A British court blocked the U.K. from transferring sovereignty over the Chagos Islands, to Mauritius, hours before the agreement was due to be signed on Thursday.
The U.K. has agreed to hand Mauritius the Indian Ocean archipelago, which is home to a strategically important naval and bomber base on the largest of the islands, Diego Garcia. The U.K. would then lease back the base for at least 99 years.
