Massive Fire Erupts At NNPC Mega Station In Abuja

The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) mega station located on Kubwa road, Abuja , engulfed by fire.

The timely intervention of the National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA) prevented a massive destruction.

Details are still sketchy.

Below are more photos from the fire incident.

Fire kills 23 people at Russian psychiatric hospital

A fire killed 23 people and injured another 23 at a Russian psychiatric hospital, authorities said Sunday.

The blaze started late Saturday night at the hospital in the southwestern region of Voronezh.

Hospital workers told state-run media there were 140 people in the building, including 50 who were bedridden.

An investigation is underway.

Russia's Ministry of Emergency Situations said the fire has been extinguished. Search-and-rescue teams were surveying the site and inspecting the building.

Witness: Paris ringleader directed Bataclan theater attackers by phone

The ringleader of the Paris attacks last month appears to have directed the three terrorists inside the Bataclan theater by phone from a few blocks away, according to a French terrorism expert. And, a witness has told French investigators that they saw Abdelhamid Abaaoud standing in a doorway yelling into his phone for about an hour.

That night, the witness had several times gone to a car parked nearby, and Abaaoud had been there every time. They described the man as very agitated. When the witness later walked past him, they were able to see his face. Abaaoud's head was shaved and he was wearing layers of loose clothing, but when photographs were later published in the media the witness immediately recognized him and alerted the authorities.

Ringleader was planning more attacks

The witness account was disclosed by French terrorism analyst Jean Charles Brisard in the latest edition of the Combating Terrorism Center's journal Sentinel.

Brisard writes that "the presence of Abaaoud in the immediate vicinity of the attacks provides an indication of his degree of implication in the supervision and control of the plot, and suggests he was giving direct orders and instructions to his team inside the Bataclan."

Earlier in the evening, according to the Paris prosecutor Abaaoud's phone records show he was communicating with Bilal Hadfi, one of the stadium bombers, right until the moment the three suicide bombers at the Stade de France started blowing themselves up.

Earlier that same evening -- November 13 -- Abaaoud was detected on surveillance cameras at a metro station just a few hundred yards away from where one of the terrorists' cars had been abandoned. He then appears to have returned to the scene of the attacks, according to the Paris prosecutor, after analysis of his cell phone signal.

Paris terror attacks fast facts

The prosecutor, Francois Molins, told a news conference on November 24 that Abaaoud's phone was geo-located in the vicinity of the attacks between 10:28pm and 12:28am that night, inlcuding in proximity to the Bataclan before the attack was over.

Abaaoud had previously appeared in videos produced by ISIS, and the group claimed responsibility for the Paris attacks the day after they occurred.

He was killed five days later when police raided an apartment in the Paris district of St. Denis, along with a female cousin and a man who has not been identified. According to French investigators, Abaaoud was planning another wave of attacks in the business district of Paris known as La Defense and had also talked about attacks on public transportation, schools and "Jewish targets."

The ISIS "French contingent"

The investigation into the Paris attacks has uncovered that at least eight of those involved in the plot were French nationals who had been to Syria -- a worrying sign for European intelligence services. Several had been based in Molenbeek -- a suburb of Brussels that has been the base for previous jihadist plots. Abaaoud himself was Belgian and had grown up in the Molenbeek area.

According to Brisard, most of those involved in the plot re-entered Europe in August.

Salah Abdeslam, who drove three of the suicide bombers to the Stade de France, is still being sought. There has been no sighting of him since hours after the attacks, when he was stopped on the Belgium border, but let go because investigators had not yet connected him to the attacks.

According to Brisard, Abdeslam and Abaaoud are believed to have planned and co-ordinated the attacks. Abdeslam had made several trips between the French and Belgian capitals in September and October, and he had also traveled to Italy, Hungary and Austria.

Paris attacks: 'I would have killed him,' Bataclan bomber's father says

Brisard reports that investigators have established that the weapons used in the attacks were bought online or through criminal networks, Brisard says.

The Paris attacks have focused attention on the substantial French contingent within ISIS. The statement claiming responsibility was read by one of them -- Fabien Clain -- who is now thought to be a senior figure within ISIS according to Brisard. The terrorism expert writes that Clain's name "had been associated with a 2009 plot against the Bataclan" theater.

Clain was also a friend of the family of Mohammed Merah who carried out a series of gun attacks in the Toulouse area in 2012.

Other individuals of interest to French investigators are Salim Benghalem and Boubaker el-Hakim, who are both believed to be senior ISIS operatives based in Syria.

Buildup of European plots "alarming"

There are more French citizens and residents among foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq than of any other European nation according to Brisard.

"More than 2,000 French citizens and residents are involved in Syrian and Iraqi jihadi networks. Among them, 600 are believed to be fighting alongside terrorist organizations abroad and 250 are believed to have returned," he says.

Abaaoud was focused on using this contingent -- and Belgian jihadists who had returned -- to hit European targets. A plot similar to the Paris attacks was foiled in January in Verviers, in eastern Belgium, when authorities raided a safe house, setting off a gun-fight in which two alleged terrorists were killed. Abaaoud had been in contact with that group by cell phone from Greece, according to investigators.

In August a returning French foreign fighter told investigators he had attended a training camp for a week in Raqqa, ISIS' headquarters in Syria, before being told by Abaaoud to launch an attack. The chosen target was a concert hall. "Abaaoud had provided him a USB stick containing encryption software and 2,000 euros," writes Brisard.

The accumulation of ISIS-directed European plots this year is alarming for European governments, Brisard says. He writes that the Paris attacks "demonstrated major failures in European border control policy and the exchange of information between European Union member states."

"The fact that most of the perpetrators and facilitators of the attacks were able to travel and slip undetected into the heart of Europe, and then travel back and forth between Belgium and France to prepare the attacks raises significant concerns" about European security agencies' abilities to detect plots, Brisard adds.

Complete coverage of Paris attacks

Champions League draw: Arsenal face Barcelona

Arsenal will face holders Barcelona in the Champions League last 16.

Chelsea have been drawn against Paris St-Germain for the third consecutive season, while Manchester City face Dynamo Kiev.

Roma versus Real Madrid and Juventus, last year's beaten finalists, against Bayern Munich are two of the standout matches in the draw.

First legs are scheduled to take place on 16-17 and 23-24 February. Return legs are on 8-9 and 15-16 March.

The winners of each group, including Chelsea and Manchester City, are at home in the second legs, while Arsenal will host their first leg.

Barcelona v Arsenal is a repeat of the 2006 final, which the Spanish champions won 2-1 thanks to two late goals in Paris.

PSG, who are 17 points clear at the top of the French league, knocked Chelsea out on away goals at this stage last season, while the Blues beat them on the same rule in the quarter-finals the previous year.

Dynamo Kiev beat Manchester City in the 2010-11 Europa League last 16, with striker Mario Balotelli sent off for the English side.

The first leg in Kiev will be played in a stadium without any supporters present, as Dynamo Kiev were punished following racist attacks on fans during a group game against Chelsea.

Draw in full

Gent v Wolfsburg

Roma v Real Madrid

Paris St-Germain v Chelsea

Arsenal v Barcelona

Juventus v Bayern Munich

PSV Eindhoven v Atletico Madrid

Benfica v Zenit St Petersburg

Dynamo Kiev v Manchester City

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North West 2-year-old star yells at paparazzi "I said no pictures!"

"Like father, like daughter!" North West went all Kanye on the press while on her way to her dance class
North West proved she's the real daughter of Kanye West when she flared up at the paparazzi in Los Angeles for invading her privacy.

The two-year-old child star was filmed on her way to ballet class this week, where she and her nanny were moped by the papz.

"I said no pictures," Nori screamed at the pressmen while struggling to hurry for her dance class in the hands of her nanny.

PDP senators vow to withdraw support for Saraki if Amaechi is confirmed

ABUJA — Senators belonging to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and their All Progressives Congress, APC, were, yesterday, preparing for a showdown over different positions on the confirmation of two of 16 remaining ministerial nominees.
It was, however, learnt that Senate President Bukola Saraki was determined to weigh in on behalf of the former governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi and the ministerial nominee from Cross River State, Usani Uguru. The duo had been caught up in a grudge war mounted by PDP senators.
Amaechi is held in contempt by the PDP Senate caucus for his role in the defeat of the former ruling party in the last round of elections. Uguru brought himself into the bad book of the PDP Senate caucus when, during his screening, he said “God forbid” to a question as to his membership of the PDP. Following the end of the screening of the nominees yesterday, the PDP Senate caucus held a meeting where they reportedly took a position against the confirmation of Amaechi. The senators were said to have resolved not to consider Amaechi’s nomination unless the report of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges on the petitions filed against the former Rivers State governor was brought forward for consideration first.
Last five nominees screened
Five nominees were screened, yesterday, bringing to an end, the exercise that commenced about three weeks ago.
The five nominees screened were former Vice-Chancellor of Imo State University, Professor Anthony Anwuka (Imo); financial expert and medical doctor, Okechukwu Enelamah (Abia); newspaper columnist, Adamu Adamu (Bauchi); former Executive Secretary of National Hajj Commission, Mohammed Musa Bello (Adamawa), and Aisha Abubakar (Sokoto).
However, the confirmation exercise which was expected to commence immediately after, did not, as Senate President Saraki announced the adjournment of the Senate to today.
PDP senators sulk, plan offensive
PDP senators are also said to have been further miffed by the reverses suffered by the party in Rivers State in the last one week, including the cancellation of Governor Nyesom Wike’s election and that of PDP state legislators, and Tuesday’s Supreme Court’s rejection of Wike’s bid to negate the sitting of the Governorship Election Tribunals in Abuja.
Although they refused to address the media after their meeting which lasted for just thirty minutes, some members, who spoke to Vanguard on the condition of anonymity said the meeting resolved that before the confirmation, the Samuel Anyanwu-led Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Public Petitions’ report, must be considered.
One of the sources also said the PDP senators, in the meeting, resolved not to allow Pastor Usani Uguru to be confirmed today. He described Uguru as a light-hearted man who cannot be entrusted with any sensitive public office like the one he was nominated for.
Also, at the meeting, the PDP senators, according to one of them, vowed to withdraw their support for the Senate President should he force Amaechi’s confirmation. Vanguard gathered that another meeting of the PDP caucus would be held before the confirmation.
APC senators plan counter-action
APC senators have equally scheduled a caucus meeting this morning before commencement of plenary where they are also expecting to fine-tune their strategies to push through all the nominees. The confirmation process is expected to hold today if enough APC senators are present in the chambers to outplay the PDP senators.
In that event, the Senate would first go into a closed-door session during which senators would raise issues about the nominees. Following the closed-door session the senators would resort back to plenary where a voice vote would be taken on each of the nominees.
The ruling of the Senate President would be final and can only be challenged when a senator calls for a division and it is at this point that PDP senators may challenge whatever decision Senator Saraki takes on Amaechi and Uguru.
Only one of the nominees screened yesterday, Aisha Abubakar, daughter of former super permanent secretary and minister, Alhaji Abubakar Alhaji was waved through without a question. She was asked to take a bow and go upon submission by Senator Abiodun Olujimi.