Confirmation in Nigeria also raises doubts about the detection and reporting capabilities of northern and western African countries such as Ghana, Togo, Benin, Niger, Libya and Egypt.

Jockeying in the run-up to Nigeria's presidential elections and swelling violence in the unstable Niger Delta threaten the country's unity and could result in the break-up of the ruling party, damage regional stability and roil global oil markets.

There is a real risk that 2006 will be the year in which the essentially irreconcilable differences between Nigeria's Muslim north and mostly Christian south threaten the unity of the country.

[Sprint Nextel] is executing well and remains on track to avoid any significant operational disruptions related to the merger,

The more direct connection with the customer, the better, ... This is our extension of the Neiman-Marcus brand into this new world.

Wintel has a huge installed base, and if there's any demise coming, it's a long time coming.