Nigeria

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This Bitch of a Life Offers Frank View of Fela Kuti

Biography pulls no punches in describing this powerful musician

(Newser) - Carlos Moore’s Fela: This Bitch of a Life, a newly re-released 1982 authorized biography, contains the usual makings of sociomusical hagiography: Fela’s stunning music, his uncompromising anticolonial message, and the many beatings and imprisonments he suffered as a result. But most readers likely already know the legend—what...

Hillary Compares Nigeria Democracy to Florida 2000

(Newser) - Hillary Clinton told an audience of Nigerians yesterday that while their country's democracy is deeply flawed, the Florida presidential race recount shows America's isn't perfect either, the Guardian reports. "Our democracy is still evolving," Clinton said. "We had some problems in some of our presidential elections. In...

Nigerian Rebel Leader Dies in Police Custody

(Newser) - The leader of an uprising set on introducing Islamic law in Nigeria died in custody today, the BBC reports. Mohammed Yusuf was captured in his in-laws’ goat pen in Maiduguri—and was later seen standing and with no visible injuries by a Reuters reporter. “He has been killed,”...

Nigerian Troops Attack Militants' Mosque, Kill 100

Group blamed for wave of violence; leader escapes

(Newser) - Nigerian security forces killed more than 100 militants yesterday as they shelled then stormed the mosque and compound of an Islamist sect blamed for days of violence across northern Nigeria. The bodies of barefoot young men littered the streets of Maiduguri this morning as the army conducted a house-to-house manhunt...

Shell Settles Nigeria Case for $15.5M

Saro-Wiwa settlement is milestone for international law

(Newser) - Royal Dutch Shell agreed to settle a lawsuit over the 1995 deaths of Ken Saro-Wiwa and other Nigerians for $15.5 million, reports the Financial Times. Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists against petroleum exploitation were executed by the Nigerian military government, allegedly at the behest of the oil giant. In...

Recession Pushes African Immigrants to Head Home

Many opt for slower, cheaper lifestyle

(Newser) - The US recession is driving many middle-class African immigrants home, where life is slower and growth has lately pointed to a bright economic future, the Washington Post reports. Diaspora societies of immigrants say many members are planning to return to Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana.“The people I know here...

Shell Accused of Crimes Against Humanity

Family of Saro-Wiwa sues oil company in American court

(Newser) - Next week Royal Dutch Shell will finally appear in court to answer charges that it was complicit in the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the author and oil company critic executed by Nigeria's former military regime in 1995. Saro-Wiwa's family accuses the oil company of "a systemic campaign of human...

Abuse of Child 'Witches' Burgeoning

Growing number of kids suspected of witchcraft worldwide

(Newser) - Children dubbed “witches” are facing increasing abuse in Nigeria and elsewhere, advocates say. “They would take my clothes off, tie me up and beat me,” said a 14-year-old, whose grandfather concluded he was a “witch” 2 years ago when he cried at the threat of being...

Guinness' Booming Market: Nigeria

(Newser) - Guinness may be synonymous with Ireland, but Nigerians down more of the stuff than the Emerald Isle, GlobalPost reports. Nigerians also out-Guinness the US—their country is second only to the UK in its consumption of the beer and is home to the first Guinness brewery outside the British Isles....

Jacko Bro Plans Slavery Theme Park

Historians condemn $3.4B project

(Newser) - Michael Jackson's big brother Marlon wants to bring tourists to Nigeria by building a $3.4 billion resort—complete with an ever-so-slightly controversial slavery theme park, a replica slave ship, oh, and a Jackson Five exhibit, the Telegraph reports. Visitors to the park, located in Badagry, the departure point for...

Halliburton Will Pay $559M in Nigerian Bribery Fines

The settlement is the second-largest under the current law

(Newser) - Halliburton will shell out $559 million in fines—the largest federal penalty ever paid by a US company for bribery—to the Justice Department and the SEC to settle claims that its former KBR unit greased the palms of Nigerian officials to help get a gas liquefaction facility built, along...

Nigerian Cops Nab Goat for Car Heist

(Newser) - Nigerian police paraded a goat before journalists yesterday, calling it a "suspect" in an armed robbery case, the BBC reports. Vigilantes reportedly handed the goat to police and said it was a car thief that had shape-changed using witchcraft. Police later denied the goat was under suspicion. "Of...

Nigeria Struggles to Protect Child Brides

Underage marriage outlawed, but Muslim leaders support it

(Newser) - In northern Nigeria, almost half the girls are married by age 15, and a law outlawing child marriage faces serious resistance from Muslim leaders, the Times of London reports. "We have no choice," says one teen who was brutally raped by her husband. As a result, fistula—a...

Nigerian Scamsters Want to Be Your Friend

Con artists try to fool Facebook users by posing as friends in need

(Newser) - Nigeria's notorious cybercriminals are looking for some buddies, Ars Technica reports. The conmen have infiltrated social networking sites like Facebook by filching passwords and contacting users in the guise of a friend who suddenly, urgently needs funds. Internet security experts fear the new tactic could prove a lot more effective...

Americans Seek Immune Genes in Mates: Study

Nigerians don't marry for DNA diversity, but may not need to

(Newser) - Americans pick mates with different immune genes while Africans prefer the genes they already have, New Scientist reports. A study of 60 couples from Utah and Nigeria showed that the Americans hitched up with partners whose genes recognized pathogens that theirs couldn't. The African marriages, however, appeared to be genetically...

Ex Halliburton Exec Pleads Guilty to $180M Bribery

Cheney man 'won' $6B Nigerian contracts

(Newser) - A fired Halliburton exec has pleaded guilty to bribing Nigerian government officials, the Wall Street Journal reports. Albert Stanley, CEO of KBR when it was a Halliburton subsidiary, faces up to 7 years in jail and a restitution payment of nearly $11 million. Stanley was appointed by Vice President Dick...

Nigerian Youths Blow Up Oil Pipeline

Chevron output diminished by 120K barrels per day

(Newser) - A youth gang blew up a Chevron pipeline in Nigeria yesterday, reducing output from the world's eighth-largest oil producer by 120,000 barrels a day. Such attacks are common in Nigeria, Reuters reports: Sparked by poverty and hatred of foreign companies, militants have cut oil production there by one-fifth over...

AmEx Leads Dow Rally
 AmEx Leads Dow Rally 
MARKETS

AmEx Leads Dow Rally

Oil jumps on worries about supplies in UK, Nigeria

(Newser) - Stocks were mixed today as financials rallied but Microsoft dragged down the tech sector.  Nevertheless, all three major indexes recorded back-to-back weekly gains for the first time since February, Bloomberg reports. The Dow closed up 42.91 at 12,891.86, the Nasdaq dipped 5.99 to 2,422....

Shell Profits Spike to a Record $27.6B

Critics say the oil giant's earnings are 'obscene' and want a windfall tax

(Newser) - Soaring crude prices and new oil and gas projects drove Royal Dutch Shell to 2007 profits of $27.6 billion—a new record for a British corporation—despite declining production. While critics branded the results “obscene” and called for a windfall tax, Shell’s CEO called them “satisfactory”...

Nigerian Rebels Seek Help From Clooney

Militants offer invite after UN names him 'messenger of peace'

(Newser) - Nigeria’s top rebel group urged George Clooney to come heal their war-torn land today, the AP reports. The militants, who often pressure officials by blowing up oil pipelines, promised to work with Clooney “and other credible peace makers" to cool off fighting in Nigeria. Clooney gave no immediate...

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