Posts

“President Biden signed today an executive order that sets the policy that all Americans who are qualified to serve in the Armed Forces of the United States should be able to serve,” the White House wrote in a statement announcing the reversal. “President Biden believes that gender identity should not be a bar to military service, and that America’s strength is found in its diversity.” Biden’s move is a reversal of a ban implemented by former President Donald Trump from July 2017....

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have been high for decades, but briefly began warming after the administration of President Barack Obama, whom Biden served under as vice president, signed on to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)—commonly referred to as the Iran nuclear deal. Under the international agreement, which was also signed by France, the United Kingdom, Germany, the European Union, Russia and China, Iran agreed to curb its nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief and international investment....

The latest polling data from Morning Consult, last updated on Tuesday, showed Trump with just 42 percent support in Wisconsin, while Biden was backed by 52 percent of the state’s voters. That marked a slight decline for Trump from a survey Morning Consult carried out from August 21 to 30, when the president was backed by 43 percent of Wisconsin voters, compared with Biden’s 52 percent. On Thursday, Biden will hold a community meeting in Kenosha, which has been rocked by protests and riots in the wake of the August 23 shooting of Jacob Blake in the city....

“Governor Newsom is leading California through unprecedented crises,” Biden’s statement said. “He is a key partner in fighting the pandemic and delivering economic relief to working families and helping us build our economy back better than ever.” “He’s taking on the climate crisis and standing up for the riots of women, immigrants and the LGBTQ community,” Biden’s statement continued. “He knows how to get the job done because he’s been doing it....

In case you’ve somehow missed the Hamilton phenomenon in the past five years, first: Wow. Second: Just know that the hip-hop musical focuses on the life and times of the titular Alexander Hamilton, who served as the very first Secretary of Treasury, fought in the American Revolution, worked alongside fellow founding fathers like President George Washington and endured numerous personal hardships. Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Biden said, “You might have to ask Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the musical about the first Secretary of the Treasury: Hamilton, to write another musical about the first woman Secretary of the Treasury: Yellen....

On October 25, 2019, Biden tweeted out a blunt piece of cautionary advice to the U.S. about getting prepared to deal with a pandemic. “We are not prepared for a pandemic. Trump has rolled back progress President Obama and I made to strengthen global health security. We need leadership that builds public trust, focuses on real threats, and mobilizes the world to stop outbreaks before they reach our shores,” Biden tweeted....

The projection map, named Sabato’s Crystal Ball is created by the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, and the election race ratings “are based on a number of factors, including electoral history, polling, candidate quality, modeling, and reporting,” according to the map. The map shows Electoral College changes for three key swing states, including Arizona, New Hampshire and Georgia. According to the map, Arizona moved from a “toss up” to “leans Democratic,” New Hampshire moved from “leans Democratic” to “likely Democratic” and Georgia went from “leans Republican” to a “toss up....

Biden warned Putin against escalating a military presence around Ukraine and called for a return to diplomacy during an hours-long virtual meeting on Tuesday morning, according to a White House statement. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan provided additional details of the call in a press briefing on Tuesday, describing the talk as “useful” with lots of back and forth between the two leaders. “He told President Putin directly that if Russia further invades Ukraine, the United States and our European allies would respond with strong economic measures,” Sullivan said....

According to an anonymous poll of the 10 Big 12 coaches conducted by ESPN, Houston and BYU are the leading schools the conference would like to add. Each coach was asked to provide his top two choices: Houston and BYU received five votes apiece. MORE: Ranking the top 40 players in college football this season Other teams to receive votes include Cincinnati and Memphis, tied for third with four votes each, and Colorado State and UCF, each of which had one vote....

It has been a fantastic season for Baylor (21-1, 13-1), which, despite enjoying a string of successful seasons under coach Scott Drew, had never earned the distinction it has heading into this week’s tournament. The Bears secured their first Big 12 title with a March 2 overtime win over West Virginia. It is their first conference title overall since 1950, when they were still a member of the Southwest Conference....

The space rock, dubbed 2019 YP5, will come within around 1.9 million miles of our planet at 12:58 p.m. ET on February 10, equivalent to roughly eight times the average distance between Earth and the moon. At the time of close approach, the asteroid will be traveling at around 30,000 miles per hour, some forty times faster than the speed of sound. The CNEOS estimates that the asteroid could measure anywhere between 301 feet and 688 feet in diameter....

Players Conventional Clinton up arrow Teases scorps re “Primary Colors.” Has he read the part about the 15-year-old girl? Dole down arrow Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t gep up! But don’t hit the panic button. Forbes up arrow No. 1 in New Hampshire. You can’t buy polls that good. Or can you? V-Chip up arrow Block violence form your TV. Ooops, there go Pat Buchanan’s campaign spots. Voting up arrow Oregon vote-by-mail drives turnout sky-high....

That stands to reason -- the top two players in college basketball are the Jayhawks' Andrew Wiggins and the Cowboys' Marcus Smart. And both players are likely NBA-bound after this season. Noticeably absent, however, are Big East games. Those contests are now in the Fox Sports 1 fold, with Gus Johnson and Bill Raftery leading the network and league's coverage. Among the 16 Big Monday games, these five have the best potential story lines -- and are thus worth watching: (All times ET) Duke at Pitt, Jan....

Researchers writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) investigated the financial balances of pharma companies dealing in the business of developing, manufacturing, marketing and selling drugs. Their calculations found that in the years between 2000 and 2018, 35 big drug companies received a combined revenue of $11.5 trillion, with a gross profit of $8.6 trillion. One of the key findings relates to the median net income margin—i....

Michigan State is the defending Big Ten champion, a conference that produced an amazing six teams with 10 or more wins last season. Michigan and Ohio State will be right back in the mix in the Big Ten East, and Iowa, Wisconsin and Northwestern will battle it out in a wide-open Big Ten West Division. MORE: 21 questions heading into 2016 | SN preseason All-Americans The conference continues to be on the upswing, and there should be more fantastic battles this season....

Big sizes have become big business. In The Forgotten Woman, the boutique where Odom found her new wardrobe, sales are booming. “We are not going to take part in any recession,” says its founder and CEO, Nancye Radmin. She’s not kidding. The large-size industry grew 25 percent last year, compared with only 7 percent for the rest of the women’s and children’s clothing business. In the past decade, annual large-size sales have surged from $2 billion to $10 billion....

The wreck appeared to start when Trevor Bayne’s No. 6 started to lose control in the middle of a pack of cars that caused a chain reaction. Thus far, no injuries have been reported as a result of the wreck. MORE: Drivers to watch at Talladega | Dale, Jr. likes ’laid-back’ Talladega

That’s the lesson the College Football Playoff committee rendered on Sunday by putting Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State and Washington in the top four spots of the playoff, respectively. It’s the same lesson the BCS taught us. You can lose one game. If you aren’t Les Miles in 2007, then you can’t lose two games. MORE: How much is enough for College Football Playoff? It doesn’t matter when those losses come....