Netherlands: ‘4,000 schools shut’ in teacher strike

French president Emmanuel Macron confirms a college teacher who was decapitated on Friday evening was the victim of a "characteristic Islamist terrorist attack".

The French Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer reacts after the beheading of a teacher in the Yvelines, reportedly targeted for showing cartoons of Mohammed to his students. Blanquer says that "a teacher is perfectly entitled to show these cartoons".

Paris, Lyon and Marseille held solidarity demonstrations for the French teacher beheaded in an Islamist terror attack. Samuel Paty was killed days after showing a caricature of the Prophet Muhammad.

"We ask for your forgiveness," says Hassen Chalghoumi, the imam of the Paris suburb of Drancy, as he pays tribute in front of the school of the beheaded history and geography teacher in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine.

His name was Samuel Paty. In the courtyard of the Sorbonne University in the heart of Paris' Latin Quarter, French president Emmanuel Macron to lead a national tribute to the social studies teacher who was beheaded near the gates of his middle school last Friday for teaching a civics class on free speech that included Charlie Hebdo cartoons of the prophet. The attack of five years ago on the satirical newspaper was an assault on the values of free speech. Now it is the Republic itself targeted.

Samuel Paty was beheaded by an 18-year-old who had to pay pupils to identify his victim, this after a row over a civics class on free speech that included cartoons of the prophet spiraled into a social media campaign against the teacher. How does Emmanuel Macron plan to protect other "faces of the Republic"? To the US next, where the last presidential debate looked like the calm before the storm. We also take a look at youth-driven protests in Nigeria and Thailand. Plus, the European Parliament has sided with vegetarians and environmentalists against the beef industry.

Three of the suspects, who are between 13 and 14 years old, face charges of "complicity in a terrorist murder,"

After three consecutive nights of violent riots over COVID lockdown restrictions, the situation remains tense in the Netherlands. Police have beefed up their presence to prevent another night of unrest.

School teacher Graciela has a long journey to work. She gives lessons to children from an isolated indigenous community in Panama, who have no access to classrooms amid the pandemic. "The journey is a bit long and dangerous, but she does it with love for the children and we really appreciate that," says community leader Evelyn Cabrera.

The Dutch government plans to ease restrictions, and allow cafes to reopen from 12 to 6 p.m. with up to 50 people. The country is ramping up its vaccination rollout, as cases continue to rise. Follow DW for the latest.

Pets can easily bond with humans, but when a wild octopus befriends a diver and becomes his life coach until its death, that true story scores an Oscar nomination for best documentary.

A few months after the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union, the Netherlands is emerging as an early economic winner, as trading of stocks and goods move across the Channel to the continent.