India: For once, a Wikileak that is actually helping foreign relations. A cable of former US envoy to New Dehli David Mulford was released recently, in which Mulford praises India’s 150 million Muslims and the way they have been able to create a culture which shuns extremism and shields children from recruiters. Mulford acknowledges the fact that Indian Muslims do face discrimination and poverty, but commends their strong spirit and says that he believes that the education system in India does a superior job of integrating Muslims into the country’s culture.
Bangladesh: Bangladesh will honor over 500 foreigners for their assistance in the 1971 Liberation War at its 40th Victory Day celebration next year. Included in the honor will be 226 Indians and 40 Pakistanis. Those who are honored will receive a gold crest and honorary Bangladesh citizenship.
Nigeria: Femi Babafemi of Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency EFCC said that the country has dropped charges against former US Vice President/CEO of controversial company Halliburton Dick Cheney and Halliburton owned company KBR. Looks like Cheney and the rest of the folks at KBR/Halliburton may have known that the bribery charges wouldn’t end will for them in court, as they settled outside of the court for about $250 million. Nigeria charged that KBR executives had paid over $180 million to obtain illegal contracts for the $6 billion construction of a natural gas plant.
http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/93407/20101217/nigeria-cheney-corruption-bribery-halliburton-kbr.htm
Brazil: While the rest of the world is drowning in economic turmoil, somehow Brazil has been absolutely thriving in these tough times. Today it was announced that their unemployment rate has hit a record low for the fourth straight month. In November, Brazil’s unemployment dropped to a ridiculously low 5.7 percent, a .4 percent drop from October and a 1.7 drop since November ’09. The Brazilian government says that they expect the economy to grow by 7.5 percent this year alone.
Kenya: Staying ahead the worldwide green movement, Kenya Power and Lighting is teaming with Standard Bank to develop clean energy projects to sell through the UN clean energy initiative. In this initiative, companies in developing nations receive carbon credits for creating ways to prevent the release of carbon dioxide. The project has already prevent 90,000 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the environment by giving out 1.25 million free energy saving light bulbs across the country. Ultimately, the carbon emissions saved through the project could earn the company over 100 million shillings according to KPLC’s CEO Joseph Njoroge.By @StanaMark
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