From Russia with drugs

Wednesday, December 28, 2016 View this email in your browser A rare admission from Russia, a dire prediction from Korea. In other words, the usual doom and gloom that's typical for a hump day. Here's what you need to know today to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door. By Doug Criss. 1. Deaths 2016 just takes and takes and takes, doesn't it? It took Carrie Fisher, our fearless space princess who battled Darth Vader on the big screen and her own demons in real life. It took Vera Rubin, the astrophysicist who proved dark matter exists and fought hard so that female scientists are equally respected. It took Ricky Harris, a comedian as comfortable in a raunchy standup set as he was in a family sitcom. And it took Richard Adams, author of the classic "Watership Down." And those were just the deaths we reported on yesterday. 2. North Korea A North Korea defector says Kim Jong Un's going to take advantage of political upheaval in the US and South Korea to develop nukes by the end of 2017. Kim's calculation is that both countries are too tied up with their own problems to stop him militarily. The defector said Kim won't give up on nukes even if offered big bags of cash to stop. 3. Syria civil war Turkey and Russia have reportedly put together a nationwide ceasefire deal for Syria. It's supposed to start at midnight, but it's unclear if it'll lead to anything. We don't know if any of Syria's rebel groups have signed on. And terror groups like ISIS obviously aren't part of it either. If there is a ceasefire, talks for finally ending this wretched conflict will take place in Kazakhstan. 4. Russia doping Russia: We have a doping program for athletes. The rest of the world: Ya think? Russian sports officials are finally admitting that it had big-time institutional doping set up for its athletes during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. It involved more than 1,000 athletes over 30 sports. Here's the reason one official gave: doping helped the Russians overcome preferential treatment given to Western athletes.  5. Argentina Argentina's ex-president was hit with corruption charges -- again. Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner was indicted along with 11 others, accused of stealing billions in funds meant for public works projects. It's the second corruption case she's faced since she left office last year. She says all of this is nothing but a political witch hunt. Share Tweet Forward Breakfast Browse People are talking about these. Read up. Join in. First world problems Kids and parents are in an uproar over Hatchimals, because the toy eggs don't hatch at all and no one's picking up the phone at customer service. Better than a pat on the back Got a $100 gift card as a bonus this year? That's cute. A boss in Iowa is taking all 800 of his employees on a Caribbean cruise. No bad blood here What's cooler than being a 96-year-old Taylor Swift fan? Having the pop star drop in on your family's holiday gathering for an acoustic "Shake It Off." Cat house In Asia, the hottest thing in real estate doesn't involve granite countertops or high ceilings. Instead it's apartments designed specifically for your cat. Don't say you weren't warned If you want to act up on a Korean Air flight, better think twice. Flight crews have a new license to Taser. Or they'll just unleash Richard Marx on you. And finally ... I'm outta here Mom wanted to give her daughter a cat for Christmas. But this frisky feline had other ideas. (Click to view) Thanks for reading Five Things! We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Check out CNNMoney's Reliable Sources, an insider's look into the media, brought to you by Brian Stelter. Read more stories on CNN.com » CNN Five Things shows up in your inbox every weekday at 6 a.m. ET. Like what you see? Don't like what you see? Let us know. We're all about self improvement. Did a friend forward you this newsletter? Sign yourself up! Copyright © 2016 Cable News Network, LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved., All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to CNN newsletters. Our mailing address is: Cable News Network, LP, LLLP. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. One CNN Center Atlanta, GA 30303 Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences