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| Good morning, Daily Briefing readers. Fans and admirers are waking up to the news that legendary rock superstar Meat Loaf has died. Anti-abortion activists will descend on downtown Washington, D.C. for the annual March for Life event. And Secretary of State Antony Blinken is meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Geneva as tensions escalate over Ukraine. |
| It's Steve and Jane, with Friday's news. |
| ✈️ An American Airlines flight from Miami to London turned around and headed back to the U.S. after a passenger refused to wear a face mask. |
| 😷 A wearable COVID tracker? This clip-on accessory can detect the virus. |
| 🎓The overhaul of a controversial loan forgiveness program was projected to erase the debt of 22,000 student loan borrowers in the effort's first weeks. Three months in, more than triple that figure have had their debts wiped out. |
| 😶"African American voters are voting in just as high a percentage as Americans": U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was trending after he implied that African Americans are not Americans. |
| 🎤"I can't give you what I have right now": Adele has postponed her Las Vegas residency due to COVID-related production delays, the singer announced, a day before her first show was set to kick off. |
 | | Adele's Las Vegas residency had been set to kick off Friday at the Colosseum in Caesars Palace and run through April. | | USA TODAY | |
| ⏰100 seconds to midnight: Nuclear risks, climate change, disruptive technologies and the coronavirus pandemic have brought us as close to doomsday as we've ever been, according to the Doomsday Clock. |
| 🐎Animalkind: When Allison Smith met Colby the horse, her life changed forever. The avid horse rider bought Colby from an auction which saved him from being sent away to be slaughtered. He's now a champion show horse. |
| 🗞Did you pay attention to the news this week? Take our quiz and find out! |
| 🎧On today's 5 Things podcast, senior tech reporter Jessica Guynn talks about how the war on critical race theory is moving to the workplace. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker. |
| Here's what's happening today: |
March for Life 2022 expected to bring crowd to National Mall |
| Anti-abortion activists will take to downtown Washington D.C. Friday for the 49th annual March for Life event, held every year on the anniversary of the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade . The rally will begin at noon on the National Mall including a live concert and remarks from speakers, followed by a 1 p.m. march from Constitution Avenue to the U.S. Supreme Court building. Speakers at this year's event include actor Kirk Cameron, best known for his role on the sitcom Growing Pains; Rep. Julia Letlow, R-La.; Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J.; Toni McFadden, founder of Relationship Matters, a youth education program, and Lisa Robertson of the reality show "Duck Dynasty," among others. |
Rock superstar Meat Loaf dies at age 74 |
| Meat Loaf, the rock superstar loved by millions for his "Bat Out of Hell" album and for such theatrical, dark-hearted anthems as "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)," has died. He was 74. The singer, born Marvin Lee Aday, passed away Thursday, according to a family statement posted on his official Facebook page . No cause or other details were given, but Aday had numerous health scares over the years. "Our hearts are broken to announce that the incomparable Meat Loaf passed away tonight," the statement said. "We know how much he meant to so many of you and we truly appreciate all of the love and support as we move through this time of grief in losing such an inspiring artist and beautiful man... From his heart to your souls…don't ever stop rocking!" He is survived by Deborah Gillespie, his wife since 2007, and by daughters Pearl and Amanda Aday. |
 | | Meat Loaf, born Marvin Lee Aday, passed away Thursday, according to a family statement posted on his official Facebook page. | | USA TODAY | |
Just for subscribers: |
| 🔴Her ancestor enslaved his ancestor. Together, they're making a case for reparations in Savannah, Georgia. |
| 🦠A lingering pandemic: A year after the government formally began studying long COVID, millions still struggle to get back to work and need financial help. |
| 🔵Ukraine, the midterms and Build Back Better: The White House plays cleanup after Biden's marathon press conference. |
| 🎿China's zero-COVID policy has some asking how the Winter Games can go on during omicron. |
| 🍳By columnist Connie Schultz: How potholders got me thinking about racism, my father and the whitewashing of U.S. history. |
| These articles are for USA TODAY subscribers. You can sign up here. Here is all of our subscriber content. |
Biden, new Japanese prime minister to meet virtually |
| President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will hold their first formal talks on Friday as the two leaders face fresh concerns about North Korea's nuclear program and China's growing military assertiveness. The virtual meeting comes after North Korea earlier this week suggested it might resume nuclear and long-range missile testing that has been paused for more than three years. Kishida was elected in November – the two leaders will be meeting for the first time. In April, Biden met in person with then-Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who traveled to Washington. |
Blinken meets with Russian Foreign Minister in person |
| Secretary of State Antony Blinken is meeting with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, in Geneva on Friday . It follows a trip to Ukraine, where Blinken met with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other officials in the capital of Kyiv, stating that the U.S. and its allies were steadfast in backing the country and its democratic aspirations amid growing fears of a potentially imminent Russian invasion. Blinken's meeting with Lavrov is aimed at testing Russia's willingness to resolve the crisis diplomatically, officials said. Blinken spoke to the Russian foreign minister by phone on Tuesday, when he underscored that any discussion of European security "must include NATO Allies and European partners, including Ukraine," the State Department said. |
Newsmakers in their own words: Rep. Speier takes on the National Guard |
 | | Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) on Capitol Hill in December 2021 in Washington | | Getty Images photo for Caring Across Generations; USA TODAY graphic | |
| National Guard leaders were called before a Congressional panel this week to address sexual assault within their ranks, and Rep. Jackie Speier did not mince her words. |
| The California Democrat and chair of the House Armed Services personnel subcommittee held the hearing in response to a USA TODAY Network investigation last year that found Guard units have buried sexual assault allegations, retaliated against women who have come forward and withheld crucial documents from victims. |
Parts of Southeast await a blast of winter weather |
| Several schools have canceled classes in coastal areas of the Carolinas and Virginia and authorities are urging drivers to stay off potentially icy roads amid forecasts of snow, sleet and freezing rain. The governors of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia declared states of emergency ahead of the latest winter storm system sweeping into the region. The wintry blast could ice over a large swath of eastern North Carolina and the northeastern corner of South Carolina, while dumping snow around Norfolk, Virginia, the National Weather Service said. Much of the region has been slammed by a series of snow and ice events in the last three weeks, sometimes dumping more than a foot of snow in areas that often don't see that much all year. Winter storm warnings and advisories remained in effect for more than 25 million Americans, the vast majority in the South. |
Also on Friday and this weekend: |
| 🎥 What movies to watch: This weekend is pretty light on new films but a couple can boast of being a crowning achievement, including "The King's Daughter," and the Netflix rom-com "The Royal Treatment." |
| 🎶 Calling all 2000s emo-pop fans: The When We Were Young festival announced a lineup full of angsty rock favorites including My Chemical Romance, Paramore and Avril Lavigne. Presale for tickets starts Friday at 1 p.m. ET. |
| 📺 Begin to say goodbye to "Ozark": The first seven episodes of the fourth and final season of the gritty Netflix drama are available Friday. Season 4 picks up where Season 3 left off, with the Byrde family – led by Jason Bateman and Laura Linney – getting deeper and deeper into life-threatening trouble. |
 | | Jason Bateman as Martin 'Marty' Byrde and Laura Linney as Wendy Byrde in the Netflix drama series "Ozark." | | COURTESY OF NETFLIX, COURTESY OF NETFLIX | |
Parts of Southeast await a blast of winter weather |
| Several schools have canceled classes in coastal areas of the Carolinas and Virginia and authorities are urging drivers to stay off potentially icy roads amid forecasts of snow, sleet and freezing rain. The governors of North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia declared states of emergency ahead of the latest winter storm system sweeping into the region. The wintry blast could ice over a large swath of eastern North Carolina and the northeastern corner of South Carolina, while dumping snow around Norfolk, Virginia, the National Weather Service said. Much of the region has been slammed by a series of snow and ice events in the last three weeks, sometimes dumping more than a foot of snow in areas that often don't see that much all year. Winter storm warnings and advisories remained in effect for more than 25 million Americans, the vast majority in the South. |
ICYMI: Some of our top stories yesterday |
| 🏠Meet the new mobile home: Manufactured houses deliver the American dream amid a tough housing market. |
| 🏈Cincinnati Bengals fans are probably going to travel pretty well to the team's divisional-round playoff game against the Tennessee Titans. |
| 😷The at-home COVID test website is up and running. How to order free testing kits from the government. |
| 🌨A 10-year-old girl survived a blizzard in Russia...by hugging a stray dog for 18 hours. |
📸 Photo of the day: Relief supplies begin to arrive in Tonga 📸 |
 | | A damaged area in NukuÕalofa, Tonga, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, following Saturday's volcanic eruption near the Pacific archipelago. | | Marian Kupu, Broadcom Broadcasting via AP | |
| The layer of ash measuring nearly an inch thick that rendered the runway at Tonga's Fua'amotu International Airport unusable after the massive undersea Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai volcano erupted Saturday has been cleared, and the first flights carrying fresh water and other aid from New Zealand and Australia arrived Thursday. |
| The eruption also severed Tonga's single fiber-optic cable, rendering the entire Pacific archipelago offline and unable to communicate with the rest of the world. And it wasn't just family and friends who couldn't get through. The ash clouds made backup communication by satellite phone next to impossible, and world leaders, initially, were not able to get in touch with their Tongan counterparts to see what help they needed. |
| Click here to see more photos of the clean up and relief efforts beginning in Tonga. |
| Contributing: The Associated Press |
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