Nigeria on alert as Shell announces worst oil spill in a decade

The oil company says up to 40,000 barrels of crude oil was spilled 75 miles off the coast of the Niger delta

An oil spill on the shores of the Niger Delta swamps. Shell has said the recent oil spill is likely to be worst in a decade.

“Spill response procedures have been initiated and emergency control and spill risk procedures are up and running," said Tony Okonedo, a Shell Nigeria spokesman.

Satellite pictures obtained by independent monitors Skytruth suggested that the spill was 70km-long and was spread over 923 square kilometers (356 sq miles).

But a leading Nigerian human rights group said Shell's figures about the quantity of oil spilled or the clean-up could not be relied on. "Shell says 40,000 barrels were spilled and production was shut but we do not trust them because past incidents show that the company consistently under-reports the amounts and impacts of its carelessness," said Nnimmo Bassey, head of Environmental Rights Action, based in Lagos.

"We are alerting fisher folks and coastal communities to be on the look out. It just adds to the list of Shell's environmental atrocities in the Niger delta.

The spill, one of the worst off the coast of Nigeria in 10 years, is particularly embarrassing for Shell, coming only four months after a major UN study said it could take Shell and other oil companies 30 years and $1bn to clean spills in Ogoniland, one small part of the oil-rich delta. The company also admitted responsibility in August for two major spills in the Bodo region of the delta that took place in 2008, but has yet to pay compensation.

Shell, which works in partnership with the Nigerian government in the delta, claims that 98% of all its oil spills are caused by vandalism, theft or sabotage by militants and only a minimal amount by deteriorating infrastructure. But this is disputed by communities.

Yesterday Shell said it had also closed a Gulf of Mexico deep drilling operation after spilling 319 barrels of contaminated fluids.

• Do you think we should worry more about oil spills and whose responsibility are them?

• How are this news going to affect Nigeria's population?

• This company has been responsible for many oil spills, how do you think it should prevent these environmental disasters? Or should the government get involved?

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A dance around the world

What would you do if you visited a different country?

A man called Matt who started with nothing, has now produced one of the most viewed videos on youtube, making him a well-known and wealthy man.
Matt decided to take a trip around the world and dance in front of important monuments, having people of that particular city/village/area accompany him.
In only four minuts we travel thoughout the whole planet, getting to know many beautiful places we didn’t even know existed. More importantly, we get to see many different cultures and life styles.
It is amazing how in such a small world we are all the same and yet we are so different. We all have different skin colour, wear distinctive clothes, are raised differently...
I mean, what does Jordan have to do with the Netherlands? What about Brazil and India? Mali and Japan?
We all live in different places and are surrounded by different people, yet we all have that same enthusiasm of dancing in front of a camera.

A photographer called Jock Sturges once said:
“Different members of different cultures will think that some things are beautiful.”

Do you agree with this statement? Are we really worlds apart or are we truly similar? What do you think about different cultures? Do they appeal to you? What did this video make you feel, and what has it meant to you?

This video was filmed and “launched” in the year 2008. Ever since his first success Matt has been travelling around the world, creating a new video each year.
For more information on Matt and his adventures check out this website: http://www.wherethehellismatt.com/

Davis Cup

Rafael Nadal beat Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro in a hard match to secure the Davis Cup for Spain.

His match secured Spain's fifth Davis Cup title and their third in four years.

Spain won 3-1 against a very capable Argentina.

These are the results of the matches:

• R1: R. Nadal (ESP) d. J. Monaco (ARG) 61 61 62
• R2: D. Ferrer (ESP) d. J.M. del Potro (ARG) 62 67(2) 36 64 63
• R3: D. Nalbandian / E. Schwank (ARG) d. F. Lopez / F. Verdasco (ESP) 64 62 63
• R4: R. Nadal (ESP) d. J.M. del Potro (ARG) 16 64 61 76(0)

The final was set in Sevilla and many people went to support the Spanish team.

Is Spain going to win next years Davis Cup or are they just on their way out?

Barça, the best... again?

This week, FC Barcelona may become the best club in the world for the second time in history. The semi final will be played on Thursday and the expected final on Sunday. Do you think Barça and Santos will get to the final and play against each other?

This is a very important trophy for all Barça fans and especially for Guardiola, who could achieve his 13th cup out of 16 possibles. The players have also said that they want to continue breaking records and keeping up the good work. That is the correct spirit they have to follow but will they be able to consolidate themselves as the best in team in the world? Will this be the proof of the great cycle we are living in? We will have to wait until the end of the week to know.

Dani Roura from Jose's acount.

A new concept of fashion

Its been almost a month since the worldwide know brand H&M launched their collaboration with the also well known Italian designer Versace. Its release was everything to be expected coming from such a designer so their launch in New York was colourful and pompous with all the guest celebrities invited. The next day in the shops all the pieces from the collection were sold in a matter of hours and you almost had to fight for the right size or piece you wanted.

However the amazing thing was that after only a few weeks of its release, the brand announced their next collaboration with Marni for the next season.

Click here to see Marni's collaboration

H&M is not the only brand that has started this new concept of chic & cheap fashion, they have done it before in past campaigns like last year with Lanvin and other brands like Gap also collaborate with great expensive firms.

This new way of fashion gives a chance to all of us to owe a piece of these famous designers for an affordable amount that we wouldn’t normally buy from their actual collections. This method is becoming more popular now due to the crisis and I think it’s a definite success for both the brand and the designer.

Do you think other brands should do this? Will this be the new way of fashion? Or will there still be unrealistic prices in big firms and we will have to conform ourselves with the usual stores like Zara, Mango, H&M…?

Social pressure

Would you:

• turn a blind eye to obvious racism?
• help an injured man in the street?
• try to stop a thief?
• kill another volunteer in an experiment?

In fact, asking you is probably the wrong approach: people tend to act first and explain away their actions afterwards.

To find out the truth, we need some social experiments, such as these. [Seen in some classes.]

Are you surprised by how the people in the videos behave?

UEFA has announced that its Betting Fraud Detection System has not yet shown any irregular betting information to justify an investigation into Lyon's 7-1 victory over Dinamo Zagreb on Champions League.
To finish second and pass to the next round, Lyon needed to beat Dinamo Zagreb and for Ajax to lose with Real Madrid with a seven-goal diference in their favour. Lyon emerged 7-1 victors while Ajax were beaten 3-0.
Ajax loosed against Madrid very strangely, 2 goals were badly canceled to Ajax by the referee, while Lyon scored 5 "strange" goals in 28 minutes.
Also a photo has been taken by a journalist in which Zagreb's defenser has made a wink to Gomis after his goal.
After all this Ajax's coach says an ispection should be done, because this match seems strange.

What do you think - has their been any underhand play?

END OF THE WORLD?

Two years ago, an outstanding film was launched, this movie “2012” was based on ancient beliefs which foretold the end of the world.

According to the Mayan calendar, the world is about to end: the date for our final breath will be the 21st of December next year, 2012.

Since the moment this calendar was discovered, a lot of investigations have been carried out to check the 'facts'. Although we hope this isn’t true, it has to be said that it isn't only the Mayan calendar which predicts the end of the world in 2012: a Roman oracle predicted that the world would last for nine periods of four hundred years each, with the tenth period the last - and this started in the year 2000AC. All her other predictions, up until today, have been true. Will this one will also be true?

What do you think will really happen?

Do you believe in these myths?

Don't waste time, make a change

Would you imagine a world were when you reached 25 you would stop ageing and you would only have the chance to live one more year?

This new film In Time presents the idea of immortality and the laws of nature where the strongest succeeds and survives. The people in this world fight and work for time and it becomes their currency and their most precious asset. Everything is controlled by a system that helps those who are rich and they are able to live hundreds of years and become almost immortal. But will Will Salas, a young man, with only a day of life, be able to break the system and bring equality to the world?

I truly recommend this film as it questions many of Darwin’s theories and it is also related to the theme of new technologies. The theme may be similar to other films but what make this one different is the comparison between time and money, both limited in our world.

Do you agree that we live in an unfair world ruled by those who have more money? Should we make a change and stop wasting time?