US praises Nigeria on 'democratic handover'

Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan is serving as president

The US has praised Nigeria for this week's handover of power to the deputy leader after two months of political deadlock over the president's health.

"We believe that the principle of democracy have [sic] been served well," said a statement from the US embassy.

Vice-President Goodluck Jonathan is now formally acting president until Umar Yar'Adua can resume his duties.

Nigeria is not normally seen as a beacon of democracy - recent elections have been riddled with fraud.

The country was ruled by the military for many years and Mr Yar'Adua became the first elected Nigerian leader to be handed power by another in 2007.

Relations between the US and Nigeria have been fraught in recent months - especially after a young Nigerian man was caught allegedly trying to blow up a plane over the US in December 2009.

The best interests of the country and the future of Nigeria have been well served by this action Robin Sanders US ambassador to Nigeria

Nigeria criticised the increased security measures taken against its citizens after that incident.

Last month US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Nigeria's leaders were partly to blame for the increasing "radicalisation" of young Nigerians.

President Yar'Adua went to Saudi Arabia to be treated for heart problems in November, leading to a political vacuum in Nigeria.

For two months, the government refused to let Mr Jonathan be recognised as acting president.

Although the authorities won a court case that the president was not obliged to hand over power when sick, this week the National Assembly passed a motion recognising Mr Jonathan as the country's interim leader.

US ambassador Robin Sanders praised "the leadership shown by the National Assembly, the Governors' Forum, several Ministers, and the courts in finding a way out of the political impasse".

"The best interests of the country and the future of Nigeria have been well served by this action."

US Department of Justice objects to Google book plan

A hearing on the settlement is scheduled for 18 February

The US Department of Justice has said that it is still not satisfied with a deal that would allow search giant Google to build a vast digital library.

It said the plan failed to address antitrust and copyright concerns.

It echoes objections by online retailer Amazon, which has said that Google's plan to scan and distribute millions of books online could lead to a monopoly.

Google were forced to amend details of the plan in 2009 after objections by the Department of Justice (DoJ).

"The amended settlement agreement still confers significant and possibly anti-competitive advantages on Google as a single entity," the DOJ said.

It said that the agreement would allow the Google to be "the only competitor in the digital marketplace with the rights to distribute and otherwise exploit a vast array of works in multiple formats".

'Unaddressed issues'

Google Books - formerly known as Google print - was first launched in 2004. It was put on hold a year later when the Authors Guild of America and Association of American Publishers sued over "massive copyright infringement".

In 2008 Google agreed to pay $125m (£77m) to create a Book Rights Registry, where authors and publishers could register works and receive compensation for scanned books.

It once again reinforces the value the agreement can provide in unlocking access to millions of books in the US Google spokesperson Deadline looms for Google Books

A decision on whether the deal could go through was originally scheduled for October 2009. But, District Judge Denny Chin, presiding over the trial, sent the deal back to the drawing board after objections from around the world, including criticism by the DoJ.

The DoJ has once again waded into the debate.

It says the proposed settlement posed potential copyright and antitrust issues.

It also criticised the agreement for requiring authors to opt out of having their books included in the deal, rather than opting in.

It also said that authors and representatives of the publishing industry who had brokered the deal had inappropriately spoken for foreign authors and for authors of "orphan works".

Orphan books - of which there are thought to be five million - are titles where the authors cannot be found.

The DoJ said that Google's exclusive access to these orphan works "remains unaddressed, producing a less than optimal result from a competition standpoint."

But Google said that the Department of Justice's filing recognised "the progress made with the revised settlement".

"It once again reinforces the value the agreement can provide in unlocking access to millions of books in the US," it said.

"We look forward to Judge Chin's review of the statement of interest from the Department and the comments from the many supporters who have filed submissions with the court in the last months."

A hearing on the settlement has been scheduled on 18 February.

US Department of Justice objects to Google book plan

A hearing on the settlement is scheduled for 18 February

The US Department of Justice has said that it is still not satisfied with a deal that would allow search giant Google to build a vast digital library.

It said the plan failed to address antitrust and copyright concerns.

It echoes objections by online retailer Amazon, which has said that Google's plan to scan and distribute millions of books online could lead to a monopoly.

Google were forced to amend details of the plan in 2009 after objections by the Department of Justice (DoJ).

"The amended settlement agreement still confers significant and possibly anti-competitive advantages on Google as a single entity," the DOJ said.

It said that the agreement would allow the Google to be "the only competitor in the digital marketplace with the rights to distribute and otherwise exploit a vast array of works in multiple formats".

'Unaddressed issues'

Google Books - formerly known as Google print - was first launched in 2004. It was put on hold a year later when the Authors Guild of America and Association of American Publishers sued over "massive copyright infringement".

In 2008 Google agreed to pay $125m (£77m) to create a Book Rights Registry, where authors and publishers could register works and receive compensation for scanned books.

It once again reinforces the value the agreement can provide in unlocking access to millions of books in the US Google spokesperson Deadline looms for Google Books

A decision on whether the deal could go through was originally scheduled for October 2009. But, District Judge Denny Chin, presiding over the trial, sent the deal back to the drawing board after objections from around the world, including criticism by the DoJ.

The DoJ has once again waded into the debate.

It says the proposed settlement posed potential copyright and antitrust issues.

It also criticised the agreement for requiring authors to opt out of having their books included in the deal, rather than opting in.

It also said that authors and representatives of the publishing industry who had brokered the deal had inappropriately spoken for foreign authors and for authors of "orphan works".

Orphan books - of which there are thought to be five million - are titles where the authors cannot be found.

The DoJ said that Google's exclusive access to these orphan works "remains unaddressed, producing a less than optimal result from a competition standpoint."

But Google said that the Department of Justice's filing recognised "the progress made with the revised settlement".

"It once again reinforces the value the agreement can provide in unlocking access to millions of books in the US," it said.

"We look forward to Judge Chin's review of the statement of interest from the Department and the comments from the many supporters who have filed submissions with the court in the last months."

A hearing on the settlement has been scheduled on 18 February.