Good morning Her Campus! With a break-neck news cycle, there is no possible way for you to stay on top of every story that comes across your feeds—we’re all only human, after all.
But, life comes at you fast. So grab a cup of coffee and settle in for this quick and dirty guide to stories you might’ve been sleeping on (like, literally. It’s early.)
Apple Admits That It Slows Down Older Phones
You probably had to reopen the Safari window on your iPhone 5 before this article loaded, and now you may have a legit reason to blame for your phone’s slowness. Apple has admitted that when it applies software updates to products, the updates are also used to limit older iPhones’ performance capabilities, specifically if they have had battery issues. To defend the company, Apple claimed that upgrades made for the most recent iPhone models are designed to “smooth out” the phones’ power and battery lifespans. However, as we’ve all seen, these changes often slow down the phones more.
Apple might be intentionally slowing down older iPhones pic.twitter.com/D9Yy20IvYL
— NowThis (@nowthisnews) December 22, 2017
Teenage Girl Sentenced to 25 Years in Mental Hospital After Stabbing Girl 19 Times
BuzzFeed News reports that after trying to kill her friend to appease the fictional character Slender Man, a teenage girl is now sentenced to 25 years in a psychiatric hospital. 16-year-old Anissa Weier pleaded guilty in August to attempted second-degree homicide due to mental illness or defect. In 2014, when Weier and her friend were only 12 years old, the two girls stabbed another 12-year-old girl 19 times in the woods, inspired by the fictional, faceless bogeyman Slender Man. The victim survived, while Weier’s friend, now 15, pleaded guilty to attempted first-degree intentional homicide in October.
At her sentencing hearing on Thursday, Weier said, “I want everybody involved to know that I deeply regret everything that happened that day.”
Anissa Weier, one of two Wisconsin teens charged in the 2014 “Slenderman” stabbing of a classmate, will be committed to state mental care for 25 years, a judge has ordered https://t.co/PYk42Kn1PY
— CNN (@CNN) December 21, 2017
Sesame Workshop Will Develop Childhood Development Programs for Syrian Refugees
The MacArthur Foundation has awarded $100 million to the Sesame Workshop and the International Rescue Committee to create early childhood development programs for Syrian refugees, the New York Times reports. The five-year grant will be used to create a localized version of Sesame Street for displaced children in Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria. New Muppets that speak Arabic and Iraqi Kurdish will star in the educational content.
“If we’re not giving them the tools to overcome toxic stress, that trauma in those early years, the research shows the repercussions are lifelong,” said Sherrie Westin, Sesame’s executive vice president for global impact.
“The Sesame Workshop and the International Rescue Committee have won a $100m (£75m) grant to help with the “toxic stress” on child refugees.” https://t.co/KjuTTUxfL7
— Arab American Inst. (@AAIUSA) December 22, 2017
What to look out for…
Start preparing early for your favorite TV holiday, Festivus, on Dec. 23. If the commercialization of Christmas is getting to you, airing your grievances about the season is meant to happen this Saturday.