Africa
Stolen Nigerian oil ‘goes to Balkans and Singapore’
The main buyers of the estimated 180,000 barrels of oil stolen each day in Nigeria are based in the Balkans and Singapore, says campaigner Patrick Dele Cole. Mr Dele Cole is a politician from the oil-rich Niger Delta region and says 90% of the stolen oil is being shipped illegally out of the country. He has launched a “Stop The Theft” campaign to end the practice, which has a drastic impact on Nigeria’s wealth: though the country is one of the world’s biggest oil producers, most of its people remain mired in poverty. The campaign seeks to have ships tracked by satellite as part of an effort to expose the money trail: “once you start asking questions and throwing light on this problem, you have solved more than 50% of the problem”, said Mr Dele Cole, a veteran diplomat and former presidential adviser. The entire oil sector in Nigeria is riddled with corruption, with many politicians involved. The army is supposed to stop the thieving and have made some arrests, but soldiers are routinely bribed to turn a blind eye. The theft of 180,000 barrels a day is costing Nigeria, at current oil prices, about $6bn per year.
Asia
Japan justice minister resigns amid gang ties scandal
Japan’s justice minister Keishu Tanaka has resigned just weeks after taking office on 1 October, citing ill health, amid a scandal over alleged ties to an organised crime group. Mr Tanaka was hospitalised on Friday with chest pains, though his resignation follows calls for him to step down amid questions over political funding and his role in a gangster wedding. He is the second minister of embattled Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s government to step down in the same year he took office: newly-appointed trade minister Yoshio Hachiro resigned in September 2011 after calling the area around the tsunami-hit Fukushima nuclear station a “town of death”. Mr Tanaka’s resignation will be another setback for Prime Minister Noda, whose poll figures are plummeting. The cabinet reshuffle that appointed Mr Tanaka was his recent bid to revitalise his government.
Middle East
At least 10 Afghan security forces killed in Taliban clash
At least 10 Afghan security personnel have been killed in a gunfight with Taliban insurgents in the western Afghan province of Herat, officials say. Five police, including the chief of Aubi district, and five soldiers are dead after Taliban fighters attacked a convoy. Two Taliban leaders also died, and 25 insurgents were arrested. Correspondents say casualties among Afghan security forces are rising as they take over Nato responsibilities, with Nato troops preparing to leave Afghanistan in 2014. Nato handed security control of the city of Herat to Afghan forces in July 2011. The Taliban has so far not commented.
Lebanon army deploys troops in city streets
The Lebanese army has deployed on the streets of Beirut and Tripoli in a bid to calm deadly tensions stirred by the civil war in neighbouring Syria: several people were killed in gunfights between pro- and anti-Syrian factions in Tripoli yesterday after the death of senior security official on Friday. European Union policy chief Catherine Ashton has been in Beirut for talks with President Michel Suleiman about the murder of Wissam al-Hassan, and met Prime Minister Najib Mikati in an apparent show of support.
North America
Presidential candidates spar on foreign policy
Last night’s election debate, the final of the campaign and focusing on foreign policy, saw heated clashes as President Barack Obama attacked Republican challenger Mitt Romney’s record in the area. The Arab Spring, Iran, Israel and China were all discussed. Mr Obama said his rival was “all over the map”, while Mr Romney said the president had allowed “chaos” to engulf the Middle East. Analysts say Mr Obama did not land any knockout blows on Mr Romney, though he went on the attack from the start and sought to portray Mr Romney as a foreign policy novice without the consistency to be commander-in-chief. Mr Obama said Mr Romney had backed a continued troop presence in Iraq, opposed nuclear treaties with Russia and was indecisive over when the US should leave Afghanistan. Mr Romney said “we’re four years closer to a nuclear Iran”, but emphasised military action against Tehran should be a last resort – a softer position than that which he has been characterised as holding. Instant polls said Mr Obama won the debate, while the electoral race overall is now neck-and-neck with two weeks to go until polling day.
Latin America
Argentinean frigate seized as collateral against ten year-old loan
Argentinean President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has said her country will not bow to “blackmail by vulture funds” amid a row over a seized Argentine navy ship. The frigate Libertad was detained in Ghana three weeks ago under a court order obtained by creditors NML Capital, who say Argentina still owes them £300m from 2001. Most of its 300-plus crew have been ordered to leave. NML, a subsidiary of US hedge fund Elliot Capital Management, say they will only release the ship if Argentina pays at least $20m. President Fernandez says “as long as I am president, they can keep the frigate but nobody is going to keep the liberty, sovereignty and dignity of this country”. She said the detention of the Libertad violated “all the rules of international law”.
Eurasia
Anti-Putin opposition elected in Russian online poll
Popular anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny has won a three-day online poll to choose a new opposition leadership to fight for election reform. Over 81,000 voters took part in the internet poll, with 45 seats on the Coordinating Committee for the anti-Putin group contested by over 200 candidates. Mr Navalny said the poll would clarify “which people, which methods and which ideology have the most support”. The opposition hopes the event will reinvigorate a movement that staged large protests against President Vladimir Putin last year, capturing much damaging international attention. Such rallies, when held last month, failed to attract similar numbers. Russian authorities are largely ignoring the ballot.
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