5 things you need to know Thursday
1. California braces for Pineapple Express storm
This Pineapple Express is much more serious than the movie. The ferocious storm, which will batter California with drenching rain, heavy snow, pounding surf and howling winds through Friday, arrived this morning. The National Weather Service said the barrage is "expected to be one of the strongest storms in terms of wind and rain" since storms in October 2009 and January 2008.
2. Robin Williams' widow attends Museum 3 premiere
The comedy legend's widow, Susan Schneider, is making her first major public appearance on Thursday to attend the premiere of Williams' last film, Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb. Director Shawn Levy told Paste BN's Bryan Alexander that he put out a personal invitation for Schneider to attend the gala event for the film and she accepted. The third installment in the franchise features his biggest role in the series, and is said to include an emotional ending, according to Levy.
3. Great balls of film! Golden Globes nominations announced
The glitz and glamour of Hollywood go gold on Thursday, as the Golden Globes nominations are announced. Getting up early to read the nominations are Jeremy Piven, Kate Beckinsale, Peter Krause and Paula Patton. The show itself will be hosted, for the third time, by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Famed for its relaxed atmosphere, it's the first major film awards show of the season, taking place on Jan. 11.
4. Hong Kong police clear main protest site
Hundreds of Hong Kong police officers closed in on the city's main protest site Thursday to clear streets of pro-democracy demonstrators and terminate the mass civil disobedience movement that has occupied major roads in the south China city for over ten weeks. The protests were sparked by China's refusal to allow a free choice of candidates in leadership elections slated for 2017 in the former British colony.
5. Holy battered beaks, Batman – Angry Birds is 5!
Hard to believe, but it was five years ago today that the Angry Birds app took wing and started flying around millions of devices. Since then, parent company Rovio has been behind multiple spin-off games, three animated series, theme park attractions and hundreds of toys, books, clothes and other merchandise. To celebrate the fifth anniversary, according to fan site AngryBirdsNest.com, Rovio will be updating the original game with a celebratory "BirdDay 5" episode featuring 30 new levels, all of which were designed by fans. May the feathers fly!
And, the essentials:
Weather: The nation's big weather story Thursday will be the huge storm on the West Coast, though snow will also fall in portions of the Northeast.
Stocks: U.S. stock futures made gains Thursday.
TV Tonight: Wondering what to watch tonight? TV critic Robert Bianco looks at Bones, The Vampire Diaries and Gracepoint.
If you missed Wednesday's news, we've got you covered here.
Need a break? Try playing some games.
You can also subscribe to get the day's top news each weekday in your inbox or find us on the Yo app: justyo.co/usatoday.