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Biden said on Monday that he expects the United States to see cases of the Omicron variant, which has the potential to evade vaccines and be more transmissible than other variants. The spreading of the variant is likely to coincide with a winter surge in COVID-19 cases and Biden said he will release a new strategy for fighting COVID-19 on Thursday. That strategy, according to the president, won’t entail lockdowns or shutdowns....

We are encountering more people at our southern border than any other time in the last 21 years. Two months in a row, the numbers exceeded 200,000; in August 2021, the numbers represented a 317 percent increase over August of last year. And now, another self-inflicted disaster has overcome the already beleaguered Border Patrol. Recently, close to 15,000 people, most of them Haitians, gathered under the International Bridge in Del Rio, Texas....

The lower numbers of claims and higher pay for Americans are signs of progress in spite of the soaring inflation rates, he said in a statement. “That’s a sign of the real progress we’ve made in getting Americans back to work over the last year,” he said about the unemployment claims. Still, increased consumer prices have largely outpaced wage increases and effectively caused the average worker to take a 2....

“We need not have a conflict, but there’s going to be extreme competition,” Biden said to anchor Norah O’Donnell in an interview to air in full Sunday evening on CBS Evening News. Referring to his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, he said, “I’m not going to do it the way that he knows. And that’s because he’s sending signals as well. I’m not going to do it the way Trump did....

Biden added 5,110 votes to his tally early Saturday morning, most of which came from Fulton County which includes most of the city of Atlanta, increasing his lead by around 64 percent. The former vice president now leads Trump by some 7,248 votes in the Peach State. Without Georgia, Trump has no path to a second term. The GOP is hoping for a recount in the state, which can be requested if the margin of victory is 0....

The horrific bombing of a hospital in Mariupol last week left adults and children beneath piles of rubble, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said. However, Russian media and government officials claim the attack was staged, and OAN agrees. In a video clip that has since gone viral, OAN host Pearson Sharp claims the hospital attack was a ruse supported by the Biden administration. “It looks like we have the makings of yet another false flag operation, this time in the far-flung land of Ukraine where Biden and his cronies are desperately trying to cook up more conflict to distract from their monumental failures here in America,” Sharp said....

A poll released Thursday from Monmouth University found that 54 percent of voters aged 65 or older plan to vote for Biden, compared to 43 percent for Trump. The poll shows Biden leading Trump 51 percent to 42 percent overall, with the only age group favoring Trump being voters 50 to 64, who prefer the president by a 7 percent margin. Seniors were a critical component of Trump winning the White House, but his support among the group may have dramatically decreased since then, reversing a trend that has seen older voters vote largely Republican for decades....

Speaking on MSNBC, Biden laid out his strategy and revealed he’ll be taking the fight to Trump on the debate stage. “I’m prepared to go out and make my case as to why I think he’s failed and why I think the answers I have to proceed will help the American people, the American economy and make us safer internationally,” the former vice president said. With less than 40 days until November 3, Trump has been grinding out back-to-back in-person campaign rallies, while Biden’s schedule has been packed with virtual fundraisers and online events....

“Every individual is empowered to do the right thing here, regardless of what the states decide,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters Wednesday. “The next month or two is really pivotal in terms of how this pandemic goes.” Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves, both Republicans, announced this week that they are opening businesses back to 100 percent capacity and ending mandates requiring people to wear masks in public....

His four-point agenda included beating the opioid epidemic, improving mental health (especially for children online), aiding veterans sickened by burn pits and cutting the national cancer death rate by at least 50 percent over the next 25 years. In his first section on the opioid crisis, Biden mentioned the estimated 23 million Americans who are recovering from drug addiction. He also said he wanted to get rid of outdated rules that stop doctors from prescribing treatments, and to halt the illicit drug trade by empowering state and local law enforcement to go after drug traffickers....

However, the Taliban has said it hasn’t been notified of a potential extension and won’t grant one. “If they extend it, that means they are extending occupation,” Taliban spokesperson Suhail Shaheen told Sky News in a recent interview. “It will create mistrust between us. If they are intent on continuing the occupation, it will provoke a reaction.” Shaheen said that if the U.S. stayed past August 31, it would cross a “red line....

According to Gallup, Biden started out his presidency with an approval rating of 57 percent. While it remained in the mid-50s for the first several months of his presidency, the rating has been in decline since June. By mid-December, Biden’s approval rating had fallen by 14 points to 43 percent. Still, the numbers are better than Trump at the end of his first year in office in 2017. The Republican had a 39 percent approval rating in the final poll conducted by Gallup that year, after starting his presidency at 45 percent approval....

Remember that inflation is a hidden tax. It is a powerful (and often unseen and unstoppable) way for a government to pay for its goods and services without raising visible taxes that make people angry. Warren Buffett is widely regarded as the best long-term investor in America. He clearly has moved from concerns about unemployment to concerns about inflation. “We are seeing very substantial inflation,” Buffett said at the annual meeting of Berkshire Hathaway....

The number of Venezuelans unlawfully crossing was down 82 percent from its peak in September, for instance. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Acting Commissioner Troy Miller, in the January 20 release, boasted that “early data suggests the expanded measures for Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans are having a similar impact.” “And,” Miller continued," we look forward to sharing the additional data in the next update." No doubt. But the declines Miller promised are a premeditated deceit....

This is happening at the very same time Biden is overseeing an effective abandonment of border security and enforcement of immigration laws—actions that have set off a record surge of illegal immigrants pouring over the border. At the same time, Democrats are still engendering hope among those elsewhere who are not prepared to go through the process to legally enter the United States by floating promises of amnesty and a path to eventual legal status and citizenship....

Biden has arrived in Baltimore to discuss the new deal and the benefits that it can bring both the city and the nation at large. He hopes that the infrastructure deal, which is set to emphasize global supply chain issues, can begin relieving these skyrocketing rates. In a statement, Biden said that “reversing this trend is a top priority” for him and his administration moving forward. He also said that his current Baltimore trip will allow him to explain how the new bill will “make goods more available and less costly,” hopefully reducing inflation....

Although the U.S. was a supporter of the Rome Statute that created the ICC, it never ratified the statute. Thus, like Russia, the U.S. is not one of the ICC’s 123 State Parties—which makes it likely that Putin and Russia’s supporters would question why Biden is pushing for an investigation that the U.S. doesn’t even support for its own citizens. “The U.S. doesn’t participate [as a State Party] and wouldn’t allow its soldiers to be tried in this manner....

It’s Closing Time. Last night was the last Democratic presidential debate before the Iowa Caucuses. The prelims are over and we’re down to the finalists, even though not a single ballot has been cast. Twenty-eight candidates have thrown their hats into the ring. Twelve are still running. Six of those were on the debate stage. They are the presumptive frontrunners, along with Michael Bloomberg, who is considered a serious candidate in part because he has serious money....

The 44-year-old Biffle, who has spent his entire 12-year Cup career with the team, said Friday that he expects to finalize a deal soon. “We’re getting closer,” Biffle said. “There’s a lot of moving parts to a contract, obviously, and a lot of new people at (sponsor) 3M. I know the folks are going up there next week and visit some more. “I have a feeling it’s getting closer. I know there’s been a lot of activity....

WEEK 1 PICKS How they rank 1. Oklahoma State 2. Oklahoma 3. Texas 4. TCU 5. Baylor 6. Kansas State 7. West Virginia 8. Texas Tech 9. Iowa State 10. Kansas MORE: SN’s All-Big 12 | Big 12 stats that matter | Hayes on Mike Gundy POWER RANKINGS: ACC | Big Ten | Pac-12 |SEC Three things to watch -- Mike Gundy has proven time and again that he knows offense and his teams will score points....