In Nigeria, an explosion at a Shell oil pipeline killed at least 12 people Friday in the southern Rivers State. The blast came during a theft of crude oil, a booming illicit industry in Nigeria.

In related news, over 13,000 residents of the oil-rich Niger Delta joined a landmark British lawsuit against Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary earlier this year. The lawsuit is demanding compensation and cleanup for dozens of oil spills that have devastated land and waterways, destroying local livelihoods and ecosystems. Click here to see Democracy Now!'s documentary “Drilling and Killing: Chevron and Nigeria's Oil Dictatorship.”