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| Happy Friday, Daily Briefing readers! We hope you had a great Thanksgiving. It's Black Friday, the day shoppers have been waiting for – but the deals won't be as good as last year. In a worrying COVID-19 development, a new variant of the virus has been discovered in South Africa. And, heading to the refrigerator to sample those Thanksgiving leftovers? Read on to find out how to avoid an unwelcome addition to the holiday weekend. |
| It's Steve and Jane, with Friday's news. |
| 🧸 Toys bring special joy to children at the holidays. But inflation could play Grinch with donations this year. |
| 🏈 Column looks at Lane Kiffin: No. 8 Ole Miss matched a program record for single-season victories with its 31-21 triumph against Mississippi State and coach Kiffin's stock is soaring. |
| 🐺 OR93, a gray wolf that grabbed the attention of biologists for its historical journey died after being hit by a vehicle in California, authorities said. |
| 💜 Humankind: A training day exercise turned into the real deal for a team of firefighters in Havre de Grace, Maryland. |
| Here's what's happening today: |
Black Friday sales kick off the holiday shopping season |
| The second Black Friday of the pandemic is officially underway. After weeks of early sales, Friday marks the official shopping holiday that Americans expect to bring great deals. Stores opened early – Walmart, Best Buy, Old Navy, Dick's Sporting Goods, JCPenney and Kohl's – were first at 5 a.m. Bed Bath & Beyond, Macy's, Home Depot and Lowe's opened an hour later. Target, GameStop and HomeGoods were among the retailers opening at 7 a.m. Hours can vary by location.Some stores will continue sales throughout the weekend ahead of Cyber Monday. Shoppers are expected to pay on average between 5% to 17% more for toys, clothing, appliances, TVs and others purchases on Black Friday this year compared with last year, according to Aurelien Duthoit of Allianz Research. How did Black Friday begin? The day has a rich, but decidedly mixed, history, USA TODAY writer Michelle Shen explains. |
| Reviewed has you covered this Black Friday: |
| 🛒 Black Friday 2021 is here! Shop 300+ epic deals from Amazon, Target, Walmart, Nordstrom and more. |
| 🛒 Amazon's Black Friday sale — we're live tracking the best 150+ deals you won't want to miss. |
| 🛒 Walmart Black Friday deals are epic: Save on Apple, Nintendo, Samsung and more. |
| 🛒 Samsung's epic Black Friday sale: Shop massive markdowns on Galaxy phones, TVs and more. |
| 🛒 Our favorite Black Friday TV deals of 2021: Save on Samsung, Sony, LG, Vizio and more |
| 🔵 The Backstory: How Reviewed experts pick products and deals for shoppers (sometimes they set things on fire), writes USA TODAY Editor-in Chief Nicole Carroll. |
Actions to be taken after South African scientists detect new COVID variant |
| A new coronavirus variant has been detected in South Africa that scientists say is a concern because of its high number of mutations and rapid spread among young people in Gauteng, the country's most populous province, Health Minister Joe Phaahla announced Thursday. Currently identified as B.1.1.529, the new variant has also been found in Botswana and Hong Kong in travelers from South Africa, Phaahla added. The World Health Organization's technical working group is to meet Friday to assess the new variant and may decide whether or not to give it a name from the Greek alphabet. A number of European and Asian nations were moving to stop air travel from southern Africa on Friday. |
Just for subscribers: |
| 🗳 The Republican presidential race of early 2024 is well underway, a unique behind-the-scenes contest being conducted in the giant shadow of a volatile ex-president named Donald Trump. |
| 💧 At the "hydrologic roof" of the United States, population growth and climate change put a water compact to the test. |
| 🦃 The history of Thanksgiving probably isn't what you were taught in school. Here's the real story. |
| 🚘 Riders across the country have noticed higher costs from Uber and Lyft. RideGuru's CEO said travelers can also expect longer wait times and "possibly many cancellations" over the holiday season. |
| These articles are for USA TODAY subscribers. You can sign up here for $1/week. Here is all of our subscriber content. |
Newsmakers in their own words: Ahmaud Arbery's mother delivers a special message |
 | | Wanda Cooper-Jones, the mother of Ahmaud Arbery, reacts after a jury convicted Travis McMichael in the murder of her son. | | Pool photo by Stephen B. Morton; USA TODAY graphic | |
| Wanda Cooper-Jones, Ahmaud Arbery's mother, woke up Thursday with a new, very important blessing on Thanksgiving Day. |
| But there will still be an empty chair at the family's celebrations. It is a reminder that while she feels justice was served when three white men were convicted Wednesday for cornering and killing her son in Georgia in 2020, she will never be made whole again because her son is gone. |
Bidens expected to attend tree lighting ceremony on Nantucket |
| President Joe Biden on Thursday wished Americans a happy Thanksgiving, the second celebrated in the shadow of the coronavirus pandemic, in remarks welcoming the resumption of holiday traditions by millions of U.S. families — including his own in Nantucket, Massachusetts . The president and first lady Jill Biden visited the Coast Guard station at Brant Point to meet with personnel there and virtually with U.S. service members around the world. The Bidens also called in to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, briefly bantering on air with NBC's Al Roker. The first lady was heard telling the Coast Guard members she would see them again Friday night at Nantucket's annual Christmas tree lighting, another Biden tradition. |
 | | President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden pose for a photo with members of the Coast Guard at the US Coast Guard Station Brant Point in Nantucket, Massachusetts, on Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021. The Bidens spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Nantucket. | | Mandel Ngan, AFP via Getty Images | |
Thanksgiving Day NFL action: Bears, Raiders and Bills all win on the road |
| 🏈 Buffalo bounces back: Against an injury-depleted New Orleans Saints team, the Bills handled their business on both sides of the ball and took home a 31-6 victory. |
| 🏈 Las Vegas wins a penalty-filled game: A defensive pass interference call against the Dallas Cowboys in overtime allowed the Las Vegas Raiders to advance close enough to kick a game-winning field goal that lifted the Raiders to a 36-33 win. A whopping 28 flags for 276 penalty yards were called during the game. |
| 🏈 "I mean, we're playing football at the end of the day": Most Cowboys steered clear of attributing the loss to officiating. After all, the Raiders drew the same number of penalties (14) as the Cowboys. But the volume of officiating activity was undeniable and star rookie linebacker Micah Parsons was OK airing his thoughts about what unfolded. |
 | | Dallas Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons celebrates making a play against the Las Vegas Raiders at AT&T Stadium in Arlington Texas, on Thursday, Nov. 25, 2021. | | USA TODAY Sports photo and graphic | |
| 🏈 Detroit remains winless: The Detroit Lions were penalized for calling two consecutive timeouts late in the fourth quarter, which helped the Chicago Bears convert on a key third down and, subsequently, convert the game-winning 28-yard field goal as time expired Thursday. The Bears' 16-14 win sent the Lions to an 0-10-1 record. |
| 🏈 Column from Detroit: Forget another Lions loss. Coach Dan Campbell is losing benefit of the doubt. |
Eyeing that leftover turkey and other fixings? Here's how long it's good for. |
| The holidays are known for quality time with family, traditional recipes and the not so fun food poisoning outbreaks if you don't refrigerate your leftovers quickly . And once the leftovers are put away in the refrigerator, you have only a few days to eat them before they become a safety risk. If stored in a refrigerator, leftovers can stay good for three to four days. If they're stored in a freezer, it's three to four months. It's best to label the food with an expiration date when you put it away, to help you keep track of when it's no longer safe to eat, food scientist Lisa Yakas recommends. |
ICYMI: Some of our top stories yesterday |
| 🏀 LeBron James had an eventful night after returning from suspension. He led the Lakers to a 124-116 overtime win against the Indiana Pacers, and had a pair of fans ejected from their courtside seats. |
| 🧠 A man was brought into a Massachusetts hospital after he woke up seizing and speaking gibberish, and doctors later discovered tapeworms inside his brain. |
| 🦃 What's your favorite Thanksgiving dish? Google shared a list of uniquely searched Thanksgiving 2021 casseroles by state with USA TODAY. |
| 🏈 Football coach Nick Saban ripped "self-absorbed" fans who expect Alabama to win big every game in an epic rant. |
| 🥧 Sorry, apple. Pumpkin is the true home-baked American pie tradition. (Or maybe sweet potato, but more on that later.) |
 | | Pumpkin pie. | | America's Test Kitchen | |
Golf rivals DeChambeau, Koepka to face off in the latest edition of 'The Match' |
| The fifth edition of "Capital One's The Match" will feature rivals Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau facing off in a head-to-head, 12-hole match at the Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas on Friday (4 p.m. ET, TNT and TBS). One key question going into the event is: Do they or don't they despise each other? The two golfers have taken potshots at each other for months. The bad feelings melted away between the two, we are told, during the Ryder Cup, when the golfers actually offered to play together for the good of the United States team. The two even shared a short hug after the U.S. defeated Europe. But the pair seem to have resumed their trolling of each other in recent weeks. |
📸 Thanksgiving royalty returns: Macy's parade lights up the streets of NYC 📸 |
 | | Dino the Dinosaur balloon floats above its handlers. | | Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY | |
| The 95th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was back on form Thursday after bowing to pandemic restrictions last year. The epic event featured 15 giant character balloons, 28 floats, 36 novelty and heritage inflatables, 10 marching bands, nine performance groups, Santa Claus and yes, more than 800 clowns. |
| Check out our gallery of all the fun and festivities. |
| Contributing: The Associated Press |
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