EU to apologise for slavery and colonialism

The European Union has agreed to apologise for slavery and colonialism in the final declaration at the UN conference on racism in Durban, South Africa.

The apology was one of many contentious issues at the conference, with most developed nations refusing to apologise to former colonies because they said it would lead the way to compensation demands.

Despite the breakthrough on this issue, there is still disagreement over how to refer to the Middle East conflict.

Arab states want Israel condemned as an apartheid state whose policies are racist towards the Palestinians.

Israel and the United States, its most fervent supporter on the international scene, walked out of the conference earlier this week because of these attempts to condemn Zionism.