Nigeria

While browsing the web, yesterday, I viewed the Arab Times online site and came across several news articles about the rape and abuse of maids in Kuwait.

I was surprised at the cluster of cases so I searched the web for more information and was nearly knocked off my chair when I realized the enormous extent of the huge numbers of foreign maids suffering abuse at the hands of their Middle East "sponsors".

A study of public opinion in predominantly Muslim countries reveals that very large majorities continue to renounce the use of attacks on civilians as a means of pursuing political goals.

JOS, Nigeria. The murderous rioting sparked by Muslim attacks on Christians and their property on Nov. 28-29 left six pastors dead, at least 500 other people killed and 40 churches destroyed, according to church leaders.

Despite the vehement protests of Muslim clerics, some 30 million children in Nigeria are to be vaccinated against polio and measles during an integrated immunization campaign set to begin immediately in Nigeria’s northern states.

Tension has eased in Jos in Nigeria's Plateau State following a weekend of deadly violence, but resentment is growing among members of the Christian community there who feel that the international media's reporting of events has been “biased and inaccurate", according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

The European Court is to rule on the case of an Irish-based African mother who fears her children will be subjected to female genital mutilation if she is forced back to Nigeria.

On 2/3 October, over 200 national delegates and NGO representatives attended a unique two-day expert seminar at the UN Geneva to discuss limits to Freedom of Expression.

Convened by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights at the request of the Islamic States, a dozen experts and many other speakers took the floor to explore the links between Freedom of Expression and incitement to religious hatred.