New Zealand has paused millions of dollars in funding to the Cook Islands over wide-ranging deals that its smaller Pacific neighbour had made with China. Wellington, the Cook Islands’ biggest funder, said it was blindsided by the deals that were struck in February, covering infrastructure, tourism, technology and perhaps crucially, deep-sea mineral exploration. Fresh funding...
Rob Flett and Adam Harcus BBC Scotland News Getty Images Options for greater autonomy were found to be too expensive or too difficult Orkney Islands Council has accepted it must remain part of the UK – after spending two years exploring opportunities for greater autonomy. Officials looked into various models for “alternative governance”. These included...
The sexual abuse campaigner and former reality star Georgia Harrison has told the BBC she is “honoured” to be receiving an MBE. Harrison, 30, will be awarded for her efforts to tackle violence against women and girls, which includes working with the government on the Online Safety Act in 2023. She says she feels “a...
A UN panel has urged the UK to renegotiate a deal returning the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, saying it “fails to guarantee” the rights of the Chagossian people. The deal, signed last month, returned sovereignty of the Indian Ocean archipelago to Mauritius, but the UK retained the right to run a military base on Diego...
A sea tractor in Devon that connects a small island and its hotel with the mainland has undergone major refurbishment ahead of the summer season. The Burgh Island sea tractor was originally built in 1969 and transports passengers daily across the 270 yards (250m) from the island to Bigbury-on-Sea. The restoration included a complete rebuild...
Kate Whannel Political reporter Reuters Diego Garcia, the largest island in the archipelago, was separated from Mauritius along with the rest of the Chagos Islands in 1965 and now houses a US military base The government has temporarily been banned from concluding talks on the Chagos Islands deal by a last-minute injunction by a High...
The UK government is working with Mauritius to finalise a deal on the future of the Chagos Islands, Downing Street has said. Under the proposed agreement, Mauritius would gain sovereignty of the islands from the UK, but allow the US and UK to continue operating a military base on one of the islands for an...