Security forces teargased stone-throwing mobs in the French Polynesian capital on Monday as they forced out hundreds of demonstrators who occupied key government buildings overnight.
The forces moved in after protesters demanding lower living costs seized the presidential palace, assembly building and economic and social headquarters in a dramatic move late on Sunday.
Nobody was injured in the clashes but the confrontation sparked panic in Papeete, capital of the French Pacific territory, as the noise of exploding canisters and stench of teargas filled the streets.
The chaotic scenes followed a two-week blockade of main roads around the capital by the "Collective" -- a group of mainly hardliners from the pro-independence Aia Api party, members of a disbanded security force and disgruntled unionists.
Protesters hurled stones and other projectiles at security forces as they were forced out of the government buildings.
French Polynesian President Oscar Temaru, who huddled with key advisers accompanying him at the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji as the scenes unfolded, hailed the security forces' action.
"It's the state that's responsible for order in Polynesia, and it was the state that ended the disorder," he said.
The protesters had demanded Temaru's immediate return from Fiji for face-to-face talks over measures to rein in the high cost of living and gasoline prices.
Members of the Intervention Group of Polynesia (GIP) were also demanding compensation after the force was disbanded in January.
Police initially held off intervening in the occupation, which started when protesters drove lorries into the palace grounds late on Sunday. A spokesman for the French Polynesian government called the action an "insurrection."
But on Monday morning, Vice President Jacqui Drollet signed a letter for High Commissioner Anne Boquet to ask her permission to send in security forces.
The French state, which is responsible for security in French Polynesia, has tolerated the protesters' illegal road blocks despite their damaging effect on Papeete.
Temaru, who dissolved the 1,000-strong GIP in January, has previously described the striking workers as "terrorists" who are trying destabilize his government.
The GIP was set up by former president Gaston Flosse with a mandate to provide assistance to populations stricken by natural disasters in the region.
France annexed the South Pacific archipelago of 263,000 people in the late 19th century. A groundswell of support for independence was fueled by France's controversial nuclear tests at Mururoa Atoll in the mid-1990s.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of
IN PURSUIT: Israel’s defense minister said the revenge attacks by Israeli settlers would make it difficult for security forces to find those responsible for the 14-year-old’s death Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday condemned the “heinous murder” of an Israeli teenager in the occupied West Bank as attacks on Palestinian villages intensified following news of his death. After Benjamin Achimeir, 14, was reported missing near Ramallah on Friday, hundreds of Jewish settlers backed by Israeli forces raided nearby Palestinian villages, torching vehicles and homes, leaving at least one villager dead and dozens wounded. The attacks escalated in several villages on Saturday after Achimeir’s body was found near the Malachi Hashalom outpost. Agence France-Presse correspondents saw smoke rising from burned houses and fields. Mayor Amin Abu Alyah, of the