Spanish fire crews picked through the wreckage of a beachfront restaurant on the holiday island of Mallorca on Friday, searching for clues after it partially collapsed, killing four people and injuring 16.

Authorities, who declared three days of mourning, gave no immediate indication as to the cause but said the excessive weight of the building was most likely to blame.

The packed two-storey building collapsed late on Thursday afternoon in the Playa de Palma area south of the capital with the tourist season already in full swing in the Balearic Islands, which also includes Ibiza and Menorca.

The fatal victims are two German women, aged 20 and 30, a 44-year-old Senegalese man and a 23-year-old Spanish woman who worked at the venue, a police spokesman said.

Palma deputy mayor Javi Bonet said the two Germans were on holiday while local media said the Senegalese man had lived for years on the island.

Sixteen people were injured, an emergency services spokeswoman said,

Seven people were injured “very seriously” and nine were “seriously” injured, emergency services said on the X social media platform. They were taken to various hospitals in the Mediterranean island’s capital, Palma de Mallorca.

Firefighters were deployed in number, ambulances rushed victims to hospital and the street was sealed off by police to allow rescue teams to work, an AFP journalist saw.

One firefighter described a “nightmarish” scene.

He told the Ultima Hora newspaper that when he arrived, people were crying and screaming around the rubble piled up on the ground floor.

Rescuers pleaded for silence so they could listen out for people who could be trapped under the rubble.

The building housing the Medusa Beach Club is made up of a restaurant and bar with a rooftop terrace and a basement located in a busy tourist area.

The head of the Palma fire service, Eder Garcia, said the street-level floor of the building had collapsed onto a bar in the basement, which is “where we found the most victims”.

“The causes are being investigated. The first hypothesis is that it was possibly due to excessive weight,” he told reporters at the scene.

Most of the victims are foreigners, Garcia said.

A technical team was due to visit the site on Friday to determine the cause of the collapse of the building, which sits on Calle de Cartago facing the Bay of Palma.

‘Terrible collapse’

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez conveyed his condolences to the victims’ families on X, saying he was “closely following the consequences of the terrible collapse”.

The central government was prepared to send “all the necessary resources” to help the regional authorities cope, he added.

Sanchez said he had spoken to the governor of the Balearic Islands region, where Mallorca is located, and to the city’s mayor.

Balearic Islands president Marga Prohens said on X that she was “shocked” by the news, adding she was sending “love and warmth to the families of the four people who have lost their lives”.

Mallorca is known for its pristine waters and beaches, and the Balearic Islands attract more tourists than all Spanish regions after Catalonia.

More than 14 million tourists visited the islands last year, according to official figures.

Thursday’s collapse took place at the start of the archipelago’s peak tourist season, on a beachfront avenue home to several shops and entertainment venues.

The 2009 collapse of a three-story building in Palma de Mallorca killed seven people, including three Colombians and two Germans.

A resident of the Kubwa area in the Bwari Local Council in Abuja identified as Onyebuchi Anele was reportedly shot in the face with a tear gas canister by a police officer.

The incident occurred on Wednesday, May 22.

An eyewitness recounted to Leadership Newspaper that the deceased was on his way home from work when the incident occurred.

The eyewitness said the deceased “hit an okada man and his passenger and after stopping and making sure the accident victims were okay, decided to head home in the Haj Estate when policemen arrived the scene.”

The eyewitness elaborated that trouble ensued when the policemen, upon arriving at the scene, insisted that the deceased accompany them to their station, despite the departure of the okada man and his passenger.

This disagreement escalated into a quarrel, culminating in the policeman firing the tear gas canister directly into the deceased’s face at close range.

Widely circulated pictures and videos showed Anele bleeding from his face with a metallic object embedded in it.

However, the Police Public Relations Officer in the FCT, SP Josephine Adeh, in a statement on Friday said the deceased was shot dead through “accidental discharge.”

Adeh confirmed that the tragic incident happened in the Byazhin community in Kubwa, Abuja on Wednesday at about 9:45 pm.

She stated that the Commissioner of Police for the FCT, Benneth Igweh, has ordered an investigation into the incident.

Anele was reportedly taken to the Kubwa General Hospital and later referred to the National Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries around 8 am on Thursday.

The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) has opened the application portal for the first phase of the student loan scheme, which is open to students from federal institutions across the country.

The loan website, which became active in the early hours of Friday, had the scheme’s pilot phase opened to students of federal tertiary institutions.

NELFUND spokesman Nasir Ayitogo listed the step-by-step application for the loan.

How to create an account

Step 1: visit www.nelf.gov.ng

Step 2: Click on the ‘Apply Now’

Step 3: Click on “Get Started”

Step 4: Answer the questions on this page to continue by clicking on “Yes, I am a Nigerian”

Step 5: Verify your educational information. You would be required to select your school from a dropdown and provide your matric number to check if your school has uploaded your details.

Step 6: Click the “Verify with JAMB” and enter your JAMB details in the screen. (Students whose NIN has not been registered with JAMB will have an input field where they can enter their NIN for validation.)

Step 7: Create an account by entering your email address, password and confirm password in the fields provided and click “Create Account”.

Step 8: Click the email verification link sent to your email.

This concludes the process of creating an account.

How to complete your profile

After successful registration, log in by clicking the “LOGIN” button.

Step 1: Enter your email address and password to Login.

Step 2: Click on the “Proceed to Contact Details” button.

Step 3: Update contact details with the current information of your Phone Number, Full Residential Address, State of Residence and Local Government Area of Residence and click “Proceed to Educational Details”.

Step 4: Update your educational details by selecting your higher institution and inputting your Matric Number, then click ‘Proceed to Account Details’

Step 5: Verify your BVN by entering your BVN, select your Bank Name and enter your Account Number. Click “Save Changes” to complete your profile.

Loan application

Step 1: Click on the “Request for Student Loan” button at the top right of the screen on the home or loans page after logging into the application.

Step 2: If you want an upkeep loan, click the check box, and click Continue, if all you need is the institutional charge, click the “Continue” button.

Step 3: Upload supporting documents. The admission letter is compulsory which the Student ID and Institution Invoice are optional.

Click the checkbox for the policy and declaration and click “Continue.”

Step 4: Read the loan overview and click the checkboxes for both the Terms & Conditions and GSI Mandate then click “Submit Application.”

Step 5: Click on the “Loans” button to view the status of your application.

President Bola Tinubu enacted an initial version of the student loan policy in June 2023 to grant interest-free loans to students. The scheme was supposed to have taken off in October 2023 and was deferred until a re-enactment in April 2024.

However, NELFUND finally scheduled the opening of the loan application and issuance portal for May 24, which is now in operation.

Justice Mohammed Liman of the Kano Division of the Federal High Court has granted an ex parte order stopping the Kano government from reinstating dethroned Emir Muhammadu Sanusi II.

Then-Governor Abdullahi Ganduje dethroned the former CBN governor as the Emir of Kano.

The order restrained Governor Abba Yusuf’s government from enforcing the Emirate Council Repeal Law.

A traditional title holder, the Sarkin Dawaki Babba, Aminu Babba-Dan’Agundi, filed the case on Thursday after the governor ordered him and his fellow emirs to vacate their palaces within 48 hours.

The judge adjourned the case until June 3 to hear the fundamental rights application.

Granting the order, the judge said, “Parties are hereby ordered to maintain status quo ante the passage and assent of the bill, into pending the hearing of the fundamental rights application.

“That In view of the constitutional and jurisdictional issues apparent on the face of the application, parties shall address the court on same at the hearing of the fundamental rights application which is fixed for the third of June, 2024.

“That in order to maintain the peace and security of the state, an interim injunction of this honourable court is granted restraining the fifth to eighth respondents from enforcing, executing, implementing and operationalising the Kano State Emirate Law Council (Repeal) Law.”

Czech President Petr Pavel was released from hospital on Friday for home treatment after a motorcycle accident.

The presidential office said on Thursday that Pavel was injured while riding a motorcycle.

He was admitted to the Military University Hospital Prague “with an injury that is not serious.”

The office said on social media platform X that the president’s injury was caused by a fall from a motorcycle at a low speed while practising off-road driving on a closed circuit.

“President Pavel was released from the hospital this morning for home treatment. His schedule for next week remains unchanged, including the planned foreign trip,” it said.

Pavel, 62, is known for his love of riding a motorcycle.

In April, Pavel was injured in the face during a visit to the southeast Zlin Region.

He suffered a minor laceration near his eyebrows while shooting a long gun, but the injury did not require medical treatment, the local media reported.

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk has emphatically ruled out his seeking election as president in 2025 amid rumours that he will take a second run at the position.

“I say this clearly: No, I will not run in the presidential election,” Mr Tusk told the country’s TVP Info on Thursday evening.

According to Mr Tusk, who until 2019 was president of the European Council before returning as Poland’s prime minister late last year, he had so much to do as head of government that a few months or years would not be enough.

In 2005, Tusk ran for president of Poland’s liberal-conservative Civic Coalition (PO) but lost to Lech Kaczyński of the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party.

The 67-year-old Gdansk native served as prime minister from 2007 to 14 and has been periodically rumoured to be considering a presidential re-run.

Poland will elect a new head of state in summer 2025, although the exact date has not yet been set.

Incumbent Andrzej Duda, who comes from PiS, will not be allowed to run again after two terms in office.

In his remarks to TVP Info, Mr Tusk said he would be pleased to see fellow PO member and Warsaw mayor Rafał Trzaskowski pick up the gauntlet in next year’s race.

Mr Trzaskowski was defeated narrowly by Mr Duda in the last election.

Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), has pledged the commitment of the FCT Administration to end harassment of motorists by touts in the name of revenue collection.

Mr Wike gave the assurance in Abuja on Thursday during the ministerial sectoral briefing on President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s performance in the last year.

“One of the things in a city is that everybody wants to survive. So, you find some of these elements from time to time,” he said.

“But bear in mind that it is part of our responsibility. We will rid them off, but it cannot be done immediately.” the minister added.

He said the FCT Administration had agreed with all the area council chairs to empower the FCT Internal Revenue Service to collect all revenues.

The minister explained that after the collection, the area councils would be given their share, stressing “that is the only way we can have decency in revenue collection in the territory.

“That way, we will reduce touting, harassment and double taxation. After all, the law allows the area councils to take 10 per cent of FCT IGR,” he said.

Motorists in the FCT were being harassed by touts who claimed to be working for a ministerial task force against illegal parking. Others claimed to be revenue collectors from AMAC.

The touts usually force themselves into private vehicles and forcefully remove the car keys from the ignition in the name of illegal parking or other purported infractions.

Nigerians have expressed anger and disappointment after a British media outlet, Sky Sports, omitted Super Eagles forward, Ademola Lookman, from a graphic celebrating Atalanta’s Europa League victory.

Lookman made history on Wednesday night by becoming the first player to score a hat-trick in a UEFA Europa League final.

The omission has sparked outrage, with many calling out Sky News for their oversight.

Lookman’s Atalanta stunned Bayer Leverkusen 3-0, ending the Bundesliga champions’ 51-match unbeaten run in all competitions.

This was also Atalanta’s first-ever UEFA Europa League title and their first major title win since 1963.

Lookman was the star of the night, scoring his third goal of the game in the 75th minute.

Lookman’s first-half brace made him the first African to score two goals in the final of a major European competition before he added a historic third.

Sky Sports posted an image on its X handle on Wednesday evening with the caption “BREAKING: Atalanta have WON the Europa League after beating Bayer Leverkusen 3-0 in the final in Dublin”. However, the image only included Gianluca Scamacca and Teun Koopmeiners.

The post has been bashed on the internet, especially on X.com, for excluding Lookman, who scored all three goals.

Nollywood actress, Nse Ikpe-Etim, who tweets as @NseIkpeEtim, said, “This is shocking. Ademola Lookman scores a beautiful hat-trick and you couldn’t bring yourself to use an image of his. Sure you can do better.”

Also, investigative journalist, Fisayo Soyombo, tweeting with the handle @fisayosoyombo, said, “Nigerian footballer Ademola Lookman, who scored all three goals that fetched Atlanta the trophy did not make it to your cover photo? All of you @SkyFootball are collectively an unbelievable joke!”

A photojournalist who tweeps with the handle @PoojaMedia, said, “You are reporting the final without the history maker. Reason we’ve to hype our own to heavens but de@d heads will be dragging us. Una see now?”

Another X user, @Xandyy_Jay, said, “The whole world condemns this act. You can do better. Ademola Lookman should be the first person here. Why are you so biased?

One user, @Afc_Saks, created a new graphic image that included Lookman with the caption “Fixed it!”

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has disclosed that the Abuja Light Rail will operate free for two months, after its commissioning on Monday, the 27th of May, 2024.

Wike stated this during the ongoing Ministerial Sectoral Update to mark the first year in office of the President Bola Tinubu administration, held at the Radio House in Abuja, on Thursday.

The Minister had earlier stated that the President, Bola Tinubu will commission the Metro rail project for commercial activities on Monday.

He however urged residents to begin use of the Metro rails from Tuesday, the 28th of May, adding that the goal was to aid the ease of commuting for residents and that the President may extend the free train rides up to 6 months.

The Minister also said the FCT Administration will begin the construction of 10,000 affordable housing units tagged the Renewed Hope City from the coking year, 2025.

The Minister of Youth Development, Jamilo Bio Ibrahim, and the Minister of Transportation, Sa’Idu Ahmed Alkali, are also expected to give briefings today.

The Enugu State Police Command has announced the arrest and arraignment of a masquerade for allegedly assaulting a woman in the Nsukka area of the state.

A statement by the Command’s spokesman, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, on Thursday, said the masquerade was intercepted and arrested on May 12, 2024, around 3.45 p.m. by operatives of the Nsukka Sector of the Command’s Anti-Cultism Tactical Squad.

According to Ndukwe, the masquerade, popularly known as Oriokpa, was sighted physically assaulting a female victim at Ugwuoye Junction, Nsukka, when the operatives arrested it.

Ndukwe stated that the masquerader, later identified as one Ugwuoke Ebube, aged 22, had been arraigned in court on Wednesday in Nsukka, even as he noted that the court later granted him bail.

Explaining, Ndukwe said that the investigation carried out by the command into the case suggested that the suspect was part of a group of masqueraders that similarly assaulted a female nurse riding a motorcycle, as captured in a viral video in April 2024.

“He was today, May 22, 2024, arraigned in the Nsukka Magistrate Court of Enugu State, Nigeria, but was granted bail by the court,” Ndukwe said.

The police spokesman, however, quoted the state Commissioner of Police, Kanayo Uzuegbu, to have condemned the act, while warning those intending to hide under the guise of culture-celebrating masquerades, to commit criminal acts of assaulting fellow citizens to desist forthwith.

He stressed that the command will henceforth not hesitate to bring anyone found wanting to book, just as in the case at hand.

General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno, who has led Chad’s junta for the last three years, is to be sworn in Thursday after an election victory hotly contested by opposition parties in the north-central African nation.

Deby officially won 61 per cent of the May 6 vote international NGOs said was neither credible nor free, and which his main rival called a “masquerade”.

He was proclaimed transitional president in April 2021 by a junta of 15 generals after his father, iron-fisted president Idriss Deby Itno, was shot dead by rebels after 30 years in power.

The swearing-in marks the end of three years of military rule in a country crucial for the fight against jihadism across Africa’s restive Sahel region.

In 2021, Deby was quickly endorsed by an international community led by France, whose forces in recent years have been ousted by military regimes in its other former colonies Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

The investiture ceremony also officialises what the opposition has denounced as a Deby dynasty.

Prime Minister Succes Masra, one of Deby’s fiercest opponents before becoming prime minister, handed in his resignation Wednesday in the wake of his party’s election defeat after just four months in office.

Masra, an economist who won 18.5 per cent of the vote, has contested the results.

He claimed victory after the first round of voting but faced accusations of being a junta stooge by the opposition, which has been violently repressed in Chad, with its top members barred from the election.

After Chad’s Constitutional Council rejected Masra’s bid to annul the result, he said there was “no other national legal recourse” and called on supporters to “remain mobilised” but “peaceful”.

Deby’s own cousin Yaya Dillo Djerou, who had emerged as the leading opposition candidate to the general, was shot and killed at point-blank range during an army assault on February 28, his party said.

The turnout of heads of state at the investiture should provide an idea of international support for the 40-year-old president.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who travelled to N’Djamena in 2021 to pay homage to the late Marshal Deby before his son and successor, is sending his minister for foreign trade and Francophonie, Franck Riester.

Chad, one of the poorest nations on Earth, is France’s last military foothold in the Sahel region, with 1,000 soldiers, and Macron was one of few leaders to congratulate Deby on his election.

Several Sahel nations, reeling from jihadist insurgencies, have strengthened ties with Russia after severing them with Paris.

Russian President Vladimir Putin was among the first to congratulate Deby, and the level of the delegation Moscow sends to N’Djamena for the ceremony will be closely watched by analysts.

The Police Command in Kaduna State, said its operatives have arrested eight notorious suspected armed robbers and arrested four receivers of stolen items in the state.

The command’s Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Hassan, confirmed the arrest in a statement issued on Wednesday in Kaduna.

Hassan said, “Operatives have successfully arrested notorious robbery suspects who have been terrorizing the Areas of Barnawa, Sabon Tasha and Karji of Kaduna metropolitan area.”

According to him, on May 9, at about 3:00hrs, a surveillance patrol team from the Unguwan Rimi Division intercepted three suspects which included , Khalid Lawal, Abdulhamid Zubairu, and Musa Yusuf, along the Yakowa Express Way.

He said the suspects, who were returning from a robbery operation, confessed to their crimes upon apprehension.

Hassan said, “The case was later transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) for further investigation.”

He said investigations revealed that the suspects, who were armed with guns, knives, and machetes, conspired with other criminals, who were later traced and arrested.

They are: Aminu Aliyu (aka Bosho), Idris Ibrahim, Musa Muhammed, Abubakar Lawal (aka Dan Master), and Alhassan Musa.

Hassan said the suspects targeted several hotels within the metropolis, including Abello, Geomerry, Harmony and Apple Gate Hotel.

He added, “They attacked the lodgers and staff, robbing them of valuable items such as two motor vehicles (Peugeot 206 and 307), mobile phones, and computers.

”In one particularly violent incident, the gang severed the right hand of a victim.”

He said the mobile phones and computers have been successfully recovered but the two cars were yet to be found.

Hassan added that efforts by the police also led to the arrest of the suspects who were purchasing the stolen phones.

“The receivers include: Abubakar Yahaya, Abdullahi Abubakar, Muhammad Yusuf, and Muhammad Abdulkadir Dada, who in particular specialized in unlocking phones and altering their IMEI numbers to render them untraceable,” he said.

Hassan said the command remained committed to ensuring the safety and security of all citizens.

Norway will formally recognise Palestinian statehood on May 28, Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre said on Wednesday, in a move staunchly opposed by Israel.

The Nordic country’s announcement comes amid a broader push within several European countries, such as Ireland, to recognise Palestine as a state, believing it will advance the prospects for peace in the region.

The government in Israel rejects any unilateral attempts to impose a Palestinian state.

“Recognising a Palestinian state will lead to more terrorism, instability in the region and jeopardise any prospects for peace,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry said this week.

Iran’s supreme leader has presided over a funeral for the country’s late president, foreign minister and others killed in a helicopter crash on Sunday.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei led prayers at Tehran University, where caskets carrying the dead were draped in Iranian flags.

President Ebrahim Raisi died alongside Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian and six others in a helicopter crash near the border with Azerbaijan.

Authorities had warned against demonstrations against the funeral procession and insults posted online.

“Oh Allah, we didn’t see anything but good from him,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in the standard prayer for the dead in Arabic.

Iran’s acting president, Mohammad Mokhber, stood nearby and openly wept during the service.

People then carried the coffins out on their shoulders, with chants of “Death to America” heard outside.

They loaded them onto a trailer for a procession through downtown Tehran to Azadi Square, where Mr Raisi gave speeches in the past.

In attendance were top leaders of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, one of the country’s major power centres.

A single feather of the now extinct New Zealand huia bird has set a world record after being sold for NZD$46,521.50 ($28,417, £22,409) at an auction.

The feather, initially expected to fetch up to $3,000, broke the previous record which was for a feather of the same species by 450%, the Webb’s Auction House said.

The huia bird was sacred to the Māori people. Their feathers were often worn as headpieces by chiefs and their families and also gifted or traded.

Its last confirmed sighting was in 1907, but unconfirmed sightings were reported for twenty to thirty years after that, according to the Museum of New Zealand.

The huia was a small songbird of the wattlebird family in New Zealand and was known for its jumping abilities and beautiful plumage, which is distinct for the white tip across the edge.

The feather sold on Monday was “in wonderful condition”, says Leah Morris, Head of Decorative Arts at Webb’s Auction House.

“It still has its very distinct sheen to it, and there was no insect damage,” she told the BBC.

She adds that the auction house framed the item behind UV protective glass and with archival paper, which means it will have a “really long life”.

The feather is registered as a taonga tūturu under a system to protect Maori made objects. Only collectors who had license in the system were allowed to purchase it, and it can not leave the country without permission from the Ministry of Culture and Heritage.

High interest and enthusiasm from New Zealanders also helped boost the price, according to Ms Morris.

“We got a record number of people are seeing how to become registered collectors,” she says. “In New Zealand, we care so much about looking after the land, and the environment and our flora and fauna.”

“And I think maybe because this bird is now extinct, we’d look at other birds in New Zealand and say, we don’t want that to ever happen again,” she adds.

In the past, the huia feathers were a status mark to Māori people. Already a rare bird before the arrival of Europeans, the species became a target for collectors and fashion merchants after it gained popularity among those who came to New Zealand, which led to its extinction, according to the Museum of New Zealand.

A combined team of security men in Kwara State have rescued 12 people, among whom is a two-year-old child.

It was gathered that 11 market women, who went to Oke-Ode market in Ifelodun Local Government Area of Kwara State last Wednesday, were waylaid and abducted at Oyi Bridge in Yaaru/Olayinka village by kidnappers along Ajase-ipo/Oke-Ode Road, while they were returning from the market.

State Police Public Relations Officer, Ejire-Adeyemi Toun, who confirmed the rescue operation to journalists in Ilorin on Tuesday said 12 persons, including a two-year-old child were rescued by the security team.

“Eleven market women and a two-year-old child were rescued by the security team, which combed the forest in search of the kidnapped victims. All the victims have been rescued and released to their families.

“Some of those injured during the rescue operation were taken to the General Hospital, Share, Ifelodun council and have been discharged after the treatment,” Toun said.

Speaking on the incident, Coordinator of Kwara South Joint Community Security Watch, Olaitan Oyin-Zubair commended the joint security team for its efforts in rescuing all the people abducted by the gunmen suspected to be kidnappers.

Oyin-Zubair said: “The gallantry and steadfastness of hunters/vigilante on the successful rescue of all abductees in last Wednesday’s kidnapping along Ajassepo/Okeode Rd by Oyi Bridge between Yaru-Olayinka in Ifelodun council of the state is commendable.

Australia and New Zealand have begun evacuation of their citizens from New Caledonia following days of ongoing riots in the French Pacific territory over new legislation passed by lawmakers in Paris.

The unrest in New Caledonia started last week after French lawmakers voted to make a change in the island territory that would allow more French citizens to vote in local elections, a move indigenous leaders have condemned.

They cited the decision will dilute native people’s influence in the territory and ultimately resulted in clashes between locals and authorities, claiming the lives of six people including two cops.

As a result of the unrest, the two Oceanian countries have started evacuating their nationals from the island. The first batch of stranded Australians were flown out of the territory on an Australian military transport plane on Monday, the BBC reported.

It is one of the two flights scheduled to rescue around 300 citizens who have registered for assistance as the island’s international airport remains closed.

According to Flightradar24, a New Zealand Air Force plane has also landed in New Caledonia to bring around 50 stranded New Zealanders home.

The New Zealand government said it is among “a series” of proposed flights to evacuate its citizens. Both Australia and New Zealand have stated the fights will prioritise evacuating citizens with most pressing issues.

Australia and New Zealand have begun evacuation of their citizens from New Caledonia following days of ongoing riots in the French Pacific territory over new legislation passed by lawmakers in Paris.

The unrest in New Caledonia started last week after French lawmakers voted to make a change in the island territory that would allow more French citizens to vote in local elections, a move indigenous leaders have condemned.

They cited the decision will dilute native people’s influence in the territory and ultimately resulted in clashes between locals and authorities, claiming the lives of six people including two cops.

As a result of the unrest, the two Oceanian countries have started evacuating their nationals from the island. The first batch of stranded Australians were flown out of the territory on an Australian military transport plane on Monday, the BBC reported.

It is one of the two flights scheduled to rescue around 300 citizens who have registered for assistance as the island’s international airport remains closed.

According to Flightradar24, a New Zealand Air Force plane has also landed in New Caledonia to bring around 50 stranded New Zealanders home.

The New Zealand government said it is among “a series” of proposed flights to evacuate its citizens. Both Australia and New Zealand have stated the fights will prioritise evacuating citizens with most pressing issues.