1. More girls kidnapped in Nigeria
Armed men thought to be Boko Haram militants have kidnapped eight girls, aged 12 to 15, from a village near one of their strongholds in northeast Nigeria.
This follows the kidnapping of more than 200 other schoolgirls by the Islamist militant group last month; read more about the mass abduction here.
The BBC reports that a spokesman for UN rights chief Navi Pillay has warned the girls’ kidnapping could, under certain circumstances, constitute crimes against humanity.
“We are deeply concerned about the outrageous claims made in a video believed to be by the leader of Boko Haram in Nigeria yesterday, in which he brazenly says he will sell the abducted schoolgirls ‘in the market’ and ‘marry them off’, referring to them as ‘slaves,'” he said.
“We warn the perpetrators that there is an absolute prohibition against slavery and sexual slavery in international law.”
Meanwhile the FBI will send a team to Nigeria to help the search for the girls.
2. Gyngell takes the blame for brawl
The boss of the Nine Network David Gyngell has fallen on his sword and taken the blame for the public fist fight he had with James Packer on Sunday.
Mr Gyngell yesterday publicly apologised, releasing a statement to Nine Network News that said he “respects the job police do and will co-operate fully with their investigation”.
Reports today suggest the police have begun door knocking investigating the incident.
Top Comments
Please everyone, read this important article: ‘Nigeria abductions: 6 reasons why the world should demand action’ http://edition.cnn.com/2014...
Here’s a little of it:
Rights groups have said Boko Haram has kidnapped girls as young as 12. In November, the militant group abducted dozens of Christian girls and women, most of whom were later rescued by the military deep in a forest in Maiduguri. At the time of their rescue, some were pregnant or had children, and others had been forcibly converted to Islam and married off to their kidnappers.
Families of some of the kidnapped girls are petrified of speaking to the media for fear of retribution against their daughters. "Many of the parents feel if there is even (any) kind of movement from their end, they could see the children killed," CNN's Nigeria-based correspondent Vladimir Duthiers said.
The group's name, Boko Harem, itself means "Western education is sinful" in the local Hausa language. Its aim is to impose a stricter enforcement of Sharia law. The group especially opposes the education of women. Under its version of Sharia law, women should be at home raising children and looking after their husbands, not at school learning to read and write.
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I feel beyond angry sitting on my sofa drinking tea and seeing the news with mothers’ pained faces in agony and shock, driving my car and hearing terrible details on the radio, riding on the train to my job reading my phone while I watch other commuters play violent kickboxing and war games on their phones. I dread to consider what’s happening to these very young girls this very moment. It is horrifying.
I can’t set these girls free, however I can't *not* do something.
The only way I've come up with that I might contribute to change at all is to donate and ask others to donate towards the education of girls in troubled countries.
That, at least, is the opposite of what that group stands for.
Let’s piss them off from the comfort of our desks, our kitchens, our lecture halls, school gates and our pubs. Whether you have just $2, or $2,000 to spare – please give whatever you can to one of these two causes:
https://www.care.org.au/edu... AND http://www.becauseiamagirl.....
There are 66.3 million girls across the world who don't go to school. Missing out on an education means more than losing a childhood, it means sacrificing a future too. CARE is working to send more girls to school alongside their brothers, so they can grow up to have healthier families, send their own children to school and earn a greater income.
Good call. Done.