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Biden’s draft platform is expected to be approved at the 2020 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin next month. First reported by The Washington Post, the 80-page document is a scathing denouncement of Trump’s term. “President Trump promised he would put ‘America First’—but Trump’s America stands alone,” the document reads. “Under his leadership, America’s reputation and influence are in tatters. Our country is less safe, our economy more fragile, and our democracy, values, and unity endangered....

The consistent gesture of support for democratic Taiwan, which Beijing claims as part of its territory, went ahead a record 13 times in the final year of the Trump administration in response to a marked increase in China’s military pressure against the self-ruled island. During a speech on Tuesday, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin raised further concerns about Beijing’s “destabilizing military activity and other forms of coercion against the people of Taiwan....

The poll released Monday by Quinnipiac University showed Biden with 54 percent support among Democrats and independents who lean Democratic, compared to only 35 percent for Sanders. A full 92 percent of Democrats believed Sanders is honest, while only 84 percent said the same of Biden. However, Biden was viewed as more electable than Sanders. Although 80 percent of Democrats and independents who lean Democratic believed that Biden was either likely or somewhat likely to beat President Donald Trump in November, only 61 percent were confident that the same was true of Sanders....

The poll showed 55 percent of respondents trust Biden more to handle the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with 38 percent who trust Trump more with the matter. The telephone poll was conducted in English and Spanish among a random national sample of 879 registered voters, including 725 likely voters, from October 6 to 9. “In the aftermath of his own COVID-19 diagnosis, two-thirds of registered voters say Trump failed to take appropriate precautions against the virus, 62 percent distrust what he says about it and, eight months since its arrival in the , just 21 percent say it’s under control,” according to a report of the poll results released Sunday....

But in May 2018, despite Iran’s full compliance, President Donald Trump abruptly withdrew from the agreement and launched a “Maximum Pressure” campaign of harsh new sanctions and a larger U.S. military presence surrounding Iran. Still, even after the U.S. came dangerously close to bombing the country, Iran continued to abide by the agreement at least until July 2019, after seeking relief from U.S. sanctions to no avail. Many expected Biden to prioritize returning to the agreement when he became president....

“People want us to get things done,” Biden told reporters Wednesday.“I think we have to just produce results for them—to change their standard of living had given them a little more breathing room.” Biden said he called to “congratulate” former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe Wednesday on his campaign for Virginia governor despite his loss. “He brought out just about every Democrat there was—more votes whoever has been cast for a Democratic [candidate for governor],” Biden said....

A reset is urgently necessary. The Trump administration’s visible bias in favor of the Israeli right destroyed any credibility the U.S. had with the Palestinians, and the memo provides a refreshing return to a vision that seeks “to advance freedom, security, and prosperity for both Israelis and Palestinians in the immediate term,” emphasis mine. The word “prosperity” was a recurring buzzword in the lead up to and throughout the Trump administration’s Deal of the Century, which in effect asked Palestinians to give up our rights for some ill-defined promise of economic growth....

The poll, which was conducted by Marist College, noted that in February 2017, Trump received a 39 percent approval rating. While 49 percent said they approved of the job Biden is doing as president, 35 percent said they disapproved and 16 percent said they were unsure. Along political party lines, Biden’s approval rating remains divided, with 91 percent of Democrats saying they approve of his job in office compared with 78 percent of Republicans that said the opposite....

Included in the proposal, according to a senior administration official who spoke to Newsweek: $36.5 billion to aid “high-poverty schools,” $10.7 billion for combating the opioid epidemic, a $209 million bump to the civil rights division of the Department of Justice and $850 million “to invest in Central America as part of a comprehensive strategy to address the root causes of irregular migration.” It also recommends $8.7 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to help prepare for “future epidemics,” in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic....

Just last Thursday, when Biden spoke in New York City about combatting gun crime—not the 92 percent of violent crime that has nothing to do with guns—he focused on handguns. A “Glock with 40 rounds—a magazine with 40 rounds. And it’s really a weapon of war,” he said. “But I don’t see any rationale to why there should be such a weapon able to be purchased.” And at a CNN town hall last year, Biden remarked, “The idea you need a weapon that can have the ability to fire 20, 30, 40, 50, 120 shots from that weapon—whether it’s a 9-millimeter pistol or whether it’s a rifle—is ridiculous....

The remarks came during Biden’s first meeting with Israel’s prime minister. The two men had a private, one-on-one meeting in the White House dining room for 50 minutes before they spoke to reporters in the Oval Office. Biden and Bennett were originally scheduled to meet on Thursday, but their talk was rescheduled to Friday in light of the attack at Kabul’s airport. When the leaders sat to speak in front of the press, Biden began by addressing the situation in Afghanistan....

Though the move has been welcomed, advocates have long called on President Biden to do more and some senior Democrats argue he has the power to cancel up to $50,000 in student debt per borrower by executive action. A Delaware bankruptcy judge discharged almost $100,000 in student loan debt held by Ryan Wolfson, an epileptic 35-year-old graduate of Penn State, in a ruling on January 14. Judge Laurie Selber Silverstein ruled that the debt imposed an “undue hardship” on Wolfson....

Over his career, Biden has made three runs for president. First in the late eighties, for the 1988 election eventually won by George H. W. Bush. Second in 2008 and third in 2020. Biden’s first attempt came to a close following allegations of plagiarism—which he admitted to. News that he had embellished his academic record and lifted quotes from politicians—including British Labour leader Neil Kinnock—without attribution (later described as “an oversight,” according to The New York Times) pressured the politician to pull out of the race in September 1987....

“Even though decades away, the most serious consequences of global warming could prove unavoidable unless we act now to prevent them,” the senator said. “Our failure to show foresight when the dangers are clearly discernible would be an unforgivable dereliction of duty to our children and all mankind not yet born.” That senator was Joe Biden. The severe impacts of a warming climate that Biden warned his fellow senators about more than 33 years ago are no longer quite so distant....

President Biden is one of many heads of state from around the world attending the service for Britain’s longest-serving monarch. The queen died on September 8, aged 96 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland, only months after celebrating her Platinum Jubilee to mark 70 years on the throne. The Bidens looked solemn as they entered the abbey holding hands. The first lady wore a black, Chanel-inspired pencil skirt suit with a matching fascinator, and the president chose a black suit, with a black tie and white handkerchief in his jacket pocket....

The contact turned Biffle's rear bumper until a liability, and NASCAR ordered the Roush Fenway Racing driver into the pits under caution to fix it. Biffle fell back to 25th and rallied to finish ninth but wasn’t happy with the contact. He approached Johnson soon after the race and gave him a slight shove while Johnson was doing postrace interviews. “Hey, you tore my rear bumper off you (expletive),” he told Johnson....

The Diamondback obtained a document about the discussion, which will take place at Maryland. The Big Ten is titling this idea, “A Year of Readiness,” which equates to a mandatory redshirt season to examine “the health of the educational experience.” MORE: SN Top 50 players | HAYES: What’s wrong with NCAA? | Best teams that didn’t win title According to the report, “the document, which shows football and men’s basketball as the only sports with graduation rates less than 75 percent across the NCAA, states that a push for freshman ineligibility would benefit athletes academically....