Suicide bombing at US Embassy, 2 dead

 SUZAN FRASER | Associated Press 

• 
  Reuters/REUTERS - Turkish police forensic experts inspect the site after an explosion at the entrance of the U.S. embassy in Ankara February 1, 2013. A suspected suicide bomber detonated explosives in an attack …more 

  

• Medics carry an injured woman on …

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at the entrance of the U.S. Embassy in the Turkish capital on Friday, killing himself and one other person, officials said.

U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardione told reporters that a guard at the gate was killed in the 1:15 p.m. blast, and a Turkish citizen was wounded.
The bomb appeared to have exploded inside the security checkpoint at the side entrance of the embassy, but did not do damage inside the embassy itself. Footage showed that the door had been blown off its hinges and debris littered the ground and across the road. An Associated Press journalist saw a body in the street in front of an embassy side entrance.
Police swarmed the area and several ambulances were dispatched. An AP journalist saw one woman who appeared to be seriously injured being carried into an ambulance.
The police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government rules, said police had examined security cameras around the embassy and had identified two people who could have been the suicide bomber.
The embassy building is heavily protected. It is near an area where several other embassies are located, including that of Germany and France. Police sealed off the area and journalists were being kept away.

The phones were not being answered at the embassy. In a statement, it thanked Turkey for "its solidarity and outrage over the incident."

There was no claim of responsibility, but Kurdish rebels and Islamic militants are active in Turkey. Kurdish rebels, who are fighting for autonomy in the Kurdish-dominated southeast, have dramatically stepped up attacks in Turkey over the last year.

As well, homegrown Islamic militants tied to al-Qaida have carried out suicide bombings in Istanbul. In a 2003 attack on the British consulate, a suspected Islamic militant rammed an explosive-laden pickup truck into the main gate, killing 58, including the British consul-general.

In 2008, an attack blamed on al-Qaida-affiliated militants outside the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul left three assailants and three policemen dead.

Turkey has become a harsh critic of the regime in Syria, where a vicious civil war has left at least 60,000 people dead. The first of six Patriot missile batteries being deployed to Turkey to protect against attack from Syria was declared operational and placed under NATO command on Saturday and others were expected to be operational in the coming days.

At least 8 killed after firework truck blast causes bridge collapse in China

Jethro Mullen, CNN

A rescuer looks for survivors at the scene near the city of Sanmenxia, Henan province, on February 1, 2013.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: The latest death toll from state media is 8
• NEW: 13 other people have been injured, state media say
• An 80-meter stretch of the bridge collapses after a truck carrying fireworks explodes
• Fireworks are a key part of Lunar New Year celebrations in China

Hong Kong (CNN) -- A truck carrying fireworks on an expressway bridge in central China exploded Friday, causing part of the bridge to collapse and sending dozens of vehicles plunging off the edge, authorities said.

The exact number of casualties wasn't immediately clear. Highway police in Henan province, where the explosion happened, said on their official microblog account that at least 11 people had been killed.

But that post was later deleted and replaced with one that gave the lower total being reported by Xinhua, the official state news agency. By late Friday afternoon, Xinhua was citing local authorities as saying that eight people had been killed.

The state-run China National Radio had earlier reported on its website that as many as 26 people had died in the disaster. It didn't say where it got the information from.

Authorities have closed the expressway while search and rescue efforts are under way, Xinhua reported, and 13 injured people have been retrieved from the wreckage so far.

At least 25 vehicles are believed to have fallen off the bridge to the ground about 30 meters (100 feet) below, Xinhua said.

State broadcaster CCTV carried footage of a yawning gap in one part of the bridge, with mounds of debris, including rubble and parts of vehicles, spread out below

Rescue workers in bright orange overalls clambered over upturned trucks, looking for survivors.

Xinhua said an 80-meter (260-foot) stretch of the bridge had collapsed after the explosion, which occurred at 8:52 a.m. local time in Mianchi County.

China's fireworks tradition

Fireworks are an enduring element of celebrations of the Lunar New Year in China, one of the country's most important holidays that takes place this month. But they have been at the root of accidents in the past.

In 2009, fireworks set off a huge fire that gutted a brand-new hotel in central Beijing, briefly prompting calls for the return of a ban put in place at the height of Chairman Mao Zedong's rule in the 1970s.

According to local folklore, fireworks drive away monsters and evil spirits. But under Mao they were prohibited, ostensibly on the basis that they were "bourgeois" and a "waste of money."

Beijing authorities on Friday urged residents to set off fewer fireworks during this year's Lunar New Year celebrations to avoid exacerbating the thick pollution that has cloaked the capital for much of the past month, Xinhua reported.

Nigeria: NBC, NFVCB Deny Ban of P Square Alingo, Other Music Videos

P Square's back again with a brand new video like you've never seen before. Fun packed video with fantastic dance steps and highly entertaining. ( Resource: Alingo - P-Square

The Nigerian Broadcast Commission, NBC, and National Films and Video Censors Board, NFVCB, on Monday denied banning the broadcast of some musical videos by Nigerian artistes.
Mrs Maimuna Jimada, the Acting Public Relations Officer of the Commission, disclosed in Abuja that the commission was not aware of the ban.
According to her, NBC was not in charge of banning musical videos. "NBC has not banned any videos as we are not in-charge of placing a ban on music videos."
Some newspapers had reported that the commission had banned some new musical videos from being broadcast in the country for containing offensive materials.
The report named some of the affected artistes as P-square, Wande Coal, Timaya, Flavour, D'prince, Goldie, Chuddy K and Tillaman.
Jimada said NBC was solely responsible for ensuring that musical videos and audios made for public consumption were safe.
" If a music video or audio has content that is not suitable for broadcast, we tag these videos and audio as 'not to be put on air. Also we inform stations across the country not to broadcast them," she said.

Suicide bombing at US Embassy, 2 dead

 SUZAN FRASER | Associated Press 

• 
  Reuters/REUTERS - Turkish police forensic experts inspect the site after an explosion at the entrance of the U.S. embassy in Ankara February 1, 2013. A suspected suicide bomber detonated explosives in an attack …more 

  

• Medics carry an injured woman on …

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — A suspected suicide bomber detonated an explosive device at the entrance of the U.S. Embassy in the Turkish capital on Friday, killing himself and one other person, officials said.

U.S. Ambassador Francis Ricciardione told reporters that a guard at the gate was killed in the 1:15 p.m. blast, and a Turkish citizen was wounded.
The bomb appeared to have exploded inside the security checkpoint at the side entrance of the embassy, but did not do damage inside the embassy itself. Footage showed that the door had been blown off its hinges and debris littered the ground and across the road. An Associated Press journalist saw a body in the street in front of an embassy side entrance.
Police swarmed the area and several ambulances were dispatched. An AP journalist saw one woman who appeared to be seriously injured being carried into an ambulance.
The police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with government rules, said police had examined security cameras around the embassy and had identified two people who could have been the suicide bomber.
The embassy building is heavily protected. It is near an area where several other embassies are located, including that of Germany and France. Police sealed off the area and journalists were being kept away.

The phones were not being answered at the embassy. In a statement, it thanked Turkey for "its solidarity and outrage over the incident."

There was no claim of responsibility, but Kurdish rebels and Islamic militants are active in Turkey. Kurdish rebels, who are fighting for autonomy in the Kurdish-dominated southeast, have dramatically stepped up attacks in Turkey over the last year.

As well, homegrown Islamic militants tied to al-Qaida have carried out suicide bombings in Istanbul. In a 2003 attack on the British consulate, a suspected Islamic militant rammed an explosive-laden pickup truck into the main gate, killing 58, including the British consul-general.

In 2008, an attack blamed on al-Qaida-affiliated militants outside the U.S. Consulate in Istanbul left three assailants and three policemen dead.

Turkey has become a harsh critic of the regime in Syria, where a vicious civil war has left at least 60,000 people dead. The first of six Patriot missile batteries being deployed to Turkey to protect against attack from Syria was declared operational and placed under NATO command on Saturday and others were expected to be operational in the coming days.

D banj Is Illuminati – Majek Fashek

Majek Fashek, a popular reggae musician back in the days has expressed his love for international music star, 2face and EME crew artiste, Wizkid.

Fashek, popularly known as the ‘Rain Maker’, however, said he does not like D’banj’s music.
In an interview granted to the NETng, Fashek said, “I like Wizkid and 2face, they play good music.”
He explained his dislike for D’banj saying, “I don’t like that other boy called D’banj, those ones that went to join Illuminati. How can you go and sell your soul to the devil because you want to be famous. I don’t even like his music anyway.”
Majek Fashek is allegedly involved in substance abuse which many believe has a negative effect on his mental health. He is, however, currently doing all he can to revive his musical career.

Beyonce Super Bowl Press Conference: Singer Belts National Anthem, Live To Counter Lip-Sync Critics

Beyonce spoke to the media at a Super Bowl press conference Thursday afternoon, just days before she'll take perhaps the nation's biggest stage during the game's halftime show. But she started the show her way: By singing the national anthem, live.
"Any questions?" she asked after completing the impressive performance.
"I am a perfectionist," she explained when asked about the inaugural performance, explaining that she chose to use "a backing track" due to a lack of sound check and the high stakes surrounding the event. "I'm very proud of my performance," she added.
She'll be ready come Sunday, though. "I will absolutely be singing live," she said of the Super Bowl performance. "I am well-rehearsed. This is what I was born to do."
The press conference came with a heavy fog of anticipation, stemming in large part from the singer's performance of the national anthem at Barack Obama's second inauguration on Jan. 21. Beyonce was reported to have used a backing track for her well-received rendition of "The Star-Spangled Banner," a move that was met with a perhaps undue amount of shock. (Lip-syncing is not uncommon at events of such a scale; Whitney Houston famously used a backing track during her performance fo the national anthem at the 1991 Super Bowl, which has described as the best-ever performance of the song.)
"I practice until my feet bleed and I did not have time to rehearse with the orchestra," Beyonce said Thursday. "Due to no proper sound check, I did not feel comfortable taking a risk. It was about the president and the inauguration, and I wanted to make him and my country proud, so I decided to sing along with my pre-recorded track, which is very common in the music industry. And I'm very proud of my performance."
Another question that lingered before the press conference: Will a Destiny's Child reunion be a part of the show? Michelle Williams seemed to throw cold water on rumors of a reunion, but more recent updates have pointed to Williams, Beyonce and Kelly Rowland taking the stage together.
"I can't give you any details," Beyonce smiled at the press conference.
Beyonce released footage from Super Bowl rehearsals, offering fans a glimpse at the preparations. Videos and photos that are approved from the Beyonce's camp are more in her style than press conferences, as the notoriously press-shy singer prefers to control the narrative as much as possible. Next weekend, HBO will air "Life Is But A Dream," a movie Beyonce directed about herself, using archival footage and laptop video from the singer's own archives. She explained the move at the press conference by saying she felt "it was time for people to get to know me."
Controversy aside, one thing is clear: Beyonce will look to silence her critics come halftime at Sunday's Big Game.

Deadly explosion rocks Mexico City

Deadly explosion rocks Mexico City skyscraper housing oil giant Pemex

A powerful explosion shook the building housing the headquarters of Mexican oil giant Pemex. NBC's Kristen Dahlgren reports.

Rescue workers searched through rubble Friday after a powerful explosion in the Mexico City skyscraper complex housing the headquarters of Pemex, the state oil monopoly, killed at least 25 people and injured more than 100 others, company and government officials said.

Interior Minister Miguel Angel Osorio Chong warned Thursday that the number of victims would likely rise.

Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto arrived at the Pemex administration complex by helicopter Thursday night to supervise rescue operations, Pemex and the news agency La Prensa reported. Hundreds of Mexican military forces were sent to the complex to "preserve security," officials told newspaper El Universal.

Emilio Lozoya Austin, director general of Pemex, which is short for Petrõleos Mexicanos, was flying home from a business trip to Asia. He said he extended his condolences "to all the families of Pemex workers who have lost their loved ones."

The explosion took place in the basement garage of the auxiliary building, next to the company's 52-floor tower in a busy commercial and residential area, said Eduardo Sánchez, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

Stringer/Mexico/Reuters

An injured woman is transferred to a stretcher outside the headquarters of state oil giant Pemex in Mexico City on Thursday.

"They're conducting a tour of the building and the area adjacent to the blast site to verify if there are any still trapped so they can be rescued immediately," Sanchez said.

A government official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said preliminary findings suggested the blast was caused by aged boiler exploding in a Pemex building next to the tower, Reuters reported.

Authorities were still investigating Friday, however, and Peña Nieto urged people not to speculate and promised a thorough investigation.

The plaster ceiling of the basement collapsed, a spokesman for the local emergency agency said. He described conditions in the tower as "delicate."

Sánchez said as many as 30 people remained trapped in the debris Thursday. Search-and-rescue dogs were sent into the skyscraper, parts of which remained on fire at 10 p.m. ET, cloaking the Mexico City skyline in a thick cloud of smoke, Telemundo reported.

The main floor and the mezzanine of the auxiliary building were heavily damaged, along with windows as far as three floors up. 

A man who was on the ground floor when the explosion occurred told Forum TV that the first casualties were taken to a clinic in the adjacent office tower, where several thousand people work.

"It shook the building, and then we were evacuated," he said.

Company touted safety recordNews of the blast came toward the end of the business day — just a few hours after the company had sent two messages on Twitter celebrating how much it had "reduced our accident rate in recent years," announcing that its "safety indicators" exceeded international standards: