New Caledonia police detain independence leader and 7 others in wake of revolt against French rule

Police in the restive French Pacific territory of New Caledonia have rounded up eight people, including an independence leader. They have been detained on suspicion of having a role in deadly violence that wracked the archipelago where Indigenous Kanak people have long sought to break free from France. New Caledonia’s prosecutor said Wednesday that those taken into custody in the early morning include Christian Tein, a leader of a pro-independence group that French officials alleged played a leading role in violence that erupted in May over contested voting reforms for New Caledonia. The prosecutor did not identify the seven other people detained.