Australia, New Zealand send planes to evacuate nationals from New Caledonia
Time:2024-05-21 20:32:22 Source:opinionsViews(143)
NEWCASTLE, Australia (AP) — Australia and New Zealand sent airplanes to New Caledonia on Tuesday to begin bringing home stranded citizens from the violence-wracked French South Pacific territory.
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Australia had received clearance from French authorities for two flights to evacuate citizens from the archipelago, where indigenous people have long sought independence from France.
Hours later, a Royal Australian Air Force C-130 Hercules touched down in Noumea, the capital. The plane can carry 124 passengers, according to the Defense Department.
“We continue to work on further flights,” Wong wrote on the social media platform X on Tuesday.
The Department of Foreign Affairs said 300 Australians were in New Caledonia. It did not immediately confirm whether the Australian-organized flights would also evacuate other stranded foreign nationals, believed to number in the thousands.
Previous:A warrant for Netanyahu’s arrest was requested. But no decision was made about whether to issue it
Next:Sienna Miller's lookalike daughter Marlowe, 11, makes her first ever red carpet appearance
You may also like
- Uber and Lyft say they'll stay in Minnesota after Legislature passes driver pay compromise
- Millie Bobby Brown, 20, goes make
- Rivalries on tap with Barcelona
- Travis Kelce's favorite songs on Taylor Swift's new album REVEALED
- Ravens sign WR Qadir Ismail, the son of former NFL receiver Qadry Ismail
- Ilhan Omar's activist daughter Isra Hirsi is suspended from Barnard College over anti
- Laborers and street vendors in Mali find no respite as deadly heat wave surges through West Africa
- Biden’s new Title IX rules protect LGBTQ+ students, but transgender sports rule still on hold
- Verona confirms Serie A status for another year after beating Salernitana