STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - The Swedish government should apologize to the indigenous Sami people for past injustices and Sami interests should be given stronger consideration against mining and wind power projects, a government-appointed commission said on Wednesday. An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 Sami live in the northern lands of Sweden, Finland, Norway and Russia, where reindeer herding over vast areas has been the cornerstone of their culture and livelihood. The government-appointed Truth Commission said that the Swedish state had unilaterally taken ownership of large parts of Sami land, especially during the 18th and 19th centuries. “The indigenous Sami people today face major challenges in preserving and developing their culture as a direct consequence of the Swedish state’s past and present policies,” the Truth Commission wrote in the report published on the government webpage.

 

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LONDON (AP) - About 18,000 homes and businesses across Ireland were without electricity Wednesday following strong winds and heavy rain. Electricity provider ESB Networks said crews were working to restore power after adverse weather caused widespread disruption, particularly in the south and southwest of the country. The company urged customers to continue checking its website for updates on power outages and restoration times. Further heavy showers and thunderstorms were expected in parts of Munster, Ireland’s southern province. 

 

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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa’s foreign affairs ministry called in U.S. Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III on Tuesday for a third time over what it described as “undiplomatic conduct,” a senior government official told Reuters, but did not elaborate on what the conduct was. “We can confirm that we demarched Ambassador Bozell. The third demarche since he started his duties nine months ago,” a senior official at South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) told Reuters late on Tuesday. A demarche is a formal diplomatic protest from one government to another. 

 

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BUCHAREST (AFP) - The Romanian parliament on Wednesday rejected a pro-European liberal as prime minister, prolonging a political crisis seen as fueling an already rising far right. Liberal European Parliament member Siegfried Muresan failed to get lawmakers’ backing with just 182 of the 233 votes needed to approve his government, according to the official count. This brings the prospects of snap elections closer, but pro-EU President Nicusor Dan has warned those would not solve the crisis facing the eastern European country.

 

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BRATISLAVA (AFP) - A knife-wielding schoolboy killed a teacher and wounded another and a pupil in an attack in northwestern Slovakia on Tuesday, authorities said. The attack occurred at around 0700 GMT in the village of Staskov close to the Czech border. A 13-year-old schoolboy was detained over the attack, police said, adding he was being investigated for “premeditated murder”. “This morning, after the first class, a school pupil launched a knife attack,” Interior Minister Matus Sutaj Estok told reporters.