Mainly non-COVID-19 and non-American political news to start off your week. Mainly.

Happening in the world: New Caledonia has decided to remain part of France with 53.36% of the votes and 85.6% turnout, the second independence referendum in two years. The territory has been under French rule for nearly 170 years and is seen by the UN as one of the last territories where decolonization remains unfinished. Under accords reached at the end of the 20th century, the New Caledonian assembly can motion for one more independence referendum before 2022. (BBC)

Happening in the US: The Alabama governor has issued a formal apology to Sarah Collins Rudolph, the “fifth girl” of the 1963 Birmingham Church bombing that killed her sister and three other Black girls and left the city reeling. Ms. Rudolph and her lawyers see it as a first step toward restitution for the attack, with an eye toward more talks with the governor’s office to try to achieve further resolution for Ms. Rudolph, who was left partially blinded and traumatized by the explosion. (NYT)

Happening in NYC: Mayor Bill de Blasio announced planned shutdowns for nine zip codes in Brooklyn and Queens that are experiencing spikes in the rate of COVID-19, where the percent of positive test results has risen above the 3% threshold in recent days. The closures would include non-essential businesses and schools but needs to be first approved by state liaisons before taking effect on Wednesday. The move has been met a mix of criticism and praise as the city hopes to prevent a resurgence of the virus after a summer of relative containment. (Gothamist)

Happening in our community: This Thursday from 5 pm to 6:15 pm, the Maison Française will be hosting a talk titled “Sex, Law, and Sovereignty in French Algeria, 1830-1930,” led by Judith Surkis, a professor at Rutgers University. The talk will explore how French colonial rule in Algeria manipulated ideas of law and sex to reflect French fantasies of Muslim law and Algerian sexuality and how these now interact with France’s modern “Muslim question.” Register and learn more here.

Happening in my mind: Why did my professor have to assign Poe’s “The Mask of Red Death” as this week’s reading?

Image of other news via Flickr