Shell to Pay $84 Million in Compensation for 2008 Nigeria Oil Spills
The oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has agreed to pay nearly $84 million in compensation for a pair of oil spills in Nigeria. The claimants say the 2008 spills devastated their small Niger Delta community with the leak of 500,000 barrels of oil. Shell initially claimed the spill was only a fraction of that size, but later acknowledged it could have been bigger. It is the largest ever out-of-court settlement for an oil spill in Nigeria, but much smaller than cases in other countries. In a statement, Amnesty International said: “While the pay-out is a long awaited victory for the thousands of people who lost their livelihoods in Bodo, it shouldn’t have taken six years to get anything close to fair compensation.”
French Parliament Extends ISIS Bombing Campaign with 488-to-1 Vote
The French Parliament paid tribute to the victims with a moment of silence that spontaneously turned into a singing of France’s national anthem. French lawmakers also overwhelmingly backed an extension of their government’s role in the U.S.-led bombing of the Islamic State. The vote was 488 to 1.