5 things you need to know Friday
UN Security Council to meet over North Korea threat
The United Nations Security Council will meet Friday after North Korea fired another missile, less than two weeks after its most powerful nuclear test ever. The missile flew over Japan, which issued a nationwide alert advising residents to take shelter, and splashed into the Pacific Ocean. The launch also comes days after the United Nations Security Council stepped up sanctions against North Korea, which would restrict crude oil imports and impose a ban on textile exports. On Thursday, North Korea threatened to use weapons to "sink" Japan and turn the U.S. to "ashes and darkness."
Preorders begin for new iPhone 8 models
Riding a wave of excitement off this week's unveiling, Apple's new iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus can be preordered beginning Friday. (The iPhone X is available for preorders in October.) Which to choose? It comes down to price, size and whether you really, really need to communicate in animated emojis. If the least-expensive new phone (iPhone 8 at $699) isn't within budget, check out the now-cheaper iPhone 7. And if you're over Apple altogether, there are plenty of alternatives.
Cassini spacecraft will go out in a blaze of glory
The long and illustrious career of NASA's Cassini spacecraft is about to come to a violent end. Cassini, which launched in 1997 and has spent the last 13 years circling Saturn, on Friday will dive into Saturn’s atmosphere, where it will disintegrate and burn in less than two minutes. But Cassini — hopefully — will keep transmitting during its death dive, sending what could be some of the best data of the mission. Since April, Cassini has zipped through the gap between Saturn and its rings 20 times, taking samples and thrilling the world with glorious images.
Girl's insanity defense in Slender Man stabbing goes to jury
Sixteen jurors will begin deliberating after closing arguments Friday morning to decide if Anissa Weier's rare shared delusion about Slender Man compelled her to help Morgan Geyser try to kill their sixth-grade classmate in 2014. Weier and Geyser told police they were acting to appease Slender Man, an Internet boogeyman popular among young people but largely unknown to adults until their crime drew international attention. Geyser is set for trial next month.
Happy birthday, Paste BN!
Paste BN turns 35 on Friday. Happy birthday to us. We wrote like that when the newspaper began on Sept. 15, 1982. It signaled that Paste BN, unlike its stodgy competitors, would be a paper for the people. And we said "we" a lot. "Men, Women: We’re still different" proclaimed one of our early headlines. Critics branded us McPaper, deriding our colorful pie charts and bite-sized stories — innovations stolen from TV — as junk-food journalism. But we survived, and then thrived. In 1995 came USATODAY.com, and today the Paste BN Network boasts roughly 3,000 journalists at 110 newspapers owned by Gannett, our parent company. We're not the new kid on the block anymore. But, rest assured, we’re still different.
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