Latest news

Nederländsk kung om förlåtelse för slaveri

King Willem-Alexander. Peter Dejong / AP  

Dutch king on pardon for slavery  

The King of the Netherlands, Willem-Alexander, formally apologized on Saturday for his country's involvement in the slave trade for 250 years, several media outlets write.  

- I ask for forgiveness for this crime against humanity, said the king, during a speech in Amsterdam on the 160th anniversary of the abolition of slavery.  

As recently as December, the Dutch Prime Minister, Mark Rutte, did the same.  

Excuses aside, the Netherlands has so far been cold-hearted about replacing the former colonies from which it abducted people. According to calculations, the profit the Dutch king's ancestors made on the business alone amounts to around six billion kroner in today's monetary value 

The French key words. Andrew Medichini / Ap  

 

Killed the 17-year-old in Paris 

Analysis: In France, the electoral language no longer applies to everyone 

 

"Freedom, equality and fraternity". The motto that once formed the basis of the French Republic is now back in focus as Paris and a number of other French cities are in flames, writes The Guardian's Andrew Hussey.  

 

In an analysis, Hussey takes a tour of its prosperous French quarters to seek answers about the unrest. He then runs into a man on a park bench. The violence, says the man on the bench, is not based on a killed teenager but on something bigger. The violence, he believes, is expressed by people who do not feel free, who do not see themselves as equals or feel any general brotherhood. 

 

- This is a war against us. Against people who live in places like this.  

 

The New York Times' Roger Cohen sees similar depth in the turn of events. Bad schools, drug abuse and crime are commonplace in many French suburbs – circumstances that rob many of their opportunities.  

 

"Perhaps France's divisions are now too deep, as is the resentment against Emmanuel Macron, for those who have been victimized to heal," writes Cohen. 

 

Norwegian police. Kallestad, Gorm / NTB  

 

Machete attack in central Oslo - man arrested  

 

A man attacked with a machete in central Oslo on Saturday evening, Norwegian media reports.  

 

The incident occurred in connection with an outdoor venue on Torggata.  

 

Five people were injured in the incident, one of them seriously. Norwegian police state that they arrested the perpetrator and seized the weapon.  

 

The arrested perpetrator must be one of the injured. According to initial information, the act of violence must have taken place between two people who had known each other for a long time.

Palestinian girl posing with a weapon. Fatima Shbair / AP  

The Israel-Palestine conflict 

Hamas shows off weapons - and lets the kids pose  

The armed branch of terror-classified Hamas has had a display of its weapons, writes AFP. In pictures from Gaza, Palestinian children can be seen posing with, among other things, rocket launchers.  

According to the news agency, it is the first time that the Islamist movement has allowed the public to take photos of the weapons arsenal. Similar displays are to be held in central and northern parts of the Gaza Strip on Saturday, where people are usually banned from approaching or photographing military sites.  

The display of weapons follows a worsening situation between Israel and Palestine. Over the course of six days in June, 16 Palestinians and four Israelis lost their lives in the violence.