Pfizer tried a new antibiotic on 200 children, allegedly without sufficient documentation. When federal authorities pressed charges, the pharma giant hired investigators to probe attorney general Michael Aondoakaa's and put pressure on him to drop the federal cases.The world’s biggest pharmaceutical company hired investigators to unearth evidence of corruption against the Nigerian attorney general in order to persuade him to drop legal action over a controversial drug trial involving children...

Halt ongoing negotiations, says open letterWith Prime Minister Manmohan Singh set to hold talks with his counterpart in Brussels on trade and economic issues, a broad civil society alliance on Thursday called on the European Commission and India to immediately halt the ongoing negotiations for an India-EU Free Trade Agreement.The India-EU summit on Friday is likely to give a political mandate for working towards the conclusion of the FTA in...

The public face of the journalist is of a brave, feisty adversary to the rapacious establishment, not the party animal who will wilt before the charms of the corporate lobbyist.To succeed, a politician has to keep his ear to the ground. Yet success can be cruelly destructive; it is so deceptively flattering that it eventually insulates him from the very thing that has made him a success: public opinion. For...

Heavy rains have claimed 16 lives in coastal Andhra Pradesh since the last two days and have caused widespread Damage to standing crops, an official said on Wednesday. South coastal Andhra districts received heavy rains as a depression in the Bay of Bengal crossed the coast near Bapatla on Wednesday morning.According to an officials of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), the depression was centred 50 km northwest of Bapatla and...

Media "stars" named in the Niira Radia tapes were all on television in Spanish inquisition programmes to defend themselves. Unfortunately, the ruse did not work, as all covered themselves with more dirt, and were unable to explain why they were allowing a corporate lobbyist to instruct and direct them as to not only who they should call, but what they should write.One struck a belligerent note, almost shouting at the...