This Wednesday, May 26, 2010 image made from video provided by ALPHA TV shows a frog hopping across a section of key northern highway near the Greek town of Langadas, some 12 miles east of Thessaloniki. Authorities closed the highway after three car drivers skidded off the road trying to dodge the frogs. Thessaloniki traffic police chief Giorgos Thanoglou said the amphibians probably left a nearby lake to look for food.
"There was a carpet of frogs," he said. Authorities closed the highway after three car drivers skidded off the road trying to dodge the frogs. No human injuries were reported.

Without doubts, the new football era has just started. Referee Frank Bleeckere’s final whistle at the Camp Nou this evening just marked Inter Milan’s triumph over Lionel Messi’s FC Barcelona in the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League.

The title holders went down at the San Siro 3-1last Tuesday following the official’s favoritism for Jose Mourinho’s Inter, but the Catalans were not able to overturn their negative score line at home in Spain. Hence, a 1-0 victory for Pep Guardiola’s team subsequent to Gerard Pique’s goal was not enough to keep the Blaugrana alive in the Champions League.

How Barcelona became the “Unbeatable Side”

After keeping their courage despite their controversial victory over Chelsea in the semifinals of the European Championship last season, Barcelona went on to defeat Premier League defending champions Manchester United 2-0 in the final.

As they won the treble that season, the Catalans had the chance to compete in 3 additional tournaments, which were the Spanish Super Cup, the UEFA Super Cup, and the FIFA Club World Cup.

At everyone’s amazement, Barcelona finished their 2009 year with the snatching of all 6 possible cups, and Lionel Messi played a major role in the creation of their incomparable success. With this achievement valuing their greatness, the Blaugrana became the “unbeatable side” according to many journalists, players, coaches, and fans.

Messi himself declared that his club was undefeatable when in form, but surely without knowing it, such a statement coming out of his mouth went straight across the ears of his biggest enemies. Regardless, Barcelona kept powering their 2009-10 season with precious victories in all possible competitions, but nevertheless, they suffered an early Copa del Rey exit when they lost to Sevilla.

Yet, Barcelona tried to cope with what they still had left, and it seemed like everything was on track. Humiliating Champions League victories against Stuttgart and Arsenal when Lionel Messi revealed his strongest goalscoring skills, as well as convincing wins in La Liga, were just enough to confirm the might of the FIFA Club champions.

Nonetheless, Barcelona knew that in order to seal their excellence in football, they had to defend their Champions League title. And it was only then that they faced their toughest challenge as they were placed against the Special One’s army in all its power.

Jose Mourinho's triumph, controversy, and the end of Barcelona's reign

The clash between Inter Milan and Barcelona had many representations for the majority of football fans, among which were: Jose Mourinho vs Lionel Messi, Samuel Eto’o vs Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and a few others. Unexpectedly, Inter Milan immediately stamped their authority on the Azulgranas by stealing a controversial 3-1 victory at the San Siro when they both met on April 20.

Video highlights clearly showed the partiality of Referee Olegário Benquerença who is said to be a long-time friend of Inter coach Jose Mourinho, but bizarrely, the Portuguese manager justified his side’s triumph by repeatedly putting emphasis on Referee Tom Ovrebo’s favor toward Barcelona last year against Chelsea at the Stanford Bridge in the Champions League.

This angered Barca fans and players, and since the second leg was set to be played at home, the least Barcelona could do was to secure a 2-0 win. All eyes were then set on the Champions League’s top scorer Lionel Messi and his potent team mates; yet, things did not really prove to go as positively as Catalan fans were hoping.

Despite the sending-off of former Barcelona player Motta after 26 minutes of action, an ineffective Zlatan Ibrahimovic was incapable of giving the hosts the lead. Inter then decided to play a completely negative game, and with Lionel Messi only being able to make intelligent and short passes outside the D, Barcelona were struggling to make goalkeeper Julio Cesar work.

Messi however came close to scoring late in the first half, but it was the second half which proved to be more promising. A few substitutions from Pep Guardiola enabled Bojan Kikrik and Jeffren to make their entries into the game, and on 84 minutes, Gerard Pique scored an offside opener which truly got the home crowd on their feet.

Watch the video highlights of Gerard Pique's goal and Barcelona's attempts

Barcelona kept pressing on for a second goal which would have been the saving goal to reach the final, but it never came. Dani Alves was in some way fouled inside the box by Ghanaian midfielder Sulley Muntari, but the referee waved away the appeals for a penalty.

In the end, 3-2 the clash ended on aggregate at the delight of Inter Milan, and Coach Jose Mourinho–who was verbally abused before the game by opposing fans–could only run onto the pitch after the final whistle to celebrate was is said to be his 6th Champions League final in 6 years, and the beginning of a new football era.

Watch the celebrations of Inter Milan after the match

Lionel Messi and Barcelona’s powerful empire has now collapsed under the invasion of the Special One. No matter what happens to the Nerazzurri at the Bernabeu Stadium in the final against Bayern Munich, Mourinho can feel proud that he broke the chains and realized the dreams of Cristiano Ronaldo, Real Madrid, and all the previous victims of Barcelona’s incursion.

Surely–not counting the invasion of Pep Guardiola last season in soccer–football has not witnessed an achievement as memorable as the one Jose Mourinho just did, since a couple of years. Perhaps, it will take a lot of strength and cleverness from the next coach which will be able to make such an attainment.

Currently, most Barcelona fans might be complaining about their unjust defeat against Inter Milan in the semifinals of the Champions League; while others might wonder if and how Jose Mourinho was able to do what was previously regarded as the “impossible.”

Four common bad habits combined — smoking, drinking too much, inactivity and poor diet — can age you by 12 years, sobering new research suggests.

If baby animals are "cute," then how does one describe Einstein the newborn pinto stallion? Super-incredi-adora-cute? Weighing in at just six pounds, the New Hampshire-born foal may be the world's smallest horse. Dr. Rachel Wagner, Einstein's co-owner, says the Guinness record for the smallest newborn horse is 9 pounds. Wagner notes Einstein shows no signs of dwarfism, unlike the current record holder. Photos of Einstein standing next to a young child and a bemused Saint Bernard really put the horse's 14-inch frame in perspective. All together now: "Awwww!"

In one of the most amazing finishes at any level this season, Partizan won its fourth consecutive Adriatic League title by edging Cibona 74-75 in overtime in front of a sellout crowd in Zagreb, Croatia on Sunday.

Dusan Kecman became the game hero with a midcourt buzzer beating three pointer that allowed Partizan to lift the trophy in unbelievable fashion.

Cibona trailed 68-72 with seconds left but back to back triples by Marko Tomas and Bojan Bogdanovic gave their team a 74-72 edge with 0.6 seconds left, but Kecman stole the show right when it mattered.

Aleks Maric led the winners with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Lawrence Roberts added 13 points and 14 rebounds while Aleksandar Rasic and Petar Bozic each had 11 points for Partizan.

Marko Tomas and Jamont Gordon led Cibona with 31 points apiece. Partizan led for the best part of the fourth quarter but Gordon allowed Cibona to force overtime, 60-60. Roberts downed 4 of 6 free throws to give Partizan a 68-72 lead late in the extra period and even when Cibona regained the lead, Kecman sank a shot that will go down in history as one of the most incredible ones in Adriatic League history.

While Victor Huang was trying out his shiny new Panasonic Lumix DMC-FT2 in Wahine Memorial, Wellington, New Zealand, he attempted to get video of a large wild octopus. The octopus snatched the camera from his hands and swam away with it while still recording — subsequently filming a chase for the camera that lasted several minutes.

“While trying to get video of a wild octopus, it suddenly dashed towards me and rips my shiny new camera from out of my hands, then swims off, all while the camera is recording! he swam away very quickly like a naughty shoplifter. after a 5 minute chase, I placed my speargun underneath him and he quickly and curiously grabbed hold of the gun as well, giving me enough time to reach in and grab the camera from out of his mouth. I didn’t feel threatened at all during the whole ordeal. he seemed to be fixated on the shiny metallic blue digital camera. the only confusing behavior was how he dashed off with it like a thief haha. cheeky octopus.”

The above video is the chase, with the following credits: Music by Vincent Gillioz (Car Chase) and Dalmatian Rex and the Eigentones (Octopus I Love You). First unit camera: Victor Huang. First unit director and second unit camera: Cheeky Octopus.

A Russian news report says a small plane has crashed when the pilot lost his bearings and decided to ask a tractor driver for directions. No one was hurt. RIA-Novosti news agency quoted a local police spokesman as saying the accident happened Friday in southern Russia's Stavropol region.

It said the pilot lost his way, saw a tractor below and decided to land to get advice from the driver.

Oleg Ugnivenko, a spokesman for the regional branch of Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry, said the An-2 agricultural plane grazed the tractor while landing in the field and broke its landing gear. He said no one was hurt but gave no further details.