Argentina has given Britain a two-week deadline to stop any oil drilling off the coast of the Falkland Islands or risk a legal battle under "international law". In his latest furious intervention, President Javier Milei said he had told Government lawyers to start proceedings under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. ### His threat centres on the Sea Lion project in the North Falkland basin, run by Israeli firm Navitas Petroleum with the UK's Rockhopper Exploration as a minority partner. He claimed the oil venture was "illegitimate", accused Britain of "plundering our resources", and once again said the so-called "Malvinas" were Argentine land. ### TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say Mr Milei appeared to have stopped short of mentioning that the islands were first landed on by English explorers around 120 years before Argentina existed as an independent state. "THE MALVINAS ARE ARGENTINE and they are defended with facts, not words," he raged. Argentine Foreign Minister Pablo Quirno confirmed Britain had been formally notified of the start of an arbitration process. "Whoever explores or exploits our natural resources in the Malvinas without Argentine authorisation must face the consequences," he said. "We act in accordance with international law and by peaceful means." ### ### According to The Times, Mr Milei's Government has been emboldened by the controversial ruling over the Chagos Islands in 2021. International bureaucrats ruled that Britain was not legally the "coastal state" in the area, and had only limited authority over the islands. That ruling was behind successive Tory and Labour attempts to come to an agreement with Mauritius over them. Last May, Sir Keir Starmer finally announced to the world that Britain had reached a deal - which was swiftly panned by critics as a "surrender". Under it, British taxpayers would have to pay Mauritius so the UK could lease back the joint US-UK military base on the islands - from Mauritius. ### READ MORE ON THE FALKLAND ISLANDS: * Benjamin Netanyahu rages at 'colonial' Britain amid Israel's Falkland Islands threats * Donald Trump 'will NOT back Argentina over Falkland Islands' despite President's threat * 'Unacceptable!' Britain hits back at Argentina after President threatens Falklands takeover at UN ### ### Fury then erupted over why Britain wouldn't simply keep the islands British at no cost to the taxpayer. Donald Trump then shot down the idea entirely - and now, ministers are thought to consider it dead. Writing for GB News last week, former Home Secretary Dame Priti Patel warned that Argentina would be keenly watching Labour's "surrender". "The Argentinians are pushing their claims more forcefully than they have for some time because of the weakness of this Labour Government," she wrote. The UK-Israeli oil drilling venture is expected to start early next year pending the Foreign Secretary's sign-off. ### ### Argentina believes any prospecting or extraction of oil in the area without its consent is unlawful. The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea can issue "legally binding" emergency orders over any such venture. As with a lot of international law, the tribunal cannot force Britain to comply - though Labour has made adhering to it a central pillar of its foreign policy. Mr Milei branded the UN a "useless" organisation last week and accused it of looking the other way while the UK introduced "unilateral changes" over the Falklands. Due to its apparent uselessness, he threatened that Argentina would take matters into its own hands. GB News has approached the Foreign Office for comment, though Britain's UN ambassador said in a statement last week: "Argentina regularly refers to United Nations resolutions, and regional diplomatic statements, calling for sovereignty negotiations over the Falkland Islands. "However, these do not modify or dilute the obligation of nations to respect the legally binding right of self-determination." It added: "Argentina continues to deny that this fundamental human right applies to the people of the Falkland Islands, and actively seeks opportunities in international fora to assert its sovereignty claim. "This behaviour is wholly incompatible with the principles established in the United Nations Charter and is not the behaviour we expect of a democracy." ### **Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**

From a difficult economic landscape to decisions on oil and gas drilling, welfare spending and the Chagos Islands, we look at what’s on the horizon

US president calls UK prime minister ‘a natural businessperson’ as leaders meet at UN assembly in New York

Machtpoker im Indischen Ozean: Warum wieder um die Chagos-Inseln gerungen wird

Afropages recense l’actualité africaine. Nous proposons une sélection de liens vers des sources d’informations rédigées par nos partenaires de référence.

An opinion column published on Sunday in the British newspaper The Telegraph argues that the decision to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius served as a signal of weakness that e...

Machtpoker im Indischen Ozean: Warum wieder um die Chagos-Inseln gerungen wird

British officials say their 99-year base lease cannot proceed without US backing – reopening negotiations with Mauritius on the sovereignty deal

British officials say their 99-year base lease cannot proceed without US backing – reopening negotiations with Mauritius on the sovereignty deal

The proposal to cede sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius and pay for the privilege appeals to no voters and has lost the support of Donald Trump. Andy Burnham should pull the plug, says Eliot Wilson It became clear early in Sir Keir Starmer’s brief premiership that here was a leader of unusual political [...]

'Why Andy is foolishly sticking to Keir Starmer's ridiculous Chagos deal is beyond me'

An opinion column published on Sunday in the British newspaper The Telegraph argues that the decision to transfer sovereignty over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius served as a signal of weakness that encouraged claims over other British overseas territories, among them the Falklands. The piece, by journalist Daniel Johnson, is an argument of opinion rather than a report of new facts.

The jury is out over whether Andy Burnham’s first in-person encounter with Donald Trump was a success. The president described him in very positive terms, but rubbished the Chagos deal, which the PM h...

By Daniel Hannan (*) As the Chagos humiliation shows, the Foreign Office’s slavish adoration of international courts has got us nowhere. What has all our imagined soft power brought us? For all our performative internationalism, we find ourselves friendless.

Afropages recense l’actualité africaine. Nous proposons une sélection de liens vers des sources d’informations rédigées par nos partenaires de référence.

Afropages recense l’actualité africaine. Nous proposons une sélection de liens vers des sources d’informations rédigées par nos partenaires de référence.

Afropages recense l’actualité africaine. Nous proposons une sélection de liens vers des sources d’informations rédigées par nos partenaires de référence.

Donald Trump has told Andy Burnham the Chagos Islands deal is 'terrible' in the latest withering assessment of the giveaway from the US

GB News host Camilla Tominey has grilled Labour's Stephen Kinnock in a fiery clash over the Government's Chagos surrender deal. Following the latest criticisms by US President Donald Trump about the UK's surrender of the territory, the Secretary of State for Wales was quizzed on why Prime Minister Andy Burnham is yet to bin the deal. ### Meeting for the first time at the UN General Assembly in New York, the Prime Minister appeared visibly uncomfortable as Mr Trump branded the Chagos deal "terrible". He said: "It's a terrible deal, I don't support it. Most of them say they have ownership. Somebody has ownership that never showed up before after decades and centuries. I think it's ridiculous." ### TRENDING Stories Videos Your Say ### Discussing Mr Trump's remarks, Mr Kinnock argued that the US President was once "in support" of the deal, but then "changed his mind". He told GB News: "On Chagos, we've made it clear that we need to go ahead with the support of the United States. "We had the support of the United States at first, then President Trump changed his mind, and now we have to kind of adapt." Interjecting Mr Kinnock, Camilla then asked: "If you don't have the US President's support, let's be honest, he did say in front of Andy Burnham in New York earlier this week the deal is terrible and ridiculous. ### ### ### "The deal needs to be junked - what's the delay?" Mr Kinnock responded: "Well, trade offs, because that is an incredibly important military base. We've got to be able to bring the United States with us. "The President of the United States initially supported the deal that was done under the previous administration, under Keir Starmer's premiership, and his position, the President's position, has now changed." Challening the Labour minister further, Camilla argued that if the deal was dropped, the UK would have "control of the base" with their "ally" the US being able to use it. ### LATEST DEVELOPMENTS * Shabana Mahmood accused of having 'no control' of UK borders after undetected small boat crossings * Andy Burnham vows to tackle 'devastating' social care crisis after decades of political failure * Steve Reed handed GB News grilling on Labour's welfare cuts as PIP bill predicted to soar ### ### ### Camilla pressed Mr Kinnock: "But if you ditch the deal, you have control of the base. You're going to allow America as an ally to use Diego Garcia, that gets preserved, nothing changes. "And by the way, you're not going to be paying £36billion to the Americans to give away our sovereign territory. Anyone objectively looking at this deal thinks it's a dud - why can't Andy Burnham see that right now rather than delaying the decision?" Mr Kinnock told GB News: "Well, what he's made clear is following his discussions with President Trump, we are having to review it. We're having to look at it. "We're being very straight with people about that. We need to ensure that we go forward with the United States on that deal on growth." ### ### ### Discussing the work in his devolved nation of Wales, Mr Kinnock assured that millions is being invested in creating jobs and strengthening several industries. He said: "I'm the Secretary of State for Wales, £2.5billion of investment going into a small modular reactors program, thousands of jobs in North Wales. "There's £14billion going into the Welsh rail industry, £500million into the electric arc furnace and the Port Talbot steelworks. "I could go on. That is about industrialisation, rebuilding our manufacturing base, bringing good jobs back to every Welsh postcode, and that is the Prime Minister's number one priority." ### **Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**