The 3,965-day calm before the storm
Florida's streak is about to be over. What comes next is life-threatening.
Hurricane Hermine is barreling toward Florida's Gulf Coast, where it's expected to make landfall early Friday. If Hermine (Her-MEEN) stays a hurricane, it'll be the first to hit Florida since Wilma on Oct. 24, 2005. The state's population has grown a lot since then — by about 2 million people — and that's a huge chunk of people who may have never experienced a hurricane. Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency, saying people need to take the storm seriously and called Hermine "life-threatening." And not to make light of the storm, but does anyone else keep trying to call it "Hermione"?
Mark Zuckerberg is so sad about the SpaceX explosion
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wants the entire world to have Internet, so he helped build a satellite to do that. But the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket scheduled to take that satellite into orbit exploded Thursday during a test at Cape Canaveral and destroyed the satellite. Thankfully, no humans were harmed. Witnesses reported seeing a fireball and feeling shock waves in buildings several miles away. Zuckerberg was in Africa at the time, but felt the burn just the same. The satellite would have delivered wireless connectivity to large portions of sub-Saharan Africa. "We remain committed to our mission of connecting everyone, and we will keep working until everyone has the opportunities this satellite would have provided," Zuckerberg posted on Facebook (natch).
Zika, you can stop now. Seriously.
Zika was detected in mosquitoes near Miami Beach, the first time mosquitoes carrying the virus were found within the U.S., officials said Thursday. This is not good. Mosquito bites are one of the main ways it spreads (sex is the other big one). Most of the more than 2,200 cases in the U.S. have been tied to people who traveled to places where Zika is widespread. But this summer, Florida started seeing cases of people getting Zika who hadn't gone anywhere. The state now has 47 such cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has advised pregnant women to stay away from the part of Miami where Zika has spread, because the virus can cause serious birth defects. There is no treatment or vaccine for Zika, but it is rarely fatal. Only one in five people with Zika develop symptoms, which include rash, fever, muscle aches and headaches.
Trump diplomatic effort undone in less than 140 characters
If this is "softening," what does hardening look like? On Wednesday, many experts thought Donald Trump was going to throttle back on his pledges to deport millions of undocumented migrants and to make Mexico pay for a border wall. But less than 24 hours after a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto that appeared cordial, if not productive, Trump is involved in a Twitter war with the Mexican head of state. The trouble started when Peña Nieto said he told Trump that Mexico wouldn't pay for the wall. This contradicted Trump, who said it never came up. "Mexico will pay for the wall!," Trump declared in a tweet Thursday. Peña Nieto then responded, "I repeat what I said in person, Mr. Trump: Mexico would never pay for a wall." So much for Twitter diplomacy.
Brock Turner's sex assault sentence ends early
Martha Stewart. Teresa Giudice of Real Housewives of New Jersey. Robert Downey Jr. Three people who aren’t often grouped together but share one thing in common: Each served more jail time than Brock Turner, the former Stanford University student found guilty in March of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman. A look at the numbers: Prosecutors pushed for a six-year sentence, but the 21-year-old got just six months, to the outrage of many. On Friday, Turner will walk free from the Santa Clara County Jail after spending only three months behind bars for “good behavior." He must serve three years of probation and register as a sex offender — a life-long scarlet letter.
Extra Bites
Better get in line now. Walmart just named its hottest 25 toys for the holidays.
A woman suffered "major injuries" after a car accident involving baseball superstar Mike Trout.
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This is a compilation of stories across USA TODAY.