Dispatches from Tucson

Hapoel Tel Aviv holds Schalke to 0-0 draw
AP Hapoel Tel Aviv claimed its first point of the Champions League group stage on Tuesday with a 0-0 draw at home to Schalke. Despite producing a number of scoring opportunities, last season's Israeli champions were unable to get the ball past Schalke goalkeeper Manuel Neuer. The result leaves Hapoel rooted at bottom of Group B, while Schalke is second with seven points - two behind Lyon. But it means coach Eli Guttman's team has at least gone one better than last year's Israeli representativ...

Tel Aviv Finally Plays Like a Champion
From the match (Hapoel in red). The Elementary School outside Tel Aviv I attended was situated on the fault line between two dramatically divergent neighborhoods. To the south lay Herzliya Pituach, the affluent seaside community home to many of Israel’s wealthiest families. To the north was Nof Yam, a modest neighborhood built by the sons and daughters of the labor movement, a spacious but unassuming colony of small houses and sensible backyards. Walking around the School yard, you would&#...

Gomez fires Bayern into Champions League last 16
German international striker Mario Gomez fired Bayern Munich into the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday, netting a Hat-trick during a 4-0 Group E demolition of Romanian side Cluj. Despite a injury crisis that deprived Bayern coach Louis van Gaal of Dutch World Cup star Arjen Robben and French midfielder Franck Ribery among others, last season's runners-up never looked in danger against a defensively frail Cluj. And with four wins of out four in Europe, the German Champions sauntered...

Real join Chelsea, Bayern in Champions League last 16
Real Madrid struck late on to earn a 2-2 draw at AC Milan and secure a place in the Champions League knockout phase, where they were joined by Chelsea and Bayern Munich. In Wednesday's matches, Chelsea won 4-1 at home to Spartak Moscow to go six points clear in Group F, while Bayern maintained their perfect record with a 4-0 win at CFR Cluj in Group E, but Arsenal fell to a 2-1 defeat at Shakhtar Donetsk. Real's trip to Milan marked Jose Mourinho's first visit to the San Siro since he left Int...

Leon sends Real Madrid into Champions League last 16
Substitute Pedro Leon scored deep into injury time to rescue a 2-2 draw for Real Madrid at AC Milan and send the Spanish team into the Champions League knock-out rounds. Gonzalo Higuain had given the Spaniards a deserved first half lead but a Filippo Inzaghi brace lit up an otherwise uninspired performance from the hosts. Leon's last gasp heroics saved Real coach Jose Mourinho from suffering defeat on his return to the San Siro, where he coached Inter Milan for two years. Advertisement: Story ...

Spurs, Benfica and Valencia relaunch Champions League last 16 bids
Tottenham Hotspur, Benfica and Valencia relaunched their respective bids for a place in the lucrative last 16 of the Champions League with resounding wins in the fourth round of group games. Spurs, who staged a remarkable comeback a fortnight ago in a 4-3 defeat away to Inter Milan, outclassed the defending Champions 3-1 at White Hart Lane with another fine display of attacking football inspired by Welsh winger Gareth Bale. Benfica still sit third in Group B but took a big step towards the kno...

Schalke's Jermaine Jones sidelined after injuring ligaments in ankle
GELSENKIRCHEN, Germany — Schalke midfielder Jermaine Jones has injured two ligaments in his right ankle. Jones, who made his debut for the U.S. National Team in October, was injured in Schalke's 1-0 German Cup win at FSV Frankfurt on Tuesday. He missed Saturday's 1-0 Bundesliga loss to Bayer Leverkusen and is doubtful for Tuesday's Champions League game at Hapoel Tel Aviv. ...

Chelsea power into last 16 as Spartak downed
Stand-in captain Didier Drogba led from the front as Chelsea powered into the last 16 of the Champions League here Wednesday with a 4-1 victory over Spartak Moscow. Drogba, making his first appearance in European football this season, scored one goal from the penalty spot and set up one as the Russians were swept aside at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea's other goals came from defender Branislav Ivanovic (2) and Nicolas Anelka. Advertisement: Story continues below The win left Chelsea on top of Gro...

Chelsea power to 4-1 romp against Spartak
AFP Stand-in captain Didier Drogba led from the front as Chelsea powered into the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday with a 4-1 victory over Spartak Moscow. Drogba, making his first appearance in European football this season, scored one goal from the penalty spot and set up one as the Russians were swept aside at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea's other goals came from defender Branislav Ivanovic (2) and Nicolas Anelka. Advertisement: Story continues below The win left Chelsea on top of ...

Qantas jumbo makes emergency landing in Singapore
SINGAPORE (AP) - Qantas grounded all six of its Airbus A380 superjumbos after one of them blew out an engine Thursday, shooting flames and debris that forced the plane to make an Emergency Landing in Singapore with 459 people aboard. The carrier said the double-decker Airbus A380 plane landed safely with no injuries. It was most serious midair incident involving the A380, the world's largest jetliner, since it debuted in October 2007 with Singapore Airlines flying it to Sydney—the same ro...

Qantas Grounds All A380 Flights After Mid-Air Scare
AP Nov. 4: A Qantus A380 jumbo jet made an emergency landing in Singapore after suffering engine failure in mid-air. Singapore -- Qantas grounded all of its six Airbus A380 superjumbos Thursday after one of them blew Out an engine, shooting flames and debris that forced it to make an emergency landing in Singapore with 459 people aboard. The carrier said the double-decker Airbus A380 plane landed safely with no injuries. It was most serious mid-air incident involving the A380, the world's larg...

Quantas Airbus Problem: Airline Grounds All A380s After Engine Fire Over Indonesia
Singapore — Qantas grounded all six of its Airbus 380 superjumbos after one of them blew out an engine Thursday, shooting flames and debris and forcing an emergency landing in Singapore with 459 people aboard. The carrier said the double-decker Airbus A380 landed safely with no injuries. It was most serious midair incident involving the A380, the world's largest jetliner and latest jetliner, since it made its debut in October 2007 with Singapore Airlines flying it to Sydney – the s...

Ian Welsh sums it up
The price of this may well be that a Republican president gets in in 2012. That will be bad, but if it happens it is a necessary sacrifice, because until one of the two major parties is one which will propose and then execute solutions which work, all Democrats do is slow down America’s terminal decline. Better that President teabag gets in in 2012 and then there is a chance at a good President in 2016 than that the US have to wait till 2020 at the earliest. And hey, a successful primary...

Qantas A380 superjumbo in Singapore emergency landing
A Qantas A380 with more than 450 people on board made a dramatic forced Landing in Singapore Thursday, trailing smoke from a blackened engine, in the Airbus superjumbo's first mid-air Emergency. Australia's Qantas Airways, which prides itself as the world's safest airline with no fatal jet crashes in its 90-year history, said it was grounding all six of its A380s following the incident. The double-decker plane carrying 433 passengers and 26 crew developed engine trouble just six minutes into a...

Senate loses its left-wing leader on foreign policy
Wisconsin's Russ Feingold was no ordinary Democratic senator. He staunchly staked out unabashedly liberal positions on all things Foreign Policy and National Security related, right up until his defeat Tuesday night. Feingold is, or was, technically the third-ranking Democratic senator on the Foreign Relations Committee, after Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) and Chris Dodd (D-CT). With Dodd retiring, Feingold stood to become chairman if Kerry were ever tapped for Secretary of State. In fact, the r...

Left wing hack Alicia Menendez: Marco Rubio Perpetuates All Of The Bad Stereotypes About Cuban Americans
Left Wing hack Alicia Menendez: “Marco Rubio Perpetuates All Of The Bad Stereotypes About Cuban Americans” It’s not a surprise that this Left Wing hack Alicia Menendez made these comments on MSNBC. They slurp that kind of stuff up, especially with the the likes of Donny Deutsch on that network calling Marco Rubio a “coconut.” But to be fair, this same Left Wing hack Alicia Menendez (who happens to the the daughter of Far Left corrupt Democrat and New Jersey Senato...

How the Left-Wing Media Views Mid-Term Elections In Seven Minutes
If you haven't been paying attention this election season and you only see this video produced by Newsweek, you would think the Republicans were on the verge of collapse. ...

Simply Jews: The dull, throbbing anxiety of Jonathan Franzen's potential reader
I have a confession to make. It is with growing feelings of inferiority and frustration that I look at the growing list of authors who, according to widely accepted verdict of literary critics belong to the Pantheon of greatness or already put their first foot into it, and yet I still cannot make myself like them. Not to put too fine a polish on the sad fact, in many cases I wasn't even able to finish some of their books. Of course it's a matter of taste, you will say, and it's perfectly excusa...

Tottenham's Gareth Bale ruining reputations as he makes a name for himself
Tottenham's Gareth Bale moves the ball away from Inter Milan during their Champions League group A Soccer match at Tottenham's White Hart Lane Stadium in London, Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Tom Hevezi) (AP) PARIS — A shade over two months ago, in a packed auditorium in Monaco, Sisenando Maicon Douglas — known simply as Maicon by the opponents who fear him — beamed with pride as he was presented with a ball-shaped silver trophy for being the best defender in European c...

Gomez fires Bayern to 4-0 win over Cluj
AFP German international striker Mario Gomez fired Bayern Munich into the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday, netting a Hat-trick during a 4-0 Group E demolition of Romanian side Cluj. Despite a injury crisis that deprived Bayern coach Louis van Gaal of Dutch World Cup star Arjen Robben and French midfielder Franck Ribery among others, last season's runners-up never looked in danger against a defensively frail Cluj. And with four wins of out four in Europe, the German Champions saun...

Shakhtar Donetsk 2 Arsenal 1: match report
Read a full match report of the Champions League Group H match between Shakhtar Donetsk and Arsenal on Wednesday Nov 3 2010....

Arsène Wenger: 'complacency' behind Arsenal loss to Shakhtar Donetsk
Arsène Wenger said that Arsenal's 2-1 defeat by Shakhtar Donetsk last night, their first loss in Champions League Group H, had been due to "complacency". The manager offered rare public criticism of his team after he saw Theo Walcott open the scoring. A Craig Eastmond own-goal and a second-half strike from Eduardo Da Silva won the game for the Ukrainian club. A win would have put Arsenal into the last 16. "We have learned a lesson tonight - that at this level cannot lose focus at any ...

Braga triumph over Partizan Belgrade
AP Moises scored in the 35th minute to give Braga its second straight Champions League victory with a 1-0 win over Partizan Belgrade on Wednesday. Moises met a long cross from Luis Aguiar at the edge of the penalty area and sent a curving header into the upper left corner of the net, past stunned Serbia goalkeeper Vladimir Stojkovic. Partizan had more possession, but Braga controlled the midfield although Aguiar and Paulo Cesar sent two good chances high over Partizan's goal in the first half...

Chelsea looks to end Liverpool's revival
AP In-form Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka will look to halt former club Liverpool's mini-revival when the defending Premier League Champions visit Anfield on Sunday. After a dreadful start to the season, Liverpool scraped wins over northwest neighbours Bolton and Blackburn to move midtable. But the Reds are still far from their best and Anelka, who has already scored 10 goals this season, including three in the past four matches, is in the kind of form to end Liverpool's recent resurgence. "H...

Shakhtar Donetsk v Arsenal: live
Follow live commentary of the Champions League Group H match between Shakhtar Donetsk and Arsenal on Wednesday Nov 3 2010, kick-off 19.45 GMT....