Nigeria

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All Flyers From 14 Nations to Be Patted Down
All Flyers From 14 Nations
to Be Patted Down
UPDATED
Jan 4, 2010 7:47 AM CST

All Flyers From 14 Nations to Be Patted Down

Tough new air security crackdown begins today

(Newser) - In the toughest new airline security rules in history, all US-bound passengers from 14 nations considered state sponsors of terrorism or "countries of interest" will be patted down, and their carry-on baggage will be searched. The new rules will apply beginning today to travelers from Afghanistan, Algeria, Cuba, Iran,...

Nigerians Join Dutch in Using Full-Body Scans

Officials vow that nation won't be transit point for terrorists

(Newser) - Nigeria has joined the Netherlands in announcing plans to introduce full-body scans for air travelers. Officials plan to install the high-tech machines at the country's four major airports beginning next month. Detroit suspect Umar Faroul Abdulmutallab began his journey in Lagos, and experts say full-body scanning would have detected his...

Napolitano Backtracks, Says System Failed

Homeland Security chief changes stance; visa oversight probed

(Newser) - Facing a storm of criticism for saying "the system worked" in the attempted bombing of Northwest Airlines Flight 253, Janet Napolitano reversed course today. "Our system did not work in this instance," the Homeland Security secretary said. She added, "No one is happy or satisfied with...

Al-Qaeda Offshoot Takes Responsibility for Northwest Incident

Attempted bombing was payback for air strikes in Yemen, group says

(Newser) - A group known as Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has claimed responsibility for the attempted attack on a US airliner on Christmas Day, saying it was retaliation for a US operation against the group in Yemen. In a statement posted on the Internet, the group said 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk...

Terror Suspect Had Cut Off Ties With Family

Abdulmutallab's family was alarmed because it was out of character

(Newser) - The Nigerian man accused of trying to bring down a US airliner cut off contact with his family and disappeared from their lives until they awoke to news of the attempted Christmas Day attack, his family said today. A statement from the family of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab said his disappearance...

Prez Orders Air Security Review

Obama demands review of 'watch lists,' chemical detection

(Newser) - Despite US officials' insistence that the airline security system works, President Obama is demanding an investigation into how a Nigerian managed to sneak the incendiary chemical PETN onto a transatlantic Northwest flight to Detroit. Suspect Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was on a US security watch list and a dossier had been...

Terrorism Warnings Often Go Unpursued

Detroit bomber alert not specific enough to rise out of 'noise'

(Newser) - However ill-advised it looks in hindsight, the decision of counterterrorism officials last month not to pursue a warning from the Nigerian would-be bomber's father was standard procedure for agencies flooded with unsubstantiated terrorism tips. It takes a specific threat, or an existing body of knowledge about an individual, for information...

Brits Hunt for Northwest Bomber's Cohorts

Officials fear he plotted with extremists in London

(Newser) - British officials are hunting for possible accomplices of the Nigerian whose attempt to ignite a bomb on a Northwest flight to Detroit was thwarted by passengers. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, attended a London university for three years, and security officials fear he may have been plotting a terror attack with...

Nigerian Banker Reported Son to US Embassy
 Nigerian Banker 
 Reported Son 
 to US Embassy 
foiled plane attack
Dec 26, 2009 11:40 AM CST

Nigerian Banker Reported Son to US Embassy

Elder Mutallab grew suspicious of son's extremism

(Newser) - A prominent banker in Nigeria says the thwarted terrorist on the jet bound for Detroit is his son. The banker, who is meeting today with security officials, tells the Nigerian newspaper This Day that he reported his son, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, to the US Embassy 6 months ago when he...

'Attempted Act of Terrorism' Triggers Higher Alert Level

White House: In-flight incident was 'attempted act of terrorism'

(Newser) - The US government has raised the terror alert level for airline flights to orange, the second-highest designation, after today’s incident involving a passenger on a Detroit-bound jet that the White House says was "an attempted act of terrorism." Earlier, a 23-year-old Nigerian claiming ties to al-Qaeda tried...

Ex-Rep. Jefferson Sentenced to 13 Years
 Ex-Rep. Jefferson 
 Sentenced to 
 13 Years  
cold hard cash
Nov 13, 2009 5:19 PM CST

Ex-Rep. Jefferson Sentenced to 13 Years

Pol busted with $90K in freezer betrays little emotion

(Newser) - A federal judge sentenced former Congressman William Jefferson to 13 years in prison today, less than the 27-plus years prosecutors called for but more than the 10-year term the Louisiana Democrat's lawyer wanted. Jefferson, who was convicted in August of 11 of the 16 counts relating to the public corruption...

$5M African Leadership Prize Goes to ... Nobody

Committee passes over all three candidates, doesn't award $5M to any

(Newser) - Nobody has won this year's $5 million Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership, the committee responsible for picking a winner announced today. That’s an enormous snub to the people eligible for the award, who include former heads of state Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Olusegun Obasanjo of Nigeria,...

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...

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