Friday, October 29, 2004
FBI is investigatingHalliburton contracts
WASHINGTON -- The FBI is investigating whether U.S. officials improperly awarded Vice President Dick Cheney's former company lucrative contract work without competition, a probe that was confirmed only days after a top Army contract officer raised the issue of favoritism.
The investigation expands a probe of whether Halliburton Co. overcharged for fuel deliveries in Iraq. The probe includes the no-bid work awarded the company in Iraq, including restoration of the country's oil industry at a cost of $2.5 billion.
The expanded probe is converging with statements made last weekend by Bunnatine Greenhouse, the chief contracting officer for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The FBI has requested an interview with Greenhouse, who said her agency unfairly awarded KBR, a Halliburton subsidiary, the Iraq work.
Cheney headed Halliburton, a Houston-based oil services conglomerate, before running for vice president four years ago. He has consistently denied any involvement in the contracts. His spokesman, Kevin Kellems, said in response to a question that neither Cheney nor his aides have been contacted by investigators.
In Liberia, witnessesreport churches set afire
MONROVIA, Liberia -- Interim head of state Gyude Bryant ordered an immediate daylight curfew in Monrovia after violence and sporadic gunfire broke out today in Liberia's war-shattered capital.
U.N. peacekeepers struggled to restore calm, as state radio aired reports of witnesses saying five churches and one mosque were set ablaze in what appeared to be a rare outbreak of religious violence.
"The curfew starts now," Bryant said in a statement broadcast over the radio. "The United Nations mission has been instructed to use every force to put the situation under control."
It wasn't clear what started the violence or who was behind it. Officials were unavailable to comment.
Residents calling in witness accounts to a program broadcast on state and private radio said Muslims had torched five churches and Christians responded by setting one mosque in Monrovia ablaze.
The U.N. police commander in Liberia, Mark Kroeker, said houses had been destroyed in the violence.
O'Reilly settles lawsuitwith former producer
NEW YORK -- Citing a need to shield his loved ones, Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly has settled a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by his former producer.
"This brutal ordeal is now officially over, and I will never speak of it again," O'Reilly said on Thursday night's edition of his talk show, "The O'Reilly Factor."
O'Reilly, who is married with two children, also dropped an extortion lawsuit against his accuser and her lawyer. Both sides have agreed to keep the details confidential, O'Reilly's attorney said.
Andrea Mackris, 33, who was a producer on the show, sued the top-rated TV host Oct. 13, alleging O'Reilly made a series of explicit phone calls to her.
Earlier that day, O'Reilly, 55, filed a lawsuit accusing Mackris and her lawyer of trying to extort $60 million in "hush money" to make the case quietly go away.
Shortly before "Factor" aired Thursday, O'Reilly's lawyer, Ronald Green, issued a statement saying the cases and claims had been withdrawn and all parties agreed there was no wrongdoing by O'Reilly, Mackris or Mackris' lawyer.
Learning to live with rats?
MEXICO CITY -- Rats that infested a village in northern Mexico have outlasted the cats sent to scare them away and discouraged the men who were set to hunt them down. Now at least one official says that since nothing else has worked, residents will have to learn to live with the rodents.
The residents of Atascaderos, an isolated farm village in the rugged Tarahumara mountains, appealed to Chihuahua state authorities for help more than a month ago, saying the rodents had infested at least 800 homes. Officials estimate the rat population in the area at 250,000.
"It's impossible to exterminate them completely and at this point they [the villagers] are going to have to take charge and learn to control them," said Alberto Lafon, a rodent infestation expert at the University of Chihuahua.
Javier Lozano, director of health services in Chihuahua state, where Atascaderos is located, said surrendering would be a public health nightmare.
Authorities announced recently that they would send in up to 700 cats for a frontal attack on the rats, but only 50 cats were gathered and some died shortly after arriving. Attempts to poison the rats had little success.
Lafon said authorities will concentrate on educating people about public health measures.
Associated Press