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The virtual summit with Putin and Xi on Wednesday will examine their Russian-Chinese relations, plan their countries’ shared goals for the next year and “exchange views on major international and regional issues of common concern,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in a Monday briefing, The Hill reported. The call comes as both countries recently criticized Biden’s early December Summit for Democracy. The summit was a meeting with 100 countries to fight corruption and defend free and fair elections in the U....

Like many who left small towns for an urban college, I have now resided most of my adult life in a metropolitan area. Having lived in both worlds—one rural and the other urban—I appreciate the perspectives of the voters in each sphere. This understanding causes me to be pessimistic over the future of our democracy if we do not address the current divide and optimistic if we do. Even before last month’s election, political commentators were discussing the urban-rural gap—the world of Whole Foods versus Cracker Barrel—and pundits were warning that the cultural arrogance within parts of the Democratic Party could have an electoral impact....

Biden called for a focus on vulnerable Americans, especially gay and bisexual Black and Latino people, who are regularly stigmatized even though they are disproportionately affected, Biden’s administration said. “I want to make sure that everyone in the United States knows their HIV status, and everyone with HIV receives high-quality care and treatment that they deserve and that we end the harmful stigma around HIV and AIDS,” Biden said....

Biden’s disturbing rhetoric might be chalked up to politics, but when considered in the broader context of the Biden administration’s unprecedented and recently revealed “National Strategy for Countering Domestic Terrorism” document, which links questions about election integrity to terrorism, it takes on an even more sinister edge. Biden describes the election reforms now being considered in some Republican-controlled state legislatures, most of which aim to restore some semblance of normalcy with respect to absentee and mail-in voting, as a “21st-century Jim Crow assault” and “the most dangerous threat to voting and integrity of free and fair elections in our history....

Belong, but for how long? Almost every tweet Thursday night during the teams’ game served as a reminder of what these schools were actually doing. This was the Big 12 Bowl between two of the leading candidates, should the conference opt for expansion. MORE: Houston-Cincinnati Gamecenter How did that audition go? They didn’t play one of those patented O.K. Corral, Big 12-style shootouts. And aside from a few wild-and-crazy plays, it was a standard-fare 40-16 victory for Houston....

One phone call made a difference as big as some of his drives. His father called John Wood, an old friend from high school in Sacramento who at the time was caddying for Hunter Mahan. “He said his son was into golf and would I come out and spend a day with him,” Wood said Wednesday morning from the Australian Open, where he now works for Matt Kuchar. “You get those calls and figure you’ll go watch a guy shoot 80....

Despite having slim hopes of qualifying, the Scorchers still have pride to salvage against a Melbourne Renegades side which is firmly in the race for a top-four finish. With the Optus Stadium suiting the batsmen, this match is sure to be a high-scoring thriller. Squads to choose from Perth Scorchers Ashton Agar, Cameron Bancroft, Jason Behrendorff, Hilton Cartwright, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Cameron Green, Josh Inglis, Matthew Kelly, Michael Klinger, Mitchell Marsh, Shaun Marsh, Joel Paris, Usman Qadir, Jhye Richardson, Ashton Turner, Andrew Tye, Sam Whiteman, David Willey...

Yet as the match unfolded, the psychological component became as prominent as in any human-to-human contest. And for the flesh-and-blood competitor charged with beating back this technological challenge to human superiority, an unsettling issue came to the fore: how do you respond to a computer that refuses to act like a computer? The question was forced by Deep Blue’s play on Sunday, May 4. Until then, everything had been going pretty much according to Garry Kasparov’s plan, evolved after weeks of practice against Deep Blue’s weaker cousins....

Now comes the hard part: Couturier must show he is worthy of being the team’s second-line center and a six-year, $26 million contract. MORE: NHL’s leading active goal scorers | Wayne Gretzky, the L.A. years | Eric Lindros, Hall of Fame snub “I’ve been playing 18 minutes a game the last two years,” Couturier said in a conference call with Flyers media after Tuesday’s agreement was announced. “We’ll see the situations I’m put in....

Top seed Villanova will look to win its fourth straight Big East Tournament in five years after the tournament’s cancellation in 2020. The Wildcats will have to attempt the feat without Collin Gillespie, however, as the senior point guard is expected to miss the remainder of the season with a torn MCL. They may also be without sophomore guard Justin Moore, who suffered an ankle sprain in the team’s regular-season finale....

It seems that the gaming giant has great plans in store, and is expecting record-breaking software and hardware sales in the coming year. While the hardware side of things is tangentially dependent on the rumored “Super” Switch, there are some notable games that would definitively be great for Nintendo for reaching its target of a 250 million units. RELATED: Samsung Statement Adds Fuel to Switch Pro Rumor The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 It may seem like the most obvious choice for impressive software sales, but Breath of the Wild’s sequel isn’t outside of reason....

Big Labor’s influence is not based on widespread support for its policies, but on its unique status as a special interest group. In fact, the biggest source of unions’ influence—their officials’ unique power to compel rank-and-file workers to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment—is also the clearest reason voters oppose union bosses’ coercive agenda. Already, 27 states have enacted right-to-work protections for workers, with five states adding such laws in the last eight years....

But while those teams celebrate, a handful of teams are left stewing over their exclusion from the March Madness tournament. Even with a 68-team field, there are still always a handful of teams that could have made it to the Big Dance. No matter how big the tournament gets, there will always be a bubble and a debate for the final handful of spots in the coveted bracket. Often the bubble teams are a mix of solid Power 5 schools and strong mid-major teams....

As Donald Trump’s administration assumed power, he and his team made announcements on immigration during his first week that were not just a departure from American convention but also sent a message of what the next four years would include. His so-called Muslim ban, which he said constituted extreme vetting of “terrorist” threats, led to “chaos and anger” at airports and was called “harmful and hasty” by The International Rescue Committee and a “euphemism for discriminating against Muslims” by The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)....

“I have no desire to escalate tensions with Russia or any other country,” Biden said in a statement Monday, adding that he’d rather focus on other global issues like efforts to end COVID-19. “But if any foreign power recklessly chooses to interfere in our democracy, I will not hesitate to respond as president to impose substantial and lasting costs,” Biden wrote. Biden said he’d direct his administration to “leverage all appropriate instruments of national power and make full use of my executive authority to impose substantial and lasting costs on state perpetrators....

Speaking Thursday afternoon from the president’s hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, McCarthy criticized Biden and other Democrats shortly before Biden was to deliver an address of his own in Philadelphia. The White House has said Biden’s speech will be about “the continued battle for the Soul of the Nation.” McCarthy said he has heard Americans’ frustrations during visits to nearly every state ahead of the midterm elections this fall. “What is clear to me, and clear to you, is that Washington and the White House aren’t listening,” he said....

“We want to be specific about what we’re trying to accomplish in this moment and what these six steps will do,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters Wednesday in a brief preview of Biden’s remarks. “We know that increasing vaccinations will stop the spread of the pandemic [and] we’ll get the pandemic under control, we’ll return people to normal life. That’s what our objective is.” Biden consulted with his top COVID-19 advisers at the White House Wednesday afternoon in preparation for Thursday’s remarks, which are scheduled for 5 p....

A CNBC/Change Research poll, released Thursday, showed Biden gaining ground against his Republican opponent, with support from 54 percent of likely voters compared to Trump’s 41 percent. Biden’s 13 point lead in the survey nearly doubles his national polling average of 7.5, according to Real Clear Politics. The nationwide survey was conducted Tuesday night and Wednesday, in the hours after the first presidential debate between Trump and Biden in Cleveland, Ohio....

And the Arkansas coach isn't about to back down, despite a host of criticism from up-tempo, no-huddle coaches across the country. Bielema, speaking to the media before a meeting of the White County Razorback Club, said he expects the proposal to prohibit snapping the ball until at least 10 seconds run off the 40-second play clock to pass when the NCAA playing rules oversight panel votes on March 6. He also reiterated his stance that the proposal is safety-based — saying he wants to be proactive and make a change before a fatal injury....

The Stars are yet to find their feet in the tournament. Having won only five of their 12 games in the tournament so far, they are sixth in the points table. Their last five results include three losses and two wins. They were then beaten by Melbourne Renegades by five wickets. In their next game, the Stars beat Adelaide Strikers by five wickets before going down to Perth Scorchers by 47 runs....