The Gunners are looking to continental competition to provide them with major silverware, a route into the Champions League and a fitting send-off for Arsene Wenger. The long-serving manager has announced that he is to step down at the end of the season, after 22 years at the helm, and he will be determined to go with one more trophy under his belt. Atletico, though, have every intention of spoiling the party and making their own way to the final in Lyon, with Diego Simeone’s side seeking to recapture a crown they last secured in 2012....

Downed power lines, flying embers that can travel a mile in a strong wind, tossed cigarettes, sloppy workers with blowtorches—the causes of the fires that raged from north of Los Angeles to south of San Diego last week may have been varied and accidental. Southern California was dry, and the Santa Anas, the winds that blow off the desert, can whip up a careless campfire into a conflagration. But one big fire, a blaze that burned 27,600 acres and consumed 14 houses, was apparently set deliberately....

Goal revealed recently that the Gunners have identified the Manchester City first team coach and Juventus manager as their favoured options to take the reins at Emirates Stadium. Whoever they decide to appoint, there will be some big shoes to fill in north London as Wenger prepares to step down from a post that he has filled for 22 years. Arteta is considered to be an exciting option for the future, but the former Arsenal captain is untested in a managerial capacity and Merson feels a demanding fan base would prefer a proven performer....

A website known as HitPiece, which claims to provide “one of one NFTs of all your favorite songs”, suddenly began selling the NFTs—in this case, digital links to the artists’ music. However, this was reportedly done without authorization from Needlejuice or any of the individual artists. NFTs, or non-fungible tokens, appear as records on digital ledgers called blockchains. This allows the tokens to be purchased and sold online, similar to cryptocurrency....

We may not be the members who appear on your television every evening. But we are the serious, dedicated lawmakers who earned the Democratic majority. We fight every day to deliver for our voters. And we’re committed to getting both the infrastructure bill and the Build Back Better Act across the finish line. In 2009, Democrats controlled both Congress and the White House for the first time in nearly two decades, allowing for the single largest expansion in access to health care in generations and aversion of widespread financial collapse by passing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act....

“We’re addressing the testing problem,” the nation’s top infectious disease expert said in an interview that aired on ABC’s This Week on Sunday. “Very soon that will be corrected.” His words came with the data blackout on COVID-19 cases set to end when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) resumes updating its COVID Data Tracker today. The last update was on December 23. The CDC’s COVID Data Tracker Weekly Review, which interprets the week’s data, will not return until January 7....

Moderna revealed in a press release on Monday that its vaccine, named mRNA-1273, was 94.5 percent effective, according to its Phase 3 study data. The breakthrough came on the back of American pharmaceutical firm Pfizer and German biotechnology company BioNTech last week declaring their own COVID vaccine candidate 90 percent effective in preventing COVID-19. The developments increase confidence that vaccines can help end the ongoing pandemic. After Moderna’s news, Trump took to Twitter on Monday to emphasize the vaccine advances announced to date had taken place during his presidency....

“Modern life is impossible without information and communications technologies (ICTs),” the Kremlin’s special representative for cooperation in the field of information security, Andrey Krutskikh, told Newsweek. “They determine our well-being, security and survival. Relying on them, we can become richer or lose all our savings. They are transboundary and almost all-mighty.” “Amidst this reality,” he added, “the main task is not to frighten each other with digital means, but to try to reach agreements before it is too late....

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) last week announced a “joint inquiry into the operations of the bulk-power system” during “extreme winter weather conditions” experienced by midwestern and south-central U.S. states. “Governor Abbott thought Texas could run an electrical grid that ignored the climate crisis,” Schumer tweeted on Sunday. “It was not resilient.” “The federal investigation by @FERC and @NERC_Official must look into how Governor Abbott’s policies in Texas have failed and exacerbated the winter storm crisis,” he continued....

But Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said Monday that vaccinations alone won’t be enough to combat the state’s spike in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations. “I think if we try to vaccinate our way out of what is happening in Michigan, we would be disappointed that it took so long for the vaccine to work, to actually have the impact,” Walensky said during a White House briefing....

The businesswoman and eldest daughter of former President Donald Trump has long been rumored as a contender for office, perhaps even a bid for the White House, and her future became a focal point after her father’s loss last year. She trended for several hours on Twitter across Sunday and into the early hours of Monday after The Daily Beast published an article by style writer Alaina Demopoulos arguing that Trump’s recent sartorial choices and activities suggested political ambitions....

The House passed the John Lewis Voting Rights Act by a vote of 220 to 210 on Thursday. The bill is named for the late Civil Rights icon and Democratic Congressman John Lewis. If passed by the Senate and signed by Biden, the new act would expand access to voting and give the federal government more power to reject restrictions imposed by state governments on voting rights. The bill comes at the same time as state legislatures are moving to impose new conditions on voting....

The Philadelphia Union won the Supporters’ Shield at the close of the COVID-truncated 2020 season, compiling 47 points from 23 games. It was the first major trophy ever won by the club, but the celebration was shortened by its first-round playoff loss to New England. The Union had to watch three weeks later as Columbus Crew SC won the league’s most coveted honor, MLS Cup champions, on a cold Saturday night at Crew Stadium....

There had been speculation that Finland would be reluctant to host nuclear weapons or permanent troops on its land, and that it may seek assurances that this would not be the case. Prime Minister Sanna Marin said earlier this year that NATO had no interest in bases or nuclear deployments. But at this weekend’s inaugural Helsinki Security Forum in the Finnish capital, President Niinisto said: “Finland is seeking to become a NATO member, full stop....

QAnon is now a firmly entrenched and quickly growing force of disruption in the American information landscape. President Trump, perhaps QAnon’s most influential promoter, had as of August retweeted or mentioned 129 different Twitter accounts associated with QAnon, according to the research group Media Matters for America, a left-leaning non-profit that aims to be a watchdog for conservative media. QAnon distributes conspiracy theories and other forms of disinformation and foments violence....

Now the beauty contest continues heading into the middle of November. Does your team have the right point differential? What about the record of teams played? Teams left? Is your team still on the list? No. 1 Alabama (9-0) Up next: at Mississippi State (Nov. 16) Remaining schedule: vs. Chattanooga (Nov. 23), at No. 7 Auburn (Nov. 30) Circle the date: at No. 7 Auburn (Nov. 30) Point differential: 368-95 (+273)...

Who knows how much more popular he’ll be by then. AFC CHAMPIONSHIP: Picks, predictions, odds for Patriots vs. Jaguars At the moment, with every big game telecast Romo does, he is rewriting his legacy from that of a talented but oft-injured quarterback with only two playoffs wins as a Dallas Cowboy, to the wave of the future in NFL TV. Not since John Madden burst on to the scene with Pat Summerall nearly four decades ago has a new NFL color analyst been so lauded by fans, critics and TV competitors alike....

Former Australia captain Smith marked his return to the line-up after missing the previous match at Headingley – which saw the hosts draw level in the series at 1-1 thanks to Ben Stokes’ heroics – due to concussion with a stunning 211. Tim Paine (58) was put down twice and Mitchell Starc (54 not out) cut loose to add to England’s frustrations on a tough day in Manchester, Australia eventually declaring on 497-8 in the final session....

The San Diego Attorney General’s Office said in a statement Wednesday that Roger Stefan Witthoeft Jr. was convicted of misdemeanor battery and violating the victim’s civil rights for slapping the traffic controller in September 2021 and telling the man to “go back to your country.” Witthoeft, 34, could face up to a year in jail and a $1,000 fine. He is scheduled to be sentenced December 13, read the release....