📷 Key players Meteor shower up next 📷 Leaders at the dais 20 years till the next one
NEWS
5 Things to Know

Justice Stephen Breyer, Holocaust Remembrance Day, new 'Jeopardy' champ: 5 things to know Thursday

Editors
USA TODAY

Biden mulls Supreme Court pick as Breyer appears set to retire

Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer will step down by the end of this term after nearly three decades on the high court, a source told USA TODAY Wednesday. His retirement would hand President Joe Biden his first opportunity to nominate a jurist whose influence could be felt for decades. Biden and Breyer are expected to hold an event Thursday to formally announce Breyer's plans to retire, the Associated Press reports. Breyer's announcement will kick off a frenzied process of confirming a successor, typically a monthslong ordeal that is likely to end with a groundbreaking nominee: Biden promised during his presidential campaign to name a Black woman to the high court for the first time in American history. USA TODAY Supreme Court correspondent John Fritze notes D.C. Circuit Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, whom President Barack Obama considered for the court in 2016, is a leading candidate. The AP reports U.S. District Judge J. Michelle Childs and California Supreme Court Justice Leondra Kruger are being discussed as well.

Prefer to listen? Check out the 5 Things podcast: 

UN marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day

Thursday is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, created by the United Nations General Assembly to commemorate the date that the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated by the Red Army in 1945. The day is also to remember the 6 million Jews and other victims killed during the Holocaust. A United Nations virtual ceremony will include testimonies from Holocaust survivors from Canada, Israel, South Africa and the United States. The ceremony, which begins at 11 a.m. EST, will be livestreamed worldwide via UN Web TV. The day comes amid a rise in antisemitism, Holocaust denial, and discrimination against minorities.

Ash Barty ends drought with stellar play at the Australian Open

Ash Barty ended a long drought by reaching the Australian Open final with a 6-1, 6-3 win over unseeded American Madison Keys. Barty is the first Australian woman to reach the singles final of her home Grand Slam tournament since Wendy Turnbull in 1980. No Australian has won the title since Chris O'Neil in 1978. The top-ranked Barty conceded only 17 games on her way to the semifinals and continued her strong form by beating Keys. Barty will next play Saturday against either No. 7 seed Iga Świątek, who hails from Poland, or American Danielle Collins, the 27th seed. That match was underway on Rod Laver Arena. Collins, 28, underwent surgery last year to treat endometriosis, which left her in severe pain while competing in 2021. "It feels incredible, especially after some of the health challenges I've had," Collins said after defeating Alize Cornet in the quarterfinal.

New 'Jeopardy!' champ tries to start a fresh winning streak

Thursday's episode of the famed game show "Jeopardy!" will look a lot different than other recent installments as viewers will see a new returning champion for the first time since mid-November. Previous champ Amy Schneider, an engineering manager from Oakland, California, finally was defeated after a 40-game winning streak during Wednesday's episode. She lost to Rhone Talsma, a Chicago librarian, just days after becoming the quiz show's second all-time winner Monday. Schneider trails only current host of the syndicated quiz show Ken Jennings, who won 74 consecutive games in 2004. Schneider led the game going into "Final Jeopardy!", but couldn't come up with the answer to the clue, "The only nation in the world whose name in English ends in an H, it's also one of the 10 most populous." Talsma correctly guessed Bangladesh. Now the most successful woman in the show's history, Schneider will be back to play in the 2022 Tournament of Champions later this year.

Ford to pump the brakes on 2022 Maverick orders

The garage door is about to close – at least temporarily – for would-be buyers of Ford's all-new 2022 Maverick compact pickup truck. The automaker said it will stop accepting all orders on the truck on Thursday – both hybrid and gasoline versions – until summer, citing high demand. The decision is an effort to avoid customer disappointment related to potential delivery delay, Ford spokesperson Said Deep told the Detroit Free Press. The vehicle was revealed in June and consumers responded immediately to the award-winning pickup that starts at $20,000 and gets 42 mpg in the city.

Contributing: The Associated Press

Featured Weekly Ad