Two Killed in New Caledonia Police Operation

Two men were killed in a police operation in New Caledonia amid ongoing unrest triggered by proposed voting reforms from Paris. The violence, which began in May, stems from fears among the Indigenous Kanak people that the reforms would further marginalize them and weaken their chances for independence. The death toll from the unrest has now reached 13. French President Emmanuel Macron suspended the controversial reforms in June, but violence has persisted. Thousands of troops and police have been deployed to the territory, and a curfew has been imposed to curb the unrest. The Kanak people have long sought to break free from French rule, with recent violence marking the worst since the near-civil war of the 1980s.