12 at 12: Your midday must-reads
What are people reading right now? Get up to speed on today's top news —
1. Legions of fans are going nuts over Monday's release of the final trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It's one of the last bits of footage fans will see before director J.J. Abrams' movie arrives Dec. 18 in theaters. Full details are here; or watch it for yourself below. (See also: #BoycottStarWarsVII hashtag calls the film "anti-white.")
2. The Cubs are chasing their first World Series title since 1908, and so we take a look at legendary play-by-play announcer Harry Caray. First truth: Mangling names was show business. Second truth: "Cub-Fan, Bud-Man" maybe didn't really drink all those beers. In his immortal words, "Holy cow!"
3. Hey, selfie-generation: Now hear this. You can use your face to pay for things. MasterCard is trying out a new technology that lets online shoppers authorize a transaction with a snapshot of their face instead of a password. Sounds strange, but it is probably a little more secure than "Password123."
4. Lamar Odom is making "miraculous progress." His family released a statement saying the NBA star, who was found unconscious at a Nevada brothel, has been transferred from a Las Vegas hospital to one in Los Angeles. The statement says he even took a few steps in L.A.
5. Four weeks ago, Paste BN's GOP Power Rankings were predicting the demise of Donald Trump. Today, his grip on the GOP nominating contest seems as strong as ever. Speaking of Trump, during an interview Tuesday he reversed his earlier criticism of the war in Afghanistan.
6. Katharine Richards is living with HIV. Her ex-boyfriend gave it to her, and was sent to prison for it in Iowa. Now Richards is fighting his release. This long read is worth it.
7. Huey Lewis almost passed on Back to the Future. What?! Full story here. Speaking of Back to the Future, the second installment of the trilogy finds Marty McFly, portrayed by Michael J. Fox, time-traveling to Oct. 21, 2015. (That's tomorrow!) What is life really like 30 years later? We investigate.
8. There's a big change in recommendations about mammograms today from the American Cancer Society. The screenings should start at age 45, the new recommendations say, which is five years later than previously urged.
9. Jim Webb is expected to drop out of the Democratic presidential race later today. Reports say he's going to run as an independent.
10. Apple Music has convinced 6.5 million users to pay for it, although millions did drop out when the free trial period ended in September. CEO Tim Cook said he's happy with the results. "It's going well," he said Tuesday.
11. Relatives and friends are demanding answers after a Florida church drummer who was waiting for assistance after his car broke down was shot and killed by a plainclothes police officer.
12. We wrap up today with some Canadian politics. Justin Trudeau, the 43-year-old son of long-serving Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, led his Liberal Party to a sweeping victory over the Conservatives in Monday's election to claim the office his father held for a record number of years.