30 January 2007
Nigeria: 70% of Oil Revenue Stolen or Wasted
This month's National Geographic contains an excellent piece on the Niger Delta. Oil has been taken from the Niger Delta for more than 50 years, yet the people who live there remain desperately poor. The environmental contamination resulting from five decades of oil extraction, moreover, has destroyed such traditional Delta livelihoods as fishing and agriculture. So where does all the oil money go? National Geographic, citing an estimate made by the head of Nigeria's anticorruption agency, claims that "in 2003, 70 percent of oil revenues, more than 14 billion dollars, was stolen or wasted."
http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0702/feature3/#topLink
http://www7.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0702/feature3/#topLink
27 January 2007
Russia Enforces New Restrictions on Foreign Workers
For generations, many of the workers in Russia's retail markets have been non-Russians from the Caucasuses and Central Asia. Last summer, however, the Russian government announced new rules designed to protect, in President Putin's words, "the native Russian population." The new rules establish quotas on the proportion of retail market workers who may be non-Russian. Begining this past January 15, only 40% of the workers at Russia's retail markets may be foreigners; by the end of the year, all such workers must be Russians:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6262549.stm
Curiously, Russia recently introduced new rules that will make it easier for foreigners to work in Russia in places other than in retail markets. The number of work permits available this year for migrants from former Soviet republics has been increased to 6 million, and the process for obtaining such work permits has been simplified (which, as The Economist notes, should reduce the opportunity for official extortion).
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6262549.stm
Curiously, Russia recently introduced new rules that will make it easier for foreigners to work in Russia in places other than in retail markets. The number of work permits available this year for migrants from former Soviet republics has been increased to 6 million, and the process for obtaining such work permits has been simplified (which, as The Economist notes, should reduce the opportunity for official extortion).
23 January 2007
Criticism of Ahmadinejad Grows
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has come under increasingly strident criticism in the past few days. Grand Ayatollah Hossein-Ali Montazeri, who was once Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini's likely successor as Iranian Leader (until Montazeri fell out with Khomeini), has publicly criticized Ahmadinejad's nuclear diplomacy and economic policies:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6286771.stm
Ahmadinejad's proclivity for a centralized, state-run economy has also been attacked by his chief political rival, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani. In addition, the Iranian media has grown bitterly critical of Ahmadinejad. Press criticism of Ahmadinejad would be unthinkable unless the press had the tacit approval of Iran's clerical leadership; accordingly, the media criticism of Ahmadinejad signals the clergy's growing antipathy to his presidency:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6290101.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6286771.stm
Ahmadinejad's proclivity for a centralized, state-run economy has also been attacked by his chief political rival, former President Hashemi Rafsanjani. In addition, the Iranian media has grown bitterly critical of Ahmadinejad. Press criticism of Ahmadinejad would be unthinkable unless the press had the tacit approval of Iran's clerical leadership; accordingly, the media criticism of Ahmadinejad signals the clergy's growing antipathy to his presidency:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6290101.stm
21 January 2007
Mainland Chinese Women Try to Have Their Babies in Hong Kong
The New York Times reports that many pregnant women from mainland China try to have their babies in Hong Kong, in order to avoid the one-child policy that applies on the mainland and so that their children will have the right to live in Hong Kong. (Not only do residents of Hong Kong enjoy greater political freedom and affluence than do other Chinese citizens, they are entitled to such benefits as subsidized health care and free education). It is difficult for a resident of mainland China to gain the right to live in Hong Kong: a woman from mainland China who marries a man from Hong Kong can wait as long as seven years before gaining the right to live in Hong Kong.
Recently, the Hong Kong authorities announced new restrictions on the right of mainland Chinese even to enter the territory:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/world/asia/21hong.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print
Recently, the Hong Kong authorities announced new restrictions on the right of mainland Chinese even to enter the territory:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/world/asia/21hong.html?_r=1&pagewanted=print
20 January 2007
"More Ruthless" Attacks in the Niger Delta Threatened
The apparent leader of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), in a recent email interview with ABC News, noted that attacks and kidnappings in the Niger Delta that have largely avoided the loss of life have not succeeded in emancipating the region. The leader, who goes by the name Jomo, promised that MEND would launch "more ruthless" attacks against Western oil company installations. According to ABC News, simultaneous attacks against Western oil facilities in Nigeria and in the Middle East could result in oil prices of $120 per barrel, and US gasoine prices of $6 per gallon:
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/01/nigerian_terror.html
http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/01/nigerian_terror.html
11 January 2007
Nigerian Census Results Generate Controversy
On January 10, the Nigerian National Council of State (including all surviving former leaders of the country) approved and released the preliminary results of the 2006 census. According to these results, Northern Nigeria has a population of approximately 75 million people, and Southern Nigeria has a population of approximately 65 million people:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/headline/f110012007.html
The results have already generated controversy. Among other things, the preliminary figures show Kano State-- and not Lagos State -- to be the larget state in Nigeria. Not surprisingly, political leaders in Southwestern Nigeria have rejected the preliminary figures. Political leaders in Southeastern Nigeria were also stunned by the unexpectedly low population count in the Igbo heartland:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/headline/f111012007.html
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/headline/f110012007.html
The results have already generated controversy. Among other things, the preliminary figures show Kano State-- and not Lagos State -- to be the larget state in Nigeria. Not surprisingly, political leaders in Southwestern Nigeria have rejected the preliminary figures. Political leaders in Southeastern Nigeria were also stunned by the unexpectedly low population count in the Igbo heartland:
http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/headline/f111012007.html
02 January 2007
Corruption Grows Worse in Russia
According to a report published this morning in the San Francisco Chronicle, corruption in Russia has grown sevenfold in the past eight years, during the presidency of Vladimir Putin. When Putin was first elected, Russians hoped that he would crack down on rampant corporate and government graft. Putin, however, has been either unwilling or unable to take more than symbolic steps to fight corruption:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/02/MNG8QNBCTN1.DTL&type=printable
