New Caledonia has set a date for a referendum that will decide whether the French overseas territory should become independent. After decades of campaigning by separatists seeking to break away from France, the New Caledonia congress, the local legislative authority, has agreed to hold the vote on November 4. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, and his prime minister, Édouard Philippe, have both said they hope the territory, 750 miles (1,200km) east of Australia, will choose to remain part of France. Last year, Macron said France’s presence was “necessary to guarantee peace and development”. However, a 20-year agreement signed between Nouméa and Paris in 1998, which gave the archipelago greater autonomy, paved the way for a self-rule referendum to be held by the end of 2018 at the latest.The exact wording of the referendum has to be agreed and voting will be limited to long-term residents. If a majority of New Caledonia’s 275,000 inhabitants, 45% of whom are indigenous Kanaks who support autonomy, vote for independence, it will be the first French territory to break away since Vanuatu in in 1980.(theguardian)…[+]