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 | | | Unemployed? You're not alone. | | Millions of Americans are out of work. Coronavirus was 'not man-made.' Britney Spears set her gym on fire. It's Thursday's news. | | |
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| Americans are struggling to file for unemployment benefits. Meat shortages may be coming to grocery stores. But at least we have Britney Spears to distract us with fiery antics. |
| It's Ashley with Thursday's top news. |
| But first, thank u, next: "Jeopardy!" fans are having fun trolling a contestant who thought Janet Jackson was Ariana Grande. |
| The Short List newsletter is a snappy USA TODAY news roundup. Subscribe here! |
30 million Americans have lost their jobs amid coronavirus |
| Unemployment systems are being slammed by the weight of a record-breaking 30 million Americans who filed for unemployment benefits over the past six weeks, a grim marker revealing how badly the coronavirus pandemic has crippled the U.S. economy. Roughly 3.8 million people filed for unemployment last week alone, the Labor Department said Thursday. But many haven't been able to file claims at all: For every 10 people who said they successfully filed a jobless claim in the previous four weeks, three to four more attempted to apply but couldn't get through the system to file a claim, according to The Economic Policy Institute. |
| Newly navigating the unemployed life? Have questions on things like retirement and recessions? Check out these resources: |
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 | | Unemployment claims | | USA TODAY | |
The coronavirus was 'not man-made' |
| American intelligence officials agree with "the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not man-made or genetically modified," President Donald Trump's top intelligence official said Thursday. But U.S. intelligence agencies will continue to examine whether the virus originated in animals and then jumped to humans – or if it was accidentally released by a laboratory in Wuhan, China, where the virus first emerged. |
| • | You can expect some meat shortages: Trump's executive order to keep meatpacking plants open won't stop the potential for meat shortages in some grocery stores around the country. Here's why. | | • | *Looks around* Anyone going to tell him the rules? Vice President Mike Pence faced criticism after he toured the Mayo Clinic earlier this week without wearing a face mask. Second lady Karen Pence said he didn't know the hospital's mask policy. | | • | Give it to me straight: More than 62,800 people have died from coronavirus in the USA as confirmed cases topped 1,067,000. The global death toll was more than 232,000 Thursday afternoon, according to Johns Hopkins. | |
 | | View of Brazilian mural artist Eduardo Kobra's recent work "Coexistence," which shows children wearing face masks due to the new coronavirus bearing symbols of different religions in Itu, Brazil. | | NELSON ALMEIDA, AFP via Getty Images | |
What everyone's talking about |
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Even for Britney Spears, I wasn't expecting this |
| Oops, Britney Spears did it again. No, she did not shave her head (again). She proved she's a firecracker, keeping it hot by apparently setting her home gym on fire (hopefully the flames weren't "Toxic"). The pop superstar took to Instagram to explain why she hasn't been getting to "Work" (redacted) in her personal gym for a while. "I burned my gym down, unfortunately," she said. "I had two candles, and yeah, one thing led to another, and I burned it down." Two lessons here: Britney is awfully "Lucky" nobody got hurt. And, if anyone bothers you about not working out during quarantine, burning your gym down is a solid excuse. 🤷♀️ |
 | | Singer Britney Spears arrives on the red carpet for the 33rd MTV Video Music Awards (VMA) at Madison Square Garden in New York in 2016. | | EPA | |
Will a decline in carbon emissions help limit climate change? |
| The coronavirus pandemic has led to an "unprecedented decline" in global carbon emissions, a new report says. Worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide – the greenhouse gas you can blame global warming on – are forecast to drop about 8% in 2020 (thanks, COVID-19, I guess). "This is a historic shock to the entire energy world," said Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency said. While reduced emissions sound promising, experts say the one-off drop is nothing to celebrate – the crisis will have "minimal effects" on global warming. |
 | | An aerial view at the pedestrian intersection at Hollywood Blvd and Highland Ave during morning rush hour on Monday April 27, 2020 in Los Angeles, California during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. | | Robyn Beck, AFP via Getty Images | |
Real quick |
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Olympian Laurie Hernandez shares her story of abuse |
| Gold medalist Laurie Hernandez's comeback for the Tokyo Olympics was delayed because of her former coach's abuse. Her former coach, Maggie Haney, was suspended for eight years by USA Gymnastics on Wednesday after a hearing panel determined she had emotionally and verbally abused gymnasts. In a lengthy Instagram post in response to Haney's suspension, Hernandez, a member of the Final Five that won gold at the Rio Games in 2016, said that years of being yelled at and belittled had made her think she hated gymnastics. "It wasn't until mid 2018 I realized it was the people that made the experience bad, not the sport itself," Hernandez wrote Thursday. |
 | | Laurie Hernandez was a member of the Final Five that won gold at the Rio Games in 2016. | | Andrew P. Scott, USA TODAY Sports | |
Parents of The Short List: You're amazing |
| Kristen Bell just got real about teaching her children amid the coronavirus pandemic. On the actress's web series "#Momsplaining," Bell explained why homeschooling hasn't been so great. "Doing school work with them, it is absolutely miserable." And my mother wonders why I don't have kids … |
A break from the news |
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| This is a compilation of stories from across the USA TODAY Network. |
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