Nitish sworn in as CM, Lalu's 2 sons as ministers

Patna, November 20 (PTI) Nitish Kumar on Friday took oath as Chief Minister of eastern Indian state Bihar along with 28 ministers, including RJD chief Lalu Prasad's two sons Tejaswi and Tej Pratap, as the grand alliance government of RJD-JD(U)-Congress was sworn in at a mega ceremony attended by several top leaders from non-BJP parties Besides Nitish, 12 members each from RJD and JD(U) and four from Congress were administered oath as ministers by Governor Ram Nath Kovind Speculation is rife that first time MLA Tejaswi, who was the second person to be sworn in after Nitish at the event held at Gandhi Maidan, will be made Deputy Chief Minister Nitish took oath as the chief minister for the fifth time Portfolios OF the ministers are likely to be allocated soon A galaxy of leaders including Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee,

 Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and a number of Congress Chief Ministers were present at the swearing in ceremony of the new Bihar governmentUnion Minister M Venkaiah Naidu, who was deputed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was also present. 

CPI-M's Sitaram Yechury, CPI's D Raja also attended the event Former JD(U) state President Rajiv Ranjan Singh Lallan, Bijendra Prasad Yadav, Shrawan Kumar and Jay Kumar Singh, all members of the outgoing cabinet also took oath besides former MP Maheshwar Hazari, Krishna Nandan Prasad Verma, Santosh Nirala and Khurshid alias Firoz Ahmad New members in the cabinet from JD(U)-- Shailesh Kumar, Kumari Manju Varma, 

Madan Sahni and Kapildeo Kamat also took oath Hazari, a cousin of Ram Vilas Paswan had defeated the LJP chief's nephew Prince Raj from Kalyanpur assembly seat In Lok Sabha elections earlier, he had defeated Paswan's brother Ram Chandra Paswan From RJD quota besides Lalu's sons, Abdul Bari Siddiqui, Abdul Gafoor, Vijay Prakash, Chandrika Rai, Alok Kumar Mehta, Ram Vichar Rai, Sheo Chander Ram, Muneshwar Chaudhary, Chandrashekhjar and Anita Devi took oath Anita, the lone woman minister from RJD defeated senior BJP leader Rameshwar Chourasia in Nokha assembly segment From Congress, party chief Ashok Choudhary, Madan Mohan Jha, Abdul Jalil Mastan and Awdesh Kumar Singh were sworn in.RJD had won 80 seats in the Bihar poll followed by JD(U) 71 and Congress 27 totalling 178 in the 243-member Legislative Assembly.

As per constitutional provision of cabinet quota being fixed at 15 per cent of the House strength, Nitish Kumar could have a maximum of 36 members, including himself, in the ministry.

Third body found in Paris attacks flat

• he sectionEurope

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionPolice laid siege to the flat in Saint-Denis for some seven hours

Paris attacks

• Paris attacks: The unanswered questions
• Who were the Paris attackers?
• Belgium: Europe's favourite gun shop?
• Paris attacks: The investigation so far

A third body has been recovered from the apartment in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis raided by police after last Friday's attacks, prosecutors say.

They confirmed the body of a woman was found overnight in a search of the flat following Wednesday morning's raid, but did not give her identity.

But a passport bearing the name Hasna Aitboulahcen, who blew herself up, was found in a handbag at the scene.

The suspected ringleader Abdelhamid Abaaoud was killed in Wednesday's raid.

The near-simultaneous attacks by suicide bombers and gunmen on bars and restaurants, a concert hall and sports stadium last Friday killed 129 people and left hundreds of people wounded.

Islamic State (IS) said it was behind the attacks.

Demonstrations have been banned under France's state of emergency, but dozens of French artists and cultural figures have urged people to make a lot of "noise and light", by turning on music and lights, at 21:20 (20:20 GMT) on Friday to mark the exact time a week ago that the attacks began.

Tributes are paid to the victims of the Paris attacks

Abaaoud's death has been confirmed, but the French prosecutor's office said on Friday that it had not yet been able to formally identify the other two bodies found in the Rue Cormillon apartment.

Hasna Aitboulahcen is widely reported to have been Abaaoud's cousin, and died after detonating a suicide vest soon after the seven-hour long raid began.

Image copyrightDH

Image captionHasna Aitboulahcen blew herself up when police raided the flat in Saint-Denis

Who was Hasna Aitboulahcen?

News that Abaaoud - a well-known face of IS and on international "most wanted" lists - and at least one of his accomplices may have travelled undetected from Syria before carrying out the attacks has raised fears about the security of the European Union's borders.

EU interior ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss tougher measures, including tightening the external borders of the passport-free Schengen area.

France's Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve, on his way into the meeting, said the EU had "wasted too much time on a number of urgent issues" and hoped "today takes the decisions that we must take".

Jump media player

Media player help

Out of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.

Media captionKhemissa: "I don't think [Hasna Aitboulahcen] had the intention to be a suicide bomber. She was influenced. She was vulnerable."

A draft resolution for Friday's EU meeting says ministers will agree to implement "necessary systematic and co-ordinated checks at external borders, including on individuals enjoying the right of free movement".

This means EU citizens, along with non-EU citizens, will have their passports routinely checked against a database of known or suspected terrorists and those involved in organised crime.

Ministers will also consider cracking down on the movement of firearms within the EU, the collection of passenger data for those taking internal flights and also blocking funding for terrorists.

The key to all of this will be the co-operation and sharing of intelligence and information between EU countries, notes the BBC's Alex Forsyth in Brussels.

Germany's interior minister Thomas de Maiziere said he hoped that by the end of the year they would be able to "ensure that each person who flies to Europe is recognised", and pointed out that there is currently no exchange of information on the gun trade in Europe.

"We can only fight terrorism with a better information exchange," he said.

Mali hotel attack: '170 hostages seized' in Bamako

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionThe security forces are outside the hotel and blocking roads into the neighbourhood

Gunmen have launched an attack on the Radisson Blu Hotel in the centre of Mali's capital, Bamako.

Two people have locked in 140 guests and 30 employees in "a hostage-taking situation", the hotel's owners said in a statement.

Police have surrounded the hotel, which the gunmen entered shooting, and shouting "God is great!" in Arabic, a security source told Reuters.

The US-owned hotel is popular with expats working in Mali.

• Mali attack: Live updates

A Chinese guest told China's state news agency Xinhua via a mobile app that he was among a number of Chinese citizens trapped there.

The security source has told Reuters that some hostages, including those able to recite verses of the Koran, are being freed.

The AFP news agency reports that security forces have escorted two women from besieged hotel.

In August, suspected Islamist gunmen killed 13 people, including five UN workers, during a hostage siege at a hotel in the central Malian town of Sevare.

France, the former colonial power in Mali, intervened in the country in January 2013 when al-Qaeda-linked militants threatened to march on Bamako after taking control of the north of the country.

---

At the scene: Alou Diawara, BBC Afrique, Bamako

Image copyrightAP

Image captionPeople fled the area around the hotel where automatic gunfire could be heard

I spoke to a gardener at the hotel who was sweeping the yard when the gunmen arrived.

"They were in car with a diplomatic licence plate. They were masked. At the gate of the hotel, the guard stopped them and they start firing. We fled," he said.

Another eyewitness said that it was difficult to say how many attackers there were, he said it could have between five and 13.

"They injured three security guards who were at the gate of the hotel," he said.

---

"It's all happening on the seventh floor, jihadists are firing in the corridor," a security source told AFP.

Malian soldiers, police and special forces are on the scene along with some UN peacekeeping troops and French soldiers, the agency reports.

Image copyrightAFP

Image captionSecurity forces are not sure how many gunmen are inside the hotel

Image copyrightRadisson Blu Hotel

Image captionRadisson Blu Hotel's website says it provides upscale lodging close to many government offices and business sites

The US embassy in Bamako has tweeted that it "is aware of an ongoing active shooter operation at the Radisson Hotel".

All US citizens were asked "to shelter in place" and "encouraged to contact their families".

Some reports say about 10 gunmen in total are involved in the attack.

The Rezidor Hotel Group, which owns the Radisson Blu, said it was in constant contact "with the local authorities in order offer any support possible to re-instate safety and security at the hotel".

The UN force in Mali took over responsibility for security in the country from French and African troops in July 2013, after the main towns in the north had been recaptured from the Islamist militants.