Noah takes time to get warmed up because the last thing he wants is a 50 Cent or Miss Texas situation on his hands. Unfortunately, he may have practiced a little too hard because his first pitch didn’t turn out as planned, but luckily he was able to have a second chance. Joakim Noah is now a part of the very small class of people who have thrown two first pitches to start a game....
The 2014 NBA defensive player of the year founded his Noah’s Arc Foundation to help young people. In a news release, the foundation says Noah will hold a news conference Friday at a community center to provide new tactics to combat gun violence. He plans to work with community organizations. Noah founded the foundation in 2010 with his mother, Cecilia Rodhe. She’s a sculptor and art therapist. The foundation says its goal is to give young people more opportunities to make an impact on themselves and the community....
In the bottom of the ninth inning with the scored tied 2-2, Justin Upton crushed a Juan Nicasio fastball to center field. With two Padres runners going on contact with two outs, Pederson had to make the catch or the game was over. MORE: Twins make history — for the wrong reason | Lindor gets first MLB hit, then falls down Pederson took a huge hit on the play, but secured the ball to keep the Dodgers alive....
Biden approved over two dozen recommendations, published Friday, by an independent review commission regarding sexual assault in the U.S. armed forces, according to the Associated Press. Military commanders will no longer have the authority on prosecution decisions for sexual assault cases. Instead, the choice goes to a special victims prosecutor outside of the military. “These special victims require and deserve all critical decisions about their case to be made by a highly trained special victim prosecutor who is independent from the chain of command,” said the commission’s report....
In a pre-recorded message on the Facebook page of President Vjosa Osmani, Biden called the distinction “incredible” and “a great honor to recognize the legacy of our son.” “The nation of Kosovo is in the hearts of the entire Biden family,” the president said with Beau Biden’s children just off-camera. Beau Biden worked in Kosovo after the 1998-1999 war and also with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe....
There have been 71 confirmed cases of coronavirus across the U.S., but Washington State declared an official state of emergency this weekend, warning that as many as 1,500 people could have been infected there. Fears about the virus’ rapid spread have also already led to over $4.3 trillion in stock market value losses. Despite the concerns, Trump told attendees of a South Carolina rally on Friday that the virus was a “new hoax” created by Democrats....
According to FiveThirtyEight’s tracker, based on weighted averages of different polls, his disapproval rating is at 40.2 percent. This had been 36 percent following his inauguration. Real Clear Politics’ tracker has his disapproval rating at 41.9 percent, having similarly started at 36 percent back in January. The president still maintains majority approval though, with the two trackers putting this at 53.8 and 52.9 percent respectively. Biden signed his COVID-19 relief package last week, following its passage through Congress....
In footage captured by C-SPAN, Biden had been greeting Sullivan County supporters after a rally when a protester shouted, “My generation will pay for the corners that you cut, dude, don’t forget.” Biden turned toward the protester but when they stopped shouting, he turned back toward the crowd of supporters. The same protester then shouted, “Listen to the kids.” When they received no response from Biden, the protester then began to chant, “2050 is too late,” and was joined in voice by several others standing at the back of the room, all of them carrying signs emblazoned with similar environmental slogans....
On Friday, the right-wing politician—who recently concluded a stay at a Miami hospital after arriving in the country on December 30—reportedly submitted an application for a six-month visitor visa to remain in the U.S. in what some believe is an attempt to avoid scrutiny for his possible role in the insurrection as well as alleged wrongdoing he’d committed as president. “I think Florida will be his temporary home away from home,” Felipe Alexandre, Bolsonaro’s attorney and founder of AG Immigration, told the Financial Times on Monday....
The former Vice President has a one in three chance of winning the most votes in the Iowa caucus, while second place Bernie Sanders has winning odds of one in four (27 percent), according to a forecast launched by FiveThirtyEight on Thursday. Having simulated the primary contest “thousands of times” using a model that accounts for drop outs and polling swings, the pollsters found Biden won 27 percent of votes in the state on average....
Biden made the remarks during a CNN townhall event with Anderson Cooper. It’s the second time this year he has suggested the U.S. would come to Taiwan’s defense if China attacked. The U.S., like most other nations, doesn’t formally recognize Taiwan as an independent country. China claims Taiwan as part of its territory, but successive U.S. administrations have provided key support to the island, including supplying arms. At Thursday’s event, a participant at the townhall asked Biden about China’s recent test of a hypersonic missile....
Many Democrats have criticized Barrett’s nomination, believing that the seat left vacant by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg in September should be left open until after the November election. Trump and other Republicans have said they have the right to nominate Judge Barrett. Biden said Tuesday night that he had no personal feelings against Judge Barrett. “I have nothing– I’m not opposed to the justice,” Biden said. “She seems like a very fine person....
A Gallup survey published Tuesday found that 42 percent of U.S. adults approve of Biden’s job as president, down slightly from the 44 percent he recorded in August’s poll, but up from his all-time low of 38 percent in July. Biden’s 42 percent approval rating in the September of a midterm election year is the same as Reagan’s was in 1982, as well as Bill Clinton’s in 1994. Biden is two points ahead of Donald Trump’s approval rating ahead of his first midterm election, but three points behind Barack Obama’s 45 percent approval rating in September 2010 and Jimmy Carter’s in 1978....
In articles published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, the experts said the pandemic strategy must shift away from aiming for full eradication, as the contagious Omicron variant showed that “COVID-19 is here to stay.” The pieces by the experts coincide with oral arguments the Supreme Court is hearing for and against two federal vaccine mandates that affect more than 100 million American workers—measures that the scientists support....
President-elect Joe Biden has expressed support for another round of legislation, and members of his newly announced economic team have highlighted the need for a second stimulus—and fast. Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, Biden’s pick for Treasury Secretary, told Bloomberg TV in October that relief is needed immediately and will likely be required even after the outbreak is over. “While the pandemic is still seriously affecting the economy we need to continue extraordinary fiscal support, but even beyond that I think it will be necessary,” Yellen said, adding that the government can “afford to have more debt....
In an interview with CBS Evening News that aired ahead of Sunday’s Super Bowl, host Norah O’Donnell told Biden that “at the current rate of 1.3 million doses a day, it’s going to take almost a year to get” to herd immunity. She noted that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the Biden administration’s chief medical adviser, has said that 75 percent of Americans need to be vaccinated to achieve herd immunity from the virus....
President Joe Biden announced the deal early on Thursday after he personally intervened on Wednesday evening to bring both sides—freight rail companies and unions and the government—to an agreement. Negotiations reportedly lasted deep into the night for a total of 20 hours of talks, but finally, the Biden administration managed to avoid a strike that experts feared would have had a devastating impact on the U.S. economy. The terms of the deal are not yet known, but on August 16, the Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) recommended a 24 percent wage increase over the five-year period from 2020 through 2024—with a 14....
House Democrats began debating the rule for the reconciliation of the bill nearly 12 hours after they hoped. Earlier in the day, party leaders announced their plans to hold off on a procedural vote that would’ve allowed members to vote on Biden’s $1.85 trillion social spending and climate bill, amid pushback from more conservative party members, and instead focused attention on holding a vote for the $1 trillion public works bill....
Following Trump’s revelation, Biden tweeted that he’d also had some “MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENTS the last couple of weeks.” He went on to list “Inflation’s easing,” “I just signed the Respect for Marriage Act,” “We brought Brittney Griner home,” “Gas prices are lower than a year ago” and “10,000 new high-paying jobs in Arizona.” Other Twitter users soon joined the conversation, with some mocking Trump while others took aim at Biden’s record in government....
Biden now holds the support of a decisive majority of U.S. voters just a few weeks before the November 3 presidential election. The latest CNN Poll released Tuesday morning shows 57 percent of Americans from all political affiliations are behind the Democratic nominee over Trump, who received only 41 percent of support. The national poll of 1,025 U.S. adults via phone found Biden has a 20 percent lead over Trump among women voters, 57 to 37 percent....
