One thousand police arrived in New Caledonia from France and streets were relatively calm, the French High Commission said yesterday, but roads were blocked and the airport remained shut, stranding tourists on the Pacific island after a week of riots.
The activist group organizing the protests in the French-ruled territory, Field Action Co-ordination Cell (CCAT), said in a statement that blockades would continue, urging protesters to remain peaceful.
Road blocks were making it difficult to supply food to stores in several areas and provide secure travel for medical staff, New Caledonia government officials said.
Photo: AFP
“It’s important to point out that the problem is not so much a lack of staff, medical and food supplies, but more importantly an access problem,” a government statement said.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said “the situation there is deeply concerning,” after a night when there was fire and looting.
French High Commissioner of the Republic in New Caledonia Louis le Franc on Sunday evening said that a police operation to regain control of the road from the capital, Noumea, to the international airport would take several days.
Gendarmes had dismantled 76 road blocks, the French High Commission said yesterday.
Australian Minister for Defence Richard Marles said officials were speaking to their French counterparts about “how they are progressing in terms of managing law and order within Noumea, and if there is any need for any kind of airlift from Australia.”
Albanese earlier told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio that Australia had been seeking approval from French authorities for two days to send an evacuation flight to New Caledonia to pick up tourists stranded in hotels.
There are about 3,200 people stuck waiting to leave or enter New Caledonia as commercial flights have been canceled due to the unrest that broke out last week, the local government said.
Protests erupted last week sparked by anger among indigenous Kanak people over a constitutional amendment approved in France that would change who is allowed to participate in elections, which local leaders fear would dilute the Kanak vote.
‘GREAT OPPRTUNITY’: The Paraguayan president made the remarks following Donald Trump’s tapping of several figures with deep Latin America expertise for his Cabinet Paraguay President Santiago Pena called US president-elect Donald Trump’s incoming foreign policy team a “dream come true” as his nation stands to become more relevant in the next US administration. “It’s a great opportunity for us to advance very, very fast in the bilateral agenda on trade, security, rule of law and make Paraguay a much closer ally” to the US, Pena said in an interview in Washington ahead of Trump’s inauguration today. “One of the biggest challenges for Paraguay was that image of an island surrounded by land, a country that was isolated and not many people know about it,”
DIALOGUE: US president-elect Donald Trump on his Truth Social platform confirmed that he had spoken with Xi, saying ‘the call was a very good one’ for the US and China US president-elect Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) discussed Taiwan, trade, fentanyl and TikTok in a phone call on Friday, just days before Trump heads back to the White House with vows to impose tariffs and other measures on the US’ biggest rival. Despite that, Xi congratulated Trump on his second term and pushed for improved ties, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. The call came the same day that the US Supreme Court backed a law banning TikTok unless it is sold by its China-based parent company. “We both attach great importance to interaction, hope for
‘FIGHT TO THE END’: Attacking a court is ‘unprecedented’ in South Korea and those involved would likely face jail time, a South Korean political pundit said Supporters of impeached South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday stormed a Seoul court after a judge extended the impeached leader’s detention over his ill-fated attempt to impose martial law. Tens of thousands of people had gathered outside the Seoul Western District Court on Saturday in a show of support for Yoon, who became South Korea’s first sitting head of state to be arrested in a dawn raid last week. After the court extended his detention on Saturday, the president’s supporters smashed windows and doors as they rushed inside the building. Hundreds of police officers charged into the court, arresting dozens and denouncing an
RELEASE: The move follows Washington’s removal of Havana from its list of terrorism sponsors. Most of the inmates were arrested for taking part in anti-government protests Cuba has freed 127 prisoners, including opposition leader Jose Daniel Ferrer, in a landmark deal with departing US President Joe Biden that has led to emotional reunions across the communist island. Ferrer, 54, is the most high-profile of the prisoners that Cuba began freeing on Wednesday after Biden agreed to remove the country from Washington’s list of terrorism sponsors — part of an eleventh-hour bid to cement his legacy before handing power on Monday to US president-elect Donald Trump. “Thank God we have him home,” Nelva Ortega said of her husband, Ferrer, who has been in and out of prison for the
RSS