Hundreds Killed in Ethnic Violence in Nigeria

Thu, 02 Dec 2010 02:52:31 +0000

Where: Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria

March 18, 2010 : Hundreds of people have died in ethnic and religious violence around the Nigerian city of Jos since the year 2010 began. The last such incident was an attack on three mostly Christian villages over the weekend of March 7-8, 2010. Villagers including women and children were attacked by men with machetes. More than 200 people died. Police arrested around 90 suspects.

Survivors said the attackers spoke Hausa and Fulani, two languages used mostly by Muslims. The violence was seen by some as a revenge attack for the Muslims killed in January 2010. While northern Nigeria is mostly Muslim, the south is predominantly Christian. The reasons for differences among the people extend beyond race and religion. There are political, social and economic factors which strengthen the divide between the groups. The recent bloodshed occurred in central Nigeria. Nigeria’s “middle belt” is filled with fertile lands, and war is waged over who will control them.

Thousands Protest 'Unfair' Election Result in Iran

Mon, 03 Aug 2009 05:08:12 +0000

Where: Tehran, Iran

June 19, 2009 : The Iranian Presidential election results were announced on June 13, 2009, and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner for a second term. The popular reformist leader Mirhossein Mousavi was declared defeated. Ever since then, the country has been rocked by widespread demonstrations. Tens of thousands of angry voters took out protest rallies. They claimed the results were fake, and that their leader Mousavi had won.

In 1979, after the Islamic revolution, Iran’s government was taken over by clerics (religious authorities). Around 60 per cent of the population of Iran was born after 1979, and it appears that younger voters have sought modernisation and change. The country is going through an economic crisis, with an inflation rate of 24 percent, rising unemployment and a fall in income from crude oil exports (Iran is the world’s fifth biggest oil exporter). Iran is also caught in a tussle with the Western world over its nuclear program. Mousavi had pledged to improve relations with the West, to ease restrictions on women, and to fix Iran’s ailing economy.

World Events on Pitara Kids Network

Hundreds Killed in Ethnic Violence in Nigeria

Thousands Protest 'Unfair' Election Result in Iran