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“What I believe is that the Trump administration did not take pandemic surveillance as seriously as they should have,” said the White House official on Sunday morning’s Face the Nation, where he emphasized the importance of foresight in comments to CBS News’ Margaret Brennan. “I think it is absolutely the case, and we’ve seen this in COVID-19, that pandemics represent one of the most severe threats to American lives and livelihoods,” Sullivan told the program moderator....

Presidential elections in the U.S. are not decided by who gets the most votes. In order to actually win the contest, a candidate must receive a majority of votes in the Electoral College. There are a total of 538 individuals from each state who decide which candidate becomes president. Candidates need at least 270 Electoral College votes to clinch the presidency. While those electors often follow the popular vote, that has not always been the case....

The 260 Afghan residents of the safehouse looked on as more than 20 armed men from the State Department’s Diplomatic Security Services streamed from the vehicles, entered the building and lined up, weapons in hand, creating a human corridor. The Afghans had all been expecting to be evacuated. But the security forces had only come for the “high-priority package:” President Joe Biden’s one-time Afghan interpreter and his family. After Aman Khalili and six of his family were rushed to the SUVs, more than 200 of the Afghans surged into the street, throwing rocks at the cars, blocking them with their bodies and begging to be taken as well....

The American Rescue Plan will include $1,400 stimulus checks for Americans making less than $75,000 a year and a minimum wage increase of $15 an hour—two key pieces of the legislation that have divided Democrats and Republicans. The bill also includes an increase in the child tax credit and direct funding to state and local governments, as well as hundreds of billions of dollars for school reopenings, small businesses and vaccine rollouts....

On a recent trip to the El Paso border, we caught a firsthand glimpse of the Biden administration’s contradictory policies and its uneven progress toward its stated goals of leading with humanity and compassion. For every story of hope and welcome at the border, there are more stories of heartbreak and tragedy. On the one hand, Biden rightly ended Trump’s illegal “Return to Mexico” policy, under which thousands of people have been forced to wait in dangerous conditions in Mexico for their opportunity to seek asylum in the U....

The most egregious oversight is inadequate funding and follow-through for “next-generation” vaccines like those delivered by a nasal spray, an intervention that could spare people not just hospitalization but also infections, which remain stubbornly high. That reality is still causing various kinds of social disruptions, like labor shortages, inadequately staffed classrooms, and chronic delays in air travel. The long-term burden on hospital systems is unknown, but the health care sector remains under increased pressure from the combination of COVID, what looks like a potentially very bad flu season, and an unexplained surge in respiratory illnesses, especially in children....

The survey, released Thursday, found 45 percent of registered voters approved of Biden’s job performance, while 52 percent of respondents disapproved. The president’s poll numbers have been in gradual decline since the chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August. The findings show little movement among voters even as Biden is on the road promoting his domestic agenda and recent legislative victories. Last month, Congress passed a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill after months of negotiation....

Biden is expected to announce the new round of military aid and sanctions Thursday, after a series of summits with NATO and European allies meant to showcase Western opposition to Russia’s invasion. But the diplomacy underway in Brussels is also highlighting the dwindling options the West has to help bring an end to a war that has already claimed the lives of thousands and created the fastest growing refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War....

Bieber found the back of the net and had a selfie taken with Neymar at the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamper training base in Catalonia earlier this week. But any Blaugrana fans who were inspired to become ‘Beliebers’ at the sight of their heroes hanging out with the Canadian pop star are likely to be swiftly reconsidering their allegiance after Bieber also posed for a photo with Madrid’s Sergio Ramos....

SN COACH RANKINGS: Where does Grobe fit into 1 to 128 list? Commissioner Bob Bowlsby sent interim Baylor president David Garland a letter May 24 requesting that all information be relinquished to the conference’s board of directors. According to a Big 12 news release, Bowlsby sent another letter Wednesday asking for the unedited review from outside investigative firm Pepper Hamilton and other internal documents. “All of our member universities consider student safety and security to be paramount among institutional responsibilities,” Bowlsby said....

These four?plays, which open this week at the New?York Theatre Workshop, constitute a mini grand tour of Beckett’s sensibility. As Baryshnikov says, “I feel they’re all about?the same person, although they’re very different characters.” The pantomimes “Act Without Words I” and “II” (1956), mute exercises in futility, show the fondness for vaudeville routines and silent film that marked the earlier “Waiting for Godot.” “Rough for Theatre I,” from the late ’50s but not published until 1976, is a companion piece to “Endgame” (1957), with two survivors in a post-apocalyptic landscape, mutually dependent and repellent....

Meanwhile, back where college football is king in this state, they took a big turn toward playing games that matter on New Year’s Eve, making a loud and clear statement that will reverberate into November. MORE: Saturday’s best players | Top 25 fared | Spartans’ goal-line stop “This was the place to be,” says Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio, and truth be told, I’m not exactly sure he was talking about a thrilling top 10 victory over Oregon in primetime television — or making fun of the spectacle that is Michigan throwing another party for a head coach that was hired 10 months ago....

Not if you’re Derrick Coleman. At 26, Coleman is the 6-foot-10 power forward of the New Jersey Nets. After three years in the National Basketball Association, Coleman has led the Nets to the status of “very promising”; he has won nothing but a rookie-of-the-year trophy. For this modest achievement, Coleman wants his due. Last week the team offered him a $69 million, eight-year contract. And he said no. Call me back, he added, when you’re ready to talk nine figures....

“The biggest thing is we all have to realize that this is a fluid situation,” Warren said. “This is also a situation that we need to adapt to in the world we live in today. MORE: Big Ten schedule and more “I fiercely understand what makes the Big Ten the Big Ten,” Warren said later. “We will take a leadership role. We’ll put the health and safety of our student-athletes first and foremost, and I’m proud to sit here to say that we did that....

The Big Ten made the right decision on Tuesday to cancel college football for the fall; the conference just went about it in the wrong way. And that is what will be remembered most in the long term if the conference’s Southern siblings in the ACC and SEC successfully carry out their plans to play football in the fall. Let’s start with what Warren and the Big Ten presidents got right: The decision to postpone the season is the safest one, given the nature of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States....

Per multiple reports, Big Ten coaches met Friday to discuss several different start dates after the conference postponed the season on Aug. 11 amid the COVID-19 pandemic. One date that has stood out: Thanksgiving week. The potential about-face comes after widespread, vocal criticism levied against the conference for its decision. Parents from 11 Big Ten institutions have demanded the conference further explain its decision to postpone the season; eight Nebraska football players even sued it in an effort to reverse the decision....

The Wolverines (7-1, 5-0) and Buckeyes (7-1, 4-1) both must win out to get the conference into the College Football Playoff, and they better look good doing it in the leadup to their matchup at Ohio Stadium on Nov. 24 to ensure that happens. Why is that? Because neither team will get much help by winning the conference championship game. Saturday’s results re-emphasized what a mess the Big Ten West is: — Northwestern (5-3, 5-1) leads the division after an impressive 31-17 victory over Wisconsin (5-3, 3-2)....

Top-ranked receiver and No. 11 overall recruit Donovan Peoples-Jones announced his commitment to the Wolverines on ESPN2 before taking to Twitter to share the news. MORE: Sporting News 2016 All-Americans The 6-2, 193-pound recruit who hails from Detroit received interest from several other top schools, including Alabama and Ohio State. He had also considered Florida before sealing the deal with Michigan. With Peoples-Jones’ commitment, Michigan’s 2017 recruiting class now ranks seventh nationally and second in the Big Ten (behind OSU)....

In contrast, when only one ovary and one fallopian tube are removed, the procedure is called a unilateral salpingo-oophorectomy. It’s sometimes designated as right or left with the acronyms “RSO” (right salpingo-oophorectomy) or “LSO” (left salpingo-oophorectomy). What Is a Bilateral Salpingo-Oophorectomy? A bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy is the removal of both ovaries and fallopian tubes to treat ovarian cysts, eliminate fertility, or certain types of gynecologic cancer, especially ovarian cancer. In some cases, it may be done to prevent breast cancer and ovarian cancer in women with a strong genetic risk....