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A 93rd-minute header from Branislav Ivanovic gave Chelsea a stunning 2-1 victory over Benfica in the Europa League final on Wednesday as the London club claimed the trophy for the first time in heart-stopping fashion. The game in Amsterdam seemed destined for extra time after Fernando Torres’ superb 60th-minute opener for Chelsea was cancelled out by an Oscar Cardozo penalty, only for Ivanovic to net a dramatic winner with a looping header in stoppage time. Moments later, Chelsea’s players greeted the final whistle with a jubilant mass embrace, as they became the first team to simultaneously hold the Champions League and Europa League titles. They will relinquish their Champions League crown in 10 days, but more lasting is the statistic that they are only the fourth club to have claimed Europe’s three major trophies — including the now-defunct Cup Winners’ Cup — after Ajax, Bayern Munich and Juventus. Chelsea’s interim manager Rafael Benitez, meanwhile, joins Giovanni Trapattoni as on...

M.C. feels like a boy. The 8-year-old adopted child of Mark and Pam Crawford identifies as a boy, acts like a boy and is accepted as a boy by his family, school and pediatrician. But M.C. is not biologically male -- at least, not anymore -- because nearly seven years ago, M.C., who was born intersex (with both male and female genitals), underwent a procedure in South Carolina that surgically removed his male genitalia , CNN reports. Now the Crawfords are suing the people who performed and gave consent for that surgery , alleging that "the state of South Carolina violated M.C.’s constitutional rights when doctors surgically removed his phallus while he was in foster care, potentially sterilizing him and greatly reducing, if not eliminating, his sexual function," according to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC).

Troops, yesterday, moved into Yola, Adamawa State capital and Maiduguri, capital of Borno State, barely 24 hours after President Goodluck Jonathan declared a State of Emergency in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states in response to Boko Haram insurgency which has claimed several lives and destroyed many property. Residents and journalists saw military trucks carrying over 2000 soldiers into Yola and Maiduguri, yesterday, in compliance with the president’s orders. The military launched the first phase of its campaign to secure the country’s borders and flush out all terrorists and insurgents from the northern states.

The music streaming wars have officially begun. Google on Wednesday announced Google Play Music All Access, a streaming music service for smartphones, tablets and desktops. All Access, which launches in the U.S. on Wednesday, allows users to stream "millions" of songs, create personalized radio stations and discover music based on their music preferences, according to the company. "This is radio without rules," Chris Yerga, Android's engineering director, said when he introduced the service at Google's annual I/O conference in San Francisco. "It's as lean back as you want to as or as interactive as you want it to be." The service, which will be available for $9.99 per month after a monthlong free trial, competes directly with Spotify, the 5-year-old streaming music service that launched in the U.S. in 2011, as well as Pandora, the Internet radio giant. Unlike All Access, which has a monthly fee, Spotify uses a "freemium" model; ...

  We stress over our jobs, our relationships, our finances and our friendships -- and unfortunately, even our bedrooms can become a breeding ground for anxiety. Sex may be touted as one of the most effective (and pleasurable) forms of stress relief , but it can also be a major source of insecurity for women. Performance anxiety isn't limited to men, and if your sex life isn't as mind-blowing as it could be, it's possible that your own worries are getting in the way. Body image issues, orgasm obstacles and STD woes are just a few of the concerns that can keep women from letting go and enjoying their time between the sheets. If you suspect that your anxiety about sex might be preventing you from optimizing your pleasure, it might be worth taking a look at some of your own sexual insecurities. Scroll through the list below for 10 common worries about sex -- and why they're not worth the stress.

  Angelina Jolie WASHINGTON (AFP) – Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie revealed Tuesday she has undergone a double mastectomy to reduce her high risk of breast cancer, encouraging other women to address threats to their health. The ultra-glamorous Jolie — whose mother Marcheline Bertrand died of ovarian cancer at the age of 56 — said she had managed to keep the issue quiet for months and continue working. Three months of grueling medical procedures including breast reconstruction ended in late April. Jolie, whose father is Oscar-winning actor Jon Voight, said her chances of developing breast cancer are now just five percent. “Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy,” the 37-year-old actress wrote in The New York Times. “I started with the breasts, as my risk of breast cancer is higher than my risk of ovarian cancer, and the surgery is more complex,” she wr...

Wizkid continues to cement the fact that he is worth millions and there is perhaps nothing anyone can do about it. He recently acquired a Porsche Panamera S and uploaded photos on his instagram page. Without being told, you know millions of naira have moved places and to clear any controversy that this could be an associate’s automobile, Wizkid had it’s number plate customised. Star boy It’s a beautiful car; upcoming acts in the industry can only gawk at the photos and dream on…

There are fears that broadcast of pornography on pay TV channels may become real in Nigeria, following acquisition of majority equity in On Digital Media, operating as TopTV by Star Times. On Digital Media (operating as TopTV) was recently licensed to broadcast three adult content channels—Playboy TV, Desire TV, and Private Spice in South Africa. Earlier this month, shareholders of On Digital Media, ODM, voted to accept the business rescue plan offered by Chinese company, Star Times. ODM has been distressed and in business rescue since last October. The development has raised palpable fears that the Chinese pay TV operator may include the Top TV porn channels in its Nigerian bouquet offerings. But spokesman of StarTimes Nigeria, Ayokunle Idowu, in a telephone conversation said his company had no such plans. “We have no such plans. Apart from that, I’m sure the National Broadcasting Commission, NBC, will not approve such,” he said. But aggressive marketing of its T-1 decoders at N3,000...

Tuface and Ice Prince have been nominated for the 2013 Black Entertainment BET Best International act award taking place at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles on June 30. Tuface as you know him is no stranger to grabbing international awards. In 2011, he had shared this same award with the Koko master D’banj and Ice Prince although nominated in this category in 2012 had lost it to Wizkid and Sarkodie. *2face and Ice Prince in US, 2012 Toya Delazy (South Africa), Donald (South Africa), R2Bees (Ghana) and Radio and Weasel (Uganda) are other African artistes also nominated in the category this year. Check out the full nomination list below…

No fewer than 38 persons died and 206 injured in various accidents in Ondo State in the first quarter of 2013. Sector Commander of Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, Mrs Mary Wakawa, told newsmen, Tuesday, in Akure that incidents occurred between January and March. She said that the number of deaths occurred in 64 accidents. She said: “This shows a reduction in the number of accidents recorded in the same period in 2012 in the state, when 77 people died and 423 were injured.’’ Wakawa also said that about 275 people had been prosecuted in this first quarter of 2013, who were involved in various traffic offences.

Jennifer Lopez has purchased a house in the Hamptons , just in time for summer. Most of us consider a new bathing suit, or maybe plan a manicure for Memorial Day weekend, but not J. Lo. The "On The Floor" singer just dropped $10 million on an estate in Water Mill, N.Y. The eight-bedroom, seven-bathroom home is stocked with amenities like a sauna, theater and a pool. And the singer won't have to worry about prying paparazzi, either: The home is set on three lush acres in a cul-de-sac. So can we expect to see J. Lo shopping for overpriced crab salad at the local Citarella this summer? Perhaps. If she decides not to spend her summer in New York, she can always rent it out. The house commands $425,000 for the peak summer rental months. see photos below

Two doves owe their freedom, including a soaring flight over St. Peter's Square, to Pope Francis. As he toured the square in his open-topped popemobile at his Wednesday audience with the public, someone at the edge of the crowd thrust a white bird cage with two doves inside at him. Looking puzzled, his security detail took the cage and handed it to Francis. Without hesitation, the pope opened the cage door, thrust a hand inside, extracted one dove and sent it to fly over the square. Francis struggled to remove the other bird, whose feathers got caught in the cage bars. It sat for a while on his hand, before it too flew off.

Twitter is increasingly pressing beyond the confines of the 140 character text messages that defined the social network at its inception. The Twitter timeline of today -- replete with tweets that feature pictures, videos, music and short clips of news articles -- is far from the timeline of truncated status updates that launched the social network seven years ago. Indeed, the company seems intent on challenging nearly every social media competitor, from Instagram to Facebook to YouTube. The latest sign of Twitter's expanding ambitions comes with a report from The Wall Street Journal that the social network plans to distribute ESPN highlights, signaling that the company is serious about integrating content that will keep users glued to their feeds. "What's become quite evident is the way that people like to communicate isn't just through text," said Mark Shaw, a London-based social media consultant who specializes in advising companies about Twitter. "They lik...

Audio experts differ on whether screams for help captured on 911 calls are those of defendant George Zimmerman or of shooting victim 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, according to reports released Tuesday. One New Jersey-based audio expert said in a report that the screams came from Martin, while another Florida-based audio expert said the shouts were a mix of Martin and Zimmerman. Attorneys prosecuting Zimmerman on a charge of second-degree murder hired the audio experts to compare samples of Zimmerman's and Martin's voices with the shouts from the 911 calls phoned in by neighbors of Zimmerman. The residents of the gated community heard the neighborhood watch leader struggling with the South Florida teen during a confrontation last year. Determining whose voice was calling for help could aid a jury in deciding whether Zimmerman's claims of self-defense were justified. Zimmerman is pleading not guilty and his trial starts next month. Martin's family claims the voice is th...

Jay Carney endured an unrelenting grilling on Tuesday about what media watchdogs have called unprecedented actions by the Department of Justice to secretly obtain months of Associated Press phone records. Journalists have been outraged since the AP revealed that it had been subjected to the secret probe, which saw the DOJ look at the records for at least 20 of its phone lines and at least six of its individual journalists over a period of at least two months. Carney was asked right away about the White House's view of the situation. In response, he said flatly that there could be no comment, since he was duty-bound to maintain a separation between the White House and the investigation: On the issue of what is a Department of Justice investigation, as I understand it, the president is a strong defender of the First Amendment and a firm believer in the need for the press to be unfettered in its ability to conduct investigative reporting and facilitate the free flow of information. He...

Windows 8 has been an enigma from the time of its release. Backed by probably the biggest marketing campaign ever for an operating system, Windows 8 has not managed to take the market by storm. Rather, its progress has been slow and gradual. Though Microsoft has tried its best to hype up every small achievement, the latest version of their operating system has received its fair share of criticism. Yet, there is one piece of news which will put a smile on the face of Windows proponents who have had to work very hard to defend their beloved OS.

When Google Glass was first “announced” back in early 2012, the rumor mill went on overdrive. Speculation was rife about what Google was planning to do. Wearable technology ideas were thrown left and right. Augmented reality rumors were even brought up. At this point, with Google Glass being available to a few people , we know much more about Google’s “next big thing”, but I wager that many an average consumer still is not totally clear about what Google Glass can do. Sure, we know that it gives the user the power to be connected by merely wearing the device. You can take pictures, tweet, and do all sorts of stuff you can do with your smartphone right now. But what are the Google Glass features that will really convince you to shell out hundreds – maybe a thousand – dollars for something that, depending on your perspective, looks really cool or really dorky? Here are some of the Google Glass features that just might push you over the line of doubt. 1. Prism screen display It really i...

Northern elders have pointedly said President Goodluck Jonathan will not be re-elected in 2015. They, therefore, said a segment of the Niger Delta people, particularly erstwhile militant leader, Alhaji Asari Dokubo, who said there would be war in Nigeria if their kinsman, Jonathan, is not re-elected, may start their action now. According to them, the Jonathan sympathisers do not need to wait until their kinsman is defeated in 2015 to act. The northern elders, under the aegis of Northern  Elders Forum (NEF), hinged their opposition to the president’s re-election on  non-performance. They added that Jonathan was not entitled to the office of president in the first place. Prof. Ango Abdullahi, their spokesman, conveyed their position in an interview with Sunday Vanguard. Abdullahi, a former Vice Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, pointed out that the North was dissatisfied with Jonathan’s presidency. “We in the North are not going to support Jonathan in 2015 becau...

The House of Representatives yesterday, ordered the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to return N236 billion to the treasury of the Federal Government within a month. The order was given by the Chairman of the House Committee on Public Accounts, Adeola Olamilekan. He said the order was in line with the query of the Auditor-General of the Federation which the corporation failed to defend before the committee. Cross-Section of members of House of the Reps Group Managing Director of the Corporation, Mr Andrew Yakubu, was billed to appear before the committee, along with the heads of the Federal Inland Revenue Service,FIRS, Petroleum Products Pricing Agency, PPPRA, and Accountant General of the Federation, among others, over the Auditor -General’s query on the fuel subsidy regime but delegated the General Manager, Process and Procedures, Mr Abdullahi Kalami, to represent him.