PARIS (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron is making a surprise trip to riot-hit New Caledonia, the French Pacific territory that has been gripped by days of deadly unrest and where indigenous people have long sought independence.
“He will go there tonight,” government spokesperson Prisca Thevenot said after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday where the president said he’d decided to make the more than 33,000-kilometer (20,000-mile) round trip himself to the archipelago east of Australia.
Six people have been killed, including two gendarmes, and hundreds of others injured in New Caledonia amid armed clashes, looting and arson, raising new questions about Macron’s handling of France’s colonial legacy.
There have been decades of tensions between indigenous Kanaks who seek independence for the archipelago of 270,000 people, and descendants of colonizers and colonists who want to remain part of France.
Flight attendant reveals why plane passengers should NEVER fall asleep before take off
China's Tianjin port welcomes three int'l cruise ships within a week
Hamas chief reaffirms commitment to ceasefire demands
Chinese researchers develop immunotherapeutic agent for colon cancer
Strictly star Nadiya Bychkova reveals she doesn't know if she's on the show's 2024 line
Women's water polo preliminary at World Aquatics Championships 2023: China vs. Australia
Palestinian death toll in Gaza rises to 33,482: Ministry
China urges US to immediately stop meddling in Hong Kong affairs
JoJo Siwa goes wild: Karma singer accused of getting drunk at Disney World after turning 21
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh's 3 sons killed in Israeli raid