People in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia have narrowly rejected independence from France in a referendum.  The archipelago voted to remain French with 53.26% of votes, according to final results reported by AFP news agency. Turnout – at 85.6% – was high. In a similar vote two years ago, the margin was slightly wider, with 56.7% voting to stay French. New Caledonia has been a French territory for nearly 170 years. French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the result as a “sign of confidence in the republic”, adding he also felt “humility” in view of the results. The referendum was part of a series of votes agreed two decades ago, following bouts of violence in the 1980s over the issue of independence between the islands’ indigenous Kanak people and descendants of European settlers. Kanaks represent around 40% of the population, while Europeans, mostly born in the territory, make up about a third. Others come from other Pacific islands or are of mixed heritage.(BBC)…[+]

Boris Johnson has warned it may be “bumpy through to Christmas” and beyond as the UK deals with coronavirus.

Speaking to the BBC’s Andrew Marr, the PM said there was “hope” in beating Covid, but called on the public to “act fearlessly but with common sense”. He said the government was taking a “balanced” approach between saving lives and protecting the economy. His comments come as the UK announced more than 10,000 new cases for the first time since mass testing began. There were 12,872 new cases announced on Saturday. However, the government said a technical issue meant some cases earlier in the week were not recorded at the time so had been included in Saturday’s data. Government sources told the BBC that because of an IT error there had been a delay entering the details of positive cases into the NHS Test and Trace system in England, which slowed the process of finding their contacts. The problem was a “serious issue” but it has been “contained”, sources said.(BBC)…[+]