The UK Government appears to be edging closer to outlawing discrimination on the grounds of caste. It is hoped this can be included in an Equality Bill currently under consideration by Parliament. Caste discrimination provisions were not in the original draft of the bill, and Hindu leaders had claimed that caste discrimination was not a problem in Britain despite substantial evidence to the contrary. But government ministers have indicated an openness to consider the matter as a result of some powerful lobbying.

Nigerian Humanists have won the latest round in an ongoing battle with witch hunters. Today, 4 Feb. 2010, the Federal High Court in Calabar struck out the case brought against Leo Igwe, International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) Representative in West Africa, by Helen Ukpabio of the Liberty Gospel Church.

The National Secular Society (an IHEU member organization in the UK) has announced a large-scale campaign of protest against the state visit of the Pope to Britain in September.

The British Humanist Association (BHA) is calling for the removal of the automatic right of Church of England bishops to sit in Parliament. The call has come in advance of an event being held this evening, Jan. 27, 2010, by Labour Humanists which asks, “Should the bishops be evicted from the House of Lords?” The event, chaired by David Aaronovitch and including speakers Polly Toynbee and The Rt Revd Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester, has attracted a capacity audience, indicating a renewed public interest in this issue.

The International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) has joined an appeal to the UN to help the situation of Christians in Iraq. The Christmas Day appeal to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, drew her attention to acts of terror against Christians in Iraq that include the bombing of 59 churches and the killings of bishops, priests and other Christians. These acts of terror, combined with kidnappings, death threats, and anti-Christian social discrimination, have prompted nearly half of Iraq's one million Christians to flee the country.

The International Humanist and Ethical Union (IHEU) has joined with more than 100 other groups from more than 20 countries to protest a so-called “global blasphemy law” proposed by the United Nations (UN). Last month, for the first time ever, a UN body proposed a legally-binding treaty to combat the “defamation of religions.”

Please act now to ask the Iranian government to stop the execution of Ehsan Fattahian scheduled for Wednesday, November 11, 2009.

The Nigerian Humanist Movement is holding a national conference on “Witch Hunts, Christian Fundamentalism and Child Abuse” on October 21 and 22, 2009, at the University of Uyo Community Center. Participation is open to everyone.

We are receiving reports that Leo Igwe, IHEU's representative in West Africa, has been attacked in Calabar, Nigeria at the venue of a symposium on Witchraft and Chidrights. According to an eyewitness, about two hundred members of Liberty Gospel Church stormed the venue and attacked Leo, taking away his bag, camera and mobile phone and destroying his glasses in a determined attack lasting for nearly an hour. Video available

This Congress supports the general principle of Reconciliation with the indigenous peoples of this country and deplores the Federal Government's inability to say "sorry" with respect to the stolen generation.

This Congress urges the federal Government to provide funding to appoint an Aboriginal curator for Aboriginal Art at the Australian National Gallery.

IHEU Regional Congress, Australia,