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Biden spoke about gun policy and his determination to reinstate the ban during remarks about his Safer America Plan in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. An earlier assault weapons ban that went into effect in the mid-1990s expired in 2004, after which Biden said mass shootings in the U.S. tripled. “It’s time to ban these weapons,” Biden said. “We did it before. We can do it again.” While Biden acknowledged the recent bipartisan Safer Communities Act as the “most significant gun safety law we passed in 30 years,” he said the “vast majority” of congressional Republicans “couldn’t even stand up and vote for it because they’re afraid of the NRA....

“Sanctions never deter,” Biden said during a Thursday press conference at a NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium. “The maintenance of sanctions, increasing the pain and the demonstration [is] why I asked for this NATO meeting today, is to be sure that after a month, we will sustain what we’re doing, not just next month, the following month, but for the remainder of this entire year.” “The single most important thing is for us to stay unified and [for] the world continue to focus on what a brute [Putin] is, and all the innocent people’s lives are being lost and ruined…....

A recent memoir written by Mark Meadows, Trump’s former chief of staff, alleges that Trump had tested positive for COVID-19 ahead of the debate. Trump dismissed Meadows’ claim as “fake news.” “Mark Meadows has written a book revealing that President Trump tested positive for COVID a few days before your first debate,” ABC News’ Mary Bruce asked Biden on Wednesday, following Biden’s remarks on the supply chain crisis. “Do you think the former president put you at risk?...

Although the CDC said vaccines are not mandatory for reopening, they stated that teachers should be given priority. The new report said that because teachers hold jobs “critical to the continued functioning of society” and are at risk of COVID-19 exposure, state and local officials should “consider giving high priority to teachers in early phases of vaccine distribution.” The advisory committee recommended that educators be included in Phase 1B, after health care personnel and residents of long-term care facilities....

Speaking to the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) Thursday, Biden said Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are offering meager support to schools and local governments and Trump wants to force schools to reopen amid the coronavirus pandemic without safety precautions in place. “It’s not close to what’s needed and it’s being used as a cudgel to force schools to reopen when they may not be ready to reopen,” Biden said, adding that he recently released his roadmap for reopening schools which is based on science—and hopes Trump at least looks at it....

British people have been astonished in recent days to learn that Biden doesn’t take questions from journalists at press conferences. Indeed, after news trickled back to London that his press team was furious at Johnson for allowing a couple of British reporters to speak on Tuesday, that sense of astonishment grew to downright alarm. If the U.S. president refuses to be open to scrutiny, the democratic process in America is in a bigger mess than anybody realized....

Biden will appear at a Monday rally in Long Beach, the campaign said in a press release. The event is to be the final rally of Newsom’s campaign before the special election. During the rally, “President Biden will urge Californians to vote NO on the recall and turn in their ballot by Tuesday, September 14,” according to Newsom’s campaign. A White House advisory confirmed Biden’s plan to travel to Long Beach for the rally and said the president will also travel to Sacramento on Monday to assess damage from recent wildfires....

The league will not split into divisions in 2017 as it brings back its conference championship game after a six-year absence, putting all 10 teams in a single bucket with the top two set to meet for the title. Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said in announcing the decision Friday that “one division” best positions the league for slots in the lucrative College Football Playoff. MORE: The Big 12 is a tease...

Considering the alarmist climate, it’s refreshing to come across two recent books that put the hacker threat into perspective. One, B_The Hacker Crackdown_b (328 pages. Bantam. $23), says that the government’s campaigns against hackers go too far. The other, B_Privacy for Sale_b (224 pages. Simon & Schuster. $22), points out a far broader and deeper threat in the computer age: that our most personal information, from finances to medical records, is readily available....

As part of its deal with ESPN/ABC and Fox, the conference has agreed to play six games on Friday nights during the 2017 season, Big Ten commissioner Jim Delany told the Chicago Tribune. “All things considered,” Delany said, “we thought it was worthwhile to dip our toe in the water.” The games will be selected later this week. MORE: 16 games that’ll define the CFB playoff race According to Delany, three of the games will be between Big Ten teams and other three will be against non-league opponents in September and October....

The coaching talent is there. Seven Big Ten coaches ranked in the Top 25 in SN’s 1-130 coach rankings, the most of any conference. Ohio State’s Ryan Day is the top choice after leading the Buckeyes to a pair of Big Ten championships in first two seasons. Where do you go from there? Penn State’s James Franklin and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh continue to chase Ohio State in the Big Ten East, and Indiana’s Tom Allen is building a winning culture in an unlikely place....

Gates, 38 (net worth: $6 billion), created Microsoft, the world’s largest software maker. McCaw, 44 (net worth $1 billion), founded McCaw Cellular Communications, the cellular phone giant. Each owns about 30 percent of the new company, Teledesic Corp., based in Kirkland, Wash. (Their partners include McCaw Cellular and a Los Angeles venture capitalist.) They say that Teledesic’s satellites will be the access road to the Information Highway in rural and undeveloped areas of the world not served by fiber-optic delivery systems....

But it actually happened Saturday night, as Trump, Belichick and several friends dined at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Fla. MORE: Comparing sports figures to presidential candidates Belichick’s girlfriend, Linda Holliday, posted the evidence on Instagram. Maybe Belichick and Trump talked about how Trump destroyed the USFL, or how they’re going to take over the world together. But we can only wonder what they talked about … unless Belichick had the placed bugged....

Here is Bill Belichick’s reaction to New England not making the postseason. MORE: Antonio Brown’s first touchdown with Buccaneers completes Tom Brady’s comeback vs. Falcons The Patriots were eliminated from the AFC playoff race on Sunday after a 22-12 loss to the Dolphins. Miami scored three second-half touchdowns in the win. The loss snapped New England’s postseason appearance streak of 11 seasons, which is an NFL record. “Disappointed, but we didn’t deserve to win today,” Belichick said in his postgame press conference....

The court blocked the eviction moratorium on Thursday in an unsigned opinion but all three liberal members of the court publicly dissented from the decision. There is currently a 6-3 conservative majority. De Blasio took to Twitter after the court’s ruling and strongly criticized the move, sharing a CNN report about the matter that noted the three Democrat-appointed justices had dissented. The mayor wrote: “A group of right wing extremists just decided to throw families out of their homes during a global pandemic....

Attorney Earl Gray is defending Thomas Lane, one of the four former officers charged in the death of Floyd, an unarmed black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis, Minnesota. In a video capturing the incident, Lane can be seen holding down Floyd’s legs as fellow officer Derek Chauvin uses his knee to press against Floyd’s neck. During an appearance on CNN’s Cuomo Prime Time, Gray singled out the public when asked why his client did not attempt to stop Floyd’s death....

The request says prosecutor Eric Bland broke ethics rules by making the comments in media appearances and should be prevented from doing it again, as well as be investigated by a panel that disciplines attorneys on such matters, the AP stated. “Mr. Bland has made it clear he intends to continue, and, indeed, to escalate his campaign of extrajudicial disparagement so long as no one stops him. For that reason, a gag order is unfortunately necessary,” Murdaugh attorneys Dick Harpootlian and Jim Griffin wrote in their motion Monday....

The Gabon international made a club record £55 million move to the Premier League side on the final day of the transfer window and slotted into the starting XI for Saturday’s clash at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal got off to an incredible start with three goals within 20 minutes against Sam Allardyce’s side, with Aaron Ramsey scoring either side of Laurent Koscielny’s strike. But Aubameyang ensured he did not miss out when he found the net in the 37th minute, although it did come with some controversy....

In Gus Malzahn’s first season as Tigers head coach, Auburn led the country in rushing with 328.3 yards per game and was 11th overall with 501.3 yards per game. And Malzahn thinks — no, he expects — the offense to get better in 2014. MORE: SN picks Auburn’s 10 best all-time | Top 25 players | Best QBs | WRs | RBs And why not? For the first time since he moved from high school to college, he’ll be coaching his starting quarterback for a second season....