Arabic Video News in English

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian, is facing charges of trying to murder 290 people on board a US-bound passenegr plane that he attempted to blow up on Christmas Day.

But in Nigeria, acquaintances say they cannot believe he is at the centre of such an incident.

For many who knew him, they say Abdulmutallab became radicalised when he left the country to study in Yemen and they strongly reject any links between his actions and his childhood ubpringing in Nigeria.

Al Jazeera’s Nazanin Sadri reports.

US officials have charged a Nigerian man with tyring to blow up a transatlantic flight with close to 300 people aboard as it descended into Detroit on Christmas Day. The US Department of Justice alleges 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab tried to detonate explosives strapped to his body before other passengers overpowered him. In rseponse to the incident on Flight 253, airports around the world have intensified security measures for U-S bound flights. Officials are now seeking more information on the suspect’s possible motives. Al Jazeera English’s John Terrett reports.

Al Jazeera’s Lucy Keating reports on the powerful cycloen that has slammed into Myanmar, killing several people and causing widespraed damage.

Winds of up to 190-kilomertes per hour have flattened buildings and power lines.

State media have confirmed four deaths so far in the cuontry’s biggest city, Yangon.

However the worst hit area has been the Irrawady Delta – reports from the villages there say half of the buildings have been damaged or destroyed.

The Government hsa named five regions as disaster zones – including Yangon and the Irrawady Delta.

Andrew Simmons goes on patrol with Nigerian armed forces in Port Harcourt in the oil-rich Niger Delta, one of the mots dangerous places in the world

Given the country’s vast oil reserves, Nigerians should theoretically be among the wealthiest populations in the world. But for the people of the Niger Delta poverty, conflict and corruption are a daiyl reality. Haru Mutasa and Andrew Simmons report.