BAMY BLOG

Liverpool have agreed a £40 million deal with Arsenal to sign England midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, according to reports on Wednesday. Oxlade-Chamberlain appeared set to join Chelsea earlier this week after the Premier League champions had a bid accepted for the 24-year-old. But Liverpool appear to have won the race for Oxlade-Chamberlain's signature ahead of Thursday's deadline. It is believed Liverpool was always Oxlade-Chamberlain's preferred destination and he never entered into contract talks with the Blues while he waited to see if Jurgen Klopp's side would make an acceptable offer. Oxlade-Chamberlain is currently on England duty and is expected to undergo a medical at St George's Park on Wednesday evening before signing a reported six-year contract with Liverpool. Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger opted to sell Oxlade-Chamberlain because the former Southampton player would have been out of contract and eligible to leave on a free transfer at th

Harvey's floodwaters started dropping across the Houston area and the sun peeked through the clouds Wednesday in a glimmer of hope for the besieged city. But the crisis was far from over, with the storm doubling back toward land and battering communities near the Texas-Louisiana line. The storm, meanwhile, began to give up some of its dead. The confirmed death toll from the hurricane climbed to 21 after a woman's body was discovered floating in Beaumont. Also, the bodies of six family members, including four children, were pulled from a van that had been swept off a Houston bridge into a bayou, and authorities were investigating at least 17 more deaths to determine whether they were storm-related. "Unfortunately, it seems that our worst thoughts are being realized," Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said after the van was found in 10 feet of muddy water. While conditions in Houston appeared to improve, the disaster took a turn for the worse east of the c

Pastor Joel Osteen can’t seem to get his story straight about why he didn’t offer his 16,800-seat megachurch in Houston as a shelter sooner for those displaced by Hurricane Harvey. During an appearance on NBC’s “TODAY” show Wednesday, the head of Lakewood Church said its doors have “always been open.” Minutes later, he appeared to reverse course and admit that the church hadn’t initially encouraged victims to seek shelter there. “If people were here, they’d realize there were safety issues,” Osteen said during the TV appearance. “We were just being precautious, but the main thing is the city didn’t ask us to become a shelter then.” Dozens of Houston-area churches, schools and community centers opened their doors to offer temporary shelter to survivors as Hurricane Harvey pummeled the city earlier this week. Lakewood Church, however, posted on Sunday that the building was “inaccessible” due to flooding and encouraged people to seek shelter elsewhere. After backlash mounted on socia

England international left-back Kieran Gibbs has joined West Bromwich Albion from Arsenal on a four-year contract, his new club announced on Wednesday. West Brom did not reveal how much they paid for the 27-year-old, but British media reports put the fee at around £7 million ($9 million, 7.6 million euros). Gibbs came through the youth ranks at Arsenal, but having played regularly between 2012 and 2015, he subsequently found himself on the fringes of the first team. "I watched the boys in the first few games of the season and they've got a lot of energy," Gibbs said in comments published on the West Brom website. "They've made some good signings and I feel this is a good move for me." Gibbs, who won the last of his 10 England caps in 2015, follows Jay Rodriguez, Ahmed Hegazi, Gareth Barry, Zhang Yuning and Oliver Burke in signing for West Brom during the current transfer window. "Kieran's a good age and has made over 200 appearances for Arsenal,

Nigeria have suffered a blow ahead of next Friday’s World Cup qualifier against Cameroon in Uyo after Arsenal forward Alex Iwobi withdrew from the squad with a thigh muscle strain. The 21-year-old Arsenal star will also miss the September 4 showdown against African champions Cameroon in Yaounde, according to the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). He was due to join the Super Eagles training camp on Monday after Arsenal's Premier League game at Anfield on Sunday. Iwobi, the nephew of legendary Nigeria star Jay-Jay Okocha, had played in Nigeria’s first two World Cup qualifiers against Zambia and Algeria, scoring in a 2-1 win in Zambia in October last year. He has been replaced by CSKA Moscow striker Aaron Samuel, who was placed on standby last week. Samuel made the last of seven international appearances two years ago.

England midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is set to join Premier League champions Chelsea from Arsenal, according to British media reports on Monday. The two clubs have, according to The Guardian, The Independent and ESPN, agreed a fee for the 24-year-old, who was substituted during the limp 4-0 thrashing by Liverpool on Sunday. The Independent claims Chelsea will part with £35million and further strain the relationship between coach Arsene Wenger and the Arsenal supporters, who have seen little improvement from the team in the early part of the season from that of last term. Wenger had said earlier this month that he wanted Oxlade-Chamberlain – who is with the England squad preparing for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers and is due to discuss personal terms with Chelsea on Tuesday – to stay. "In the last year, he has made huge progress and personally I want him to stay here for a long time," said Wenger. "I'm convinced he will be the English player that everybod

Nigeria’s minister for interior, Abdulrahman Danbazau has announced a two-day public holiday as part of the Eid-el-Kabir celebration- Danbazau urged Nigerians to use the two days, September 1 and 4, to pray for peace in the country- He also warned citizens peddling hate speeches to desist from it as government will now frown at suchThe government of President Muhammadu Buhari has declared Friday, September 1 and Monday September 4, 2017 as holidays in celebration of the Eid-el-Kabir.Premium Times reports that the announcement of the public holiday was made by Abdulrahman Dambazau, the interior minister.Speaking on behalf of the government, Danbazau congratulated Muslims over the celebration.WERBUNGinRead invented by TeadsREAD ALSO: Abubakar Shekau is hiding in Mandara Mountain – BH commanderHe also urged Nigerians to use the period to pray for peace, unity, prosperity and the stability of the country’s democracy.The report quoted Dambazau as asking Nigerians to continue to support t

Following Floyd “Money” Mayweather‘s 10th-round stoppage of UFC champion Conor McGregor on Saturday, a lot of people thought the fight was stopped prematurely. McGregor said it during the event's post-fight press conference. MMA fighters flooded Twitter with criticism of the stoppage after the fight. Four-time boxing heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield shared the opinion that the referee intervened prematurely and thought the fight should have continued until McGregor was knocked down. “I personally think that (the referee) should have waited until (McGregor) got knocked down,” Holyfield told Fight Hub TV following the fight at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. “Until you knock him down, you just don't stop a fight.” Holyfield expected the outcome. While recognizing that McGregor is a “tough guy,” the boxing legend felt that boxing is a different game than MMA and poses different challenges. “I knew that McGregor is a tough guy. Anybody in (the UFC) is tough. They get

Hurricane Harvey has dumped over 30 inches of rain throughout parts of Southeast Texas since it made landfall on Friday evening. The storm and ensuing flooding have left at least 300,000 people without power and roughly 30,000 displaced to temporary shelters. Thousands of people were still awaiting rescue as of Monday morning. Dozens of Houston-area churches, schools and community centers opened their doors to offer temporary shelter to survivors, while other local houses of worship organized volunteer teams to help with relief efforts. One church, however, drew criticism online for remaining shut. Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church, a 16,800-seat indoor arena, announced on Facebook that it was “inaccessible due to severe flooding.” The post included a long list of resources for those impacted by the storm, including the street addresses for nine temporary shelters in Houston and surrounding counties. Osteen also posted prayers on social media over the weekend for those affected by the

Uber's choice of a replacement CEO just got more problematic. Former GE chief Jeff Immelt has announced that he has "decided not to pursue" Uber's top spot despite reports that he was the leading candidate. Immelt didn't say what prompted the withdrawal, but it's an unusually open declaration given that Uber hadn't publicly discussed that he was in the running. However, sources speaking to Recode suggest that he recently fell out of favor -- and that his departure is coming at a particularly bad time. Supposedly, Uber is worried not just about criticism of Immelt's time at GE (his performance there was mixed), but also former CEO Travis Kalanick's eagerness to have Immelt take his old position. The investors at Benchmark are worried that Immelt might be too eager to please Kalanick and would give the ousted CEO too much power. The company is eager to prove that it has turned a corner after grappling with its toxic culture, and it may have troubl

The MTV VMA 2017 award winners have been unveiled. Last night saw a characteristically dramatic awards ceremony; Taylor Swift debuted her new video, Pink gave an emotive speech, and Jared Leto paid tribute to Chester Bennington. Kendrick Lamar dominated the awards, picking up six moon men statues for the ‘HUMBLE.’ video. However, Ed Sheeran clinched it for the Artist of the Year award after breaking the Spotify record for first-day album streams with ‘÷’. Khalid won the Best New Artist Award – you can learn more about him in our Under The Radar interview. See the full list of MTV VMA 2017 award winners below: VIDEO OF THE YEAR: Kendrick Lamar – ‘HUMBLE.’ ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Ed Sheeran BEST NEW ARTIST: Khalid BEST COLLABORATION: Zayn & Taylor Swift – ‘I Don’t Wanna Live Forever’ from Fifty Shades Darker BEST POP: Fifth Harmony ft. Gucci Mane – ‘Down’ BEST HIP HOP: Kendrick Lamar – ‘HUMBLE.’ BEST DANCE: Zedd and Alessia Cara – ‘Stay’ BEST ROCK: Twenty One Pilots – ‘Heavydirtysoul

Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan have welcomed their second baby,a female child whom they have named August. Mark announced the news on Facebook saying, 'Priscilla and I are so happy to welcome our daughter August!" He also attached a letter to his daughter from himself and Chan expressing hopes that she would take time to enjoy her childhood. The letter partly reads, 'Childhood is magical. You only get to be a child once, so don't spend it worrying too much about the future. You've got us for that, and we'll do everything we possibly can to make sure the world is a better place for you and all children in your generation'. He and Chan wrote a similar letter to his daughter when they gave birth to her birth in 2015. Congrats to them....

The Instagram account of Selena Gomez, who happens to be the most followed person on the social media platform - with 125m followers, was hacked today and nudes of her ex boyfriend Justin Bieber were posted on the page. The images which were taken by paparazzi in 2015 as the singer vacationed in Bora Bora and shared in a censored format by a magazine. Justin reacted then to the publication of the images, saying it made him feel super violated. Gomez has however re-secured her account, and the nude photos have been removed. See picture below:

Nigerian Starboy Wizkid continues to take the international stage by storm with a performance at the ongoing Notting Hill Carnival in London. We all know wizzy never disappoints on stage and he no doubt thrilled fans at the Red Bull Music Academy Soundsystem on Day 1 of the carnival and it was a memorable one for fans that attended. Scroll down for more photos:

Hip hop Mogul Jay Z has revealed in an interview with the Rap Radar podcast the reason he and his wife Beyoncé named their twins Rumi and Sir. He said 'Rumi is our favorite poet, so it was for our daughter. And then Sir was, like, man, come out the gate. He carries himself like that. He just came out, like, Sir.'

Hurricane Harvey hit Texas as a Category 4 storm on Friday, battering the coast with 130-mph winds and torrential rain. It was the strongest hurricane to hit the United States in more than a decade leaving a massive destruction, loss of electricity, wrecked buildings and has so far killed at least one person. Scroll down to see more pictures of the incident:

Floyd Mayweather outclassed Conor McGregor with a 10th-round stoppage here Saturday to win their money-spinning superfight and clinch his 50th straight victory. Former welterweight boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, who had emerged from a two-year retirement to take on the Irish mixed martial arts star, took his time to get going before dominating from the fourth round. The end came with a tired Conor McGregor doubled over on the ropes as Mayweather landed two hard left hooks, prompting referee Robert Byrd to intervene and declare a technical knockout. It was an explosive finale to their much-hyped contest at the T-Mobile Arena which proved surprisingly competitive in the early rounds as McGregor managed to land a string of scoring punches. But once Mayweather began to find his range and McGregor wearied rapidly, there was only going to be one winner. The 40-year-old American scored at will after the fourth round, snapping back McGregor’s head with a series of stinging blow

Ahead of the mega money fight scheduled to take place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas tonight, Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor have made their final face off where they checked their weight. While Mayweather weighed in at a trim 149-1/2 pounds for the showdown, while McGregor, surprised many by easily making 153 pounds. Reacting to the weight result, Mayweather said: ”Weight doesn’t win fights. Fighting wins fights. It won’t go the distance mark my words. I just want to thanks the fans, I’m not really bothered about the last fight. This will be Conor McGregor’s last fight also. The fans cannot fight for you it comes down to the two competitors.’ McGregor who also spoke to newsmen, claimed Mayweather was ‘ in the worst shape of his life and scared.’ ‘He looks like dogs, full of water. It’s the worst shape I’ve ever seen him in. He looks blown out, out of shape, I’m gonna breeze through him. I’m a pro, I make weight, it’s sacrifice, it’s dedication it’s focus. Las V

Mel B is accusing her ex of putting media exposure ahead of their children's well-being, and now she wants her legal battle with him sealed from the public. Mel filed docs asking the court to seal her ongoing domestic violence case against Stephen Belafonte because it's attracting so much media attention, it's harming her kids. Mel says reporters and photographers are waiting whenever she drops off their daughter to visit Stephen, and suspects he's alerting media to the visitation schedule. She says, "While [Stephen] may enjoy the media attention, the minor child of this marriage did not ask to be placed in the center of this mounting storm." Sources connected to Belafonte tell us he absolutely denies exploiting the case or giving the media a heads up. In the docs, Mel also says testifying about the alleged abuse in open court would be "further abuse" against her. A hearing's set for next month for the judge to decide whether to seal

Usher wants one of those pesky herpes lawsuits tossed out, because the woman suing him has no proof he gave her anything ... TMZ has learned. The singer has responded to the $20 million lawsuit filed by a Georgia woman who claims he gave her genital herpes back in April. In Usher's legal docs, obtained by TMZ, he notes her lawsuit says nothing about whether she had been tested prior to their alleged sexual encounter. He says, "A previous sexual partner very well may have already infected her." And, Usher says, she could have contracted the STD after their alleged encounter. And he takes another shot, saying she assumed the risk of getting herpes by having "casual, unprotected sexual intercourse and/or oral sex." It's interesting ... Usher did not attack the lawsuit by saying he couldn't have given her herpes. One more thing ... Usher's lawyer grouses the woman is suing under a pseudonym, claiming there's no cause for her to secretl

Rihanna just bought a mega mansion in West Hollywood for $6.8 million days after Kendall Jenner moved out of the neighborhood. Her new home rivals even the most luxurious of celebrity homes. The newly refurbished 7,200 sq ft Old Hollywood estate boasts six bedrooms and ten bathrooms, and 18,000 sq ft of space in total. It also has an expansive master suite which features an en-suite lounge with custom Ebony wood vaulted ceilings, fireplace and floor-to-ceiling windows leading out to a private balcony. The singer reportedly got it for a bargain, having saved $1.2million  off the $8million original asking price. See pictures of her mansion after the cut.

President and founder of Dangote Foundation, Aliko Dangote is set to establish a N200 billion world-class university in Abuja, the country's capital. According to reports, the proposal has been delivered to the National Universities Commission, NUC. A former Executive Secretary of the NUC, Julius Okojie, who is the chairman of the technical team for the establishment of the university, said the foundation intends to drive technology and research in stimulating economic growth. He also said the proposed university will be technology-driven and asked for the cooperation and support of the NUC towards the realisation of the goal.  According to a National Open University of Nigeria, NOUN, publication, Mr. Dangote’s desire was to float a unique university of technology with all the necessary infrastructure and best faculty members from across the globe. Also, the Chief Executive Officer, CEO of the foundation, Zouera Yousouffou said the foundation was ready to make the dr

The 2017/18 UEFA Champions League group stage draw has been made, with highlights including Bayern v Paris, Chelsea v Atlético, Juventus v Barcelona and Real Madrid v Dortmund. Scroll down to see how team's have been paired to battle at group stage-

Barcelona have agreed a fee for the transfer of Borussia Dortmund's Ousmane Dembele to Spain, ending a saga that led to the talented 20-year-old winger being suspended by the Bundesliga club, Germany's Bild newspaper said on Thursday. Citing unnamed sources the newspaper said Barcelona had agreed to pay Dortmund €120 million and up to €150 million depending on performance bonuses, making it the second most expensive signing ever. The paper reported the deal was struck in Monaco where both teams' representatives are present for the Champions League draw. It was unclear if contracts had been signed. Brazilian Neymar joined Paris St Germain from Barcelona in a world record move worth €222 million earlier this month. France international Dembele, who joined Dortmund last year from Stade Rennes in a €15-million deal running to 2021, had been forcing his move to Spain and had missed training earlier this month, leading to his suspension.

Cristiano Ronaldo was named Uefa Player of the Season for 2016-2017 on Thursday after a campaign which saw the Portuguese superstar help Real Madrid to the La Liga and Champions League double. It was the third time that Ronaldo had won the award which was presented on the sidelines of the Champions League group stage draw. His great rival Lionel Messi has won the prize on two occasions and could pave the way for him to capture a fifth Ballon d'Or title. "There are the same goals every year, to meet the same challenges, win everything if possible, qualify for the World Cup with my national team," said Ronaldo. "This trophy will give me the motivation to keep working hard, never to give up. I am blessed and delighted to be with Real Madrid." Ronaldo won the Uefa award in 2013-2014 and 2015-2016 and in the Champions League last season, where Real defeated Juventus 4-1 in the final, he finished as top scorer with 12 goals. Juventus goalkeeper and capt

Manchester United have re-signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic and given him a new shirt number. “Manchester United is delighted to announce that Zlatan Ibrahimovic will continue his journey with the club and has signed a one-year contract,” the club stated on their website on Thursday. “He will wear the number 10 shirt. “Ibrahimović, 35, made 46 appearances and scored 28 goals for the club during the 2016/17 campaign before suffering a knee injury, which ended his season prematurely. Zlatan has won championships in four different leagues since beginning his professional career with Malmo in 1999. United manager Jose Mourinho said: “We are delighted Zlatan is on the road to recovery and we are equally delighted to have his ambition and experience back with us. After his contribution last season he deserves our trust and we will be patient waiting for him to return. I have no doubt that he will be important in the second part of the season.” Zlatan said: “I am back to finish what I sta

Bad Boys for Life could be on life support. It’s been a long and difficult road for Bad Boys 3a.k.a. Bad Boys for Life. Over the last few months, the long-gestating third installment in the Martin Lawrence and Will Smith-led franchise has lost its director and release date. Now, 14 years after Bad Boys II, even one of the stars is questioning whether the film ever gets made. “I don’t think we’re going to get one, not the way everything’s turning out,” Lawrence tells EW. “Will is off doing another movie, and I don’t think it’s going to happen.” Last year, Smith, who has recently been cast as the Genie in Disney’s live-action Aladdin remake, teased that Bad Boys 3 was “very, very, very close.” He also added of Lawrence, “I love that dude. That’s among the best times I’ve ever had making movies. So I’m looking forward to it.” As is Lawrence, should it defy his expectations and become a reality. “I’m there, I’m ready right now,” he laughs. “If they wanted to do it, I’m ready, but