A blue Texas would mean almost certain defeat for Trump, who is already struggling to boost his poll numbers amid the coronavirus pandemic, economic turmoil and nationwide unrest over institutionalized racism and inequality. Democrats are eyeing Texas’s 38 Electoral College votes and Sen. John Cornyn’s seat, which is also up for grabs on November 3. If challenger Mary Jennings Hegar can unseat Cornyn, it would be a huge step in the Democratic effort to re-establish its Senate majority....

Speaking to reporters Tuesday, three senior administration officials said that Biden was set to leave for a three-leg trip involving summits in Egypt, Cambodia and Indonesia. Following his address to the ongoing United Nations (U.N.) Climate Change Conference, also known as the Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC (COP 27), in Sharm el-Sheikh and a bilateral meeting Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, Biden will next attend the annual U.S.-Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the East Asia Summit in Phnom Penh....

The legislation is part of the new administration’s efforts to combat the economic distress the American public is feeling amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Vaccination efforts are ramping up across the country, but most Americans have not yet received COVID-19 vaccination, though Biden announced earlier this week that all American adults will qualify to receive shots by May 1. In the meantime, many businesses are still operating with restrictions in place to prevent further spread of the virus, which has hurt both business owners and workers....

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Biden said he wasn’t referring to “any Trump supporter” when he spoke about the threats posed to American democracy the night before. “I don’t consider any Trump supporter to be a threat to the country,” Biden said. “I do think anyone who calls for the use of violence, fails to condemn violence when it’s used, refuses to acknowledge an election has been won, insists upon changing the way in which we rule and count votes, that is a threat to democracy....

During his presidential campaign, Biden vowed that he would not raise taxes on anyone earning less than $400,000 per year. On Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki reiterated the president’s commitment to that threshold, but Republicans are expected to push back against raising taxes at all. In an interview with ABC News’ Good Morning America on Wednesday, Biden again highlighted his plan to increase taxes on higher income Americans....

These days, a seemingly innocent way to connect with fans is triggering red flags. High-profile cases of college football players signing autographs for money, a violation of NCAA rules, has coaches on edge in all college sports — including basketball. Johnny Manziel was investigated last year, though no wrongdoing was found, and Georgia’s Todd Gurley was suspended recently as the NCAA investigates him, too. “We’ve run it through our compliance in the past and have ways to handle it,” Kansas coach Bill Self said Wednesday during the Big 12’s annual basketball media day....

Oklahoma found that out last season despite not losing a conference game. Same goes for Baylor and TCU in 2014. So the conference re-instituted a championship game to help improve those chances, and that’s the biggest change for the 2017 season. MORE: Sporting News Preseason Top 25 Or is it? Bob Stoops retired in June, which means Lincoln Riley takes over for the Sooners. Tom Herman takes over at Texas, and Matt Rhule is the new coach at Baylor....

Flows into Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, valued at about $20 billion, appear to have slowed, London-based JPMorgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou said in a research note. “At the moment, the institutional flow impulse behind the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust is not strong enough for Bitcoin to break out above $40,000,” JPMorgan said. Bitcoin recently changed hands at $31,727.30, down 7.96% in the last 24 hours, CoinDesk reported. Bitcoin, the world’s largest crypto-currency, peaked at close to $42,000 on Jan....

1 Philippe Kahn $2,299,128 Borland 2 Jim Manzi 909,800 Lotus 3 Robert Frankenberg 836,834 Novell 4 Lars Turndal 639,362 Santa Cruz 5 Charles Geschke 633,672 Adobe 6 John Warnock 632,585 Adobe 7 Steven Kalman 607,000 Phoenix 8 Carol Bartz 593,986 Autodesk 9 Lawrence Probst III 592,935 Electronic Arts 10 Joseph Marengi 504,500 Novell

William Morrissey, better known by ring names Big Cass and Colin Cassady, was released by WWE on Tuesday, per the company’s site. No specific reason was given for his release. MORE: WWE PPV 2018 schedule Morrisey was brought up through the WWE’s development system. NXT, before making his main-roster debut in 2016. Various injuries kept Morrisey off TV until he returned to face Daniel Bryan in Bryan’s first in-ring action in several years....

Syracuse, which averaged 23,854 fans per game, ended Kentucky’s streak (eight seasons) of leading the nation in average attendance. UK finished second at 23,572 per game average. The Wildcats were first in total attendance with 447,874 fans. MORE: SN’s preseason Top 25 | The dunk you can’t miss | Roy Williams’ new recruiting pitch Buoyed by the addition of Rutgers and Maryland, the Big Ten had a total of 3,195,135 fans between the regular season and conference tournaments....

The Buckeyes are back on the road this week against Penn State, and Michigan is back in action against Illinois before its in-state rivalry with Michigan State next week. MORE: Harbaugh’s not leaving Michigan Here’s how to watch all the Big Ten games this week. All times ET. Saturday, October 22 Rutgers at Minnesota, 12 p.m., ESPNU No. 10 Wisconsin at Iowa, 12 p.m., ESPN Indiana at Northwestern, 12 p....

Now, Mr. Big’s ambitions are bigger than ever. Since the breakup, Ambani, 49, has finalized plans to invest more than $11 billion over the next decade to build two new satellite cities outside creaking, overcrowded Mumbai and Delhi. He foresees these metropolises emerging within just four years, each with a population of 5 million people making $5,000 a year, on average (or seven times India’s norm), and hosting top multinational companies....

With 20-plus games remaining, there is still enough time for underachieving teams to right the ship, Play-In teams to become playoff teams and injured players to get healthy, but the postseason will be here before we know it. As we get set for the unofficial second half of the season to tip-off on Thursday, members of our Sporting News staff came together to point out some must-watch storylines for the remainder of the season....

But the authors of a study published in the journal Communications Biology warn the species needs “urgent attention” because human activity has hurt population levels. Also known as the Ictiobus cyprinellus, the fish is native to warm-water lakes and pond-like areas of rivers in Mississippi and Hudson Bay. For hundreds of years, the fish, which can weigh almost 80 pounds, were eaten, but in the past decade it has been caught up in the million-dollar night bowfishing industry, the researchers explained....

West Ham 500/1 to win Premier League The Mexico international signed a three-year deal at London Stadium after a deal worth £16 million was struck with Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen. Bilic said he tried to bring Hernandez to West Ham two years ago when he left Manchester United and the Croatian is delighted to finally get his man. “Chicharito is very important in this project,” said Bilic. “When I came to West Ham two years ago and he was leaving United, I wanted him then....

The distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine began in the U.S. on Monday. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the U.S. has reported 16,420,309 positive cases of the coronavirus. Trump had expressed displeasure with some of Barr’s actions and statements which appeared to run in opposition to Trump’s state policies. In his resignation letter, Barr said that Trump’s actions on quickly creating a vaccine for COVID-19 were admirable. “With Operation Warp Speed,” Barr wrote, “you delivered a vaccine for coronavirus on a schedule no one thought conceivable—a feat that will undoubtedly save millions of lives....

The final New England connection for the future Hall of Famers was key to that victory. While Brady and Gronkowski have re-created that chemistry as Buccaneers, winning another ring together in Super Bowl 55, the middling Patriots continue to struggle without their offensive execution and veteran leadership. They finished 7-9 last season and are 1-2 going into the Week 4 game vs. the Bucs. Given the nature of coach Bill Belichick, he still might downplay how much he misses his long-time incomparable duo....