5 things you need to know Thursday

Editors

USA TODAY

Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel (2), shown here at a practice three weeks ago, will be suspended for one-half of the team's season opener for his role in an autograph-signing controversy during the offseason.

'Twerk' by Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber leaked online

Rank opportunism or great timing? You be the judge. Miley Cyrus, whose twerk-tastic VMAs performance on Sunday had the online world buzzing all week, teams up with Justin Bieber on a new song — creatively titled Twerk — that leaked online, Us Weekly reported. Rapper Lil Twist also performs on the track, which features Cyrus singing "I came up in this party time to twerk."

Obama: No decision yet on Syria military strike

President Obama said he has not yet made a decision on whether he will order a military strike against Syria, but said the U.S. government has "concluded" that Bashar Assad's regime has deployed chemical weapons. In an interview on PBS NewsHour following his address to mark the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, Obama added that he has "no interest" in an open-ended conflict. "I have not made a decision," Obama said in the interview. "I have gotten options from our military, had extensive discussions with my national security team."

Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel suspended

Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel will be suspended for the first half of the Aggies' season-opening game against Rice on Saturday for an "inadvertent violation" of NCAA rules regarding autograph signing, a school official confirmed to USA TODAY Sports. A&M senior associate athletic director Jason Cook told USA TODAY Sports both the school and the NCAA found "there is no evidence Manziel received monetary reward in exchange for autographs."

Verizon shares spike on report of Vodafone talks

Shares of Verizon Communications spiked in after-hours trading Wednesday after a report by the The Wall Street Journal that Verizon and the U.K.'s Vodafone had resumed discussing a stalled plan for Verizon to buy out Vodafone's stake in Verizon Wireless. Vodafone confirmed the report Thursday but said a deal was not certain.

Workers march for fairness

Low-wage workers across the country are clocking out and rising up. Fast-food employees plan a day of nationwide strikes today to demand higher pay in the largest of a series of industry protests that have rippled across the USA since last fall.

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