Bribery charges dropped against former US Vice President Dick Cheney

According to the Nigerian media, the bribery charges against former US Vice President Dick Cheney and Halliburton have been dropped after the energy firm agreed to pay up to $250 million in fines.

The charges stem from a case involving millions allegedly paid in bribes to Nigerian officials by Halliburton and other firms to win a contract to build a $6 billion liquefied natural gas plant in Nigeria’s oil-rich southern delta. The move reportedly followed the intervention of the former president George H.W. Bush and the former secretary of state James Baker, according to press reports. Nigeria’s Economic and Financial Crimes Commission this month charged Cheney, the former US Vice President, who ran Halliburton in the 1990s and nine others with conspiracy and distribution of gratification to public officials. Houston-based engineering firm KBR, a former Halliburton unit, pleaded guilty last year to U.S. charges that it paid $180 million in bribes between 1994 and 2004 to Nigerian officials to secure $6 billion in contract. The Texas engineering firm KBR, a former unit of Halliburton, pleaded guilty in 2009 to US charges that it paid $180 million in bribes between 1994 and 2004 to Nigerian officials for the contracts for the Bonny Island liquefied natural gas project in the Nigeria delta. KBR and Halliburton reached a $579 million settlement in the US, but Nigeria conducted its own investigations into the case.

Pakistan bags two golds at the C’Wealth Games

Staff Report

NEW DELHI: Two Pakistani wrestlers, Azhar Hussain and Mohammad Inaam, won gold medals in different categories at the Commonwealth Games Sunday.

Azhar Hussain defeated Nigerian Wilson in the 55 kilogram category and won the first gold medal for Pakistan, while Mohammad Inaam won the second gold medal when he defeated Indian wrestler Anoj Kumar. SAMAA

Ravi Teja Brothers Caught In Drugs Scandal

Representative Ravi Teja Raju brothers Babu, Bharat Naresh friend along with the Nigerian national reality by the Task Force in Hyderabad on Thursday to deal with alleged illegal drugs.

The report says that the offender was arrested Raju Babu and spices by the Banjara Hills police while they were buying drugs from Nigeria. Police seized approximately 50 grams of cocaine and registered a case against them.

This is not the first time where they had been arrested Raju Babu by the police. Earlier, he was arrested on charges of driving under the influence (DUI).

Naan Mahaan Alla Movie Review Want To See New Movie

The director Susindran There is a rise in the skies with the promotions enlarge his self on ‘Naan Mahaan Alla. He boasted of his movie to be an extraordinary, unprecedented, and what you experience more of the screens is quite variable. The film does not exhibit a large piece like the story was very flimsy and very vulgar. ‘Naan Mahaan Alla is only an ordinary man to settle accounts with the baddies who spifflicated happiness.

Jeeva (Karthi) contains images of an ideal life. A happy family, friends, a supportive and friendly wild darling (kajal Agarwal) making it feel like heaven, earth and day. But it is a twist in the story comes through his father (Jayaprakash), who was killed by a group of mysterious. Later, revealed that the father of Jeeva, a taxi driver by profession was a witness to the killing of a boy and a girl in mysterious circumstances.

Geva determined to settle accounts with the help of his friend, the idiot across the coastal areas of Royapuram. But before that, when things go out of control, it’s up to Jeeva for the settlement of dozens of terms. Congratulations to the previous films Karthi share Aayirathil Oruvan ‘and’ Paiyaa ‘similarities the same from the first half is done with the fun and romance, while the second travel time to work. In all likelihood, this film follows the same pattern as well. Introduction to appear before the title credits and a clear illustration of this film is everything. In the first half and some parts interesting and laughable Karthi behaviors him. Disdain for him during the implementation of such acts will win the applause. Way in the proposal kajal Agarwal at the first meeting is more than necessary. Beware of the sequence of a ploy to catch his breath, during the height. Although the stunts failed by Anal Arasu memories weak ‘Renigunta’, and they overcame only.

Nigeria lifts ban on national team

ABUJA: Nigeria”s government lifted a two-year ban it imposed on its national football team after a dismal World Cup showing, avoiding a collision with world governing body FIFA in the process.

The government issued a statement saying the country”s football federation apologised to the president and informed him that the national team would be disbanded with the aim of building a new one.

“Based on these assurances, and the appeals of well-meaning Nigerians, including former leaders, President Goodluck Jonathan has decided to review the earlier two-year ban on the country from all international football competitions,” it said.

Nigeria last Wednesday slapped a two-year ban from international competition on the squad after the traditional African powerhouse finished bottom of their group in South Africa with just one point from three matches.

Jonathan also ordered an audit into how the funds allocated for the team at the World Cup were used.

But the move led to an angry reaction from FIFA, which takes a dim view of political interference in the sport.

FIFA gave Nigeria until 1600 GMT on Monday to reverse the decision or face “the suspension of the Nigerian (football) federation.”

FIFA confirmed that it had been informed of Nigeria”s change of heart.

FIFA threatens Nigeria with suspension on ban

JOHANNESBURG: Football governing body FIFA gave Nigeria 48 hours to reverse its decision to ban the national football team from international matches following its poor showing at the World Cup.

FIFA”s general secretary Jerome Valcke said he would meet the Nigerian executive member representing Nigeria at FIFA to discuss the decision. “Nigeria went too far and Nigeria will be suspended if they don”t change their position in the next 48 hours,” Valcke said.

“You can”t allow a government to say all national teams can”t play anymore in any international tournaments,” said Valcke. He said the decision to suspend Nigeria would be in line with the governing body”s efforts to retain the independence of football from political interference.

Nigerian president bans soccer team for 2 yrs

ABUJA: Nigeria”s president Goodluck Jonathan has suspended the national soccer team from international competition for two years after their dismal performance at the World Cup.

Nigeria came bottom of their group at the tournament in South Africa, losing to Argentina and Greece before drawing with South Korea.

Now president Jonathan has dissolved the Nigerian Football Federation and removed the ”Super Eagles” from the international circuit, meaning sanctions from soccer”s governing body, FIFA, could follow.

Nigeria”s Sports Minister Ibrahim Isa Bio confirmed the decision in an interview with media. He said: “The government has taken a decision we believe is in the interests of Nigeria that we should for now, withdraw from international competition because our football since 1996 seems not to be growing.

“The government spends a lot of money to encourage football in Nigeria and we need to go back to the drawing board the way Ghana did two years ago.

“The president Goodluck Jonathan has endorsed this decision and the Nigerian people are excited about it.

“They are not happy with the performance [in the World Cup] and the Nigerian people believe the right thing to do is start all over again. We have informed FIFA of our intentions.”

13 Dead After Attack:Nigerian village

BYEI: At least 13 bodies including those of women and children lay in a village near the central Nigerian city of Jos on Wednesday after an attack by raiders armed with machetes, a Reuters witness said.

Most of the bodies were women who appeared to have been cut by machete blows. Around three huts were burned in the overnight raid on the village of Byei, in the Riyom area 30 km (20 miles) south of Jos, the witness said.

Obama admits intelligence failures over jet bomb plot

US President Obama admitted the failure on part of intelligence agencies in detecting the terrorists’ attempt to blow an American airline, and pledged to defeat al-Qaeda at all costs.

Briefing media after meeting with Security Chief in Washington, the US president told the reporters that US security agencies had enough intelligence to disrupt a plot to blow up a plane last month, but failed to act. The intelligence community had failed to ‘connect the dots’, Mr Obama said. Obama however assured all out efforts to protect the Americans. He noted that a Nigerian man namely Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, became a member of al-Qaeda network in Yemen. The president reiterated his plan to close down Guantanamo Bay prison.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian government expressed concern over the strict screening made mandatory for Nigerian citizens at US airports. Nigerian Foreign Minister told the reporters that he had told the US envoy that such checking measures were intolerable for his country.

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Obama admits intelligence failures over jet bomb plot was first posted on January 6, 2010 at 10:31 pm.

Barack Obama Vows To Defeat Al-Qaeda

Barack Obama Vows To Defeat Al-Qaeda, An angry President Barack Obama on Tuesday warned “potentially disastrous” US intelligence failures over a Christmas Day airliner attack were deeper than first thought, and demanded immediate action.
“It is increasingly clear that intelligence was not fully analyzed or fully leveraged,” Obama said in a terse televised statement after meeting US spy chiefs and top national security aides at the White House. “That’s not acceptable, and I will not tolerate it.” Obama said two probes into the botched plot to blow up a Northwest plane showed US intelligence missed other “red flags” as well as the already revealed fact that the top suspect was an extremist who had traveled to Yemen.
He said US intelligence knew that Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula wanted to strike not only US targets in Yemen but in the United States itself. “The bottom line is this — the US Government had sufficient information to have uncovered this plot and potentially disrupt the Christmas Day attack, but our intelligence community failed to connect those dots,” Obama said. “In other words, this was not a failure to collect intelligence, it was a failure to integrate and understand the intelligence that we already had. “When a suspected terrorist is able to board a plane with explosives on Christmas Day, the system has failed in a potentially disastrous way,” Obama said, after meeting top spy chiefs and government agency heads.
“It’s my responsibility to find out why, and to correct that failure so that we can prevent such attacks in the future,” Obama said.
Obama also said he was suspending the transfer of Guantanamo detainees from Yemen. The Christmas attack has raised concerns about Yemen, because the Nigerian man has claimed to have been acting on instructions from al-Qaida operatives in that country. Nearly half of the 198 detainees held at Guantanamo are from Yemen. But Obama reiterated his vow to eventually close the prison camp in Cuba. As for the prison for terror suspects in Cuba, he said, “Make no mistake, we will close Guantanamo prison,” Obama said. Guantanamo, he said, “was an explicit rationale for the formation of al-Qaida” operating in Yemen.

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Barack Obama Vows To Defeat Al-Qaeda was first posted on January 6, 2010 at 1:05 pm.

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