Clarence Thomas in the spotlight, cardiac clearance, how running became fashionable: Catch up on the day’s stories

Editor’s Note: CNN’s 5 Things newsletter is your one-stop shop for the latest headlines and fascinating stories to start and end your busy day. Sign up here.

👋 Welcome to 5 Things PM! Ocean currents. Chemical reactions. Blood flow. Storm clouds. These are all examples of turbulence, and scientists believe they’ve made progress in tackling the oldest unsolved problem in physics.

Here’s what else you might have missed during your busy day:

5 things

1️⃣ Go-to guy: Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has taken on a prominent role by swearing in many of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet members. Appointed to the bench in 1991 — and now at 76 the eldest justice — Thomas has led much of the court’s rightward trajectory.

2️⃣ ‘The fear is real’: Shortly after taking office, Trump ordered all federal diversity, equity and inclusion workers to be placed on paid leave and signed an executive order targeting private companies. DEI professionals worry about the future of their industry.

3️⃣ Cardiac clearance: Focusing on your heart health means eating right, exercising and paying attention to potential warning signs. One important assessment before undergoing surgery could save your life.

4️⃣ A second home: As a young boy, Kobe Bryant spent a lot of time in Italy, and that’s where he developed a love of basketball. A tiny playground in Reggio Emilia with hoops glued on opposing walls helped mold him into an NBA legend.

5️⃣ Style on the run: There are so many options for jogging apparel that online directories, Instagram mood boards and sub-Reddits have sprung up to help people make sense of it all. Here’s how the hobby got fashionable.

Watch this

💼 Tough times: As a human resources executive, Diane Evans used to make more than $200,000 a year. After she was laid off a year ago, she’s only been able to find work as a bathroom attendant. “I’ve never seen anything like this,” Evans said of the job market.

Top headlines

• Judge pauses midnight deadline for federal workers to accept Trump’s resignation offer
• Musk associates sought to use critical Treasury payment system to shut down USAID spending, emails show
• Video: Hear what voters who didn’t vote for Harris because of Gaza are saying now

270,769

📿 That’s how many beads were found buried in a 5,000-year-old tomb in Spain that revealed elaborate outfits worn during that era.

Check this out

📸 Then and now: In 1994, three guys took this “iconic photo” while they were on vacation in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. They became best friends and have traveled all over the world together. See what they look like 30 years later after they recreated it.

Celebrity corner

🏳️‍⚧️ Clean slate: Laverne Cox is no stranger to being marginalized. While promoting her new series, she discussed the importance of remaining visible as a trans performer and said the country is “worried about the wrong 1%.”

Quiz time

🧀 Google’s original AI-generated Super Bowl cheese ad had some holes in it. What is the tech giant’s artificial intelligence tool called?
A. Q
B. Gemini
C. Copilot
D. ChatGPT
⬇️ Scroll down for the answer.

Good vibes

🤖 Puppy love: Some people in Japan are finding comfort from robotic dogs known as “aibo,” and they even take their battery-operated best friends to blessing ceremonies. Watch as these owners explain why they prefer them over real pets.

Thanks for reading

🧠 Quiz answer: B. Cheese fans caught a mistake written by the company’s Gemini AI tool. Test your knowledge with CNN’s weekly news quiz in tomorrow morning’s 5 Things newsletter.
📧 Check out all of CNN’s newsletters.

5 Things PM is produced by CNN’s Chris Good, Meghan Pryce and Kimberly Richardson.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.