The World Cup draw earlier turned up some shockers, with some of the best teams in the world pitted against each other so early in the tournament.

The draw for the group stages of the World Cup have churned out a number of tricky groups with several top teams set to face off in the group stages of the competition.

The men Harrison O'kene worked with on a Nigerian tugboat last May did not get lucky when their boat went down, all died. But Okene did get lucky, he found an air bubble and survived 60 hours at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in the sunken ship.

While online dating is increasingly becoming common, there is always the lurking threat of a rip-off. Incidents from Canada exemplify the problem.

Sochi - As the Russian city of Sochi gears up for the 2014 Winter Olympics, two killer whales recently captured from the wild in the Russian Far East will debut in Sochi for the Olympic Games along with a dolphin torchbearer.

Kano - In a campaign to enforce a law in place since 2001, police in the north Nigerian city of Kano confiscated 240,000 bottles of beer on Wednesday which was taken to a landfill and destroyed.

New York - A Florida model is suing Match.com for $1.5 billion accusing the popular dating site and other websites of posting thousands of fake profiles.

Borno - Gunmen in north-eastern Nigeria have killed at least 30 members of a wedding party including the groom. The attack happened in a very dangerous part of Borno, where there has been an ongoing Islamist insurgency.

Port Harcourt - Nigerian police raided an illegal maternity home in Rivers state, rescuing six pregnant girls and arresting a woman accused of keeping them there.

Cholera has been the scourge of mankind for over 200 years, killing millions of people. Once thought to be caused by "bad air," we now know it is spread through poor sanitation practices and a lack of hygiene, still common in developing countries.

Pirates attacked an oil platform supply vessel in the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of Nigeria on Wednesday, kidnapping two American citizens in the process.

If you know anything about the Tuareg it is probably that he rides a camel. This one rides a motor bike and plays lead guitar.

Islamist militants have attacked a college in Nigeria's northeast and have shot 40 male students, some of them while they were sleeping early on Sunday.

At least 38 people have been killed this weekend in two further attacks attributed to Boko Haram Islamist insurgents in Nigeria’s troubled Borno province in the north-east of the country.

New York - New, more gory details have emerged in what was reported first as the killing of 35 Muslim worshipers and the wounding of 14 last week in the town of Dumba village in Borno State, Nigeria.

Sprinter Kelly-Ann Baptiste, who ranked as the third-fastest woman in the world this year, withdrew from the IAAF World Championships in Moscow, Russia due to "doping matters," Trinidad and Tobago athletics officials confirmed on Monday.

Abuja - The "spiritual leader" of Boko Haram, Iman Liman Ibrahim, has revealed that Sheikh Abubakar Shekau, leader of the militant Islamic sect, was shot and deposed before the June 26 announcement of ceasefire by the group.

A report by The Economist magazine reveals that Nigerian federal legislators are the highest paid in the world with an annual basic salary of $189,500 (N30.6 m). The National Assembly has rejected the report, describing it as "grossly exaggerated."

Abuja - In a move that would be seen as the climax to an unfolding drama following approval of 14-year jail term for gays on grounds of religious morality, the Nigerian Senate has approved marriage for underage girls also on the ground of religious morality.

Port Harcourt - The viral video showing the Rivers State Assembly House Leader Chidi Lloyd battering Michael Chinda with a mace is drawing renewed interest following news that the battered lawmaker is in a critical condition and is being flown abroad for treatment.