What to know now:
1. Powerball winners: Three tickets matched all six numbers from Wednesday's record-shattering Powerball jackpot. The owners of the tickets, purchased in California, Tennessee and Florida, will split a nearly $1.6 billion prize.
2. Jakarta attack: Men believed to be Islamic militants, set off explosions at a Starbucks in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, killing at least two people and wounding many more. Five of the assailants, who battled police in a gunfight in the streets of the city, were killed. The national police chief said the country's security alert has been raised to its highest level.
3. It's Oscar nomination day: The nominees for this year's Academy Awards will be announced Thursday. If the Golden Globes are any indication – and most years they are – Leonardo DiCaprio will likely have a pretty good morning. The nominations will be announced at 8:30 a.m. (ET).
4. Debate night: The candidates for the 2016 Republican nomination for president will meet Thursday in South Carolina for the sixth GOP debate. The top seven candidates – in terms of support according to polls – will take the stage at 9 p.m. (ET). There is an "undercard" debate that begins at 6 p.m. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, who was moved from the "primetime" debate to the earlier one, says he will skip the event.
5. Loans disclosure: Texas Sen. Ted Cruz may be answering some questions at Thursday's GOP debate about two loans he received, but failed to declare, in his 2012 run for the U.S. Senate. Cruz's campaign admitted – after The New York Times published an article on it – that he failed to disclose hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans from the nation's largest banks while he was campaigning for his current Senate seat. He did eventually list the loans on personal financial disclosures.
And one more
The American woman killed in Florence, Italy, this week had her skull fractured in two places before she was strangled to death, Italian authorities report. An immigrant from Senegal, Tidiane Cheik Diaw, has been arrested in the death of Ashley Olsen. Diaw entered the country illegally a few months ago, according to Italian authorities.
In case you missed it
Need a V-8 engine? First, grab a sheet of paper ...
About the Author
