 |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| |
| Good morning, Daily Briefing readers! Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine boosters might soon be available to folks over 65 and others at a higher risk of falling seriously ill from COVID-19: A critical Centers for Disease Control and Prevention committee will meet today to decide. And an ancient artifact from what is now Iraq that ended up in the hands of Hobby Lobby is set to return home. |
| It's Steve and Jane with Thursday's news. |
| 🔵 New this morning: A prominent cheerleading choreographer is under investigation after he livestreamed on Facebook the aftermath of a violent incident in Mexico in which he allegedly pushed his boyfriend off a third-floor walkway. |
| 🔴 Seven Days of 1961: Civil rights activists were imprisoned, beaten, forced to work in chain gangs, attacked with dogs. Despite those challenges, these Black Americans and their allies made significant strides in knocking down the walls of segregation. |
| ⬇️ President Joe Biden's job approval rating has hit a new low eight months into his term, according to a report released Wednesday by analytics firm Gallup. |
| 🍗 Bought chicken in the last decade? You might get some money back in a class action lawsuit. Here's how to claim. |
| 😰 Everyone experiences tough days at work, but chronic stress can lead to burnout. These are the telltale signs of workplace burnout and what to do if you spot them. |
| 🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, we look at the latest timelines for COVID-19 vaccine booster shots. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker. |
CDC panel to vote on who should receive COVID-19 booster shot |
| A committee that advises the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is scheduled to vote Thursday on who should be eligible for a booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized a third Pfizer-BioNTech shot six months after the second dose for those 65 and older, younger people at high risk for severe disease, and workers whose jobs put them at extra risk for infection. CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky is expected to quickly sign off on whatever the panel decides, making boosters available to more people within a few days. |
The search continues for Brian Laundrie after Gabby Petito's death was ruled a homicide |
| The search for Brian Laundrie, the fiancé of homicide victim Gabby Petito, will continue Thursday across a vast, alligator-infested Florida wetland , after a coroner confirmed that human remains found in a Wyoming national park were those of 22-year-old Petito. Police in North Port, Florida, have been searching the Carlton Reserve since the family of Laundrie said last week that he vanished while camping in the 25,000-acre wilderness area. Relatives said Laundrie left Sept. 14 to go hiking in the reserve. They filed a missing person report three days later saying they had found his car but did not find him. Since then, searchers have used dogs, drones and ATV vehicles to aid the difficult manhunt. He still has not been found. |
Newsmakers in their own words: Integrating higher education in Georgia |
 | | Tommy Johnson spoke about the environment at the University of Georgia in 1961. | | USA TODAY graphic | |
| On Jan. 11, 1961, Charlayne Hunter-Gault and Hamilton Holmes became the first Black students at the University of Georgia in Athens, one of the largest to resist integration seven years after the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education ruling banned segregation in education. |
| On Jan. 12, 1961, a white mob gathered outside the Myers Hall dormitory. They numbered 2,000 strong, a mix of KKK members, fellow students, community members and bystanders. They threw rocks at the dormitory and set off firecrackers that ignited small fires. |
| The hostile environment was by design as student reporter Tommy Johnson said that at one point, Georgia state lawmakers were calling students to spread messages of hate. |
| 🔵 The "Seven Days of 1961" series: Americans stood up to racism in 1961 and changed history. This is their fight, in their words. |
| 🔴 This is America: 1961, the year young activists helped change the course of American history. |
WNBA playoffs tip off Thursday |
| The WNBA playoffs tip off Thursday night with two single-elimination games . The No. 6-seeded Chicago Sky will host No. 7 Dallas Wings (8 p.m. ET on ESPN2), and then the fifth-seeded Phoenix Mercury will host No. 8 New York Liberty (10 p.m. ET, ESPN2). The winners advance to the single-elimination second round, which takes place Sunday, when the lowest remaining seed will take on No. 3 Minnesota Lynx and the highest remaining seed plays No. 4 Seattle Storm, the reigning WNBA champions . The top-seeded Connecticut Sun and No. 2 Las Vegas Aces earned playoff byes until the best-of-five semifinals, which start on Sept. 28. The WNBA Finals tip off on Oct. 10. |
What else people are reading: |
| 🔴 "I'm tired of being afraid": The woman at the center of a lawsuit against Nicki Minaj and her husband Kenneth Petty is speaking out about the couple's alleged intimidation tactics. |
| 😷 "Parallel epidemic": COVID-19 is driving both physical and mental health crises among kids, according to the leader of Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt. |
| ⛈ Tropical Depression 18 formed in the Atlantic Ocean on Wednesday, with tracking models showing it could venture toward islands in the Caribbean Sea and potentially veer close to the U.S. |
| 🔵 Only 5% of Americans in their 70s have dementia. There's no reason to assume Joe Biden is one of them, unless you're looking for political ammunition, writes USA TODAY Opinion columnist Jill Lawrence. |
| 🎞 "Godfather of modern Black cinema": Melvin Van Peebles, the icon behind 'Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song,' had died. He was 89. |
 | | Melvin Van Peebles in 2018 | | Photo by Getty Images for TCM; USA TODAY graphic | |
Rare Gilgamesh Dream Tablet scheduled for return to Iraq |
| A rare and ancient tablet which contains one of the world's oldest works of literature will finally be returned to Iraq. In 2014, U.S. arts and craft store chain Hobby Lobby purchased the Gilgamesh Dream Tablet artifact for over $1.6 million. The tablet originated from now modern-day Iraq and features the poem of mythological hero Gilgamesh. In July, after discovering the auction house that sold the artifact did so under false pretenses, the U.S. Justice Department said it should not be owned by Hobby Lobby and it should be in Iraq instead. Hobby Lobby had planned to display the tablet in its Museum of the Bible. The formal handover ceremony of the tablet is scheduled for Thursday at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. |
Yet another rookie quarterback to start as the Texans turn to Davis Mills |
| Rookie Davis Mills will start at quarterback for the 1-1 Houston Texans Thursday night against the 2-0 Carolina Panthers (8:20 p.m. ET, NFL Network) with Tyrod Taylor out with a hamstring injury. Taylor left the game in the first half of Houston's loss to the Cleveland Browns on Sunday. Mills, a third-round pick from Stanford, took over and threw a touchdown and an interception. Star quarterback Deshaun Watson remains on the team, but was not an option to fill in for Taylor, head coach David Culley said. Watson has been listed as inactive/not injury-related following his trade request and after 22 women filed lawsuits alleging sexual assault or harassment. Davis will become the fourth rookie quarterback to start a game in 2021 after Trevor Lawrence (Jacksonville Jaguars), Zach Wilson (New York Jets) and Mac Jones (New England Patriots). |
| 🏈 NFL power rankings after Week 2: Raiders, Ravens rocket into top 10 |
 | | Members of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers celebrate during their win over the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, September 19, 2021 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida. | | USA TODAY Sports photo and graphic | |
ICYMI: Some of our top stories Wednesday |
| 🍂 Autumn leaves, autumn sneeze, fall breeze and fall trees. Is it most accurate to say Sept. 22 is the start of fall or autumn? |
| 🥦 What is the Blue Zones diet? Here's how you can eat like the people who live the longest. |
| 🔵 Despite threats of repatriation to Haiti, migrant families are surviving in a camp beside the Rio Grande. |
| 🛍 JCPenney is closing more stores after bankruptcy. Will yours shutter? See the list. |
| 🍷 Americans are using alcohol to cope with pandemic stress. Nearly 1 in 5 report "heavy drinking." |
📸 Photo of the day: Stars wow on the red carpet at Rihanna event 📸 |
 | | Vanessa Hudgens attends Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 presented by Amazon Prime Video at The Westin Bonaventure Hotel & Suites in Los Angeles on Wednesday, September 22. | | Emma McIntyre, Getty Images for Rihanna's Savag | |
| Rihanna's Savage X Fenty Show Vol. 3 kicked off in Los Angeles Wednesday night, with celebrities showing up and showing out on the red carpet for the affair. The event returns for a third consecutive year and will highlight her fashion line's newest assortment of styles featuring an all-star lineup of models, actors and performers. The show will premiere on Amazon Prime Video on Friday. |
| Head here to see all the stars on the red carpet ahead of the event. |
| The Daily Briefing is free, but several stories we link to in this edition are subscriber-only. Please support our journalism and become a USA TODAY digital subscriber today. |
| Contributing: The Associated Press |
| |
| |
| |
