Polls are open on Cocos (Keeling) and Christmas islands, but voters feel forgotten - ABC News
Polls are open on Cocos (Keeling) and Christmas islands, but voters feel forgotten - ABC News
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China factor spices up tussle over key part of the Indian Ocean | The Straits Times
Summary: - The piece analyzes how the Chagos Archipelago dispute (Diego Garcia) fits into wider Indian Ocean geopolitics, focusing on Mauritius, Britain, the United States, and India. - Key background: Chagos was detached from Mauritius at independence (1968); Diego Garcia hosts a long-running US military base, with the archipelago under BIOT. - 2019 ICJ ruling suggested Mauritius could exercise sovereignty; UN resolutions backed this emphasis, though Britain contests binding
Inside the British Virgin Islands’ corruption crisis | TBIJ
Summary: The Bureau of Investigative Journalism’s report on the British Virgin Islands (BVI) details a prolonged corruption crisis that exposed how the territory’s governance has been undermined by tensions between locally elected leaders and the British governor. Key points include: - The governor’s limited, but pivotal, role in national security, foreign affairs, and civil service oversight, contrasted with locally controlled domestic matters. - Tensions under pro-independe
New Zealand pressed Cook Islands for months over China deals, OIA documents reveal | RNZ News
Summary: - New Zealand and the Cook Islands are in a growing diplomatic rift over Cook Islands’ deals with China, notably a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP). - NZ sought for eight months to see the Cook Islands’ Beijing agreements, arguing NZ should be consulted under their free association arrangements. - NZ halted NZ$18.2 million in funding and warned that elements of its development programme could be undermined by the Cook Islands-China agreements. - Official doc