2 killed in restive New Caledonia during a French police operation

PARIS (AP) — French media reports say two people have been killed in New Caledonia during a police intervention to apprehend activists, suspected of involvement in deadly unrest over attempts by Paris to amend the French constitution and change voting lists in the French Pacific territory. Local authorities confirmed police intervention near the capital, Nouméa, and the two deaths on Thursday. Last week, French authorities in New Caledonia announced an extended curfew, banning gatherings and travel across the archipelago from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. for fear of protests by the Indigenous Kanak people around next week’s anniversary of the French takeover. Thirteen people, mostly Kanaks, died in the violence in May, including two police officers.