A suicide bomber has killed at least 40 soldiers at a military base in Yemen, according to government officials.

The deadly blast in Aden, which is under the control of the internationally recognised government in exile in Saudi Arabia, targeted troops waiting to collect their pay, it has been reported.
Islamic State militants have repeatedly claimed responsibility for carrying out attacks on military personnel in the southern port city.
The militants have taken advantage of Yemen's brutal civil war between the government and the Iran-aligned Houthi rebels.
Saudi Arabia intervened in the conflict in March, 2015, to battle the government's enemies.
However, it has failed to oust the rebels from the capital Sanaa despite thousands of airstrikes that have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians as the population struggles with starvation and disease.
Britain has lent military assistance, helping the Saudis select targets, but the Ministry of Defence insists it is to ensure the country complies with the rules of war.
The UK is also a massive exporter of arms to the country.

UN ignores Buhari, seeks record $2.7 billion aid for 7 million Nigerians affected by Boko Haram, others

Poverty, conflict and climate change will leave 15 million people across Africa’s Sahel belt in need of life-saving aid next year, the UN said as it launched a record $2.7 billion humanitarian appeal for the region in 2017.
Around 40 per cent of the money (about $1 billion) will be used to help some seven million people in Nigeria affected by the jihadist group Boko Haram’s seven-year insurgency, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
The UN’s statement of about 7 million Nigerians needing help in the aftermath of the Boko Haram insurgency comes days after the Nigerian government accused the global body and other international organisations working in the north-east of exaggerating the crisis for financial reasons.
“We are concerned about the blatant attempts to whip up a non-existent fear of mass starvation by some aid agencies, a type of hype that does not provide a solution to the situation on the ground but more to do with calculations for operations financing locally and abroad,” Nigeria’s President Muhammadu Buhari said in a statement by his spokesperson.
The president highlighted what he said were contradictions in some of the claims made by different humanitarian groups about the crisis.
“In a recent instance, one arm of the United Nations screamed that 100,000 people will die due to starvation next year. A different group says a million will die,” he said.
Mr. Buhari was reacting to statements made by officials of international organisations including the UN highlighting the humanitarian crisis in north-east Nigeria.
The U.N. Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator, Peter Lundberg, had said in a statement last Friday that “A projected 5.1 million people will face serious food shortages as the (Boko Haram) conflict and risk of unexploded improvised devices prevented farmers planting for the third year in a row, causing a major food crisis.”

$1.6 billion oil scam: Former NNPC boss testifies against Jide Omokore

The trial of the embattled chairman of Atlantic Energy Brass Development Limited and Atlantic Energy Drilling Concept Limited, Jide Omokore, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, got underway Thursday.
The case, heard by Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court sitting in Maitama, Abuja, opened with the prosecutor presenting its first witness, Andrew Yakubu, a former General Managing Director, GMD, of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC.
Mr. Yakubu, formerly a co-defendant prior to the amended charge, shed light on the nature of his engagement with the NNPC, which involved the strategic direction of NNPC and all its subsidiaries, including the Port Harcourt refinery, Warri refinery, Kaduna refinery, Pipelines and Products Marketing Company Limited (PPMC), Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC), Integrated Data Services Limited (IDSL) and National Petroleum Investment Management Services (NAPIMS).
According to him, “in 2013 to 2014, the MD of NPDC, Mr. Victor Briggs (the fourth defendant) came to me and raised some concerns in relation to assets OML 60 series in relation to the strategic alliance agreement between Atlantic Energy Drilling Concepts Limited and NPDC, citing inability of Atlantic Drilling to meet payment obligations. He told me that he was already looking into the issue and will get back to me. I told him to stop further lifting until the issue is reconciled. I called the Group General Manager of Crude Oil Marketing Department (COMD) and told him to stop further lifting until the issue had been resolved”.
He added that, “the Minister of Petroleum Resources wrote a letter to the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum Resources and I, and set up a committee to investigate the issue. The fourth defendant (Briggs) was removed from NPDC and reassigned to IDSL. Mr. Membere, who was the Director-General, Exploration and Production; Tony Madichie, the Company Secretary in charge; Acting EG, Dr. Dawa and Company Secretary, Mr. Ike, were also part of the committee that compiled the report. Before they completed, however, I was also retired from service.”
Regarding the complicity of NAPIMS in meeting the funding requirements of the assets, Mr. Yakubu stated that, “We got to know later that NAPIMS made a cash call but I also issued instructions for them to stop. I also made sure that whatever fund that NAPIMS had paid was refunded to the federation account by the NNPC”.
At this point, the defense counsel, Rafiu Lawal-Rabana, applied for an adjournment for cross-examination and he was obliged.
The matter was consequently adjourned to January 20, 2017 and February 3, 2017 for continuation of trial.

MOURINHO THRILLED FOR MKHITARYAN

Jose Mourinho admits he is "very pleased" that Henrikh Mkhitaryan is off the mark for Manchester United after the Armenian scored his first goal for the club on his return to Ukraine.

The former Shakhtar Donetsk star dribbled through the Zorya Luhansk defence to open the scoring on an icy pitch in the second half in Odessa and Zlatan Ibrahimovic's late clincher set the seal on a victory that takes the Reds through to the knockout stages of the Europa League.

"It was a strong mentality," said the boss when asked about Mkhitaryan's attitude. "He was determined to fight against his difficult adaptation.

"He worked hard physically and tactically - the talent was there, we knew that when we bought him. Now he's playing good - in the Premier League, Europa League and EFL Cup, and now the goal means a little more happiness for him, so I'm very pleased."

United qualified in second spot behind Fenerbahce after the Turkish side won 1-0 at Feyenoord and approach the visit of Tottenham on Sunday in good heart.

UPDATE: Why Court relaxed bail conditions for Nigerian judge accused of corruption

The failure of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to challenge the applications for bail variation filed by Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia and Godwin Obla was a major reason a Lagos court relaxed their bail conditions, Judge Hakeem Oshodi said on Thursday.
Reading a ruling he prepared after adjourning the morning proceedings till 2 p.m., Mr. Oshodi noted that Section 123 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law, 2011, empowers the court to vary bail conditions imposed on defendants at subsequent hearings.
“The prosecution did not oppose the submissions filed by the defendants,” said the judge.
“We must not forget that where facts and applications remain unchallenged or uncontroverted, the court is bound to accept those facts as the truth.”
The defendants, Mrs. Ofili-Ajumogobia, a serving federal judge, and Godwin Obla, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, are facing a joint 30-count charge of fraud and money laundering brought by the EFCC. godwin-obla
Mr. Obla was a prosecutor for the EFCC.
The duo were jointly charged with a two-count charge of perverting the course of justice by the anti-graft agency.
Mr. Obla was charged with an additional two counts of offering gratification in the sum of N5 million to Mrs. Ofili-Ajumogobia, a public official during her service as a judge.

Mrs. Ofili-Ajumogobia faces a 26-count charge of unlawful enrichment, taking property by a public officer, corruption by a public officer, forgery and giving false information to an official of the EFCC.
They pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
On November 28, Mr. Oshodi granted the defendants bail on own recognisance, but added that they should deposit N20 million each and their passport to the chief registrar of the court pending conclusion of trial.
But on Thursday, the defendants brought an application for variation of the bail, saying that the conditions were “too extreme.”
Mrs. Ofili-Ajumogobia said the EFCC had placed a ‘post no-debit/freezing order’ on all her bank accounts and, in any case, N20 million was “excessive and unaffordable” for her.
She also said the EFCC had collected her travel passport during the course of their investigation of the charges filed against her.
“Bail granted on excessive conditions amounts to a denial of bail,” Mrs. Ofili-Ajumogobia said.
In his application, Mr. Obla noted that the cumulative monetary value of the offences charged against him was N5 million.
“N20 million is burdensome , the second defendant has made frantic efforts to comply with the conditions of the bail but had found it impossible,” he said.
In his ruling, Mr. Oshodi replaced the N20 million condition with a bail bond of the same sum to be perfected within seven days.
“As at the time of writing this ruling, the court has in its custody the international passports of the defendants,” the judge said.
He also ordered the defendants to depose an affidavit of means in support of the bail bond.
The case was adjourned till January 9, 2017, for continuation of trial.

MICKI AND IBRA DISCUSS GOALS IN UKRAINE

Manchester United's goalscorers against Zorya Luhansk, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, talked MUTV through their strikes after the Europa League game in Odessa.

Speaking to Stewart Gardner after the match, the pair were pleased to have contributed to the 2-0 triumph on a difficult playing surface.

Mkhitaryan dribbled through to open his United account in style before Ibrahimovic ran onto a through ball by Paul Pogba and showed why he has been one of the world's deadliest finishers for some time.

MOURINHO PLEASED WITH EUROPA LEAGUE WIN

Jose Mourinho was naturally delighted to see his Manchester United side run out 2-0 winners over Zorya Luhansk on Thursday, praising the Reds for a "dominant" display.

Henrikh Mkhitaryan broke the deadlock just after the break, opening his account for the club with a fine run and finish, before Zlatan Ibrahimovic clinched the victory late on.

Here are the main points from Mourinho's post-match press conference in Odessa, after United sealed progression to the knockout stages of the Europa League...

BOUNCING BACK
"We played well tonight. One thing is to play badly and get bad results, which kills confidence and is more difficult to cope with. When you play well, you have to hope the results will come. The reality is nobody was better than us [in recent weeks], even though we had disappointing results. And in the players' brains, that plays a part."

ALWAYS IN CONTROL
"We had the ball, we had the control, they were defensively good, they had a couple of occasions on the counter-attack and at a free-kick, but we were dominant and if you look at the numbers, we were the team to win. But yes, they were good enough to give us a difficult match."

TOUGH CONDITIONS
"The pitch was better today than yesterday and was good enough to play football and we appreciate the effort that probably Chenomorets and Zorya together did to give us a good pitch to play football. There are no miracles with this cold weather so we appreciate the effort to give us a proper match."

CREDIT TO ZORYA
"Honestly I think the coach is very good because the team is very well organised and the team, in spite of no victories. The group was very difficult with three very good teams, and they competed with them all. I did my homework and analysed their players and quality, and I can understand why they are third in the [Ukrainian] league. Hopefully, next season, they will be in the Europa League and have more experience, and my hope is that next time they can play really at home, even though this is a beautiful stadium."

Manchester United booked a place in the Europa League Round of 32 after a deserved 2-0 victory over bottom-of-the-group Zorya Luhansk in Odessa.

Manchester United booked a place in the Europa League Round of 32 after a deserved 2-0 victory over bottom-of-the-group Zorya Luhansk in Odessa.

The Reds only needed a point to progress but Henrikh Mkhitaryan’s first goal for the club set United on the way to a comfortable win, which was sealed late on by Zlatan Ibrahimovic's well-taken finish. Elsewhere in Group A, Fenerbahce triumphed 1-0 at Feyenoord, meaning Jose Mourinho’s men will go into Monday’s draw as group runners-up.

The Reds knew a draw would be enough to go through and, with an important Premier League meeting with Tottenham just under 72 hours away, Mourinho made six changes to the team that drew at Everton. Sergio Romero replaced David De Gea in goal, while Eric Bailly made his first appearance in the defence since October following a knee injury. Ashley Young, Daley Blind, Juan Mata and Wayne Rooney also came in to the side.

There had been speculation in the media that the match might not go ahead due to the sub-zero conditions which had engulfed Odessa in the days before the game and on matchday itself, but the pitch was deemed safe and proceedings went ahead in freezing conditions.

United had already secured a 1-0 win over the Ukrainians at Old Trafford, back in September. Despite being without a single win in Group A, Zorya proved stubborn opposition that night and it was the hosts who had the first sight of goal on nine minutes when the ball dropped to Ihor Kharatin 25 yards out. His well-struck shot was beaten clear by Romero, who had kept clean sheets against both Zorya and Feyenoord at home, and the Argentinian was relieved to see Ivan Petriak’s follow-up find the side-netting.

Paul Pogba flashed an effort just wide on 18 minutes and headed over soon after. It was pretty much all United thereafter, bar a speculative long-ranger from Zorya’s Olexandr Karavaev, and the Reds’ best chances of the half came as the interval neared.

Bailly connected well with an impressive overhead kick from a corner but it was straight at Igor Levchenko in the Zorya goal, before the keeper tipped a 25-yard Rooney shot over the bar and then saw Marcos Rojo blast over from the resulting corner.

HALF-TIME MATCH STATS
Possession: Zorya 24% United 76%
Shots: Zorya 3 United 10
Shots on target: Zorya 1 United 3
Corners: Zorya 0 United 7

The second half began with United continuing to dominate and a reward duly arrived on 48 minutes when Mkhitaryan opened his Reds account with a fine goal. After the Reds won possession in midfield, the Armenian captain headed forward and waltzed through the Zorya defence, shimmying past a couple of players, before calmly slotting home. The United attacker clearly likes scoring goals at Chornomorets Stadium having netted a hat-trick here for Shakhtar Donetsk in 2012.

Zorya attempted to get themselves back into the game, but Bailly in particular and United’s defence were in solid form and were rarely troubled until a mini spell of pressure 18 minutes or so from the end. After Bailly had suffered a little injury scare, Romero produced another smart save to keep out Mikhail Sivakov’s header from close range.

Substitute Marouane Fellaini, on for captain Wayne Rooney, headed over soon after and, late on, Ibrahimovic sent a potential netbuster just over the bar, before the Swede got his name on the scoresheet after being put clear by Pogba. It was the finish of a supreme goalscorer and the Reds will now look forward to more European football in February.

FULL-TIME STATS:
Possession: Zorya 29% United 71%
Shots: Zorya 6 United 19
Shots on target: Zorya 2 United 7
Corners: Zorya 2 United 9

TEAMS

Zorya Luhansk: Levchenko; Opansenko, Sivakov, Forster, Sukhotskiy; Karavaev, Kharatin (Grechyshkin 57), Chaykovskiy, Petriak; Ljubenovic (c) (Lipartia 72); Bezborodko (Bonaventure 54).

Subs not used: Shevchenko, Kulach, Paulinho, Checher.

United: Romero; Young, Bailly, Rojo, Blind; Herrera, Pogba; Mata (Lingard 65), Rooney (c) (Fellaini 70), Mkhitaryan (Fosu-Mensah 84); Ibrahimovic.

Subs not used: De Gea, Jones, Martial, Rashford.

Booked: Herrera, Bailly.

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MOURINHO LEFT FRUSTRATED BY EVERTON DRAW

 Jose Mourinho was understandably frustrated after his Manchester United players were forced to settle for another Premier League draw following a late equaliser for Everton at Goodison Park. Here are the main points from the manager's interviews with MUTV and Sky Sports and his post-match press conference... 
   
RESULT DIDN'T REFLECT DISPLAY
"It's another game with a very good performance in a very difficult place to play, in a very emotional stadium, against a team full of good players. So it
was a very good performance but a bad result in relation to the performance. We were the best team by far but we didn't
win. We had chances for 2-0, we had the ball against the post and then we lost a goal in the last few minutes. If you come
to Goodison Park and you get a point in other circumstances I don't think it's a bad result because it's a difficult place to play, but we were the best team by far so the point is not the point that gives us what we deserve."
IN CONTROL OF THEGAME
"It's impossible or very difficult to control a game for 90 minutes but I would say we controlled it for 80 minutes. It's normal that an opponent has a reaction and the way they play with long, direct balls, it's impossible to stop because when a team plays passing football you can press, but when they play long balls you cannot stop the ball in the air. So they would always have a little bit of pressure but that's normal." 
   
ZLATAN IN GOOD FORM 
"He's playing like the team is playing. The team is playing very, very well and the players are playing well. I would say
[Phil] Jones and [Marcos] Rojo were magnificent. Jones for many years doesn't play five matches in a row and Rojo last season was left-back, on the bench and at home and in this moment he's had five consecutive matches also playing central defence, so we had phenomenal performances and a very good solid performance as a team." 
   
      WHY DID YOU BRING FELLAINI ON? "What do you mean by that [question]? I thought you would know more about football than you do because the answer is obvious. Everton is not a passing team like they were. Everton is a team that plays direct. Everything is direct Goalkeeper direct. Ashley Williams direct. Funes Mori direct. Everything is direct and when a team is losing and plays direct intensifies the direct football, and you have a player on the bench with two metres, you play that player in front of the defensive line to help the team win the match." 
   
      WE DESERVED BETTER RESULTS
"If you tell me that in any one of our draws, the opponent was closer to winning than us, I will tell you that is completely untrue. In every one of our draws, we were much more closer to winning than the opponent and we deserve to win these matches. I repeat, this season what matters is the results, it's not the quality of football." 
   
      THE TEAM ARE PLAYING WELL  
"I am concerned because we don't get the results we deserve. I know that when my teams win matches playing a different style of football then in that moment all that matters is the style of football, not the results. You have in this moment teams in the Premier League teams playing defensive and counter-attack football but getting results. This season that is phenomenal in your [the media's] words. When my teams are playing extremely well, the results are more important. So that's where we are. But I am happy that my team is playing really well, even in difficult matches like this one. It's a problem for us that we are not getting what we deserve, and it's a problem for us that we have a position in the table that has no relation with the quality of football we are showing." 
   
CONCERNED THAT YOU ARE NOT WINNING? 
 "You [the press] have to make a decision because when my teams are playing pragmatic football and winning matches and winning titles, you say that it is not right and nice. When my teams like now, they play very, very well, and there is a huge change to the past two or three years, now you say what matters is to get results, it doesn't matter what. At this
moment in the Premier League we have teams getting results that defend with eleven players, kick the ball and attack the space in the counter-attack. It's phenomenal, it's beautiful.
So we have to make a decision, we have to make a decision. And yes, we have to score more goals. If Herrera, instead of
hitting the post, makes it 2-0, then goodbye.