Nigeria’s army secured the release of 234 that were held captive in Boko Haram’s stronghold in the Sambisa forest.

The Nigerian defence headquarters, said the hostages were rescued on Thursday evening. A total of 500 women and children have been rescued over the past few days, reports the Guardian.

Amnesty International called on authorities, “to ensure that the trauma of those ‘rescued’ is not exacerbated by lengthy security screening in detention.”

Egyptian authorities are using courts to stifle journalism, said Amnesty international in a report released on Sunday.

The report outlined cases of 18 media personnel that had been jailed by Egyptian courts and dozens that were under criminal investigation.

Amnesty’s report, concluded,

“In Egypt today anyone who challenges the authorities’ official narrative, criticised the government or exposes human rights violations is at risk of being tossed into a jail cell, often to be held indefinitely, without charge or trial or face prosecution on trumped-up charges.”

The Germen president, Joachim Gauck, defying his government’s rejection of the concept, expressed support for Greek demands for reparations for the Nazi occupation of Greece in World War Two.

Mr Gauk, speaking in an interview to be published in German press on Saturday, calling on Germany to consider its historical responsibilities, said,

A senior United Nations aid worker has been suspended for disclosing a report outlining sexual abuse by French peacekeeping troops in the Central African Republic.

Anders Kompass, who is based in Geneva, passed the document to French authorities due to the UN failure to take action to stop abuse reports The Guardian.

Mr Kompass was suspended from his post as director of field operations, and accused of leaking confidential UN information and breaching protocols.

The aid worker has been placed under investigation by the UN office for internal oversight service (OIOS), with the knowledge of senior UN officials, including the UN Human Rights Chief, Zeid AL Hussein.

The confidential report, Sexual Abuse on Children by International Armed Forces, documented details of the rape and sodomy of starving homeless young boys by French peacekeeping troops in the CAR.

Paula Donovan, the co-director of Aids Free World, calling for an independent commission of inquiry into the matter, said,

The president of France, Francois Hollande, on Thursday said there would be no mercy shown to any French soldiers who were found to have abused children in the Central African Republic while deployed there as UN peacekeeping soldiers.

“If some soldiers have behaved badly, I will show no mercy,” Mr Hollande told reporters.

Earlier this week a leaked UN report found that young boys in a camp for internally displaced persons in CAR had made allegations against a number of soldiers that they had been sexually abused.