News in Brief
Dutch king makes historic apology for slavery
AFP – Dutch King Willem-Alexander issued a historic royal apology Saturday for the Netherlands’ involvement in slavery, saying he felt “personally and intensely” affected.
Thousands of descendants of slaves from the South American nation of Suriname and the Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao attended the celebrations in Amsterdam for “Keti Koti” (“breaking the chains” in Surinamese) to commemorate 150 years since the practice was abolished.
Wagner group may still exploit Africa post-mutiny: US official
BLOOMBERG – The Wagner mercenary group may continue its destabilizing security operations in Africa even after its chief Yevgeny Prigozhin launched – and later abandoned – an uprising against Russia’s military leaders, a White House official said.
“We have no indication that Wagner is decreasing its intent to exploit African countries despite the events of last weekend,” John Kirby, a spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council, said in a briefing with reporters on Friday.
Zelensky accuses ‘some’ Western partners of dragging feet
AFP – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday accused “some” Western partners of dragging their feet over plans to train Kyiv pilots to fly fighter jets.
“Do they have an understanding of when Ukraine can get the F-16?” Zelensky told reporters, referring to the West. “There is no schedule of training missions. I believe that some partners are dragging their feet. Why are they doing it? I don’t know.”