Nigeria : Oil company reports lost nuclear material

Nigeria issued a warning Friday over missing radioactive material, saying an oil company in the oil-rich Niger Delta had reported the loss.

The short announcement, on Nigerian television, gave few details — leaving unanswered how much material was missing, and where, among other questions.

Citing the West African nation’s nuclear regulatory agency, state television said an unspecified oil company had reported metal contaminated with radioactive material was missing from its operations.

It was not clear what function the missing material would have played in the oil industry.

Nigeria has no known nuclear program and no known uranium.

Iran : Recovery continues at plane crash site

Crews have recovered more than 50 bodies from the mountain site where a military plane crashed, killing 302 soldiers, state-run Iran television reported Friday.

Officials from the elite Revolutionary Guard told the TV station that search operations, which had been hampered by winds, fog and rain, would continue today.

The Russian-made military transport Ilyushin-76 crashed Wednesday evening en route from Zahedan, on the Pakistan border, to Kerman, about 500 miles southeast of Tehran.

There were no survivors in the crash, the deadliest in Iranian history.

The cause of the crash was unknown. Air traffic controllers said the pilot had radioed about bad weather and strong winds before losing contact, Tehran television reported.

Armenia: Vote-rigging alleged in presidential election

About 25,000 people rallied against President Robert Kocharian in the Armenian capital Friday, urging him to resign after his failure to win a clear re-election.

Many protesters backed opposition complaints that the balloting was rigged in Kocharian’s favor, though he won less than the needed 50 percent and now must enter a run-off. European observers also said Wednesday’s vote was “flawed” by ballot-stuffing and intimidation.

“Give up power, or things will go badly for you,” said Aram Karapetian, who ran against the president.

Stepan Demirchian, who is to face Kocharian in a March 5 runoff, said that the opposition would act within the law.