NY Trial to Decide Shell's Role in Nigerian Deaths

by Christine Kearney

A civil trial that will judge any involvement by oil giant Royal Dutch Shell in the executions of protesters in Nigeria will start this month in New York City, more than 13 years after their deaths.

Shell is accused of human rights abuses, including in connection with the 1995 hangings of prominent activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other protesters by Nigeria's then-military government. Shell has denied allegations of involvement.

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A call for reparations on the world stage

By Ashahed M. Muhammad

Durban conference attendees press demand for redress for horrors of the slave trade

Blacks in the Diaspora continued the mission initiated eight years ago at the World Conference Against Racism in Durban, South Africa, to demand the United Nations declare the trans-Atlantic slave trade a crime against humanity, opening the door for a continued push for reparations at the Durban Review Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, April 20-24.

Much of the discussion surrounding the weeklong conference and its activities focused on the non-involvement of several Western nations and reactions to the presence of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the conference. Read more...

New findings show Africans have world's greatest genetic variation

Randolph E. Schmid

Africans have more genetic variation than anyone else on Earth, according to a new study that helps narrow the location where humans first evolved, probably near the South Africa-Namibia border.

The largest study of African genetics ever undertaken also found that nearly three-fourths of African Americans can trace their ancestry to West Africa. The new analysis published Thursday in the online edition of the journal Science. Read more...

What's Missing From Every Media Story about H1N1 Influenza

Mike Adams

If you read the stories on H1N1 influenza written by the mainstream media, you might incorrectly think there's only one anti-viral drug in the world. It's name is Tamiflu and it's in short supply.

That's astonishing to hear because the world is full of anti-viral medicine found in tens of thousands of different plants. Culinary herbs like thyme, sage and rosemary are anti-viral. Berries and sprouts are anti-viral. Garlic, ginger and onions are anti-viral. You can't walk through a grocery store without walking past a hundred or more anti-viral medicines made by Mother Nature.

And yet how many does the mainstream media mention? Zero. Read more...

Imagine a World Without Seafood for Supper -- It's Nearer Than You Think

Andrew Purvis

What the organizers must know, but are keeping mum about, is that the oceans are in a parlous state. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that 70% of the world's fisheries are now fully exploited (ie, fished to the point where they can only just replenish themselves), overexploited or depleted. The majority of fish populations have been reduced by 70-95%, depending on the species, compared to the level they would be at if there were no fishing at all. In other words, only five per cent of fish are left in some cases. In more practical terms, fishermen are catching one or two fish per 100 hooks, compared to 10 fish per 100 hooks where a stock is healthy and unexploited - a measure of sustainability once used by the Japanese fleet. In England and Wales, we are landing one fish for every 20 that we landed in 1889, when government records began, despite having larger vessels, more sophisticated technology and trawl nets so vast and all-consuming that they are capable of containing 12 Boeing 747 aircraft. Read more...

It’s spring 2009, the flowers are in full bloom, but where are all the bees? Update on Colony Collapse Disorder

For almost all creatures that is, except for the bees. This should be the time of year for “bees to become active again and start feeding and reproducing”, but they’re nowhere to be found.

In this part of the world during this time of the year we usually have a lot of honeybees flying around and feasting on the fresh blossoms, but this year I’ve hardly seen any. This is probably why “a group of Vancouver environmentalists is trying to stop the strange disappearance of bee populations, by creating new urban habitats for the insects.” Read more...

'Quiet Sun' baffling astronomers

By Pallab Ghosh

The Sun is the dimmest it has been for nearly a century.

The Sun normally undergoes an 11-year cycle of activity. At its peak, it has a tumultuous boiling atmosphere that spits out flares and planet-sized chunks of super-hot gas. This is followed by a calmer period.

Last year, it was expected that it would have been hotting up after a quiet spell. But instead it hit a 50-year low in solar wind pressure, a 55-year low in radio emissions, and a 100-year low in sunspot activity.

According to Prof Louise Hara of University College London, it is unclear why this is happening or when the Sun is likely to become more active again. Read more...

The Angola Three: Torture in Our Own Backyard

By Hans Bennett

"My soul cries from all that I witnessed and endured. It does more than cry, it mourns continuously," said Black Panther Robert Hillary King, following his release from the infamous Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola in 2001, after serving his last 29 years in continuous solitary confinement. King argues that slavery persists in Angola and other U.S. prisons, citing the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which legalizes slavery in prisons as "a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." King says: "You can be legally incarcerated but morally innocent."

Robert King, Albert Woodfox, and Herman Wallace are known as the "Angola Three," a trio of political prisoners whose supporters include Amnesty International, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Congressman John Conyers, and the ACLU. Kgalema Mothlante, the President of South Africa says their case "has the potential of laying bare, exposing the shortcomings, in the entire U.S. system." Woodfox and Wallace are the two co-founders of the Angola chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP) -- the only official prison chapter of the BPP. Both convicted in the highly contested stabbing death of white prison guard Brent Miller, Woodfox and Wallace have now spent over 36 years in solitary confinement. Read more....

Gardasil Linked to Nerve Disorder

By Charlene Laino

Cervical Cancer Vaccine May Raise Risk of Guillain-Barre Syndrome

Girls and women who receive the Gardasil vaccine to prevent cervical cancer may be at increased risk of a rare but serious disorder of the nervous system in the first few weeks after getting their shots, researchers report.

Overall, the vaccine does not raise the odds of developing Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS), a disorder of the peripheral nervous system, says Nizar Souayah, MD, of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark.

“But there is clear evidence from our database of an increased incidence of Guillain-Barre syndrome in the first six weeks, especially the first two weeks, after vaccination,” he tells WebMD. Read more...

U.S. to Drop Spy Case Against Pro-Israel Lobbyists

By NEIL A. LEWIS and DAVID JOHNSTON

A case that began four years ago with the tantalizing and volatile premise that officials of a major pro-Israel lobbying organization were illegally trafficking in sensitive national security information collapsed on Friday as prosecutors asked that all charges be withdrawn.

From the beginning, the case against the lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee was highly unusual. The two, Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, were charged under the World War I-era Espionage Act, accused of improperly providing to their colleagues, journalists and Israeli diplomats sensitive information they had acquired by speaking with American policy makers. Read more....

Hate Crimes Prevention Act Sets Foundation To Destroy Free Speech In The U.S.

By - Lee Rogers

As everybody is being distracted by the vastly overhyped swine flu hysteria, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009 which will serve as a mechanism to destroy free speech. This legislation will allow the federal government to provide support for state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies in the prosecution of any crime if it is believed to be motivated by prejudice based on race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability. This bill sets the foundation for the government to impose greater penalties on individuals who have a belief system that might be perceived to be prejudiced against any particular group of people. Read more....