5 things you need to know Friday
Barcelona terror attack: Van driver remains at large
Authorities remain on alert Friday looking for the van driver who plowed through a popular tourist district in Barcelona, killing at least 13 people and injuring as many as 100 others.Officials say the van struck a crowd in the tourist-filled street Las Ramblas in what police believe is a terror attack. Early Friday, Catalan police said they thwarted a new terror plot in Cambrils, a beach town south of Barcelona, killing five suspects. The Islamic State claimed credit for the attack, which had the hallmarks of similar vehicular assaults during the past year in France, Germany and England.Three people have been arrested in connection with the car attack, according to authorities.
Day after Trump defended Confederate monuments, more statues get removed
Workers removed another controversial statue early Friday, a day after President Trump blasted two critical Republican senators and defended Confederate monuments – a new flashpoint in the debate over how to bridge the nation's racial divide. The clashes from the deadly rally in Charlottesville, Va., have energized local movements to remove Confederate statues from public areas, who insist the monuments celebrate the defense of slavery and are a lasting symbol of white supremacy. Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer is expected to make a "major announcement" Friday on the future of the city's Robert E. Lee statue, a monument whose scheduled removal sparked the wave of protests in the college town last weekend.
Trump heads to Camp David for strategy session
Facing a stalemate in Afghanistan and nuclear tensions with North Korea, President Trump is scheduled to visit Camp David on Friday to discuss "South Asia strategy" with his national security team, according to the White House. The Pentagon wants more troops for the Afghan conflict, which turns 16 in October. But Trump has delayed a decision, expressing frustration at the lack of progress in the war. On North Korea, Trump on Wednesday praised leader Kim Jong Un for backing off from a plan to fire missiles at the U.S. territory of Guam. But the Pentagon is planning a major joint exercise in South Korea next week, a move likely to anger North Korea.
Atlas V rocket expected to launch NASA's newest satellite
NASA's latest communications satellite will fly past the watchful gaze of its in-orbit siblings thanks to a boost from a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket scheduled to lift off from the Space Coast on Friday. The 8:03 a.m. attempt from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station will take the agency's newest Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, known as TDRS-M, to a 22,300-mile orbit to rendezvous with the rest of its constellation, which facilitates ground-to-space communications for a variety of spacecraft.
Not all is well with Netflix's 'The Defenders'
Marvel's highly anticipated series The Defenders is finally streaming on Netflix Friday, the tale of four street-level superheroes drawn together by an increasing threat from an organization headed by the elusive Alexandra (Sigourney Weaver). While the series will likely please devoted Marvel fans who merely want to see Daredevil (Charlie Cox), Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter), Luke Cage (Mike Colter) and Iron Fist (Finn Jones) in the same room, some viewers will probably be left disappointed due to lack of onscreen chemistry, Paste BN's Kelly Lawler writes.