Nigeria

Stories 281 - 300 | << Prev   Next >>

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...

Oil Hits Record $100 a Barrel
Oil Hits Record $100 a Barrel
Jan 2, 2008 11:11 AM CST

Oil Hits Record $100 a Barrel

Disruptions in Nigeria, Mexico stoke supply concerns

(Newser) - Crude oil prices jumped $4.02 today to push past $100 a barrel for the first time as Nigerian violence, disrupted Mexican exports, and the specter of dipping US stockpiles stoked supply fears in the face of ever-rising energy demands, CNNMoney reports. The previous record was $99.29, set November...

Inside the Siemens Bribery Scandal
Inside the Siemens Bribery Scandal
Dec 28, 2007 8:40 AM CST

Inside the Siemens Bribery Scandal

How international prosecutors dug up suspicious payments

(Newser) - In one of the world's largest corporate bribery scandals in recent years, German industrial giant Siemens allegedly channeled millions of euros in bribes to customers in Nigeria, Russia, Libya, and other countries to win infrastructure contracts. The Wall Street Journal traces the unearthing of the Siemens case across four years...

Africa Nations Move to Ban Plastic Bags

90% don't make it to dumps, clogging sewers, littering streets

(Newser) - With garbage rotting in the streets and being burnt in toxic bonfires, many African countries are looking to ban plastic bags. Kenya produces 48 million every year, and is now trying to follow Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda by outlawing them. In Nairobi’s slums, bags even clog channels leading out...

Gates Aims $100M at Polio
Gates Aims $100M at Polio
Nov 27, 2007 4:30 AM CST

Gates Aims $100M at Polio

Foundation aims to eradicate disease

(Newser) - The world stands at the brink of eradicating polio, Bill Gates says, and his foundation yesterday awarded $100 million toward that end. One of the foundation's largest challenge grants will fund programs in four countries where the disease is still epidemic, notably Nigeria. The Rotary Foundation received the grant and...

Nigeria Sues Big Tobacco on Kid Smokers

Claims companies deliberately market cigarettes to children

(Newser) - Nigeria has launched a $40 billion lawsuit against Philip Morris and two other major tobacco companies, claiming they deliberately market cigarettes to children. Its government is demanding punitive damages and compensation for current and future health care costs, reports the BBC. A spokesman for the largest of the three, British...

Voodoo Child Smugglers Busted in Netherlands

Young prostitutes took mystic vows

(Newser) - Dutch police have broken a child prostitution ring that used voodoo to control its young charges, authorities announced today. Authorities found missing Nigerian children prostituting themselves in France, Italy, and Spain, apparently obeying mystic vows given them by their kidnappers and voodoo shamans. Police have so far arrested dozens accused...

Tech Wraps Growing Web Around World

Some worry about cultural loss as cell phones, e-mail spread

(Newser) - Global cellphone and computer usage is up dramatically as inequalities in technology drop. Cellphone ownership has grown 20% in the US, where 80% of the population uses computers, third in the world behind Sweden and South Korea. Computer usage is up in 26 of 35 countries in a new Pew...

Americans Own 30% of World's Guns
Americans Own 30%
of World's Guns
Aug 28, 2007 9:05 PM CDT

Americans Own 30% of World's Guns

The world's largest arsenal works out to 90 firearms per 100 people

(Newser) - Americans form the biggest gun-toting posse on Earth, Reuters reports, boasting a high 90 firearms per 100 noncombatants. Other countries lag behind on a per capita basis: Yemen takes second with 61 per 100 and Finland places a surprising third with 56 for every 100 civilians. Many poor countries, like...

Gay Nigerians Face Death by Stoning
Gay Nigerians Face Death by Stoning
Aug 10, 2007 6:41 PM CDT

Gay Nigerians Face Death by Stoning

Suspects accused of violating Islamic law; parliament mulls ban on gay groups

(Newser) - Eighteen Nigerian men arrested on suspicion of sodomy face death by stoning under the nation’s Sharia law. Police found the men, reportedly dressed as women, in a hotel in the northern state of Bauchi, where they were allegedly celebrating a “gay wedding.”

Nigerian Kidnappers Free Toddler
Nigerian Kidnappers
Free Toddler
Jul 8, 2007 7:45 PM CDT

Nigerian Kidnappers Free Toddler

Girl in good health after 4 days in captivity

(Newser) - Four days after her terrifying abduction, a 3-year-old girl is back with her parents in southern Nigeria, "covered in mosquito bites" but otherwise OK, her father tells the BBC. Margaret Hill, who was snatched from a car at gunpoint on her way to school Thursday, was freed today and...

Kidnappers Threaten Toddler's Life
Kidnappers Threaten Toddler's Life
Jul 6, 2007 7:30 AM CDT

Kidnappers Threaten Toddler's Life

Nigerian officials launch talks with abductors of 3-year-old girl

(Newser) - Kidnappers in Nigeria have threatened to kill a 3-year-old girl unless her father takes her place, and negotiations for her release have begun. Margaret Hill's mother interrupted an interview today to join officials in bargaining for her safe return, Reuters reports, after recounting a chilling conversation in which an abductor...

UK Toddler Kidnapped in Nigeria
UK Toddler Kidnapped in Nigeria
Jul 5, 2007 7:06 AM CDT

UK Toddler Kidnapped in Nigeria

Five foreign workers were abducted yesterday

(Newser) - A three-year-old British girl was kidnapped by gunmen in the Niger Delta today. The abduction comes after five oil workers were kidnapped yesterday. Militant groups who want a larger share of Nigeria's oil profits to go to the poor have taken more than 100 foreign hostages this year, the BBC...

5 Kidnapped From Nigerian Oil Rig
5 Kidnapped From Nigerian Oil Rig
Jul 5, 2007 3:30 AM CDT

5 Kidnapped From Nigerian Oil Rig

Rebels seeking oil revenues end truce; 5 oil workers abducted

(Newser) - Five expat contractors were taken abducted yesterday during an attack on a Shell oil rig in the Niger Delta, just as a rebel group responsible for many similar attacks called off a one-month truce. The hostages include two New Zealanders, one Australian, one Lebanese and one Venezuelan; more than 200...

Nigeria Sues Pfizer Over Deadly Tests

$7B suit claims drug giant carried out disastrous trials on children

(Newser) - Nigeria is suing pharma giant Pfizer for $7 billion, claiming the company carried out improper trials on children. 200 children in the state of Kano died, and others developed deformities, after Pfizer tested Trovan, an experimental antibiotic, during a 1996 meningitis outbreak. Nigeria claims the tests were unauthorized, but Pfizer...

Nigerian Scams Hit Purebred Puppy Market

Dog-lovers fall prey to appeals to adopt or buy fake pooches

(Newser) - Nigerian scammers have a new ploy—this time giving away "free" purebred puppies that are worth upwards of $3,000, the LA Times reports. Racketeers advertise the pups using websites, MySpace postings, and even print ads, asking pet lovers to rescue the dogs or offering to sell them at...

China Helps Nigeria Into Space
China Helps Nigeria Into Space
May 24, 2007 7:10 AM CDT

China Helps Nigeria Into Space

Excluded by US, Beijing builds satellites for developing countries

(Newser) - China is launching its own space program, after years of getting a cold shoulder from NASA. Beijing is developing satellite technology for developing nations—the same nations it's looking to for resources to fuel its runaway economic growth, the New York Times notes. Last week saw the launch of a...

Nigerian Prez Accuses VP of Death Threat

President's mind full of "cobwebs of juju," replies former #2

(Newser) - The president of Nigeria and his former vice president are locked in a jihad of words, after the latter allegedly consulted Islamic holy men about when the former would die, and assured other ministers the date was not far off. President Olesugun Obasanjo decried the treasonous consultation, but added that...

Nigerian 'Lesbian' Turns Herself In
Nigerian 'Lesbian' Turns Herself In
Apr 28, 2007 10:40 PM CDT

Nigerian 'Lesbian' Turns Herself In

Pursued by police after 'gay' wedding, woman says she's straight

(Newser) - The Nigerian woman whose story of lesbian love on the run made international headlines yesterday has news for the authorities who hoped to arrest her: she's not a lesbian. "I have never practiced— never heard the word 'lesbian'—truly," says Aunty Madiguri, who was accused of violating Sharia...

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