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| Happy Presidents Day, Daily Briefing readers! What's open and what's closed? And what exactly are we celebrating? Scroll down to find out. |
| In the news, President Biden could meet with Vladimir Putin this week, if Russian troops haven't invaded Ukraine. Closing arguments are set to begin in the hate crimes trial of Ahmaud Arbery's killers. Queen Elizabeth II has COVID-19. But the 95-year-old monarch is soldiering on with that famous British stiff upper lip, performing "light duties" at Windsor Castle. |
| It's Jane, with Monday's news. |
| 🏅 In almost every way possible, the 2022 Winter Games were a most unusual Olympics. Here's a day-by-day look back at the Beijing Games. |
| 🚨 "Come on, I have a family": A Pittsburgh Uber driver begged for her life before being killed by a rider, police say. |
| 🏀 What started out as gamesmanship in the final seconds of Wisconsin's victory against Michigan turned chaotic between Michigan's coach and members of the Wisconsin coaching staff. |
| ⛸ Music group Heavy Young Heathens filed a lawsuit against NBC, U.S. Figure Skating and figure skating pair Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, saying their copyright for the song"House of the Rising Sun" was violated. |
| 🏀 "Humbled and appreciative" to see Michael Jordan: Here's why LeBron James relished the 2022 NBA All-Star Game perhaps more than any other among his 18 career appearances. |
| 🎧 On today's 5 Things podcast, politics reporter Ledyard King has the latest on Russia-Ukraine tensions. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker. |
| Here's what's happening today: |
Biden could meet with Putin if an invasion of Ukraine 'hasn't happened' |
| U.S. leaders will continue to monitor developments between Russia and Ukraine Monday, after White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden has agreed "in principle" to a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin "if an invasion hasn't happened." The meeting would come after high-stakes talks between Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, who are set to meet Thursday in Europe — as long as Russia does not send its troops into Ukraine beforehand. Blinken said on "Meet the Press" that his meeting with Lavrov, should it go forward, is aimed at doing "everything I can to try diplomatically to prevent a war." Psaki also noted that while the U.S. is "always ready for diplomacy," Russia right now "appears to be continuing preparations for a full-scale assault on Ukraine very soon." |
Closing arguments scheduled at hate crimes trial for Ahmaud Arbery's killers |
| Closing arguments are scheduled Monday in the federal hate crimes trial of the three white men convicted of murdering Black jogger Ahmaud Arbery after various days of testimony that included racist text messages and social media posts, and graphic crime scene images. Jurors heard from seven witnesses on Friday who largely testified to the use of racial slurs by defendants Travis McMichael and William "Roddie" Bryan, while one witness testified that defendant Gregory McMichael once made disparaging comments about a Black woman tenant who was behind on her rent. The defendants were convicted of murder last fall and sentenced to life in prison, but state prosecutors did not present evidence that the murder was racially motivated – evidence that is central to the federal prosecutors' case. All three men have pleaded not guilty. |
Just for subscribers: |
| ⛷ Beijing sought glory for its Winter Olympics – and it made sure that happened. |
| 🚀 A Chinese booster – not a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket – will crash into the far side of the moon. |
| 💉 A delay in COVID vaccines for kids upset parents. Experts say it was the right thing to do. |
| 🚘 You knew used car prices were high. Here's how outrageous they have become. |
| 🎥 Can movies help save the world's dying languages? A new wave of Indigenous films is sharing untold stories. |
| These articles are for USA TODAY subscribers. You can sign up here. Here is all of our subscriber content. |
Queen Elizabeth will perform 'light duties' despite COVID-19 |
| Britain's Queen Elizabeth II plans to keep working this week as she recovers from COVID-19 . Britain's longest reigning monarch, 95, tested positive and is experiencing mild cold-like symptoms, Buckingham Palace announced Sunday. Nonetheless, she will continue with "light" duties at Windsor Castle, the palace said, as she receives medical treatment and follows "all the appropriate guidelines." The queen is fully vaccinated, having received three shots of a coronavirus vaccine. Elizabeth marked 70 years on the throne on Feb. 6. |
Presidents Day: What's open today? What to expect |
| Monday is Presidents Day, a federal holiday that originally celebrated George Washington's birthday (Feb. 22) , but is better known today as a national day of shopping bargains. George Washington's Birthday became a federal holiday in 1879. In 1968, Congress passed the Uniform Monday Holiday Act, which moved several federal holidays to Mondays and established Washington's Birthday as the third Monday in February. At the time, it was suggested – but never formally adopted – that the holiday be renamed Presidents Day, to also celebrate Lincoln's birthday (Feb. 12), according to History.com. Since then, advertisers have latched onto Presidents Day an opportunity for sales and promotions. Anyway, some businesses and offices will be closed – here's a rundown of what you can expect. |
| 🛍 Bargains galore: Here are the best Presidents' Day 2022 sales. |
| 💹 Is the stock market open for Presidents Day? |
ICYMI: Some of our top stories yesterday |
| ⛸ "Cheated a little bit": A photo finish in a wild men's speedskating race at the Beijing Olympics left Joey Mantia off the podium. |
| 🚨 "Lizard Lick Towing" star Ronnie Shirley confirmed that his 21-year-old son Harley Alexander Shirley was killed in a shooting in North Carolina. |
| 🏅 The most controversial, most unwelcoming Olympics of our lifetime are now over | Opinion. |
| 🐀 More than 1,000 rodents were found inside a Family Dollar distribution facility as the chain issued a voluntary recall affecting items purchased from hundreds of stores. |
MLB cancels first week of spring training games; daily negotiations to begin |
| Major League Baseball will begin daily negotiating sessions Monday with the MLB Players Association, after calling off the first week of spring-training games. A deal must be struck to end the lockout by Feb. 28 to preserve the start of the regular season on March 31. The league said in a release that "without a collective bargaining agreement in place, it must postpone the start of spring training games until no earlier than Saturday, March 5th." The players union struck back stating that "nothing requires the league to delay the start of spring training." The players union says it remains committed to the negotiating process and the league hopes to reach a deal to avoid delaying the start of the 2022 regular season. |
📸 A most unusual Olympics: Closing ceremony caps off 2022 Beijing Games 📸 |
 | | Team USA during the closing ceremony for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games at Beijing National Stadium. | | George Walker IV, USA TODAY Sports | |
| In almost every way possible, the 2022 Winter Games were a most unusual Olympics, writes USA TODAY Sports' Dan Wolken. Whether it was life in the so-called "closed loop" that separated Olympic athletes, journalists and workers from the rest of China, the below-zero temperatures and howling winds in the mountains or the daily anxiety of COVID-19 testing and possible isolation, it was a difficult journey for everyone who made it here. |
| And it was more successful for some than others. |
| The U.S. finished with 25 medals overall, the fifth-most behind Norway, Russia, Germany and Canada and an uptick from 2018 (23 medals) and nearly on par with 2014 (28 medals). |
| Scroll through the gallery of the best images from the closing ceremony. |
| Contributing: The Associated Press |
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