France’s Macron to make unexpected visit to violence-hit New Caledonia [Video]

• French President Emmanuel Macron is making a surprise trip to New Caledonia, signaling confidence that security measures are controlling the unrest.
• Government spokesperson Prisca Thevenot announced the trip, which required a change in Macron’s schedule.
• Macron will travel to New Caledonia instead of Normandy, following a week of deadly violence that resulted in six deaths.

French President Emmanuel Macron is making a surprise trip to riot-hit New Caledonia, signaling French authorities’ growing confidence that reinforced security and emergency measures are bringing deadly unrest on the French Pacific territory under control.

Government spokesperson Prisca Thevenot announced the trip, which required a shake-up of Macron’s schedule. “He will go there tonight,” she said after a Cabinet meeting on Tuesday where the president announced that he had decided to travel there himself.

Macron had previously been scheduled in Normandy, northern France, on Wednesday. Instead, he will be flying to the archipelago 10 time zones away from Paris, east of Australia, that has been gripped by …