UK temporarily prevented from concluding Chagos Islands deal
THE BRITISH government has been temporarily banned from concluding its negotiations on the Chagos Islands deal with Mauritius by an injunction granted by a High Court judge, PA Media said on Thursday.
Earlier reports said Britain was set to sign the deal which would cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius while securing the future of the UK-U.S. Diego Garcia military base in the Indian Ocean.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
5 hours ago
- The Star
North Korea internet hit by a major outage, analyst says
SEOUL: North Korea's internet is experiencing a major outage on Saturday (June 7), said a UK-based researcher, adding that the cause may be may be internal rather than a cyberattack. North Korea's main news web sites and its Foreign Ministry internet site were inaccessible on Saturday morning, according to checks by Reuters. "A major outage is currently occurring on North Korea's internet - affecting all routes whether they come in via China or Russia," said Junade Ali, a UK-based researcher who monitors the North Korean internet. North Korea's entire internet infrastructure is not showing up on systems that can monitor internet activities, he said. "Hard to say if this is intentional or accidental - but seems like this is internal rather than an attack," he said. Officials at South Korea's Police cyber terror response centre which monitors North Korea's cyber activities could not be reached for comment. - Reuters
The Star
5 hours ago
- The Star
India's Modi opens strategic railway in contested 'crown jewel' Kashmir
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on June 6, 2025, opened a strategic railway line to Kashmir he called 'the crown jewel of India'. - Photo: EPA-EFE SRINAGAR (India): Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his first visit to Kashmir on Friday (June 6) since a conflict with arch-rival Pakistan, opening a strategic railway line to the contested region he called "the crown jewel of India". Modi launched a string of projects worth billions of dollars for the divided Muslim-majority territory, the centre of bitter rivalry between India and Pakistan since their independence from British rule in 1947. Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan fought a four-day conflict last month, their worst standoff since 1999, before a ceasefire was agreed on May 10. "Pakistan will never forget... its shameful loss," the Hindu nationalist premier told crowds a month since India launched strikes on its neighbour after an attack on tourists in Kashmir. "Friends, today's event is a grand festival of India's unity and firm resolve," Modi said after striding across the soaring bridge to formally launch it for rail traffic. "This is a symbol and celebration of rising India," he said of the Chenab Bridge which connects two mountains. New Delhi calls the Chenab span the "world's highest railway arch bridge", sitting 359 metres (1,117 feet) above a river. While several road and pipeline bridges are higher, Guinness World Records confirmed that Chenab trumps the previous highest railway bridge, the Najiehe in China. - 'Our troubles' - Modi said the railway was "an extraordinary feat of architecture" that "will improve connectivity" by providing the first rail link from the Indian plains up to mountainous Kashmir. With 36 tunnels and 943 bridges, the new railway runs for 272 kilometres (169 miles) and connects Udhampur, Srinagar and Baramulla. It is expected to halve the travel time between the town of Katra in the Hindu-majority Jammu region and Srinagar, the main city in Kashmir, to around three hours. The new route will facilitate the movement of people and goods, as well as troops, that was previously possible only via treacherous mountain roads and by air. Modi's Hindu nationalist government revoked Kashmir's limited autonomy and took the state under direct rule in 2019. Pakistan's foreign ministry in a statement said India's "claims of development... ring hollow against the backdrop of an unprecedented military presence, suppression of fundamental freedoms, arbitrary arrests, and a concerted effort to alter the region's demography". Around 150 people protested against the project on the outskirts of Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistan-administered Kashmir. "We want to tell India that building bridges and laying roads in the name of development will not make the people of Kashmir give up their demand for freedom," said Azir Ahmad Ghazali, who organised the rally attended by Kashmiris who fled unrest on the Indian side in the 1990s. "In clear and unequivocal terms, we want to say to the Indian government that the people of Kashmir have never accepted India's forced rule." More than 70 people were killed in missile, drone and artillery fire during last month's conflict. The fighting was triggered by an April 22 attack on civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir that New Delhi accused Pakistan of backing, a charge denied by Islamabad. Rebel groups in Indian-run Kashmir have waged an insurgency for 35 years demanding independence for the territory or its merger with Pakistan. Modi also announced further government financial support for families whose relatives were killed, or whose homes were damaged, during the brief conflict --- mainly in shelling along the heavily militarised de facto border with Pakistan, known as the Line of Control. "Their troubles are our troubles," Modi said. - AFP
Free Malaysia Today
13 hours ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Appeals court to hear Anwar's interim stay to suspend trial on Tuesday
On Wednesday, Justice Roz Mawar Rozain dismissed Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's application to refer eight questions to the Federal Court as they failed to cross the threshold set out in Section 84 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964. (Bernama pic) PUTRAJAYA : The Court of Appeal will hear Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim's application for an interim stay of the trial of a civil suit filed by a former research assistant on Tuesday, pending the outcome of an appeal. Lawyer K Rajasegaran, who appeared for Anwar, said the date was fixed following case management before a court deputy registrar this afternoon. Rajasegaran said the court also fixed July 21 to hear a permanent stay application of the trial until the outcome of Anwar's appeal to set aside the High Court's refusal to refer eight legal questions arising from the suit. Anwar had wanted the Federal Court to determine whether a sitting prime minister could be given protection from 'frivolous and politically motivated' suits while holding office. In the stay application filed yesterday by Messrs Zain Megat & Murad, the solicitors said there existed special circumstances to suspend the assault suit scheduled to begin in the High Court on June 16. They said the appeal to refer the legal questions to the Federal Court would be nugatory if the trial proceeded. 'The adjournment in the High Court is of utmost importance and is necessary to preserve the principles of justice, equality and constitutional integrity,' they said. They said the postponement would allow for complex and high-impact constitutional questions to be properly determined and interpreted. On Wednesday, Justice Roz Mawar Rozain dismissed Anwar's reference application, when it ruled that all eight questions posed failed to cross the threshold set out in Section 84 of the Courts of Judicature Act 1964. She said none of the articles cited in the Federal Constitution, as argued by Anwar's lawyers, gave rise to any real, substantial and justiciable questions of law that require a determination by the apex court. Roz Mawar had ordered for the trial of Yusoff Rawther's suit to begin at 9am on June 16 as scheduled. The prime minister wanted the apex court to rule whether Articles 5(1), 8(1), 39, 40 and 43 of the Federal Constitution grant him qualified immunity from a suit filed by Yusoff four years ago. The suit relates to events which allegedly took place before Anwar took office on Nov 24, 2022. Yusoff, a grandson of the late Penang consumer advocate SM Mohamed Idris, claims he was assaulted at Anwar's home in Segambut in October 2018. He is seeking general, special, aggravated and exemplary damages, as well as interest, costs and other relief deemed fit by the court. Anwar denies the claim and has filed a countersuit.
