NZ, Australian Foreign Ministers Express ‘Serious Concern’ Over New Caledonia Violence, Deaths

New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters says he is “gravely concerned about the situation in New Caledonia,” as violence, spurred on by a socialist-led independence movement, exploded this week. The French government has indicated it will deploy troops to quell deadly rioting in New Caledonia’s capital, Noumea, triggered by the issuing of voting rights to immigrant French nationals that has stirred a pro-independence fervour amongst the Indigenous population. The decision grants French residents, who have lived in the territory for 10 years, voting rights. The French Parliament approved the move 351-153 earlier in the week, raising tensions within factions of the local Kanak people, who are pro-independence....