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BREAKING NEWS CNN (January 22/2009) 3:55pm EST: KBR, formally Halliburton, a private contractors, through shoddy work caused electrocution deaths of U.S. soldiers in army bases in Iraq.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army said on Tuesday it had awarded $72 million in bonuses to Halliburton Co. for logistics work in Iraq but had not decided whether to give the Texas company bonuses for disputed dining services to troops. Army Field Support Command in Rock Island, Illinois, said in a statement it had given Halliburton unit Kellogg Brown & Root ratings from "excellent" to "very good" for six task orders for work supporting U.S. troops in Iraq. The Army said its Award Fee Board in Iraq had met in March and had agreed to pay KBR bonuses for...

Security concerns halt deliveries, idle work force and slow rebuilding effort As President Bush prepared to tell the nation on April 13 that the U.S. and its coalition partners will stay the course in Iraq, conditions there are more unstable than at any time since Baghdad fell nearly a year ago. This month’s escalation of violence has resulted in the kidnapping of scores of civilians from a dozen countries and the deaths of 70 coalition forces and at least 700 Iraqi civilians. Reconstruction has slowed to a crawl. Supply convoy operations were suspended, pending security upgrades, and contractors were avoiding...

DALLAS -- Halliburton Co. (HAL, news) took a giant step toward completing its $4 billion asbestos litigation settlement Tuesday by filing for bankruptcy protection for its DII industries unit, which includes its Kellogg Brown & Root construction and engineering services business. The long-awaited filing is part of an agreement that would create a bankruptcy trust to handle all current and future lawsuits filed against Halliburton and its subsidiaries alleging that workers were harmed from inhaling deadly asbestos fibers. The trust fund, which will process and pay all valid claims, will be funded by Halliburton with a mixture of cash and...

TIKRIT, Iraq - An American civilian contractor was killed Tuesday when a remote-control bomb exploded under the truck he was driving north of Tikrit, the U.S. military said. The contractor was employed by Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton, a Houston-based oilfield-services and construction company. Halliburton, the former company of Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites), has major contracts for reconstruction in both Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites). Maj. Brian Luke, of the 4th Infantry Division, said the five- vehicle convoy was traveling from Baghdad when it was attacked. Insurgents...