12/04/2026

theSun on Sunday APR 12, 2026

WORLD 7

UK pauses Chagos handover to Mauritius LONDON: Britain’s government said yesterday it had put on hold its deal to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Islands – home to the US-British Diego Garcia air base – which has been criticised by President Donald Trump. The Times newspaper said planned legislation underpinning the deal to cede the islands to Mauritius, which needs the backing of Washington, would not be included in the government’s next parliamentary agenda. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s office said London would try to persuade Washington to give its formal approval. Trump said in February that the deal was a “big mistake”, having previously said it was the best that Starmer would get. Under the deal, Britain would retain control of the strategically important military base on Diego Garcia on a 99-year lease that preserves US operations there. A British government spokesperson said ensuring the long-term operational security of Diego Garcia would remain a priority. “We continue to believe the agreement is the best way to protect the long-term future of the base but we have always said we would only proceed with the deal if it has US support. We are continuing to engage with the US and Mauritius,” the spokesperson said. The alliance between Washington and London has come under strain in recent weeks over Starmer’s reluctance to get involved in the war on Iran and his refusal at the start of the conflict to allow Trump to use British air bases to launch attacks. US forces have since been permitted to carry out what the prime minister calls defensive strikes. Trump has also repeatedly criticised the British leader, saying he was “not Winston Churchill” and had ruined what is often called a “special relationship”. – Reuters Man fined, detained for harassing top diver BEIJING: Police in southern China fined and detained a 31-year-old man accused of repeatedly insulting an athlete online, identified by state media as triple Olympic diving champion Quan Hongchan. Quan recently revealed in a tearful interview that she had considered retiring after intense scrutiny over her weight. The 19-year-old, who won gold at Tokyo Games in 2021 when she was just 14 before winning two more golds in Paris in 2024, has become a popular athlete. Police in the Yuexiu district of Guangzhou city said that a 31-year-old man had “made insulting remarks about an athlete from Ersha Sport Training Centre” on WeChat. Police had detained Xu for 10 days and fined him. Police did not identify Quan but media reported the case relates to the diver who swims at the Ersha Sport Training Centre. Chinese authorities have been grappling with what media has called “toxic fandom”. It includes fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives and cyberbullying opponents, often via online groups. Quan told Renwu magazine that her period had started after the Paris Games, which she said caused her to gain weight even when only “eating a little”. “After the Olympics I thought about retiring,” she said. Quan said that she had been asked repeatedly about her weight. “During that time, not just within the team but also in public opinion outside, I saw people every day saying I was fat.” – AFP

Perfect lunar flyby SAN DIEGO: An elated Nasa late on Friday was celebrating its successful voyage around the Moon, after four astronauts safely returned to Earth having completed the first in more than 50 years. Astronauts being extracted from their spacecraft off the coast of San Diego on Friday. – AFPPIC/NASA HANDOUT Artemis II astronauts return to Earth

The spacecraft carrying four astronauts – three Americans and one Canadian – splashed down without a hitch off the California coast, capping the US space agency’s crewed test mission that returned with spectacular images of the Moon. “What a journey,” said mission commander Reid Wiseman, who reported that the crewmembers – himself along with Christina Koch, Victor Glover and Jeremy Hansen – were “stable” and “green”. “They’re in great condition, that’s what that means,” said Rob Navias, Nasa public affairs official. Following an expected but nerve wracking communications blackout during their high-stakes re-entry, Wiseman’s voice triggered relief that the astronauts were well on their way back home. “We have you loud and clear,” he said following a voice check from mission control in Houston. Nasa personnel and the US military helped extract the astronauts from the bobbing capsule. By late Friday, helicopters had lifted the astronauts to a recovery ship off the Pacific coast near San Diego, where they all proved capable of walking unassisted. Nasa administrator Jared Isaacman called the voyage “a perfect mission”.

Glover (left) and Koch on the flight deck of USS John P. Murtha . – AFPPIC/NASA HANDOUT “We’re back in the business of sending astronauts to the Moon,” he said, and “this is just the beginning.” As the astronauts returned to Earth their spacecraft reached maximum speeds more than 30 times the speed of sound, and faced searing temperatures around half as hot as the surface of the Sun. this spacecraft home, you probably didn’t have a pulse,” said flight director Rick Henfling. But the Artemis II re-entry was smooth sailing. The Orion capsule will now be painstakingly examined to assess how it fared.

US President Donald Trump praised the astronauts for their “spectacular” trip and said he “could not be more proud”, while wasting no time in looking ahead to the eventual goal of sending missions even further into space. “Next step, Mars!” he wrote on social media. – AFP

It was a key test of their heat shield, which in an earlier trial uncrewed mission had faced complications that they attempted to mitigate this time around by shifting the return trajectory. “If you didn’t have anxiety bringing

Indonesia reaffirms human rights for all JAKARTA: Indonesia, as president of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), has reaffirmed its commitment to promoting an inclusive, non-selective approach to advancing human rights, while rejecting politicisation and double standards. politicisation of human rights and approaches that are selective and unbalanced, including those that reflect double standards,” he said yesterday. Vahd Nabyl said such double standards are often seen in country specific resolutions, which may

He said Indonesia aims to serve as a bridge in strengthening rights cooperation through dialogue and engagement, both in its capacity as UNHRC president and its foreign policy. He said the country would continue to expand bilateral and regional rights dialogues. “Indonesia is also active in initiating and promoting Asean human rights dialogue through the Asean Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights,” he said. – Bernama

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Vahd Nabyl A. Mulachela said the country would continue to advocate constructive measures and oppose practices that apply selective or uneven standards in addressing rights issues. “Indonesia consistently rejects the

undermine the credibility of rights efforts. Instead, he said, Indonesia promotes dialogue grounded in mutual respect, while supporting each country’s efforts to strengthen human rights in accordance with their respective contexts.