Borneo tribe loses land case in top Malaysia court

Members of an indigenous tribe in Borneo have lost a case in Malaysia's top court challenging the state's seizure of land to build a massive dam, according to AP. The verdict caps a long legal struggle by a group of villagers who claim authorities in Malaysia's eastern Sarawak state in 2000 unlawfully wrested land occupied by their ancestors for generations. Land rights are a key concern for Malaysia's indigenous people, many of whom say they have been pushed from their homes without compensation by state governments to make way for development. The Federal Court ruled Thursday that the Sarawak administration had not violated the constitutional rights of tribal villagers by taking over land to construct a dam roughly the size of Singapore.