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Troy Rietsma

Cable: Leaders, military behind Nigeria oil thefts - World news - Africa - msnbc.com - 0 views

  • Politicians and military leaders — not militants — are responsible for the majority of oil thefts in Nigeria's crude-rich southern delta, according to a U.S. diplomatic cable quoting a Nigerian official and released by WikiLeaks.
  • A member of a government panel on troubles in nation's Niger Delta implicated Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, a general whose brother became president, and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as being the biggest forces behind the thefts, the cable claims
  • Those thefts also fuel arms sales to the restive region while causing environmental damage and cutting production in a nation crucial to U.S. oil supplies.
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  • The diplomatic cable quotes Uranta as blaming "no more than 15 percent" of oil thefts on militants operating in the delta, a tropical maze of creeks and waterways about the size of South Carolina. Instead, politicians, retired admirals and generals and others in the country's elite profit from the thefts. Typically, thieves solder or cut into oil pipelines running through the mangrove swamps of the delta. Some refine the crude into kerosene or diesel in crude refineries, while other oil sails out to foreign ports for sale.
  • The large-scale theft, compounded by anger over unceasing poverty and pollution in the delta despite 50 years of oil production, led to an uprising of militants in the region beginning in 2006. Military-grade weapons funneled into the region, turning gunrunners into militant leaders who espoused political ideas — but kept their eyes on the profits from stolen oil.
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    Research Question: What effect does the competition of oil have on the people of Nigeria? 1. Source: Gambrell, Jon. "Leaders, military behind Nigeria oil thefts." MSNBC.com. MSN, 11 Apr. 2011. Web. 13 Apr. 2011. . 2. Summary: The oil bandits that I mentioned in an earlier post have an unsuspected force behind them. That force is allegedly the politicians and military leaders who lead the country. One of them was Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, a general whose brother became president.They allegedly supported the thieves who cut production of oil that is crucial to our own supplies. 3. Reaction I think this article is really going to give us a lead on our research question. Although we don't see exactly why these leaders would do this so clearly, we do see the corruption around the oil. It's hard to believe that leaders would do this; we take it for granted that although our leaders aren't perfect, we still have relatively loyal people leading our country. 4. Questions: How have the people of the country reacted? Are the people going to be pressed with charges? What kind of actions will follow such a find?
Troy Rietsma

Nigeria fights oil bandits - UPI.com - 0 views

  • Nigerian forces destroyed what they believed were illegal oil refineries in the Niger Delta area as part of an effort to curb vandalism, a spokesman said. The illegal refineries were shoddy facilities where operators were distilling crude oil to sell on the black market.
  • soldiers destroyed 500 illegal refineries in the oil-rich Niger Delta.
  • "The operators, we believe, were those that break into the vast network of pipelines in the Niger Delta to steal crude oil which they refine, and sometimes they damage wellheads in the process," he was quoted as saying.
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  • thieves have cost Nigeria an average of around 100,000 ba
  • rrels of crude oil per day.
  • Financial analysts, meanwhile, said that Nigeria is benefiting from the rising price of crude oil.
  • Oil prices are at two-year highs in part because of the civil war raging in Libya, Africa's top oil producer.
  • Officials at the Nigerian Financial Derivatives Co. told Nigerian newspaper Next that tensions in the Middle East were a "blessing" for Nigeria.
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    Research Question: What effect does the Nigerian Blood Oil have on the people there? "Nigeria fights oil bandits." UPI.com. UPI, 8 Mar. 2011. Web. 8 Mar. 2011. . 1. Summary The Nigerian government sent troops out to destroy illegal oil refineries. Nigerian security forces spokesman Timothy Antigha said that soldiers destroyed roughly 500 refineries. Authorities believe that those who were in charge of these illegal refineries were tapping in to and stealing from the pipelines of the Niger Delta. An estimated 100,000 barrels of crude oil was being stolen every day. 2. Reflection At first I wondered why Nigerian authorities would want to destroy oil refineries. With rising oil prices and the crisis in Libya, you would think that the Nigerians would want to get their hands on any oil they could. But I read on and saw that the oil was being stolen from the main lines and sold on the black market. I think Nigeria did the right thing, and hopefully this well help the whole oil conflict. 3. Questions:  Will destroying these illegal refineries help or hurt the Nigerian people? and who will it help or hurt? Will destroying these refineries help Nigeria's legal production, thus helping the Libya crisis? According to financial analysts, Nigeria is benefiting from rising oil prices. How is Nigeria benefiting from it?
jeni bouwman

Egyptian tourist sites to reopen; tomb break-ins reported - CNN.com - 0 views

  • at least 17 artifacts were missing from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
  • Saying he hopes "tourists from around the world will soon return,"
  • tourist sites will reopen on Sunday.
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  • The decision was made after Hawass met with members of the ministry and the Antiquities and Tourism Police to discuss security measures.
  • In addition, some storage magazines in Saqqara, including one near the pyramid of Teti, had their seals broken, along with a magazine at Cairo University, the ministry said.
  • Mubarak stepped down Friday after 18 days of protests and unrest.
  • that ancient burial sites have been broken into.
  • "Dr. Hawass stated he hopes tourists from around the world will soon return to Egypt,"
  • reports on what, if anything, is missing.
  • 5th Dynasty pharaohs chose to site their burial monuments. Saqqara, one of Egypt's oldest burial sites, has several royal pyramids.
  • at least 17 artifacts were missing from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
  • he museum was broken into on January 28, not long after anti-Mubarak protests began.
  • He updated that number to 18 on Monday
  • New Kingdom coffin had been found in a preliminary search of the museum and its grounds.
  • Hawass said he believes the looters dropped objects as they fled, and "every inch of the museum must be searched before the Registration, Collections Management and Documentation Department, which is overseeing the inventory, can produce a complete and final report of exactly what is missing," the post said.
  • "would like to clarify earlier statements in which he announced that nothing was missing (from the museum)." He said when the search committee made its first pass through the museum, "objects that were at first thought to be missing were found thrown into trash cans and corners far from their original locations" and he was led to believe that all the items would be found in a full search.
  • Professionals out to steal would normally be careful not to damage the objects they were planning to take, so the initial impression was that the attackers were vandals rather than thieves," the blog post said. Hawass was also misinformed by a museum staffer about a statue of the pharaoh Akhenaten and was told it was only damaged when it was missing, the post said.
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    Summary: In this Article I read that The Egyptian Museum in Cairo got broken into. About 18 ancient burial sites were broken into. Hawass is on top of this and he said to the committie to report if anything is missing. Hawass also believes that the looters were dropping the object as they were running away from the Egyptian Millitary. After more researching and looking around for the object they found they in crazy places like in trash cans, not damaged. Everything they thought was missing was found later on.  Response: I thought this was a crazy article because they are making such a big deal about all this stuff that was missing. Making it seem like it was a tragic thing... which it would of been if they never found the missing objects. But they did, I feel like it was a waste of time to read this article because nothing really happened . Questions: 1. Why did they make such a big deal out of it if they found all the objects that were missing?  2. Who would even try breaking in and stealing objects for the museum? 3. Will this make more tourist come and see the museum, because of this?  4. Why were the object's moved.. and not stolen? Who would just move them around? 
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