Hezbollah Terrorist Cell Uncovered In Nigeria

The Department of State Security Service (DSS) and the Nigerian Army have linked the weapons found at the home of a Lebanese in Kano to an international terrorist’s organisation, Hezbollah.
They also said they had uncovered a cell of Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based terrorist group, operating in Nigeria and had arrested some of its members.
They said the Lebanese, Abdul Hassan Taher Fadlalla, who is currently out of the country, hid the weapons in an underground bunker in the master bedroom of his No 3, Gaya Road off Bompai Road, Kano. The weapons were discovered on Tuesday night following a tip-off.
The state SSS Director, Mr. Bassey Etang, and the Brigade Commander of the 3 Brigade of Nigerian Army, Brigadier General Ilyasu Abbah, who displayed the weapons to reporters Thursday, told them that the bunker was specially constructed for this purpose.
Abba said: “These are weapons of mass destruction and were brought into Nigeria for use against Israel and western interests in the country. Investigation also confirms the existence of a Hezbollah foreign terrorist cell in Nigeria.
“Consequently, the Department of State Security (DSS) on May 16, 2013 arrested one Mustapha Fawaz, the co-owner of the popular Amigo Supermarket, as well as the Wonderland Amusement Park, all in Abuja.
“Thus, his arrest and confession unveiled other members of the foreign terrorists network, which led to the interception of one member of the syndicate named Abdullah Tahini, a Lebanese national, at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport with an undeclared amount of $60,000 on him en route Beirut.
“Thereafter, on May 26, 2013, one Talal Roda, also a Lebanese but with a Nigerian passport, was arrested in this same house.
“It is worth mentioning that the weapons include anti-tank weapons, rocket propelled guns and anti-tank/anti-personnel mines, among other dangerous weapons.
“All the weapons and ammunition recovered were properly concealed with several layers of concrete and placed in coolers, drums and bags neatly wrapped.”
The security chiefs added that the discovery of the weapons was not accidental but the outcome of a robust counter-terrorism investigation by the SSS.
They added that those arrested had confessed to have undergone Hezbollah terrorist training and further implicated one Fauzi Fawad, also a co-owner of Amigo Supermarket and Wonderland Amusement Park.
“It’s an issue of national interest and the house will not be demolished because we want people to come and see the situation by themselves,” the security chiefs said.
They explained that the chief suspect, who is now at large, brought the weapons to Nigeria to attack Israeli and Western targets in Nigeria, adding that the security agencies were making frantic efforts to unravel the plot so that the suspects could be prosecuted.
Among the weapons discovered and displayed to reporters were 11,433 rounds of 7.6 mm ammunition; 76 military grenade, one SMG rifle, nine pistols, 17 AK-47 rifles, 44 magazines, 103 packs of slap TNT and 50 MM anti-tank grenades, 123 MM artillery guns, four anti-tank landmines, 21 rocket propelled grenades (RPG), 16 RPG chargers, and one RPG tube.
Meanwhile, more foreign members of the terrorist group Boko Haram have deserted their camps in the northern part of the country in what looks like a rebuff to the recent call by the leader of the sect, Abubakar Shekau, for help from external elements to battle Nigerian troops.
The Director of Defence Information (DDI), Brig-Gen. Chris Olukolade, said yesterday that the foriegn insurgents, mostly from Niger and Chad, had fled from their former strongholds in Borno State following the sustained onslaught from the Special Forces of the Joint Task Force (JTF).
Olukolade disclosed that five Nigeriens and two Chadians were among the fleeing insurgents apprehended by the Special Forces, as troops continued their pursuit of terrorists dislodged from their bases.
He said another seven were among the nine arrested at Tumbu Gini, a border town with Chad as they tried to cross the border into the neighbouring country.
He however noted that the man suspected to be leading the group escaped with gunshot wounds.
Olukolade also warned that the Defence Headquarters had observed that attempts were being made by insurgents and their collaborators to push into the public domain, questionable and manipulated messages meant to misinform the public.
“The message which called for support from Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as other cohorts of the insurgents was clearly a confirmation of the level of pressure which has been brought to bear on the insurgents,” he said.
“There is indeed no cause for alarm as the insurgents are actually in flight, necessitating their call for help from their foreign allies,” he added.
Olukolade assured Nigerians that the operation to put an end to the activities of the insurgents was continuing, in line with overall plans for the nation’s security.
Also, in a bid to appraise the emergency rule imposed on the three North-eastern states, President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday met in private with service chiefs in Abuja.
It was the first meeting the president has held with his security chiefs since the state of emergency was declared in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States two weeks ago.
Although they refused to speak to the media at the end of the four-hour long meeting, those in attendance included the National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd), Director-General of the State Security Service (SSS), Mr. Ita Ekpeyong, and the Inspector General of Police, Muhammad Abuabakar, among other service chiefs from the armed forces.
Sources told THISDAY that the meeting was convened to brief the president on the military campaign in the North-east, and reassess the situation to determine how soon the state of emergency could be lifted.
Last week, the president had informed the Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki Moon, at a parley during the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, that the forces in the three states would not last up to six months.

British Airways Aircraft’s Technical Hitch Raises Tension At Lagos Airport

Massive protests trailed the arrival of a British Airways’ flight from London at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, last night, as passengers aboard the flight could not retrieve their luggage, following the technical problem suffered by the airliner on touchdown.
It was gathered that the luggage cabin of the aircraft failed to open after the plane landed at exactly 6:15pm.
Eyewitnesses told Vanguard that what infuriated the aggrieved passengers was the failure of the crew to empathise with them.
Over 300 hundred passengers on board the flight were reportedly stranded for hours, as children cried uncontrollably due to the stuffy nature of the arrival hall, where they were cocooned, waiting for words from the crew.
The crew were said to have left the airport to avoid being manhandled by the passengers, who were getting very restive.
The eyewitness said: “The situation here right now is chaotic. Hundreds of passengers are protesting the shabby treatment of British Airways’ flight crew, who appear helpless to enable the passengers retrieve their luggage.
“The crew members are saying the aircraft suffered technical problem and it was making it impossible for them to open the luggage cabin.”

Passenger’s story

As at 9:05pm last night, the airline crew were said to have abandoned the passengers and left the airport, saying there was nothing they could do to open the luggage cabin.
One of the passengers on board, Mr. Crosby Eribo, confirmed to Vanguard that passengers, who arrived the airport on board the flight were suffering, with none of the airlines’ staff addressing them.
He said: “What is happening here is unfortunate. The airline’s officials have abandoned us here and children are here crying because of the humid nature of the arrival hall.
“Is this how we are going to run our aviation sector?”
He said efforts to get officials of the airport authorities to intervene yielded no results, as they said the problem was strictly a British Airways affair.
Efforts to reach British Airways’ officials proved abortive, as calls pull to their phones failed to sail through.

'They brainwashed him': Mother Of Woolwich Murder Suspect Battled To Turn Him Against Extremism Amid Concerns He Was 'Turning Against The Family'

Juliet Obasuyi, the mother of one of the men suspected of butchering a British solider on a south London street, desperately attempted to turn him against extremism

The mother of one of the men suspected of butchering a British solider on a London street desperately battled to turn him against extremism after becoming concerned by his behaviour, it has been claimed.
Friends say Juliet Obasuyi was worried Michael Adebowale was turning against the family and wanted him to have 'spiritual guidance' before he radicalised himself.
The 43-year-old was often left in tears after speaking to her son and would approach neighbours and friends for help.
One of her neighbours said Mrs Obasuyi went to him about nine months ago after her son dropped out of university.
According to the Daily Telegraph, Mrs Obasuyi told her 62-year-old security officer neighbour that her son was not listening anymore.

'His older sister is a good Christian with a degree but Michael is rebelling as he has no father figure, dropping out of university and handing out leaflets in Woolwich town centre.
'He is from a strong Christian family but he is turning to Islam and turning against the family. He needs spiritual guidance before he radicalises himself.”
Another friend of Mrs Obasuyi, Steve Adebiyi, told the newspaper that Adebowale was giving his mother problems.
'They brainwashed him,' he said.
He has been arrested by police officers along with Michael Adebolajo after Drummer Lee Rigby was brutally killed in Woolwich on Wednesday.
It was also claimed yesterday that Michael Adebowale became radicalised after trying to escape gangland ‘trouble’.
London-born Adebowale was told to ‘disappear’ after he was caught up with a local gang known as the Woolwich Boys, and underwent a dramatic change of personality.
Once a fun-loving schoolboy who was described as ‘always smiling’ and chatted to neighbours about Jamie Oliver recipes, he began dressing in traditional Islamic dress and preaching a radical message of hate.
Adebowale gave up alcohol and began distributing radical leaflets near his mother’s home in Greenwich, south-east London.
Neighbours said his Nigerian-born mother, Juliet Obasuyi, was a probation officer and a ‘hard-working’ Christian woman who raised Adebowale alone after separating from his father.
Police raided her flat and a property linked to Adebowale’s father, Adeniyi Adebowale, in Holloway, North London.
Plain-clothes officers were seen carrying six plastic bags full of video cassettes and audio tapes from the Holloway flat.
The videos appeared to be labelled as football matches but one line of inquiry for police is likely to be whether Adebowale was interested in the type of jihadi videos watched by the July 2005 London bombers.
The four bombers were linked to an extreme bookshop in Leeds which distributed videos of terrorist acts, exhorting followers to emulate them.
Michael Oluwatobi Adebowale was born to Nigerian parents in Denmark Hill, South London, in May 1991. His father was then a student at Rutherford College in Canterbury, Kent, and the couple were said to have separated soon after the birth.
Adebowale attended Kidbrooke School in Greenwich, where former pupils said he was known as Toby or Tobi, an abbreviation of his second name Oluwatobi.
Adebowale was said to have converted to Islam at 19, while studying at Greenwich University, where he met the other Woolwich suspect, Michael Adebolajo.
Family friend Madeleine Edwards, 49, said Adebowale had been in ‘some serious gangland trouble’ in 2010 and that his mother had told her he ‘had to disappear for a while’.
She said Adebowale’s father was a ‘typical African gentleman’ but his mother had struggled to control her wayward son.
Adebowale was said to have left the Greenwich area for a year and returned about eight months ago, wearing traditional Islamic garb and a white skull cap, typically worn by Muslim men who have been on the Hajj pilgrimage to Mecca.
A neighbour, who asked not to be named, said: ‘Michael would always say hello and play with my children, but in the last year he stopped. He would just ignore us when we saw him at the lift.
‘He used to talk to me very enthusiastically about cooking and his recipes. He loved Jamie Oliver and had his books.

Zoo Keeper Mauled By Tiger 'Broke Safety Rules'

A zoo keeper who was mauled to death by a tiger had no reason to be in its enclosure, according to the animal park's owner.
Sarah McClay, 24, was attacked by a Sumatran tiger at South Lakes Wild Animal Park, in Dalton-in-Furness, Cumbria, on Friday afternoon. She was taken by air ambulance to Royal Preston Hospital but died later from her injuries.
Cumbria police said the tiger was locked in its enclosure following the attack and that members of the public were not at any risk during the incident. Police and Barrow borough council are investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.
David Gill, the owner and founder of South Lakes Wild Animal Park, said McClay was very experienced in looking after big cats and he had no explanation as to why she had entered the enclosure.
He told BBC Radio 5 Live: "After investigation by the authorities here and the police, it does seem that she just basically failed to follow the correct procedures.
"For some unknown reason, an inexplicable reason, because there is no reason for why she did it, she opened the door and went into the tiger enclosure and straight into the tigers, and now we'll never know why."
Gill said McClay, who was from the Barrow area, had worked at the wildlife park for a number of years and was "very proficient" in her work with big cats.
He said that it was against strict safety protocols to walk into the tiger's cage, adding that the zoo had passed a major inspection on Monday, in which it was praised for its safety standards.
Gill said: "An emergency call went out over the radio and we responded immediately. I was on the scene within 30 seconds.
"It was just unfortunate that everything happened so quick. It's so difficult to talk about because it was so upsetting.
"We moved all the public back of course. I think one member of the public did witness a part of the attack but I don't think there was anyone else who saw that."
The incident happened at about 4pm, when staff were working as normal and the park was open to the public.
Emphasising that at no point was there any threat to the public, Gill added: "It just seems quite inexplicable. None of us have been able to come up with a really reasonable conclusion.
"All we know is that no one else was involved, there was nobody with her, and for some unknown reason she opened a door and walked straight into the tigers."
Gill described Ms McClay as "a very passionate girl, very enthusiastic" who was "extremely good at delivering conservation talks. A very valued part of our team. A very bubbly character, a very happy girl."
He said that McClay's death was the second tragedy for the park this month, after another employee was killed in a road accident.
He told the BBC there were no plans to have the tiger put down, which has been at the park for 10 years since it was a cub.
Gill said: "He didn't make the mistake. He was just there. It's so difficult because we don't blame him for what has happened.
"It would be very much a tragedy for him. He's one of the rarest animals in the world, a Sumatran tiger, and it's something we don't want to do."
Following McClay's death the staff felt they wanted the park to carry on, Mr Gill said.
"There was a huge consensus of opinion that we should carry on," he added. "It's not the park's fault if you will. It's not going to do anybody any good if we closed."
Police said McClay's family were "very shocked and distressed" and had requested privacy to grieve.
Visitors were asked to leave the wildlife park before it closed early following the incident. It is expected to reopen as normal on Saturday.

Wife Of House Of Reps Member Accused Of Torturing Two Women

Wife of a serving House of Representatives member was fingered yesterday in the torture, beating and alleged attempt to kidnap two ladies in Isale Eko area of Lagos.

Sources say that yesterday morning at about 7.15a.m, a Toyota Camry car which was used for the operation caused a stir in Bamgbose Street in Lagos Island at the heart of Lagos metropolis.

Like a bolt from the blue, six unidentified ladies, carrying canes came out of the unregistered grey coloured car and advanced towards No 101, Bamgbose Street.

The unmasked ladies met one Alhaja Basidat Ajadi Balogun, a business woman resident in the street and repeatedly flogged her as she wept. (The woman pictured above)

Balogun, who was shouting at the top of her voice while the beating was going on, tried without success to find out from the rampaging ladies why she was being beaten.

According to a resident of the street, who pleaded not to be mentioned, while the severe beating was going on, Alhaja Jolaade Batola, wife of an influencial legislator, a House of Representatives member, representing Mainland federal constituency, was seen seated, inside the unregistered Toyota Camry car and giving orders to the lady on what to do to their victim.

The Nigerian Compass on Saturday, further learnt that the rampaging ladies planned to take the business woman away but for her resistance. The boot of their Camry was thrown open, while the woman in the car ordered the ladies to drag the woman and throw her into the boot.

Independent checks at the Lion Building police command however showed that the matter has been reported there even as our correspondent on Friday traced the battered business woman to the General Hospital, who was receiving treatment.

Though she was initially reluctant to speak with The Nigerian Compass on Saturday, when she opened up, she said she was standing outside her resident, talking to a tenant, when the six ladies, unknown to her, accompanied, by Mrs Batola arrived the place and began to beat her up.

She however insisted that she does not know the reason why the ladies beat the hell out of her, insisting that she was not close to the wife of the House of Representatives member. “Though Alhaja Batola owns a shop on the same Bamgbose Street, we are not really close. Though I do greet her,” said the victim. 

The woman whose body was full of scares from the beating put the cost of her medical treatment as well as some of jewelries she was wearing when she was attacked at N600,000, and confirmed that but for the residents, who mobilised and confronted the ladies, she could have been kidnapped.

Inquiries at the Lion Building police station, in Lagos Island revealed to our correspondent that the case have been filed. The woman was asked to get a police report on the incident, a police source disclosed.

Attempts made to see Alhaja Owolabi Batola for her comment on the incident proved abortive as her shop located on the same Bamgbose Street was not opened yesterday.

Prostitutes Strip Jehovah Witness' Preachers

Harlots operating at a popular Ezenei-Cable point in Asaba Delta State have humiliated four gospel Jehovah Witness preachers during their routine activity leaving two of them stripped unclad while their bags containing Awake and Watchtower magazines were allegedly set ablaze.
It would be recalled that few years ago some “Christian convertors” from a popular Pentecostal church after they were allegedly hoodwinked into love making with the harlots, had their Bibles set ablaze upon their refusal to pay for their love making.
Eyewitness told LEADERSHIP FRIDAY that the incident occurred last Tuesday towards nightfall when the preachers upon courage “Approached” residents of the brothel to be part of their gospel teachings (Word of God).
Jehovah Witnesses are widely known for strict compliance against “things of the world”, especially as they carry out their preaching of house to house in group of male and female.
But as unsuspecting regular visitors/preachers to various places, sources said they moved into the brothel and were greeted in happiness by some of the sex workers who immediately assembled themselves to hear the word of God.
While the preaching lasted, many of the sex workers in skimpy wear passed by the congregation, raising not a few eyebrows.
On the day of the lynching, the preachers had gone into the brothel without a female escort and in the usual way struck up a Bible discourse using the Awake magazine’s contents. It is claimed that a prostitute identified as Chinasa raced out in bum shorts, apparently inebriated, and demanded for sex from one of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The preacher, LEADERSHIP FRIDAY gathered, resisted the attempt on him but the hooker’s method gained prominence and he was dragged into the room.
LEADERSHIP FRIDAY checks revealed that the sex workers modus operandi is to woo unsuspecting men into Being Intimate with them via their skimpy dresses.
Expectedly, the preacher and the harlot were said to have been engaged in serious battle right inside the room when his colleagues made attempt to rescue him but the situation went awry as the harlots were allegedly said to have teamed up and seized their bags containing “Watchtower and Awake”.
They were said to have descended on them in severe beating including calling them names and allegations that they made love to them and did not pay.

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Smile Of A Fanatic's Sister: Bizarre Grin Of Blessing, 32, As She Is Led Away By Police After brother Michael Hacked British Soldier To Death

After the killing: Michael Adebolajo, 28, pictured on Wednesday, once served a jail sentence for violence

The sister of the terror suspect accused of hacking a soldier to death smiled yesterday as she was escorted from her home and got into a police car.
Blessing Adebolajo, 32, was led from her property yesterday morning just hours after her brother Michael, 28, was filmed ranting with blood on his hands yards from the body of the murdered soldier in Woolwich.
Blessing was carrying a bag full of clothes as she got into an unmarked police vehicle outside her flat in Romford, Essex, at 8.10am.
It is understood she was not arrested, but police will undoubtedly want to question her about her brother who neighbours said was seen regularly at the house.
A woman purporting to be Adebolajo's sister told the Romford Recorder newspaper yesterday: 'We didn't know he was going to do this.'

Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale, 22, have been identified as the men suspected of murdering Drummer Lee Rigby.
Blessing - who has also gone by the surname Daniels - lives on the top floor of the property and used to share the home with her terror suspect brother, neighbours told The Times.
Graham Wells, 30, claimed that Adebolajo smoked drugs when he was staying there.
'He liked to smoke a bit of green (marijuana). We played football, a kick-about on the courts. He was a big lad, not the sort of guy you'd want to cross,' he told the newspaper.
'He used to be a normal bloke. he always had a big smile on his face. he'd say "All right Wellsy, all right boy, what's happening?".'
Police also raided a home in Saxilby, Lincolnshire, yesterday which is believed to belong to the terror suspect's father Anthony, 56.
In a chilling rant captured on camera the other side of the road from where drummer Lee Rigby, 25, lay dead, the suspect named as Adebolajo declared: 'The only reason we have killed this man today is because Muslims are dying daily by British soldiers.'

Gemini Donnelly-Martin, 20, and her mother Amanda (right) talk to one of the alleged attackers with blood on his hands. Meanwhile, Ingrid Loyau-Kennett (left) talks to the other suspect, identified as Michael Adebowale. Lee Rigby lies dead in the road

Former schoolfriends of Adebolajo said yesterday he was a 'bright and witty' boy who came from a devoutly Christian family. However, he is understood to have converted to Islam in around 2003.
His mother and father are hard-working Nigerian immigrants from an academic family in West Africa who settled in London in the early 1980s.
Virtually all the friends on his Facebook page have traditional British names such as Louise, Kelly, Robert, Craig, Gemma, Lauren and Paul, to name a few. Among them is Matthew Selt, now a professional snooker player.
He was 'just a lovely, lovely guy', in the words of former classmate Stephen Cavalier – who, as a serving PC in the Metropolitan Police – could scarcely have followed a different path.
Speaking at his home in Essex yesterday, Mr Cavalier said: 'It seems odd to say it now, after the events of yesterday, but I remember him as just a lovely, lovely guy.
'I knew Michael at Marshalls Park School in Romford when we were teenagers. He was a good sportsman and just an all-round nice guy.'

Michael Adebolajo was in a group of Muslim extremists who fought with police outside the Old Bailey in 2006. He had been arguing that he had the right to 'behead those who insult Islam'

He said he was no longer close to Adebolajo, who had requested they become 'Facebook friends' a few years ago.
'As soon as I saw the news last night I immediately recognised it was Michael. I was in shock really when I saw him.'
Throughout the frenzied attack the two killers shouted ‘Allah Akbar’ – Arabic for ‘God is great’ – then demanded horrified witnesses film them as they ranted over the crumpled body.
The two black men in their 20s, waited calmly for armed police to arrive before charging at officers brandishing a rusty revolver, knives and meat cleavers.
When the old pistol was shot towards police it backfired and blew the thumb off one of the men.
Moments later they were cut down in a hail of bullets believed to be fired by a woman marksman. Last night both men were being treated in hospital for their wounds and will face questioning.

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Boy Scouts Of America To Accept Gay Members

The Boy Scouts of America's National Council has voted to ease a long-standing ban and allow openly gay boys to be accepted as Scouts but maintain rules forbidding homosexual leaders in the organisation.
Of the local Scout leaders voting at their annual meeting in Texas, more than 60 per cent supported the proposal.
Under the proposal drafted by the Scouts' governing board, gay adults will remain barred from serving as Scout leaders.
The outcome is unlikely to end a bitter debate over the Scouts' membership policy.
Some conservative churches that sponsor Scout units wanted to continue excluding gay youths, in some cases threatening to defect if the ban were lifted.
More liberal Scout leaders – while supporting the proposal to accept gay youth – have made clear they want the ban on gay adults lifted as well.

Woolwich Attack: Somalian Terrorists Warn Britain: Your Chickens Are Coming Home To Roost

Michael Adebolajo is thought to have tried to travel to Somalia, possibly to join al-Shabaab

Britain was warned to expect further terrorist outrages as an Islamist group in Somalia said the chickens were “coming home to roost”.
Al Shabaab, which is thought to have links with one of the suspected Woolwich terrorists, launched a tirade on Twitter accusing Britain of carrying out countless abuses against innocent Muslims.
In one message posted on its official Twitter account, an al-Shabaab spokesman described the murder of Drummer Lee Rigby as the “death of the wretched Kafir” and said it was “insignificant compared to the deaths of hundreds of innocent Muslims at the hands of British soldiers”.
Referring to the Boston bombing, another posting warned: “Where next? You just have to grin and bear it, it’s inevitable. A case of the chickens coming home to roost.”
Speculation was mounting that the postings, peppered with English phrases, were being written by a Briton.
Seizing on comments by David Cameron that the attack was a “betrayal of Islam”, al-Shabaab said that in fact it was a “portrayal of Islam”.
The tirade went on: “What Cameron describes as a 'sickening’ attack is what innocent Muslim woman and children are subjected to every day by British troops. Don’t expect Muslims to simply turn the other cheek.
“The British Army has a woeful record of abuses against unarmed Muslims across the globe. It’s an eye for an eye, so you can lump it.”
One of the suspects in the attack, Michael Adebolajo, is thought to have tried to travel to Somalia, possibly to join al-Shabaab, security sources claim.
The shadowy militants who control large areas of the country have welcomed foreigners to their ranks.
Estimates of the number of foreign fighters in al-Shabaab vary widely, but a report released last year by the Royal United Services Institute suggested that about 50 Britons were believed to be fighting in Somalia.
Many are likely to be of Somali origin, but Muslim converts from some Western nations are believed to have links with al-Shabaab.
Last year intelligence experts warned that Britons were being recruited to fight for the militant group and that Somalia was becoming a vital training ground for British jihadis. Kenyan police believe Jermaine Grant, on trial in Mombasa on charges of possessing explosives, has links to the militants.
His accomplice Samantha Lewthwaite is on the run, with some reports suggesting that she has crossed into Somalia.
Lewthwaite, who faces the same charges as Grant, is the widow of the 7/7 King’s Cross bomber Germaine Lindsay.
“The ideology of the Shabaab is a threat to the world,” Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the president of Somalia, told The Telegraph earlier this month.
“It has been proven there has been a link between Shabaab and elements in the UK … I will not rule out that there is element with the Shabaab ideology in the UK and once that element is there in the UK the risk and the threat is there.”
Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri formally welcomed al-Shabaab to the terror network’s ranks last year.

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Nigeria’s Emergency Number Goes Live

A typical national emergency call number with links to Federal Road Safety Corps, police and fire service has been launched in Nigeria as the nation’s first and only 24-hour national bureau of directory and information services.
Named “7411 bureau of information”, the service also has businesses listings, people finders, driving directions, tax advices, address finders, health histories, record back-up, weather forecasts, reverse phone tracker, and jobs finder.
The technical company in charge of the project quoted the Director of Engineering at the Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), Mr. Sani Adamu, as saying that “to have easy access into information and life saving tips Nigerians residents can dial 7411 on any phone in Nigeria and +2347411 from outside Nigeria, or access the link on 411ng.com.
He added that the commission is committed to building information rich Nigeria.
He enjoined Nigerians to embrace the use of the services to aid information knowledge level, business development and contribute to progressing the Nigeria we all desire.
“The need to correctly find and be found in Nigeria cannot be overlooked or pushed to the back in the development process of anyserious country wishing to make proper development.
Gone are the days when life changing information and tips are prized above money, we must not forget the role of information accessibilities in human per capita development” Adamu said.
According to him, when fully operational, the national directory number can comfortably handle 670,000 callers at a time.
He said: "This is made possible by advanced simulative telecommunication technology, similar to that presently deployed in Israel, United States, Britain and Dubai."
The Chief Technical Officer of the company, Matt Howard, said the data centre is an advanced one of a kind, built with over 13 million different software used in B2B directory tracking, global positioning. It also has 24-hour traffic surveillance people finders, stock market analysis reporting, finger print readers, facial recognition software, vehicle tracking, crime scene reporting, CCTV Data records and backup, cross marketing and emergency response call forwarding to police and trained authorities.
Howard said: “The centre will presently receive in – bound enquiry calls from over 3,000 Nigerians at a time for now, and about 27 million enquiries can be processed every day as we speak. We are working to increase inbound trunks to accommodate 10 million callers at a time. This we should achieve before the end of June 2014.
As at today, we have employment for over 3,000 Nigerians, majorly trained statistics and data dissemination experts, multi lingual Distress experts; anti-terrorist negotiators, doctors ,first aid nurses ,pilots, call centre agents, career development advisors,
weather experts, IT and Technical experts and so on. They will offer professional services daily to Nigerians.”
The company’s Chief Operating Officer, Ms. Denise Cann, also stressed that the directory number – 7411 might equally serve as a counter terrorism number into which the entire nation may dial into at the hour of need.
“Such distress calls or emergency will be forwarded to police or the joint task force as the case may be for rapid intervention. We will work with major companies like Google GPS, NIGCOMSAT, CBN, GLO1 and Main one to achieve these noble feat” she said.

Pellegrini Paves The Way For Move To City By Confirming Imminent Malaga

Manuel Pellegrini has confirmed that he will be leaving Malaga as coach at the end of the season.
The Chilean, who took the Costa del Sol outfit to the quarter-finals of their debut campaign in the Champions League this year, has been heavily linked with replacing the sacked Roberto Mancini at Manchester City.
Pellegrini has now seemingly paved the way for that move to the Premier League runners-up by confirming to reporters that he will be leaving Malaga in the summer.

Heading to the Premier League? Manuel Pellegrini is a major target for Manchester City

'The paths are separated, but the union with this city will be eternal,' the coach is quoted as saying at a ceremony where he was awarded the gold medal for service to the Malaga province.
It has been previously reported that Pellegrini and Malaga have an agreement in place that should the coach leave at the end of the season, no compensation would be due.

Sacked: Roberto Mancini's departure has left Manchester City seeking a successor

Harry Potter Book Fetches $227,000 At London Auction

A 1997 first edition of “Harry Potter & The Philosopher's Stone” annotated by J.K. Rowling sold for $227,000 (176,000 euros) at a London auction Tuesday, a new record for a printed book by the writer.
Two bidders battled it out for the work before the hammer finally came down, triggering a round of applause at the Sotheby's auction house.
The book contains commentary and 22 of Rowling's own original illustrations. The lot formed part of a sale of books annotated by 50 British and Commonwealth contemporary writers.
The second-highest price was achieved for another children's classic, Roald Dahl's Matilda. Other lots auctioned included works by Julian Barnes, Alan Bennett, Seamus Heaney and Hilary Mantel.

Many authors represented at the sale turned up in person, including Helen Fielding, Frederick Forsyth and Ben Okri.
“This is a triumphant conclusion to a wonderful project, which has involved the hard work and good will of so many people,” said Rick Gekoski, who curated the collection for sale.
“I am sure that the buyers of the individual books will be thrilled with their purchases,” he added.

Corruption: 157 LASTMA Officers Dismissed

The Lagos State Government has sacked 157 officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA over cases of gross misconduct.
The names of 100 LASTMA officers sacked in April were published in the in-house newspaper of the state government, Alausa Alert, while 57 others were sacked a few weeks before the latest cleansing.
The sacked officers were indicted for corruption, certificate forgery, bribery and dereliction of duty.
P.M .NEWS also gathered that the names of another batch of about 50 LASTMA officers have just been forwarded to the Personnel Management Board, PMB, the disciplinary organ of the government, to look into cases of gross misconduct against them. They also may be sacked in a few weeks’ to come.
The dismissed LASTMA officers, whose pictures were published in Alausa Alert were made to face the PMB to prove their innocence but failed to do so. The Civil Service Commission has already issued sack letters to the affected officers.
Last year, over 250 LASTMA officers were dismissed by the government over issues ranging from gross misconduct, corruption, among others.
The state government had stated that LASTMA would not tolerate indolence and indiscipline in any form, adding that officers whose behaviour could tarnish the image of the state would be shown the way out.
It added that the public should report officers found misbehaving in the course of performing their official duties to the government for appropriate sanction and discipline.
Since last year, LASTMA officers had been undergoing career evaluation training in batches where they were taught to be professionals and civilised in dealing with the public and were even made to undergo community service.
Commissioner for Transportation, Kayode Opeifa, at a news conference at the weekend said government would not condone any form of indiscipline among LASTMA officers.
“The LASTMA authority is strict in applying disciplinary measures. Nobody that has done wrong will go unpunished,” he said, adding that it was not in his position to disclose issues of sack of LASTMA officers in public domain as such information were usually pasted in the in-house notice board.

Is This The Most Handsome Man On The Planet? Meet The Mysterious Iraqi Male Model Taking The Internet By Storm

Meet Ahmed Angel - the Iraqi medical student and part-time model who wants to take over the world.
And with his gelled hair, piercing blue eyes and expert Photoshopping skills, the 18-year-old has been gathering followers at a phenomenal rate.
Since it was created three months ago, Ahmed's bizarre photo album on Imgur has been viewed almost a million times.
But very little is known about the mysterious Ahmed Angel.

According to his website, he is studying medicine in Belarus and speaks Arabic, English, Russian and French.
But his passion is most clearly illustrated by the 400 photos of himself posted on his Facebook page.
Album titles include 'the most beautiful face ever' and 'very HOT!'
A short biography reveals that Ahmed 'seeks to obtain fame and influence. He finds intellect and creativity as important as others. Ahmed looks down upon drinking alcohol and smoking.'

Despite having already gathered such a large fan base, Ahmed remains magnanimous about his success.
In his most recent posting on Facebook he said: 'Extend my sincere thanks to all the fans and friends for the great efforts To vote for me and published my photos in the most important and the most popular international sites In the world. And now I'm a international star And the most popular ....I love all of you.'
In response, Ahmed's adoring fans have taken their obsession to a new level.
One said: 'It's your planet. Thank you for allowing us all to live on it.'
Another wrote: 'You should be king of all the Earth.'


What do you think? Is this dude worth one second of your precious time?

More Than 200 Afghan Male Students Protest Against Women's Rights Decree

Hard-line Islamist students protested in the Afghan capital demanding the repeal of a presidential decree for women’s rights that they say is un-Islamic.
More than 200 male students protested in front of Kabul University on Wednesday against the decree, which includes a ban on child marriage and forced marriage, makes domestic violence a crime and says rape victims cannot be prosecuted for adultery.
Protester Fazel Hadi, 25, said the decree was ”imposed by foreigners” and violates Islamic Shariah law.
Conservative lawmakers on Saturday blocked enshrining the decree’s provisions in legislation.
The backlash highlights the tenuousness of women’s rights provisions enacted in the 12 years since the ouster of the hard-line Taliban regime.
The international force that toppled the Taliban is now preparing to withdraw.

Indian Surgeons Reconstruct Baby's Swollen Head (PHOTOS)

Indian doctors said Wednesday they have successfully carried out a first round of reconstructive surgery on the skull of a baby suffering from a rare disorder that caused her head to nearly double in size.
The surgery on the skull of one-year-old Roona Begum was carried out on Tuesday near New Delhi by the same surgeons who last week drained fluid from the youngster in a life-saving operation.
“We did the crucial head reconstruction surgery to reduce the size of her head on Tuesday. As of now, there are no complications,” neurosurgeon Sandeep Vaishya told AFP.
The procedure involved shifting and cutting bone and tissue parts and at least one more round of surgery will be required, according to Vaishya.
He said the baby’s health had “shown remarkable improvement” after last week’s surgery at the hospital run by the private Fortis Healthcare group.

During the first operation, doctors used a surgical drill to pierce her skull before draining fluid from her head in an operation lasting more than an hour.
Roona was born with hydrocephalus, a condition that causes cerebrospinal fluid to build up on the brain.
Her condition had caused her head to swell to a circumference of 94 centimetres (38 inches), putting pressure on her brain and making it impossible for her to sit upright or crawl.
She lives in an Indian village with her parents who were too poor to pay for treatment.
But publication of pictures taken by an AFP photographer in the remote northeastern state of Tripura prompted the hospital to offer to treat Roona for free.
The pictures of Roona have prompted an outpouring of support worldwide with prospective donors contacting AFP and other news organisations, enquiring how they could contribute to a fund for her and her family’s welfare.
Two Norwegian college students, Jonas Borchgrevink and Nathalie Krantz, started an online campaign that raised 52,000 to help her family and fund any future aftercare.
The students told AFP they have already established contact with a local media website in Tripura that will help send the money to the family.

What Is Hydrocephalus?

Hydrocephalus is named after the Greek words for "water" and "head," and results from a pressurized buildup of cerebrospinal fluid, a clear liquid that cushions the nervous system, in the ventricles of the brain.
The condition can be present at birth or acquired later on in life, and its causes are still poorly understood.
Since hydrocephalic infants don't yet have hard skulls, the fluid pressure causes the head to rapidly expand. In addition to a swollen head, the condition can cause vomiting, seizures, and downward shifting of the eyes.
About one or two of every 1,000 babies may be born with hydrocephalus, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). While many can go on to lead normal lives if they are diagnosed and treated early enough, the condition can stunt cognitive and physical development. If it progresses too far, it can be fatal.

How the Hydrocephalus Shunt Surgery Worked

The most common treatment for hydrocephalus is shunt surgery, also known as ventriculoperitoneal shunting, in which a flexible tube is surgically inserted into a brain ventricle through the skull. The shunt in the brain redirects fluid to another part of the body through a catheter, where it can be easily reabsorbed by the bloodstream.
Because Roona had such a large amount of accumulated fluid, Vaishya's team first drained much of it from her swollen head until it had shrunk by a third. The shunt surgery was carried out afterward, allowing the remaining excess fluid to drain into her abdomen.
The AFP reported that Roona gained consciousness soon after, prompting her mother, 25-year-old Fatema Khatun, to burst into tears at the sight of her bandages.
Roona's father spoke for both of them when he told AFP that he was incredibly relieved to hear that the shunt surgery went well.

"It's been a stressful wait," said Rahman.

Oil Found Off Coast Of Namibia For First Time: Namibian Government

The Namibian government and a Brazilian energy firm on Tuesday announced the first discovery of oil off the coast of Namibia, although not in commercial volumes.
Reporting findings from an exploratory well in the Walvis Basin off the southwest African country’s central coast, Rio de Janeiro-based HRT said there were promising signs.
The company discovered “two well-developed source rocks” and “several thin-bedded sandy reservoirs that are saturated by oil”.
Work will begin with 15 days at a second exploration location 15 kilometres (nine miles) to the west, HRT added.
The find, although not commercially viable, will raise hopes that Namibia could become the latest southern African country to strike oil reserves.
Angola to the north is Africa’s second-biggest producer of crude, after Nigeria.
Namibia currently has no oil production and no proven reserves.
However, it does have proven gas reserves of two trillion cubic feet (56.6 billion cubic metres).
HRT is just one of a number of companies with concessions in Namibia’s deep Atlantic waters.
Spain’s Repsol and Brazil’s Petrobras also have production licenses.

Winnie Mandela Forced Auction Flops

An auction to pay off a debt of Nelson Mandela’s ex-wife failed to take place because no one would open her home to the sheriff.
Officials and reporters gathered Tuesday outside the gated home of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela. No one responded to the doorbell although a black car sped out of the gates.
Madikizela-Mandela is loved by many for her role in the anti-apartheid struggle and abhorred by others for her alleged part in the kidnapping deaths of several young men in the 1980s.
A 2011 court ruling allowed the sale of art works and other belongings to pay R20,000 ($2,150) owed in private school fees for a family member.
Mandela and Madikizela-Mandela married in 1958, were separated because of his 27-year imprisonment and divorced in 1997 while he was president.

Tottenham To Smash Pay Scale With £150,000-a-Week Contract In Attempt To Tie Gareth Bale To Club

Gareth Bale will be offered the opportunity to sign yet another lucrative contract at Tottenham Hotspur this summer, in excess of £150,000 a week, or stay on his existing deal and be sold next year – but he has been told by the club that there is no prospect of him leaving this summer.
The 23-year-old and his advisers are currently pondering their next move, with Spurs prepared to offer him his sixth contract in six years at the club, and this one breaking further ground. Bale is already Spurs' highest-ever earner on £100,000 a week and any new deal would reflect his status as the pre-eminent player in the league, having swept the board in the major awards this season.
Negotiations could be pitched as high as £200,000 a week, putting him in a bracket with the highest-paid players in the Premier League, but the reality is likely to be a deal somewhere between £150,000 and £175,000 a week – far in excess of anything his team-mates earn.
The club's failure to qualify for the Champions League again this season has not changed the attitude of the Spurs chairman, Daniel Levy, towards his star player. There is no chance that he will be sold this summer, Bale has been told, and Levy's recent record on that front, especially with Luka Modric in the summer of 2011, has been consistent.
Levy has a close relationship with Bale and his representatives, Jonathan Barnett and David Manasseh, who, among others, represented the former club captain Ledley King. There is no tension in the negotiations but the fundamental question facing the player's camp is whether he wants to take the pay rise and sign a longer deal, but in doing so give greater control over his future to the club.
Bale currently has three years remaining on the deal that he signed in July last year. Were he to remain on that, the club would feel that they had no option but to sell him next year when he reaches the critical two-year cut-off point – a cornerstone of Levy's strict contract renegotiation policy. It would mean that the player could plan for a move next summer, with one of the big two clubs in Spain or Bayern Munich the most likely destination.
Nevertheless, the considerable improvement in a deal that goes over £150,000 is not to be ignored. Bale has the potential to be an extremely lucrative draw in the commercial market, with an Adidas deal of around £2m a year and a new endorsement with BT Sport. Were he to join Real Madrid or Barcelona he would have to give up as much as half those image rights, albeit it in return for another major salary rise.
Previously, Spurs’ manager, Andre Villas-Boas, had said that securing Champions League football next season would be key to making sure that Bale stayed at Spurs. However, the club feel confident that in spite of them missing out on a Champions League place by a point to Arsenal for a second year running, there is no prospect of the player agitating for a move away this summer.
The Spurs midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson has urged the club to keep hold of Bale, who scored 21 league goals this season, most of them decisive, and won the PFA Player and Young Player of the Year and FWA Footballer of the Year. Bale will be one of the best talents outside the Champions League next year but Sigurdsson would love to see him continue at Tottenham.
“It’s very important,” said Sigurdsson. “It’s always very important when you keep good players and he is a fantastic player.”
If Bale were to leave, Sigurdsson admitted he could not be replaced by just one player. “For us to push forward it would be fantastic if he stays but if he goes then I’m sure the club will get a lot of money for him and, hopefully, he will be replaced by a few players, because I don’t think there will be one player that can replace him because he’s been that good.”
Not many players in the world could match Bale’s remarkable displays for Tottenham this season. “There are only a couple of players that could replace him, if you’re going to bring in one player, that’s how good he was this season,” Sigurdsson said. “He was very important for us. He’s been here for a long time, he’s happy and enjoying his football, so hopefully he will stay.”

Justin Bieber's Monkey Becomes German Property

Mally the Monkey was seized by German customs March 28 when teen singer Justin Bieber failed to produce required vaccination and import papers for the animal after landing in Munich for a European tour.
He had until midnight on Friday to produce those documents.
Customs spokesman Thomas Meister said after offices opened following a holiday weekend that officials had received no documents. He said the customs authority issued an order later on Tuesday formally transferring ownership of the animal to the German state.
Bieber, 19, has six weeks to contest the decision if he wants to do so. Germany's Federal Agency for Nature Conservation said the monkey would be sent to a zoo somewhere in Germany, but officials declined to say exactly where to avoid security problems.
Mally, a capuchin monkey, has been cared for at Munich's animal shelter since being taken into quarantine. The shelter's manager said Mally, who is now 20 weeks old, has fared well and gained weight in its care.
The shelter has criticised Bieber for keeping such a young monkey as a pet, saying it should not have been taken away from its mother until it was a year old. Experts said capuchin monkeys also need to be kept in groups as they are very sociable animals.
German authorities now hope to reclaim the cost of Mally's upkeep at the Munich shelter over the past two months, including care, food and vet visits.
Mr Meister said a bill would be prepared and sent to Bieber. He put the cost at several thousand euros but said authorities would not detail the specific amount.

Arsenal Consider Record £19m Bid For Real Madrid Striker Gonzalo Higuain In Summer Transfer Window

Arsenal have put signing a world-class striker at the heart of their summer transfer plans, with Real Madrid’s Gonzalo Higuaín emerging as an increasingly realistic target.
With £70 million to spend, Arsenal are preparing for their most adventurous transfer window under Arsène Wenger and are conscious of the need to move quickly within a market that will become intense following all the major managerial changes.
Wenger was interested in Higuaín before he even joined Real Madrid from River Plate in 2007 and there is a feeling that he could now be attainable for what would be a club-record transfer fee of £19 million.
Arsenal have also watched Stevan Jovetic, the Montenegro and Fiorentina striker, but there are doubts over whether he will leave Italy. Wayne Rooney is another striker to have been considered, but he is unlikely to fit into Arsenal’s wage structure.

Karim Benzema, another Real Madrid forward with an uncertain future, is also a player Wenger has long admired and it is this calibre of established forward that Arsenal want to sign.
Wenger confirmed on Friday that Arsenal were in talks for Yaya Sanogo but the Auxerre forward, 20, would be seen as a signing for the long term.
Arsenal are also targeting a goalkeeper, a holding midfielder and, should Bacary Sagna depart, a right-back. Asmir Begovic, Étienne Capoue and Lukasz Piszczek have all been scouted recently.
Arsenal can now plan in the knowledge that they must only overcome a final play-off match to again enter the Champions League group phase but Ivan Gazidis, the chief executive, stressed on Monday that silverware remained the ultimate aim. The last of Wenger’s seven trophies at Arsenal was the 2005 FA Cup. “It is important to reiterate that for everyone at the club, qualification for the Champions League is not our ultimate ambition,” said Gazidis.

“Our majority owner Stan Kroenke has made it clear that while it’s an achievement to make the Champions League our ultimate objective is to win the major trophies.
“We all share that clear ambition and will be driving the club forward to achieve it. Arsène and I have already been planning what we need to do to strengthen so we are better placed next season.
“The club is in a very strong position to move forward and our form of losing just one of our last 16 Premier League matches shows that we have a solid foundation on which to build for success.”
New commercial deals from 2014 in the form of an extended shirt sponsorship arrangement with Emirates and a kit deal with Puma should add around £45 million to the club’s annual revenues.
Wenger’s contract expires in 2014 but the issue of a potential extension will not be addressed until later in the year, according to club sources.

El Hadji Diouf Beaten Up In Senegal

Soccer badboy El Hadji Diouf was beaten up in a drunken fracas in a nightspot’s toilets, it was reported yesterday.
The Leeds Utd striker was said to have abused other drinkers at beach bar Five in Almadies in his Senegal homeland.
Local newspapers claim two men followed him to the toilets and laid into him for ten minutes before bar staff summoned his minders in the early hours of Sunday.
A source had said: “He was with his wife but was completely drunk and was shouting abuse at everyone.
“A man called Thierry and a friend beat him up in the toilets for at least ten minutes. They gave him a going-over.”
Harouna Deme, boss of Le Populaire newspaper, which broke the story, said: “He has a reputation for getting involved in fights.
“I can remember at least four other instances of him fighting.”
Bar owner Latir Diop told The Sun there was a ruck that “did not last three seconds” and the former Rangers, Bolton, Liverpool and Blackburn star was not hurt.
Diouf has been accused of spitting at players.
In December 2005 he said he was “too famous” for a rehab order after 12-month drink-driving ban.

Liverpool Close To Signing Manchester City Defender Kolo Toure

Liverpool are close to securing the signature of Manchester City defender Kolo Touré as they look to fill the void left by Jamie Carragher’s retirement.
Brendan Rodgers has identified numerous targets to reinforce his central-defensive options, and Touré - available on a free transfer - is poised to have a medical at Liverpool after Manchester City’s tour of the United States after next weekend.
The 32-year-old Ivory Coast international has seen his contract run out at the Etihad Stadium having rarely featured since being suspended for six months after admitting accidentally taking a banned substance in 2011.
Toure was once one of the most highly regarded centre-halves in the country, moving to Manchester City for £16 million in 2009, and Rodgers will feel that if he can regain full fitness with regular football he will be a useful asset.
The Liverpool manager is anxious for a proven Premier League defender to join his squad alongside a developing star.
In recent weeks, the Merseyside club have also assessed Schalke’s Greek defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos and Sporting Lisbon’s Tiago Llori.
Rodgers is also eager to be reunited with Swansea captain Ashley Williams, but his age and valuation in excess of £10 million have made it increasingly difficult to conceive such a transfer.
Much depends on the future of Martin Skrtel, who has been out of the side since January. A substantial bid for Skrtel would offer Rodgers an opportunity to reassess - Zenit St Petersburg were eager to re-sign the centre-half in January - but if a valuation of Skrtel beyond £12 million was not met the Liverpool manager is equally willing to give the Slovakian another opportunity to rediscover his form.
Rodgers, meanwhile, believes Philippe Coutinho may prove one of the most astute purchases the club has ever made if he begins next season as thrillingly as he ended this one.
Coutinho cost just £8.5 million from Inter Milan in January, unable to cement a place at the San Siro after numerous injuries.
At Liverpool, however, his performances in the second half of the season have generated hopes Coutinho will fulfil his potential as one of the future stars of Brazilian football.
“He’s a real find for us in terms of the price we have paid. Hopefully his value will be much greater than the cost in the coming years,” said Rodgers.
“When you bring somebody in during January, you hope they can make an impact. You are also looking at it as a six-month adaptation period before you get the best out of them from pre-season onwards.
“We are all pleasantly pleased and surprised by how well he has done. His numbers tell you the story in terms of goals and assists.”

Mary J. Blige Slapped With $3.4 Million Tax Bill In Yet Another Money Drama

Mary J. Blige has been handed a $3.4 million tax bill.
The No More Dramas singer faces paying the huge amount after being accused of avoiding her US federal taxes for three consecutive years from 2009.
In addition to her federal taxes, the 42-year-old star also reportedly owes the State of New Jersey over $900,000 in back taxes.
Mary's money woes do not end there, as she was sued earlier this year for allegedly defaulting on a $500,000 bank loan which she took out between 2005 and June 2012.
In another lawsuit, filed last November, the singer and her husband, Martin Isaacs, were also accused of defaulting on a $2.2 million loan from Manhattan's Signature Bank.
The financial institution is seeking the full loan amount, alongside $58,000 in interest.
This is not the latest financial setback for Mary, after her charity, The Mary J. Blige and Steve Stoute Foundation for the Advancement of Women Now Inc., was accused of mishandling funds and failing to pay back a loan last year.
Speaking about the allegations, Mary previously said: 'The lives of young women are at stake. I feel what they feel. I don't want them to suffer. I promised them something and I'm gonna deliver. Period.
'The problem is that I didn't have the right people in the right places doing the right things. This should have never been allowed to happen, but it did and now we are fixing it.'

TV Presenter Sucks Milk From Topless Mum’s Breasts On Shocking Show

A Dutch TV host stunned viewers by sucking milk from a mother's breasts on his primetime Saturday night show.
Comedian Paul De Leeuw pounced on the topless mum during the latest episode of his chat show Langs De Leeuw, which was dedicated to breastfeeding.
Du Leeuw's guests were a group of women who donate spare milk to mums who struggle to produce it.
One volunteer called Wendy invited the star to taste the contents of a bottle she had expressed during the show.
When the openly gay presenter joked he'd prefer to drink it from the source - she unhooked her boobs from a breast-pump and told him: "Well, if you don't bite you may try it."
The studio audience then watched dumbfounded as Du Leeuw took her up on the offer and sucked milk from both her breasts.
After swallowing down his sample, he joked: "I find the second one better tasting, but I can taste that you've eaten asparagus yesterday."
The stunt has provoked outrage in the Netherlands from critics who branded it disgusting.
Viewers have also taken to Twitter to attack De Leeuw and the group for allowing the stunt to be aired.
But Wendy has defended her actions on the social media site, insisting they were "for a good cause".

Charles Taylor's Family Kicked Out From Calabar Mansion

According to a story in Encomium magazine, the family of former Liberian president and war crimes prisoner, Charles Taylor, have been ejected from their N2.5million per year rented mansion in Diamond Hills in Calabar, Cross Rivers state.
The family he left behind in Calabar as he faced criminal charges in The Hague were ejected because they were unable to per their rent. The house belongs to Dr. Joseph Wayas, the Second Republic Senate President.

His wife and kids, who have since been abandoned by the former president's friends and business associates, now live in a small flat at the state housing estate along Murtala Mohammed highway in Calabar. No aides, no cruising of luxury cars, no partying, no money to spend lavishly. That's their new life now.
Charles Taylor was forced to resign as president and take up political asylum in Nigeria. He arrived Nigeria with his family on August 12, 2003 but was extradited in 2006 to stand trial for war crimes.
In 2012, he was found guilty of all 11 counts of "aiding and abetting" war crimes and crimes against humanity.

BEWARE! Phone Fraudsters Target Nigerians In Multi-Billion Naira Scam

On a recent Thursday afternoon, Yunus Mohammed, was rounding off a video editing project when his phone beeped.
He tried to answer the call after finding it was a foreign number – +88233010830. But just before he could press the answer button, the call dropped.
He called back immediately. “I thought it was my boss who was away in Luxembourg calling,” he said.
The call went through. An automated white female voice responded, taking him through a maze of instructions. By the time he figured the call was a scam, he had listened into the call for a minute.
He was charged N250 for the call that lasted barely one minute.
He is one of the millions of mobile phone users in Nigeria targeted by premium rate phone fraudsters in a new wave of callback scams that could see Nigeria lose up to one billion Naira in one fell swoop.
The scam is set with foreign premium rate numbers. It beeps your phone with the call quickly terminated, luring you to believe a foreign contact is trying to reach you. Victims are those who call back. They unknowingly pay heavily for the minutes spent on the call.
“+16644115003 called me and then cut off; I was wondering if a lost and forgotten friend in Europe or America remembered me. On calling the number, a voicemail from a white lady was giving me instructions that I had won a certain amount of money that I needed to clear. There and then, I realised it was a scam and I was charged heavily from my airtime,” Kennedy Nsan, another Nigerian victim narrated.
A part of the amount paid by victims is deposited in the accounts of the fraudsters through a sophisticated telecommunication revenue generation system. The revenue earned through the call is shared between a local telecom operator and the owner of the premium rate number.
A premium rate number attracts a high fee and therefore callers end up paying high charges for the calls they make to this number. Some genuine businesses earn decent income by promoting premium rate numbers.

Wangiri

The fraud, which started over a decade ago is also known as the ‘Wangiri Fraud’ and originated in Japan in early 2000. ‘Wangiri’ literally means ‘one ring and cut’.
The Wangiri phone fraud involves a computer using certain phone lines to dial numerous mobile phones numbers at random. The numbers appear as missed calls on the recipients mobile. Believing a legitimate call was cut off, or simply curious, victims are enticed to call back.
The victim is then charged the exorbitant fee set by the fraudster.
At a little cost, the fraudsters hire international premium rate numbers for the scam that pays out up to N100 on every minute of call received.
A 2012 report released by BICS of Begacom, Belgian Telecom Company, indicates that in one attack targeted at Nigeria in 2012, the fraudsters got 50,000 callbacks from Nigerian victims and 9,600 in another similar attack.
It is almost impossible to quantify victims in the latest attack but in the past two weeks, several users have complained of receiving the missed calls and calling back.
Premium rate numbers are legal, making it difficult for operators to anticipate Wangiri. An official of Airtel Nigeria – worst hit by recent wave of Wangiri – told PREMIUM TIMES that whenever the networks senses an unusual activity on any of such lines, it is barred.
Telephone companies, in developed countries, usually offer blocking services to allow users bar premium rate numbers. But these blocking services are not available in Nigeria.
The Nigerian Communications Commission does not even acknowledge Wangiri as a scam.
“It is not everything you call scam,” Reuben Mouka, spokesperson of the commissioner said.
He argued that victims lose money on their volition and curiosity, by choosing to call back unknown missed calls.
“The man [fraudsters] did not force you to call back,” he added while blaming the networks for allowing the fraudsters access.

Global scam

On the eve of Easter this year, similar fraudsters, using the same numbers – +88233010849, +88233010830, +88233010811 – targeted 53,000 Latvian Mobile Telephone, LMT, users. About 2500 customers were defrauded.
To keep the festive feeling, LMT compensated customers for damages suffered.
The fraud has also been recently reported in many African and Asian countries.
Kamai Chilumbu, from Lusaka in Zambia, also narrated a similar fraud story to PREMIUM TIMES.
European countries have already taken stern action against Wangiri fraudsters.
In August, 2010, the London Metropolitan Police rounded up nine fraudsters for a similar crime. But the fraudsters are recording massive success in Nigeria and other countries where the law is not stringent enough or authorities are looking the other way.
Mr. Mohammed, like many other victims in Nigeria, hardly reports these cases to the authorities.
“I do not trust the police to solve this kind of crime,” he said. “It is a waste of time to try to get my money back.”
“The number still flashes from time to time but I just ignore it,” Mr. Nsan said.

Beyonce Admits She Is Scared Her Daughter Will Hate Her Voice

Beyonce has revealed she does not sing her hits to her baby daughter - because she is scared the tot will hate her voice.
The superstar said she fears singing to Blue Ivy in her performing voice in case she starts crying.
Instead of using her 'Beyonce voice', the pop sensation revealed she uses a 'simple Mummy voice' instead.
Speaking to ITV’s Daybreak this morning, she said: "I have a Mummy voice. I keep my Beyonce voice for the stage and I have my simple Mummy voice.
“I remember hearing a story about Celine Dion and she's like when I sing my, I don't know if it was her son that cried. She has the most beautiful voice in the world but she's like he hates it.
“So I said well maybe I’ll just give a little simple nursery rhyme voice to my toddler."
The songstress went on to say she believes music is important for children because it gave her self-esteem when she was younger.
She said: “I felt like this is what I’m good at, this is what I love. It was my escape, it was my focus and I think we’re able to communicate with music more so than anything.
“Just travelling around the world and seeing the power and how much unity it brings so many people is really incredible.
So always when I’m able to express myself with a song I’m able to translate my message a lot better, for whatever reason.”