A former chief executive of the construction company KBR Inc. pleaded guilty to federal bribery and kickback charges in connection with work done in Nigeria from 1995 to 2004.

The Chevron Corporation said that second-quarter oil output fell to the lowest level since 2005 as record energy prices reduced the company’s share of output in countries like Nigeria and Indonesia.

Nduka Obaigbena, a Nigerian media mogul — part Bono, part P. Diddy — has been challenging his country’s often brutal kleptocracy for decades.

Wall Street pulled back on Monday after Microsoft decided to withdraw its bid for Yahoo and oil prices rose to a record.

Wall Street pulled back on Monday after Microsoft decided to withdraw its bid for Yahoo and oil prices rose to a record.

Though retail gas prices fell more than a cent over the weekend, the advance in oil prices increased the chances that prices at the pump would resume rising.

Gasoline prices surpassed $3.50 a gallon nationwide for the first time and oil jumped to a record on Monday as the long rise of energy prices showed little signs of abating.