Jonathan Head

The migrant workers from Nepal and Bangladesh have described being threatened and beaten in the Malaysian factory where they made components for Dyson, having their passports withheld and being forced to work long hours in unsanitary conditions amounting, they said, to modern-day slavery.

When they filed their compensation case in 2022, Dyson stated that it had been unaware of the alleged abuses and that their Malaysian employer should be held responsible.

Dyson also argued that the case should be heard in Malaysia, not Britain.

However, the Supreme Court agreed that the trial could take place in an English court, establishing a precedent that British companies can be held to account in the UK for actions taken by suppliers in another country.

Under the terms of the settlement, the details of any compensation to the workers are not being disclosed and the lawyers representing them have echoed Dyson's statement that this deal is not an admission of liability on its part.

Labour activists have for many years drawn attention to the problem of abuses of the large migrant worker population in Malaysia.

Jonathan Head, BBC News, Bangkok.

One line of thought from experts is what kind of opportunities does this present for a country like India?

Even when they finished three rounds of voting spanning over a month, we expect only about half of the country to have taken part.

I mean, the polling station I've been to here in Mandalay, they're using new electronic voting machines.

It was very smooth.

Everyone knew what to do.

But Mandalay is a stronghold of support for Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy.

And of course, she's in jail and has been since the first day of the coup.

And her party's been dissolved.

So

I don't think people in this city would feel like they've got much of a choice.

Everybody knows that the military's own party, which remember only won 6% of seats in the last free election five years ago, they know it's going to win.

It's guaranteed to win this time.

Unlike the last ceasefire in July, President Trump was conspicuously absent from this one, although the US State Department has also been involved.