News about Diego Garcia

Despite numerous conspiracy theories surrounding MH370, aerospace engineers and aviation experts have shared their verdicts on the most convincing hypotheses. After taking off from Kuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia on its way to Beijing, the ill-fated aircraft vanished on March 8, 2014. After the plane mysteriously veered westwards over the Andaman Sea in the Indian Ocean, all 239 people on board are thought to have died soon. It sparked a massive multinational search campaign, the most expensive search in aviation history at $200 million, which was controversially suspended in January 2017.

The Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 vanished shortly after taking off on March 8, 2014, killing 239 people on board. Now, ten years later, one of the world's biggest aviation disasters remains one of the biggest mysteries of our time, with no probe leading to a definitive answer to the plane's passengers or crew. The most consistent theory has focused on pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah (left), but others believe the plane was hijacked, suffered a firmware malfunction (bottom right), or was shot down by the US government (top right). A multinational team conducted the biggest research in aviation history, but there were no clues and the operation was suspended in January 2017. Ocean Infinity, a US-based marine robotics firm, found nothing during a private search in 2018. Following Ocean Infinity's announcement of a 'no find, no fee' search of the Southern Indian Ocean off the coast of Australia, the Malaysian government has rallied support behind a new search for the missing plane this week.

The Indian Ocean state, which is closely affiliated with China, claims the Chagos Islands, which include the main Anglo-American airbase in Diego Garcia. However, in 2021, the government passed legislation threatening anyone who identifies the archipelago as part of its claim to the volcanic outcrops, which are 1,300 miles away from the country. According to a recent center-right think tank Policy Exchange study, the UK should keep some £3.3 million in aid earmarked for Mauritius in the 2023/24 financial year. Sir Robert Buckland, the former attorney general, said the law was a "brazen act of coercion disguised as foreign policy" and likened it to tightening Chinese regulations in Hong Kong.

Boris Johnson, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, confirmed that the talks to hand the archipelago to Mauritius, a China ally, were 'a done deal'. Diego Garcia, a highly coveted Anglo-American military base that has been described as 'the unsinkable aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean,' has been among the islands.' Diplomats insisted that whatever the result of the talks between the UK and Mauritius, the base would continue to be run by Britain and America.

The former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom confirmed that it was "a done deal" to abandon the militarily vital group of islands in the Indian Ocean. According to Diego Garcia, which hosts a highly sensitive Anglo-American military base, the archipelago will be handed over to Mauritius as part of a sovereign transfer of authority over the British Indian Ocean Territory. Mauritius is a close ally of China. Due to the concentration of Western military hardware on Diego Garcia, first claimed by the UK in 1814 and referred to as 'the unsinkable aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean,' the scheme has sparked'serious reservations' in the White House.

The British foreign minister told his US counterpart on Wednesday that if an agreement to transfer an Indian Ocean island chain to Mauritius would guarantee that American military operations could continue apatically at the base on Diego Garcia in a'unfettered' manner. The transfer of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius is being handled by London, allowing the return of islanders who were exiled decades ago as part of a pact to establish the military base. Although the plant will remain under any agreement, Republicans have warned that there is no way to prevent China from establishing surveillance programs on a neighboring island.

According to The Wall Street Journal, China and Cuba have signed a clandestine deal to establish the base, quoting authorities "with highly classified intelligence." According to the paper, Beijing had promised to pay cash-strapped Cuba several billions of dollars to allow it to expand the plant, and that, at this time, an agreement had been reached 'in principle.' Such a facility would enable China to control the south of the United States, home to several military bases, as well as ship traffic in the area. Washington faces a new geopolitical challenge as it battles with China's increasing global prominence.

MARK ALMOND: Mauritius is a holiday paradise for eco-tourists and honeymooners far removed from the slings of world politics and global crises. However, this balmy island in the Indian Ocean is now the unlikely epicenter of a tense power war between America and China. The remote Chagos Archipelago is at the center of this conflict. Except for the island of Diego Garcia, which hosts a major Anglo-American military base, it's uninhabited.

Diplomatic tensions with Washington were escalating last night, when Britain was expected to relinquish a UK-owned territory to a close ally of China, despite the island's vital Anglo-American military base. Diego Garcia, which was first established by the United Kingdom in 1814, is likely to be given to Mauritius as part of a sovereign transfer of control over the British Indian Ocean Territory, which includes 60 islands in the Chagos Archipelago. The White House has voiced'serious doubts' about the plans due to the concentration of military hardware at the Naval Support Facility on the island, which has been described as the "unsinkable aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean," according to the Mail on Sunday.

In the warnings that efforts by the United Kingdom to return a string of islands to Mauritius could jeopardize the stability of the country's vital military base on Diego Garcia, the Pentagon has expressed worry about rising Chinese influence in Mauritius. Rep. Mike Waltz, the Republican chairman of the House military readiness subcommittee, wrote to the Department of Defense in December, asking that no agreement would allow China to encroach on the US base. It could have a'catastrophic' effect on US military reach,' he said at the time. The Pentagon voiced its doubts over China's growing prominence in its response. When it negotiated the handover of the Chagos Islands, it said it was working to ensure London understood its position.

Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 and the 239 people on board took off into Kuala Lumpur's night on March 8, 2014, never to be seen or heard from again. One of the world's biggest aviation disasters in the nine years has been a source of considerable confusion, with no probe resulting in a clear answer to the mystery of our age. despite the extensive searches, no one has been able to answer the question definitively: What happened to flight MH370? Many theories have arisen in the absence of responses, as has fear in China (the bulk of passengers were of Chinese origins) and Malaysia. A mass hypoxia event, a potential hijacking, a murder-suicide scheme, and even allegations that the US air force was responsible are among these theories. MailOnline takes a look at some of the theories behind Malaysia Airlines Flight 370's disaster, ranging from the practical to the exotic.

According to a senior Republican, efforts by the United Kingdom to negotiate the handover of an Indian Ocean island chain to Mauritius could have'catastrophic' consequences for American military power across a swath of the globe, from East Africa to the continent of Asia. Rep. Mike Waltz wrote to the Pentagon and the State Department on Monday, demanding that no agreement will be reached that would not allow China to encroach on the critical US base at Diego Garcia. According to DailyMail.com, "we need two concrete guarantees," the most senior Republican on the House subcommittee on military readiness needs. We're not going to see the Chinese Communist Party move in and militarize an island in the Chagos,' according to one.

On Wednesday, British Members of Parliament demanded answers from foreign ministers as to how they would shield the joint UK-US military base on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean if the government signs an agreement with Mauritius to hand over the surrounding Chagos Islands. DailyMail.com expressed doubts last week that any agreement would encourage China to move in and lease uninhabited islands close to the base. Diego Garcia's strategic location, between Africa and Asia, has been used as a critical base for operations in Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, among others.

The Chagos Islands may be little more than specks in the middle of the Indian Ocean, but they are at the center of a looming diplomatic controversy over a key American military base and the increase of Chinese control. Both legislators on both sides of the Atlantic have feared that the British government's decision to start talks over the islands to Mauritius may have caused China to have its own military base on the island - right under the nose of American forces at Diego Garcia. From where US B1 and B52 bombers can reach maritime choke points, vital sea lanes, and even potential Chinese bases anywhere from Djibouti to Pakistan, the question is one of the most significant strategic locations in the Indian Ocean.