Female Suicide Bombers Killed By Own Explosives In Borno

 Two women apparently on a suicide bombing mission got killed by the bombs they were carrying under their gowns after failing to get a vehicle to take them to Damaturu, Yobe state capital, eyewitnesses said.

The incident, which happened at Ngamdu village, also killed two travellers standing close to the suspected bombers as they waited for a bus to convey them to Damaturu, some 35km away.

Witnesses said the two women who showed up in Ngamdu village both looked strange.

“The women almost convinced one bus driver to convey them to Damaturu but the driver later became suspicious and lied that he was not getting to Damaturu,” one witness said.

The explosions went off minutes after the bus had left.

Ngamdu is about 100km from Maiduguri, Borno state capital and about 35km away from Damaturu.

Nicki Minaj’s Ex Still Feels ‘Blessed’ When He Raps About Their Relationship

Nicki Minaj and her longtime boyfriend Safaree “SB” Samuels parted ways last year, and it seems like there are still some lingering feelings.

SB, who also worked with Nicki and has production credits on her albums, released a new freestyle over Big Sean’s single “Blessed” this week, and on it, he’s clearly addressing their relationship. And, in particular, the tattoos he had of her while they were dating.

Watch Video here Nicki

He admits that emotions prompted him to remove one, while another will remain where it is.

“Yeah, I was in love/ Yeah, these tattoos are the best/ But I woke up one day and I got in my feelings and covered my chest,” he spits as he walks through Times Square in New York City. “This one on my forearm, yeah I know I’mma leave it/ ‘Cause that is a part of my history and it cannot be deleted.”

He also references his recent freestyle on Shade 45′s “Sway in the Morning,” so we’ll likely be hearing more music from him.

Meanwhile, Nicki Minaj has been spotted here, there and everywhere with Meek Mill, even sitting courtside at NBA All-Star Weekend. And this week she revealed that the Philly rapper will also be joining her on the road this summer.

Striking Images Of The Chadian Army Fighting Boko Haram In Nigeria

Chadian military clashed with Boko Haram in Nigeria this week after the governments of Niger, Cameroon, and Chad launched a military campaign to fight the Boko Haram insurgency.

A Chadian soldier poses for a picture at the front line during battle against insurgent group Boko Haram in Gambaru, February 26, 2015.

Chadian soldiers rest near the front line in the war against insurgent group Boko Haram in Gambaru, Nigeria, February 26, 2015. Picture taken February 26, 2015.

Chadian soldiers push a military pickup truck to get it out of the sand near the front line in the war against insurgent group Boko Haram in Gambaru, Nigeria, February 26, 2015. 

Chad’s army has claimed to have killed 207 Boko Haram fighters in clashes in Gambaru.

Gambaru, close to Nigeria-Cameroon border, has been a site of regular attacks from the insurgent group in the past several months. 

One Chadian soldier was killed and at least nine were injured in battles this week.

Chadian soldiers stand in front of the body of a man they say was a Boko Haram fighter the Chadian military had killed in a battle

 Chadian soldiers drive to the front line during battle.

The Chadian military told Reuters they took a Boko Haram fighter, nicknamed “The Butcher,” captive on a field base in Gambaru, along other men suspected of being Boko Haram fighters.

Some children of Boko Haram soldiers soldiers are reportedly in the hands of the Chadian military as well.

 “The Butcher” in captivity with the Chadian military.

A prisoner suspected of being a member of insurgent group Boko Haram sits in the field base of Chadian soldiers in Gambaru. 

A boy, who the Chadian military say is the son of a Boko Haram fighter the Chadian military killed during battle, stands next to soldiers in Gambaru.

The military also claimed to have seized two pick-up trucks, along with arms and ammunition, during warfare earlier this week.

Weapons belonging to insurgent group Boko Haram that Chadian military say they took during battle. 

A Chadian soldier peers into a burnt armoured vehicle, which the Chadian military say belonged to insurgent group Boko Haram, after the Chadians destroyed it during battle. 
 

The logo of insurgent group Boko Haram is seen on the cracked windshield of an armored vehicle which Chadian military say they destroyed in battle on Feb. 26.

Chad, who is spearheading efforts to stop the spread of the insurgent group, first deployed troops last month as Boko Haram became an increasingly threatening prospect to Nigeria’s neighboring nations.

 Chadian soldiers drive near the front line in the war against Boko Haram.

 Chadian soldiers on the front line.

 A Chadian soldier. 

 Chadian soldiers cook food near the front line during battle. 

In January, the African Union authorized creating a regional force comprised of Niger, Cameroon, and Chad, which will also include Benin.

 

The African Union is now working to get a U.N. Security Council mandate for the military operation in Nigeria.

 Chadian soldiers drive to the front line in the war against insurgent group Boko Haram in Gambaru, Nigeria

25 Johan Cruyff Quotes That Will Change the Way You Think about Football

Johan Cruyff has a very special way of looking at soccer, and an equally distinctive way of talking about it.
It was Cruyff’s vision on the field that made him one of the greatest players of all time—seeing passes that no one else could see, but also being aware of the ebb and flow of a game and knowing how to control it. So when Cruyff talks, people listen.
A Cruyff quote grabs your attention not just for its insight, but also for the supreme certainty with which he delivers it. He may seem arrogant, but that’s only because he thinks he knows everything.
The 25 quotes below, taken from throughout Cruyff’s days as a player, then coach, then pundit, offer a window into the way Cruyff sees soccer—and they just might change the way you see the game.
1. Technique is not being able to juggle a ball 1000 times. Anyone can do that by practicing. Then you can work in the circus. Technique is passing the ball with one touch, with the right speed, at the right foot of your team mate.
2. Someone who has juggled the ball in the air during a game, after which four defenders of the opponent get the time to run back, that’s the player people think is great. I say he has to go to a circus.
3. Choose the best player for every position, and you’ll end up not with a strong XI, but with 11 strong 1’s.
4. In my teams, the goalie is the first attacker, and the striker the first defender.
5. Why couldn’t you beat a richer club? I’ve never seen a bag of money score a goal.

6. I always threw the ball in, because then if I got the ball back, I was the only player unmarked. 7. I’m ex-player, ex-technical director, ex-coach, ex-manager, ex-honorary president. A nice list that once again shows that everything comes to an end.
8. Players that aren’t true leaders but try to be, always bash other players after a mistake. True leaders on the pitch already assume others will make mistakes.
9. What is speed? The sports press often confuses speed with insight. See, if I start running slightly earlier than someone else, I seem faster.
10. There’s only one moment in which you can arrive in time. If you’re not there, you’re either too early or too late.

11. Before I make a mistake, I don’t make that mistake. 12. When you play a match, it is statistically proven that players actually have the ball 3 minutes on average … So, the most important thing is: what do you do during those 87 minutes when you do not have the ball. That is what determines wether you’re a good player or not.
13. After you’ve won something, you’re no longer 100 percent, but 90 percent. It’s like a bottle of carbonated water where the cap is removed for a short while. Afterwards there’s a little less gas inside.
14. There is only one ball, so you need to have it.
15. I’m not religious. In Spain all 22 players make the sign of the cross before they enter the pitch. If it works all matches must therefore end in a draw.

16. We must make sure their worst players get the ball the most. You’ll get it back in no time. 17. If you have the ball you must make the field as big as possible, and if you don’t have the ball you must make it as small as possible.
18. Every professional golfer has a seperate coach for his drives, for approaches, for putting. In football we have one coach for 15 players. This is absurd.
19. Surviving the first round is never my aim. Ideally, I’d be in one group with Brazil, Argentina and Germany. Then I’d have lost two rivals after the first round. That’s how I think. Idealisitic.
20. Players today can only shoot with their laces. I could shoot with the inside, laces, and outside of both feet. In other words, I was six times better than today’s players.

21. Quality without results is pointless. Results without quality is boring. 22. There are very few players who know what to do when they’re not marked. So sometimes you tell a player: that attacker is very good, but don’t mark him.
23. I find it terrible when talents are rejected based on computer stats. Based on the criteria at Ajax now I would have been rejected. When I was 15, I couldn’t kick a ball 15 meters with my left and maybe 20 with my right. My qualities technique and vision, are not detectable by a computer.
24. Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is.
25. If I wanted you to understand it, I would have explained it better.

Chelsea vs. Burnley: Martin Atkinson Not Incompetent, Ashley Barnes Just Sneaky

Shortly after Chelsea’s contentious 1-1 draw with Burnley at Stamford Bridge on Saturday, Jose Mourinho gave the press his scathing take on the match:

I’m happy that I’m not stupid and I understood everything a couple of months ago. If you tell me this story that started a couple of months ago finished today and now we have 12 matches to play with an advantage of five points, I tell you [we will be] champions. But I don’t know if that story ends here or if you have more waiting for us.

When asked about some missed calls from referee Martin Atkinson, Mourinho responded:

I prefer just to say that this game had four crucial moments: minutes 30, 33, 43 and 69. This is story of the game. I cannot comment because it is difficult for me not to say the truth.

Mourinho was referring here to four crucial non-calls—the first involving a poor challenge from Ashley Barnes on Branislav Ivanovic, the next a handball not called in the box on Michael Kightly, the third a penalty not given when Jason Shackell appeared to shove Diego Costa over, and the fourth involving Barnes again, this time pole-axing Nemanja Matic, which sparked the Chelsea player to run at his attacker and get sent off.
Mourinho was not alone in his disgust over Atkinson’s failure to blow the whistle; former Premier League referee Graham Poll opened his Daily Mail column with this stunning pair of sentences:

A refereeing performance in a Southern Mediterranean or South American country like Martin Atkinson’s at Stamford Bridge on Saturday would have started accusations of corruption. Here in England thankfully we accept honest incompetence.

Even “honest incompetence” is a serious enough accusation to warrant a second look. As with anyone who judges a refereeing performance, there is bound to be some measure of subjectivity involved. However, while I think Atkinson could have done far better here, I’m not certain his performance could be called “incompetent.”
For one, to Burnley’s credit, the match was played by and large on the floor. Sean Dyche’s side were willing to pass the ball, but their enterprising play arguably forced them to play a physical game when out of possession. This also made Atkinson’s job more difficult as both sides were involved in some off-the-ball tussling, some of which was innocent, some of it not. Let’s first look however at the two “middle” missed calls at 33 minutes and 43 minutes.

I don’t have much to say about the Kightly handball, other than this was about as clear a handball as could be, and should have been given. To my mind, this was Atkinson’s most unforgivable call on the night.

This next non-call above is, on the other hand, the weakest of Mourinho’s claims to injustice. A reply reveals Shackell did little more than place his hand on Costa’s torso for the Spanish international to collapse in a heap.
The more complex calls involve Ashley Barnes. Here is the first at the half hour mark:

This clearly should have been a yellow, if not a red. Ivanovic can be heard screaming in pain after the challenge. Yet while Atkinson is well positioned to see the challenge…

...the line of sight hides Barnes’ sneaky stretched boot. Atkinson may have been paying more attention to whether Barnes raised his elbows. By slyly kicking out in the aerial challenge, Barnes is playing dirty both in his intention to hurt and to conceal. Sometimes avoiding punishment for bad fouls is an art-form perpetrated by the offender. Barnes repeats this trick in the 69th minute challenge which sparked Matic’s shove:

Again, it is, on its face, a horrific challenge worthy of a straight red. But Barnes’ movement is quick and again well-concealed (no one said a word about it on the call I heard until after Matic shoved him), though Atkinson’s sight line suggests he should have seen it better.
Barnes, in other words, is a sneaky, dirty player. Burnley were trying to secure a point at the very least at Stamford Bridge, and so a physical game was always on the cards. While Atkinson’s performance wasn’t good, it wasn’t outright incompetent either. Some of the dirtiest tackles are the best-concealed, at least in the few seconds before the slow-motion replay.

Lagos Begins Demolition of Burnt Balogun Market

The Lagos State Government on Friday began the demolition of the three buildings gutted by fire on Jan. 12 at the popular Balogun Market in Central Lagos.

The  demolition was being carried out by a firm, Blackrock Construction Company.

Fire gutted the buildings housing about 100 shops and destroyed goods worth millions of naira.

Officials of the company who spoke to NAN on condition of anonymity said that it was the government that gave directive for the buildings to be demolished.

The head of the demolition team who did not state how many days the demolition would take, said that the work would take some time to finish.

Mrs Uju Agunna, a trader who sold clothes in one of the shops gutted, told NAN that she would rent the same place anytime the shops were rebuilt.

“I will like to go back to my shop. I have been in this Balogun for over 15 years so it is difficult for me to go and rent somewhere else.’’

“We hope that when the demolition exercise is completed the owners can start building. But now I am sharing a shop with my friend as you can see,” Agunna said.

The Lagos State Government on Friday began the demolition of the three buildings gutted by fire on Jan. 12 at the popular Balogun Market in Central Lagos.
The  demolition was being carried out by a firm, Blackrock Construction Company.
Fire gutted the buildings housing about 100 shops and destroyed goods worth millions of naira.
Officials of the company who spoke to NAN on condition of anonymity said that it was the government that gave directive for the buildings to be demolished.
The head of the demolition team who did not state how many days the demolition would take, said that the work would take some time to finish.
Mrs Uju Agunna, a trader who sold clothes in one of the shops gutted, told NAN that she would rent the same place anytime the shops were rebuilt.
“I will like to go back to my shop. I have been in this Balogun for over 15 years so it is difficult for me to go and rent somewhere else.’’
“We hope that when the demolition exercise is completed the owners can start building. But now I am sharing a shop with my friend as you can see,” Agunna said.
- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2015/02/lagos-begins-demolition-of-burnt-balogun-market/#sthash.8p1Cs9aN.dpuf

Watch Justin Bieber Get The Sh– Scared Out Of Him With An Amazing Prank

The talk show host is known for spooking her guests, so this time it was Justin’s turn. Watch the video to see what happens after Ellen asks Bieber about his upcoming Comedy Central roast.

After catching his breath, Justin joined Ellen in giving one of his biggest fans a huge surprise. During the pop star’s appearance on the show last week, he and Ellen prank called Belieber Jacklin.T his week, though, they invited her to the studio under the pretense that she would get to watch an episode taping.

Little did Jacklin know that she was about to get the surprise of her life, including lots of hugs and even a kiss from Justin. Yes, she full on freaked out, like she should have.

Oh and if that doesn’t make you fall in love with Justin Bieber all over again, then this definitely will. The singer’s making an appearance on the new Ellen-produced series “Repeat After Me,” where host Wendi McLendon-Covey tells celebrities what to do when placed in awkward situations.

Justin Bieber Promo
In Justin’s case, he’s bowling with an elderly woman when he proceeds to do squats, tell the woman she has a “nice tush” and attempts to give us his best twerk.

Why Is Beyonce Hanging Pictures Of Kim Kardashian On Her Wall?

When Kanye West started dating Kim Kardashian, fans had lots of questions, one of the biggest being: Will Kim be hanging out with Beyoncé now?

We did see Kim and Bey hanging out a couple of times, including at a Watch the Throne concert in the U.K. in 2012, but usually they just seem to end up sitting next to each other at award shows and fashion shows because of the Jay Z and Kanye connection.

Apparently there’s more to their relationship than that though. During his interview with Power 105′s The Breakfast Club, which aired on Friday, (Feb. 20), Kanye dropped a bit of info that startled me.

Apparently, Beyoncé gets some of her inspiration from Kim?

“They love each other. They respect each other,” Kanye said, adding, “When Beyoncé’s working on an album, she has pictures of Kim on the wall, because Kim represents powerful women.”

Really?

“Kim be playing ’7/11′ video, playing it for our daughter,” he added it. “Maybe there’s a LeBron James-Kobe element to it — I ain’t say that.”

So, Beyoncé is LeBron James and Kim….is Kobe Bryant?

Stop it, ‘Ye.’

16 Times Rihanna Was The Baddest BadGal

It’s Feb. 20, which means that our favorite over-the-top, no-phucks-given pop star, Rihanna, is 27 years old. To celebrate, we’re looking back at 16 moments over the past year when she was simply the baddest badgal ever.

1. When she stripped down for Another Magazine

2. When things got way too hot

 

3. When she called Eminem an “ungrateful f–k” on their Monster Tour.

4. When she designed a bag for Fendi.

5. When she made it okay to wear a snuggie in public

6. When she was a ninja turtle for Halloween

7. When she wore pasties to amfAR gala

8. When she became Puma’s creative director

9. When she went all Olivia Pope

10. When she shaded Instagram

11. When she let Kanye executive produce her album

 12. When she cuddled Karl Largerfeld

13. When she rocked out with Kanye and Paul McCartney

14. When she used her hands as a bra

15. When she distracted NBA players

16. When she looked like this in the snow