Australia apologises to Aborigines

Australia has issued a formal apology to Aborigines for forcibly separating their children from their parents under an official policy of racial assimilation that lasted until 1970. Kevin Rudd, the newly elected prime minister apologised for "the indignity and degradation inflicted on a proud people" and spoke of "one of the darkest chapters in Australia's history". But some Australians fear the apology could lead to a flood of compensation claims, fears dismissed by legal experts who say that the apology did not admit to any illegality or negligence.