major development summit in Yokohama on Wednesday that Tokyo’s approach could boost free trade and regional... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3322778/why-japan-pushing-transparent-human-centred-development-model-africa?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3322778/why-japan-pushing-transparent-human-centred-development-model-africa?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 22 Aug 2025 08:30:15 +0000 Orange Wang Orange Wang Resource constraints and precedent mean China is unlikely to become one of Ukraine’s security guarantors – despite Russia’s suggestion that it could, according to analysts. With rising expectations for a face-to-face meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, security guarantees for Kyiv have taken centre stage in discussions about a peace deal with Moscow to end Europe’s deadliest conflict since World War II. During a press conference on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3322684/will-china-be-ukraines-security-guarantor-unlikely-despite-russias-wishes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3322684/will-china-be-ukraines-security-guarantor-unlikely-despite-russias-wishes?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 21 Aug 2025 14:00:09 +0000 Junaid Kathju Junaid Kathju The grey hulls of two new Indian stealth frigates are set to slide into service side by side this month, in a rare twin commissioning that analysts say embodies India’s maritime ambitions and sends a clear message to its rivals. The INS Udaygiri and INS Himgiri are set to formally join the fleet on August 26 in a ceremony at Visakhapatnam on India’s east coast. Both vessels, which were built in separate shipyards, are part of Project 17A – India’s most advanced stealth frigate programme – and... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3321747/indias-navy-gets-double-dose-stealth-twin-warship-launch?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3321747/indias-navy-gets-double-dose-stealth-twin-warship-launch?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Aug 2025 10:26:03 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A Russian missile hit a Ukrainian army training ground, killing three soldiers and wounding 18 others, authorities said, in the latest attack to embarrass military officials as they struggle to make up a severe manpower shortage in the nearly 3½-year war. The Russian Defence Ministry said that the strike killed or wounded about 200 Ukrainian troops. The ministry said that Ukraine’s 169th training centre near Honcharivske in the Chernihiv region was hit with two Iskander missiles, one armed with... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3320172/russian-missile-attack-ukraine-base-kills-3-soldiers?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3320172/russian-missile-attack-ukraine-base-kills-3-soldiers?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Jul 2025 11:31:04 +0000 Agence France-Presse Agence France-Presse The head of Gaza’s largest hospital on Tuesday said 21 children have died due to malnutrition and starvation in the Palestinian territory in the past three days, while Israel pressed a devastating assault. Gaza’s population of more than 2 million people is facing severe shortages of food and other essentials, with residents frequently killed as they try to collect humanitarian aid at a handful of distribution points. “Twenty-one children have died due to malnutrition and starvation in various... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3319194/gaza-horror-show-sees-21-children-die-starvation-and-malnutrition-amid-israel-offensive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3319194/gaza-horror-show-sees-21-children-die-starvation-and-malnutrition-amid-israel-offensive?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Jul 2025 16:00:40 +0000 Stephen Chen Stephen Chen When the United States’ twin GRACE satellites spotted an anomaly southeast of India while mapping the oceans, Chinese researchers spotted an opportunity. Over a relatively flat seabed thousands of metres deep, Nasa detected a spike in gravity readings and then put that data online, free for all to use. Chinese oceanographers who saw the data decided to find out more. In 2022, they loaded the Shiyan 6 vessel, one of the world’s most advanced research ships, with cutting-edge equipment and sailed... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3318282/chinese-scientists-thank-nasa-sharing-data-critical-deep-sea-mining-indian-ocean?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3318282/chinese-scientists-thank-nasa-sharing-data-critical-deep-sea-mining-indian-ocean?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 15 Jul 2025 12:00:09 +0000 Agencies Agencies Israel has presented a new proposal in indirect talks over a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict, according to a media report. The Jewish state is now willing to withdraw more troops from Gaza during the ceasefire than previously offered, The Times of Israel newspaper reported on Monday, citing an Arab diplomat. Indirect negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the Qatari capital Doha have recently stalled. A major sticking point is the differing views on the extent of... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3318207/israel-willing-withdraw-more-troops-gaza-previously-offered?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/middle-east/article/3318207/israel-willing-withdraw-more-troops-gaza-previously-offered?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 14 Jul 2025 23:11:52 +0000 Alex Lo Alex Lo Genocides committed or sponsored by the West have often been a highly profitable business. Whether it was against the native American population in the United States throughout much of the 19th century, the colonisation of the Congo by King Leopold II of Belgium, or the Nazi Holocaust, many individuals and companies have profited greatly from humanity’s worst crimes – through direct participation or by providing services and support. A new report by Francesca Albanese, the courageous UN special... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3317502/its-time-business-stop-profiting-israels-economy-genocide?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3317502/its-time-business-stop-profiting-israels-economy-genocide?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 10 Jul 2025 01:00:11 +0000 Biman Mukherji Biman Mukherji India has signalled its growing maritime and shipbuilding ambitions in the Indo-Pacific with the country’s biggest warship builder, state-run Mazagon Dock, set to acquire a controlling stake in Sri Lanka’s Colombo Dockyard. Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders said last week it would buy a 51 per cent stake in Colombo Dockyard for US$52.96 million. The deal is expected to be completed within the next six months. In a statement on social media on Friday, Mazagon Docks highlighted that the agreement would... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3316792/india-eyes-strategic-foothold-indo-pacific-stake-colombo-dockyard?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3316792/india-eyes-strategic-foothold-indo-pacific-stake-colombo-dockyard?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Jul 2025 10:30:09 +0000 Nong Hong Nong Hong Decades of dispute over the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, rooted in colonial history and international legal challenges, have been addressed after the United Kingdom agreed to transfer sovereignty of the islands to Mauritius. Under the May 22 deal, the UK retains a 99-year lease on the UK-US military base on Diego Garcia, the largest of the islands. Under British colonial rule, the island chain was separated from Mauritius in 1965, three years before Mauritius was granted independence.... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3311622/uks-chagos-deal-puts-spotlight-strategic-contest-indian-ocean?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/world-opinion/article/3311622/uks-chagos-deal-puts-spotlight-strategic-contest-indian-ocean?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 27 May 2025 21:30:07 +0000 Khushboo Razdan Khushboo Razdan Britain on Thursday signed a deal giving sovereignty to the strategically located Chagos Islands to Mauritius yet retaining control of a US-UK military base as it claimed China along with Russia and Iran sought to derail the agreement. British Defence Secretary John Healey at a press conference with Prime Minister Keir Starmer said allies including the US, India, Australia, New Zealand and Canada supported the agreement, while China, Russia, and Iran wanted “to see this deal collapse”. “The... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3311441/uk-signs-chagos-deal-mauritius-seal-future-us-uk-airbase?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3311441/uk-signs-chagos-deal-mauritius-seal-future-us-uk-airbase?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 22 May 2025 14:46:57 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press A Soviet-era spacecraft plunged to Earth on Saturday, more than a half-century after its failed launch to Venus. Its uncontrolled entry was confirmed by both the Russian Space Agency and European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking. The Russians indicated it came down over the Indian Ocean, but some experts were not so sure of the precise location. The European Space Agency’s space debris office also tracked the spacecraft’s doom after it failed to appear over a German radar station. It was... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3309882/soviet-era-spacecraft-plunges-earth-after-53-years-stuck-orbit?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3309882/soviet-era-spacecraft-plunges-earth-after-53-years-stuck-orbit?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 May 2025 18:22:29 +0000 When Donald Trump says he is imposing universal tariffs, he really means it. The US president is not just targeting most trading partners of the United States, which are by and large nations and economies made up of humans. He is, as confirmed by the White House, also going after territories full of penguins, seals, seabirds, crustaceans or other wildlife, but with few or no humans. There may be ecology but no economy to speak of. Seriously, I am not making this up. Call those poor animals... https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3305266/donald-trumps-tariff-madness-targets-not-only-allies-animals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/opinion/article/3305266/donald-trumps-tariff-madness-targets-not-only-allies-animals?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 04 Apr 2025 13:00:09 +0000 US President Donald Trump, sitting alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in the Oval Office on Thursday, signalled he supported the UK’s plan to transfer control of a group of small but strategically vital Indian Ocean islands to Mauritius. “I have a feeling it’s going to work out very well,” Trump said, adding that “we’ll be inclined to go along with your country”. Just minutes before his bilateral meeting with Starmer, the US president told reporters the issue would be on the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3300452/trump-signals-support-britains-plan-transfer-control-strategic-chagos-islands?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3300452/trump-signals-support-britains-plan-transfer-control-strategic-chagos-islands?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 27 Feb 2025 20:29:45 +0000 Republican lawmakers in Washington are sounding the alarm over China’s plans to build a large embassy in London, urging the British ambassador to raise the issue with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer during his trip this week to the US capital. Starmer is expected in Washington for several days of meetings, including one with US President Donald Trump on Thursday, as European leaders seek continued US support for Ukraine. “Gifting the Chinese Communist government with the largest embassy in... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3300286/republicans-urge-britain-oppose-chinas-plans-new-embassy-london?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3300286/republicans-urge-britain-oppose-chinas-plans-new-embassy-london?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 26 Feb 2025 19:11:59 +0000 British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet US President Donald Trump next week, Starmer’s office in London has confirmed. A spokesman said Starmer would seek to “deepen the special relationship” on his first visit to Washington DC since Trump’s inauguration. Asked last week about meeting Starmer, Trump said the two were “going to have a friendly meeting, very good”. The UK government has had mixed results in its efforts to gain favour with the new US administration. Trump’s departure from... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3299054/starmer-meet-trump-us-next-week-uk-pm-seeks-deepen-special-relationship?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3299054/starmer-meet-trump-us-next-week-uk-pm-seeks-deepen-special-relationship?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 17 Feb 2025 18:02:17 +0000 Britain said on Thursday it would give up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius in a deal that would allow people displaced decades ago to return home while London retains use of the UK-US military base on Diego Garcia. Britain said that the operation of Diego Garcia, a strategic military base jointly operated with the United States, was protected by the agreement, which also allows Mauritius to resettle the rest of the islands after its population was displaced. US President Joe Biden... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3280982/britain-agrees-chagos-island-sovereignty-deal-mauritius-retains-military-base?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3280982/britain-agrees-chagos-island-sovereignty-deal-mauritius-retains-military-base?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Oct 2024 11:58:54 +0000 The United Nations General Assembly has overwhelmingly backed a motion condemning Britain’s occupation of the remote Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean. The vote, which left the UK diplomatically isolated, set a six-month deadline for the UK to withdraw from the archipelago and for it to be reunified with neighbouring Mauritius. The motion, drafted by Senegal on behalf of African states, was backed by 116 countries. Only five – the US, Hungary, Israel, Australia and the Maldives – voted with the... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3011410/stinging-defeat-britain-un-demands-it-ends-rule-chagos-islands?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3011410/stinging-defeat-britain-un-demands-it-ends-rule-chagos-islands?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 May 2019 01:18:24 +0000 The UK is facing a diplomatic rout at the United Nations on Wednesday when the general assembly is expected to vote overwhelmingly to demand Britain relinquish hold of one of the last vestiges of its empire in the Indian Ocean. The US and the UK have lobbied intensely at the UN to avoid support for Britain dropping to single figures among the UN’s 193 member states on the issue of its continued possession of the Chagos Islands, known as the British Indian Ocean Territory. The vote follows an... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3011121/uk-faces-thrashing-un-vote-ownership-chagos-islands?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3011121/uk-faces-thrashing-un-vote-ownership-chagos-islands?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 May 2019 07:36:11 +0000 Britain will consider the view of the World Court on control of the Chagos Islands but the dispute is with Mauritius and should be resolved bilaterally, British foreign office minister Alan Duncan insisted on Tuesday. On Monday the International Court of Justice (ICJ) told Britain to give up control over the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean and said it had wrongfully forced the population to leave in the 1970s to make way for a US airbase. The UN General Assembly asked the court to advise on... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/2187793/british-control-chagos-islands-keeping-world-safe-claims-uk?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/2187793/british-control-chagos-islands-keeping-world-safe-claims-uk?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 Feb 2019 12:41:11 +0000 Britain should quickly give up control of the Chagos Archipelago, the Indian Ocean islands that house the secretive US airbase at Diego Garcia but are claimed by Mauritius, the International Court of Justice said on Monday. Judges in The Hague said in a legal “advisory opinion” on a decades-old dispute that Britain illegally split the islands from Mauritius at independence in the 1960s, after which thousands of islanders were evicted. The court’s view is not binding but it carries a heavy... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/2187648/uk-should-leave-chagos-islands-colony-indian-ocean-soon-possible?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/2187648/uk-should-leave-chagos-islands-colony-indian-ocean-soon-possible?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 25 Feb 2019 15:30:30 +0000 The UN’s top court will hear arguments on Monday on the future status of the British-ruled Chagos Islands, home to a strategic joint US military base but a territory claimed by Mauritius. Port Louis is set to open arguments before the International Court of Justice in a case brought by the United Nations over the Indian Ocean archipelago, which has been the centre of a dispute for more than five decades. In a diplomatic blow to Britain, the UN General Assembly last June adopted a resolution... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/2162477/britains-chagos-island-colony-case-open-top-un-court?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/2162477/britains-chagos-island-colony-case-open-top-un-court?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 03 Sep 2018 04:03:02 +0000 In a humiliating blow to Britain, the United Nations voted to seek an opinion from the top UN court on Mauritius’ claim that Britain illegally maintains sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, including Diego Garcia, where the United States has a major military base in the Indian Ocean. The Indian Ocean archipelago has been at the centre of a decades-long dispute over Britain’s decision to separate it from Mauritius in 1965 and set up a joint military base with the US on Diego Garcia, the largest... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/2099643/humiliating-blow-britain-un-asks-international-court-advise?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/diplomacy/article/2099643/humiliating-blow-britain-un-asks-international-court-advise?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 23 Jun 2017 03:21:20 +0000 Britain's sovereignty over the Chagos islands and America's lease for the Diego Garcia military base could be thrown into doubt by an international court hearing due to open in Istanbul. The case is considered of such importance that Attorney General Dominic Grieve QC, the British government's most senior law officer, will appear to defend its declaration of a marine reserve around the archipelago. Dismemberment of part of our territory … leaves the process of decolonisation …... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1494618/mauritius-eyes-un-hearing-step-regaining-sovereignty-chagos-islands?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1494618/mauritius-eyes-un-hearing-step-regaining-sovereignty-chagos-islands?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 22 Apr 2014 15:00:30 +0000 Exiled Indian Ocean islanders have lost a court challenge launched to prevent Britain from setting up a marine park they suspect is aimed at stopping them from ever returning. Former residents of the Chagos Islands archipelago in British Indian Ocean Territory say the move to establish a marine protected area would effectively prevent them from resettling the atolls as it involves a ban on commercial fishing. Britain expelled the Chagossians between 1967 and 1973, relocating them to Mauritius... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1259311/chagos-islands-residents-lose-fight-over-marine-park?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1259311/chagos-islands-residents-lose-fight-over-marine-park?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:00:00 +0000