Tottenham had two goals disallowed in a 0-0 draw at home to Serie A joint leader Lazio in their opening game of the Europa League group stage on Thursday, while defending champion Atletico Madrid cruised to a 3-0 win at Hapoel Tel-Aviv.

United States international Clint Dempsey had a goal ruled out for offside halfway through the first period, before Steven Caulker saw his header struck off for his push on Lazio's Stefano Mauri.

European Union sports ministers sought Thursday to forge a united front against match-fixing to combat what they consider one of the most serious threats to modern sports.

At a meeting in the Cypriot capital of Nicosia, they called for "dissuasive, effective and proportionate" criminal and disciplinary sanctions against offenders, especially in serious, cross-border cases.

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho has taken legal action against one of Marca's journalists over an article published this week, the Spanish newspaper said on Thursday.

The Spanish champions followed that by announcing they were studying their own legal case against a former Barcelona vice-president who tweeted Mourinho was a "psychopath."

Google Inc. says it plans to close a music download service in China due to a disappointing response from users.

The move announced Friday will further reduce Google's presence in the world's most populous Internet market two years after it closed its mainland search engine in a dispute over censorship and computer hacking.

Nearly two years after President Barack Obama ordered 33,000 more U.S. troops to Afghanistan to tamp down the escalating Taliban violence, the last of those surge troops have left the country, U.S. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said Friday.

Panetta said the "surge did accomplish it objectives of reversing the Taliban momentum on the battlefield and dramatically increase the size and capability of the Afghan national security forces."

Formula One leader Fernando Alonso and title contender Mark Webber of Red Bull said this week's Singapore Grand Prix could be the turning point of the season, ending McLaren's recent dominance.

McLaren has won the past three races, but both Ferrari and Red Bull are hoping the nature of the circuit in Singapore and upcoming races should negate McLaren's advantages.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration may consider new standards for the levels of arsenic in rice as consumer groups are calling for federal guidance on how much of the carcinogen can be present in food.

So far, FDA officials say they have found no evidence that suggests rice is unsafe to eat. The agency has studied the issue for decades but is in the middle of conducting a new study of 1,200 samples of grocery-store rice products — short and long-grain rice, adult and baby cereals, drinks and even rice cakes — to measure arsenic levels.

Three weeks ago, Clint Eastwood shared the spotlight with a single chair.

On Wednesday night, he shared it with 16.

Neymar converted a penalty in the final minute of injury time Wednesday to give Brazil a 2-1 win over Argentina in the first leg of the Superclassic of the Americas, a home-and-away series between the South American rivals with players from local clubs.

Neymar scored from the penalty spot after the referee called a hand ball by an Argentine defender inside the area, helping Brazil coach Mano Menezes escape jeers from the home fans.

Storming into an early 2-0 lead and with a new Brazilian playmaker scoring spectacular goals, Chelsea could hardly have made a better start to the defense of its Champions League title.

By the end of Wednesday's match against Juventus, however, the European champions were learning the hard way how hard it will be to retain club football's most prestigious prize.