5 things you need to know Friday

1. Apple Watch watch: It's (almost) here!

Pre-orders of the highly anticipated Apple Watch start shipping Friday — many sooner than expected. Nearly 1 milion people pre-ordered an Apple Watch on April 10, and this week some of the earliest customers received tracking numbers from UPS or charge notices from credit card companies. Wait times for pre-order shipments had ranged from four to six weeks to as late as August. For customers hoping to buy the watch in a physical Apple store, they'll have to wait until June. Until then, they can buy the watch online ($350-$17,000) or make an appointment for a demo and a fitting.

2. Comcast walks away from Time Warner Cable deal

Comcast Corp. said Friday that it's ending its merger agreement with Time Warner Cable and a related transactions deal with Charter Communications. The Regulators plan to nix the $45 billion proposal which would have consolidated the nation's two largest cable companies. The post-merger company would have had access to nearly half of the Internet market nationwide. Consumers and advocacy groups have vigorously opposed the deal, arguing that the deal would give one company too much clout in video and Internet access.

3. Bruce Jenner sits down with Diane Sawyer in exclusive interview

By Friday night we should know more about Bruce Jenner's "journey." It won't be a mystery anymore, but will we know all? And will we still care? ABC News and Diane Sawyer bet we will, at least enough to watch a two-hour special in which Sawyer will seek the answers to questions people have asked since last year, when Jenner started looking ... well, not like himself. In an ABC teaser, Jenner says, "I want to know how my story ends." The interview airs Friday night on ABC at 9 ET.

4. Hubble at 25 hailed as greatest scientific instrument

If Hubble telescope's story were a movie, it would be pure melodrama, from the humiliating news of its defective vision to the triumphant repair by spacewalking astronauts. The national disgrace-turned-treasure marks the 25th anniversary of its launch into orbit on Friday. Before Hubble, few of us had any notion of what the cosmos looked like. It has given the world an art gallery's worth of beautiful images of nebulae, distant galaxies and nearby planets. Test your Hubble knowledge with our quiz. Check out a timeline of Hubble's rise and fall (and rise again). Order a copy of USA TODAY and National Geographic's special edition on Hubble. And here's what you need to know about the Hubble's successor.

5. Angelina Jolie heads to the United Nations

The actress will brief the U.N. Security Council on Syria's refugee crisis which has seen almost 4 million people displaced over the past four years. On Friday, she will headline a day of briefings that include the U.N. refugee and humanitarian chiefs and the special envoy for Syria.

What else is on our reading list this morning:

USA TODAY's exclusive interview with Charles Koch

Where America drinks most: Study finds binge-drinking trouble spots

101 incredible sports facts that will blow your mind

And, the essentials:

Weather: Severe weather will again threaten the central and southern Plains Friday while snow and wintry weather is likely in the Rockies.

Stocks:U.S. stock futures were higher Friday.

TV Tonight: Can't decide what to watch this weekend? TV critic Robert Bianco looks at Bruce Jenner: The Interview, the Daytime Emmy Awards and Wolf Hall.

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