Serious efforts to draft Gallego as a progressive challenger to Sinema began last year. While Gallego has not committed to running against her, he has hinted at his potential candidacy as Democratic furor aimed at both Sinema and Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) increased over their refusal to back filibuster reform to pass voting rights legislation. “I’m not going to make that determination right now; the citizens of Arizona will make that determination,” Gallego said in response to a question about facing off against Sinema during an MSNBC interview on Tuesday....

UFC president Dana White said earlier this week that the window for McGregor to compete at UFC 200 with Nate Diaz is officially closed, but the Irish fighter says he’s still ready to compete. This whole situation started because White says McGregor refused to travel to Las Vegas for a news conference on Friday and to shoot a commercial. MORE: McGregor’s most notorious moments | UFC’s best villains In his response, McGregor discusses why he didn’t want to participate in that, why he’s still ready to fight in UFC 200 and why he isn’t retired....

Moments into the fight, McGregor landed a hard left punch to Aldo’s chin. Aldo connected with a punch as he fell, but crumbled to the mat. MORE: Aldo corner man horrified | Luke Rockhold TKO’s Chris Weidman for middleweight title The fight clocked in at 13 seconds, the fastest championship match in UFC history. McGregor becomes the first man to beat Aldo since 2005.

It all started with a random Sunday night tweet from the singer to the 56-year-old actor: MORE: Valentina Shevchenko knocks out Jessica Eye with brutal headkick Then McGregor tweeted that he’d love to host the bout: What a time to be alive. Cruise has not responded to the tweets, but if the fight does happen, Twitter doesn’t think Bieber stands a chance.

On Monday night, Frank Amedia and Mark Gonzales issued the prayer request, first reported on by Right Wing Watch, in a video published through their pro-Trump “prophetic” network POTUS Shield. The two men asked their fellow “prayer warriors” to begin praying for an hour before the debate and throughout the event. “We’re gonna have to be praying that confusion comes to the enemy’s camp,” Gonzales said, “in the cause and the questioning and all the things that are happening—if it’s not God’s agenda, we want it exposed....

Phil Valentine, a host on the Nashville, Tennessee-based radio station Supertalk 99.7 WTN, revealed earlier this month that he had fallen sick with COVID. Prior to his diagnosis, Valentine had been publicly skeptical about the need for all adults to get the COVID vaccine, including by posting a parody song online called Vaxman. The song spoke about personal freedoms around vaccination. Since being hospitalized by the disease, his family said in a statement that he plans to “vigorously advocate” for COVID vaccines....

While speaking on election night, Fox News Decision Desk Director Arnon Mishkin was asked about his call in Arizona and if he was 100 percent sure of his call, to which he responded by saying, “absolutely.” Fox was the first news organization to declare a winner in Arizona and make it the first red-to-blue flip on the electoral map. AP has since also called Arizona for Biden. “It’s been clear for a while that the former vice president is in the lead in Arizona and was most likely to win the state,” Mishkin said....

In May, retail sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) represented 3.2 percent of all vehicle sales in the U.S. This was down fractionally from April as the chip shortage impacted dealer inventories. Despite being down, the number is nearly triple what it was in April 2020. According to J.D. Power, 15 percent of sales in the premium vehicle market space this year have come from BEVs, up from eight percent in 2020....

Courtois has just a year and a half left on his contract at Chelsea and recently said that he will halt any renewal discussions until the summer. He is understood to have asked to double his wages from around £100,000-a-week to £200,000-a-week, matching the earnings of Manchester United’s goalkeeper David De Gea. Chelsea 23/10 v Liverpool Chelsea’s director Marina Graniskovaia has the final say on whether the Blues will give Courtois what he wants during contract negotiations but the goalkeeper has leverage in the situation with Real Madrid interested in signing him....

The trio had accrued a combined total of 641 appearances for Chelsea, with each winning a number of major honours at Stamford Bridge before being moved on to China and Russia. Sanchez, meanwhile, has recently said how happy he is in London and that he wants to play for a team with “a winning mentality”. Conte refused to be drawn on speculation suggesting that he could open a door to the Chilean, preferring instead to focus a London derby for his side with Crystal Palace on Saturday....

Chelsea were pitted with the leaders of La Liga when the draw for the last 16 took place in Nyon on Monday. “Our reaction must be positive,” said head coach Conte in a news conference ahead of Tuesday’s Premier League meeting with Huddersfield Town. “As we know very well, when you are in this stage you must be ready to face every team. In this case we must be ready to face Barcelona....

NEWSWEEK: Given that political junkies love to muse about brokered conventions, is the buzz this year based in reality, or is it just buzz? Stuart Spencer: When you look at what happened on Super Tuesday, you have to assume that it’s a possibility that it could go to a brokered convention. We’ve not had a brokered convention since 1952 with the Democrats, and not had a Republican one since 1948....

Thanks to some stubborn scientists, agronomists and farmers, Brazil is turning some of the most inhospitable regions of the tropics into a cornucopia. Much of the credit goes to the government-run agricultural-research company, a one-stop invention shop known by its Portuguese acronym, Embrapa. Thirty years old this past April, Embrapa has a string of creations to its name: a low-calorie pork (40 percent less cholesterol), multicolored ornamental sunflowers, colored cotton and an “electronic tongue” (more efficient than the human palate) for tasting wine and other beverages....

Other officers criticized 37-year-old Christopher Curtis for abusing his power by writing a false ticket and a threatening note to the unnamed driver. Though he was scheduled to go to trial on Monday, he instead pleaded guilty to six charges including forgery, false report by a public employee, obtaining criminal offender record information under false pretenses, witness intimidation and more, Suffolk District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden said in a statement....

The Columbus Police Department issued a press release Monday explaining the situation. The press release did not mention the name of the officer or the alleged thief. On February 7, the officer was investigating a vehicle in the area of Riverland Drive that was suspected of being stolen. The driver of the vehicle drove toward the officer in an attempt to flee the scene. The officer then pulled out his weapon in the direction of the suspect and fired....

Brazil was the defending champ and hosted the final at the famous Maracana in Rio de Janeiro, but it wasn’t enough to help the Selecao, which gave up a 22nd-minute goal to Angel Di Maria and couldn’t muster a response. The trophy was the first major title with Argentina for 34-year-old Lionel Messi and it ended a 28-year drought since the nation’s last Copa America. MORE: How the Copa America group stage played out...

Christmas Tree Allergies Real trees can harbor mold, dust, and pollen, and some people have contact skin allergies to terpene, which is found in the sap of trees. But the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology (ACAAI) cautions that artificial trees also can be an allergy trigger since they too harbor dust and mold. The ACAAI reports that true pine tree allergy is pretty uncommon, but if you have this allergy, there are other live types of trees you can choose that may not trigger your allergy....

St. Louis Police Chief John Hayden told reporters Monday night that the crash occurred about 6:30 p.m. when the pair of officers were on a westbound stretch of the highway near Boyle Avenue talking to a person whose car had stalled. Another fast-moving vehicle came through the area where the officers were standing, striking them both, Hayden said. Police haven’t released the names of the officers or their conditions. But Hayden said he spoke with the officers, both men, in the hospital and they will require X-rays to determine the extent of their internal injuries....

Thirteen suspects have been arrested for prostitution-related offenses, money laundering, producing false documents, belonging to a criminal organization and crimes against public health as part of the Spanish National Police’s Operation Leon. It is part of the National Police Plan against Trafficking in Human Beings for the Purpose of Sexual Exploitation. The police said the seven women were found in three properties in Malaga in the southern Spanish region of Andalusia....

But amongst the devastation, local heroes have been putting themselves in danger to help others. That includes two Tampa Police officers going out of their way to save a lost kitten during the peak of the hurricane. Spotted wandering alone on the streets, the officers took the tiny feline to the local vet, who within an hour had found the animal a new home. The estimated cost of the destruction from Hurricane Ian, which hit Florida this week as a Category 4 storm, so far is between $100 billion and $120 billion....