5 things you need to know this weekend

Trump to spend weekend in Japan
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump arrived in Japan Saturday for what the Associated Press calls, "a social call meant to highlight the alliance between the countries and the friendship between their leaders." Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will host Trump on Sunday for a round of golf and take the president to a sumo wrestling match where Trump will present the winner with a U.S.-made trophy. Trump will visit the Imperial Palace Monday for a meeting and banquet in his honor and become the first head of state to meet Emperor Naruhito since he assumed power. Trump is leaving the U.S. after another hectic week where he made headlines for his war of words with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrats and tweet an edited video of Pelosi that made it appear she slurred her speech. The administration also made news Friday with decisions to scrap protections for transgender patients provided under the Affordable Care Act and sell new weapons to Saudi Arabia despite congressional objections.

Start your engines! It's time for the Indy 500
The 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 is Sunday, with the command to start engines at 12:38 p.m. ET. For fans looking for a quick breakdown of what they can expect to see, we’ve got you covered:

Marco Andretti could win his first Indy 500 on the 50th anniversary of grandfather Mario Andretti's lone 500 win — and break the Andretti curse.
If it rains, the race is official only if 101 laps are completed.
Here's what you should know about the lineup.
Actors Christian Bale and Matt Damon lead the roster of VIPs and celebrities.

Unusual and 'potentially hazardous' asteroid to pass by Earth
An asteroid large enough to be labeled "potentially hazardous" is set to pass by Earth at a comfortably safe distance this weekend. Scientists call 1999 KW4 a "binary near-Earth asteroid" — It's actually a system with two space rocks: One measuring about one-third of a mile across that orbits a larger asteroid like a moon. The larger asteroid measures about a mile across. NASA says the system is projected to pass within about 3 million miles of Earth on Saturday. You'll likely need a telescope to see it.

Record minority graduations at West Point
The U.S. Military Academy's class of 2019 is set to include 34 African-American women, the highest number in the prestigious academy's history. That's not the only historic figure West Point is projecting this year: The class will also include the largest number of Hispanic female graduates ever, West Point spokesperson Frank DeMaro told USA TODAY. Nineteen Hispanic female cadets are projected to graduate in the Saturday ceremony. DeMaro said West Point is also set to graduate its 5,000th female cadet since 1980, when the first class of women graduated from the academy.

'Death ridge': Record heat for the Southeast
A blistering, dangerous heat wave, which one expert calls a "death ridge," is poised to scorch the southeastern U.S. over the Memorial Day weekend. While the central U.S. deals with floods and storms, some all-time record high temperatures for May could be shattered as highs rocket into the upper 90s to low 100s all the way from Alabama to Virginia. A few of the records that could be broken date back to the 1800s. In Charleston, South Carolina, the National Weather Service called it "prolonged and dangerous heat wave."

Bonus: Memorial Day weekend deals and tips
With Memorial Day Monday, many are taking advantage of a three-day weekend by taking a road trip or taking in a movie. It's also a good weekend to buy a car, a mattress and shop other sales. Veterans and active military will be treated to free meals and discounts Monday but some offers are also available throughout the weekend. The backyard grilling season heats up with the holiday weekend but before you fire up the grill make sure you don’t have any recalled raw beef products. And be careful, because not cooking ground beef properly can be deadly.