Roma off and running, What we learned from the Champions League this week.

And they're off. An entertaining round of games on matchday one in the Champions League sees many of the same contenders lay down significant markers but more of the traditional clubs were made to work hard for their points. 

Last season's winners Real Madrid had no problem against Basel but finalists Atletico Madrid slipped up away at Olympiakos. 

Semi-finalists Chelsea stuttered at home against Schalke while Bayern Munich needed a deflected 89th-minute goal to finally see of Manchester City. 

Dani Alves: Barca on their way back to the top

The Brazil international has hailed Luis Enrique's good work at Camp Nou so far and was delighted with the win over APOEL.
Dani Alves believes Barcelona are on their way back to the top under Luis Enrique following their 1-0 Champions League win over APOEL on Wednesday.

A single Gerard Pique goal was enough to help the Primera Division side to the full three points at Camp Nou and Alves was happy with their general performance.

"Luis Enrique has really got us on track, back towards the top. He has everybody giving 100 per cent," the right back told the official Barcelona website.

“We're really happy to get the win and start off in a positive fashion. It was also nice to get a clean sheet. Defensively, I thought we improved a lot and kept up the pressure.

“In attack, we tried as hard as we could, but we couldn't really put the ball in the net."  

The defender went on to defend Luis Enrique's decision to rest a number of first-team regulars.

"I think it is really nice to get playing time for everybody, which will end up being really important," he added.

Ibrahimovic: Of course I'm the 'son of God'

The Swede was in a typically joking mood after PSG's draw at Ajax, though he has admitted they must respond against Barcelona in two weeksZlatan Ibrahimovic has cheekily suggested it is obvious he is the "son of God", which a banner held byAjax fans referred to in Paris Saint-Germain's 1-1 draw with the Dutch side on Wednesday.

The Swede striker made his Champions League debut for the Eredivisie club exactly 12 years ago and he returned to the Amsterdam ArenA on Wednesday with French champions PSG.

Amazon Releases New and Refreshed Kindle Fire Tablets, Announces Fire OS 4

Amazon has been busy on the mobile front, following the disappointing launch of the Fire Phone. The Fire Phone has been an absolute dud on the market, with AT&T (the exclusive carrier for the Fire Phone) already dropping the price of the entry-level model to 99 cents on contract.   With that said, Amazon has always had better luck with its tablets and e-readers, which is why the company is proud to announce two refreshed tablets and four all-new tablets under the “Kindle Fire” product family. - 

Police: N.Y. cop drunk in fatal wrong-way crash

The off-duty New York City police officer at the wheel in a fatal wrong-way crashon the Thruway last month had a blood-alcohol content of nearly three times the legal limit, state police announced Wednesday.
Toxicology results show that Richard E. Christopher, 32, had a blood-alcohol content of 0.21 percent when he drove his 2002 Dodge Dakota in the southbound lanes of the northbound Thruway near Suffern, slamming head-on into a Honda CRV driven by James DeVito of Airmont. A BAC above 0.08 is a misdemeanor.

Australia raids foil reported ISIS beheading plots

Australian counterterrorism forces detained 15 people Thursday in a series of suburban raids after receiving intelligence that the Islamic State movement was planning public beheadings in two Australian cities to demonstrate its reach.

About 800 federal and state police officers raided more than a dozen properties across 12 Sydney suburbs as part of the operation -- the largest in Australian history, Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Andrew Colvin told the Associated Press. Separate raids in the eastern cities of Brisbane and Logan were also conducted.

IOS 8 is coming today: How to get it -- and whether you should

Apple's new operating system isn't the radical upgrade that iOS 7 was, but it has a handful of new features that look promising.  IOS 8 will let apps display useful information in the "Today" screen, including sports scores and weather updates. You can answer phone calls on a Mac, install a third-party keyboard on your iPhone and ask Siri to identify what song is playing on the radio. Youcan even share iTunes purchases with your family.

N.Y. man accused of aiding Islamic State, plotting to kill U.S. troops

A New York man who was arrested in May was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday for allegedly trying to aid the terrorist group Islamic State and planning to kill returning U.S. soldiers.

Rihanna shows off her hot bikini body on Barbados trip.

Rihanna is back home in Barbados visiting family for the past few days. She has taken to the azure waters of her native country on a yacht holiday with a group of her nearest and dearest. And while their Silver Moon yacht was undoubtedly impressive, it was Riri’s bikini body that stole the show.

More photos...

Wizkid’s album drops in 7 days.

 The countdown to the official release of one of the most anticipated albums of the year Ayo (Joy) by music star, Wizkid has begun. Wizkid’s debut album, Superstar, was released in 2011 and it’s taken a total of 3 years for him to drop the second studio album, Ayọ (Joy). With its release having been postponed severally due to several reasons, the star has confirmed as it stands now, the albumis set to drop in 7 days, September 23 to be precise. The singer made this known when he tweeted some hours ago..

 ‘7 days to go #Joy’. He also tweeted that he will be dropping a new video on the same day: 

‘New video in 7days too. #StarBoy turn up,’ he wrote. ... 

Real Madrid is first team to reach 1000 goals in European football.

Spanish giants, Real Madrid Football Club has become the first team to score 1000 goals in European football. The new landmark, now exclusive to the dominant Spanish capital club, was attained on Tuesday, September 16, 2014 with their 5 – 1 victory against Basel in the Champions League tournament after French striker, Karim Benzema, netted the fifth goal. Real Madrid are also the current champions of Europe having defeated Athletico Madrid in the final of the 2013-2015 edition of the Champions League. 

Kenyan female rapper hospitalized after ghastly car accident.

Kenyan music act, Wangechi has been involved in a car accident that left one of her friends dead The accident took place on Saturday, September 14, 2014, with Wangechi in the car alongside two of her close friends, identified as Tiona and Tewa. The rapper and her friends were on their way to an undisclosed location when the accident occurred, reportedly because of a burst tyre, leaving the car mangled. All passengers were rushed to Nairobi hospital, where one of the rapper’s friends Tiona passed away. According to reports, Tiona was confirmed dead after sustaining severe injuries, and Wangechi’s manager Kevin Provoke took to his twitter page to announce the rapper is in a stable condition.   More photos....

Hedge fund CEO Brian Lederman denies touching Laura Ramadei’s bum

A wealthy hedge-fund titan made a bungled attempt to defend himself against a claim that he fondled a waitress at a trendy restaurant in Soho, Manhattan in New York City, by bizarrely bragging that he gropes other women all the time.

“I’ve grabbed plenty of girls’ asses in my life,” Brian H. Lederman, boasted to The New York Post. “But I’ve never grabbed hers.”

US may send ground troops, IS video threatens to kill them

Hours after the US raised prospects of sending ground troops to fight Islamic State, the militant group released a video threatening to target them.

The 52-second video entitled 'Flames of War' shows militants blowing up tanks, wounded US soldiers and others about to be killed.

It then shows a clip of Obama saying that combat troops will not return to Iraq, ending with a text overlay that reads "fighting has just begun."

Ebola Poses a New Challenge for U.S. Military as Troops Face Pressure to Set Up African Hospitals Quickly, Minimize Disease Risks

President Barack Obama's plan to contain the Ebola outbreak presents the U.S. military with a logistical challenge with few precedents, one that it will be under pressure to execute quickly while ensuring that the 3,000 military personnel involved are protected from the deadly virus.

Mr. Obama on Tuesday warned that the epidemic could not only infect "hundreds of thousands of people,'' but carry wide security implications, even though chances of an outbreak in the U.S. are "extremely low.''