Stepped-up security in Paris, first blind Barbie, most powerful passports: Catch up on the day’s stories

By CNN

Published July 23, 2024 2:45 PM

CNN

By Daniel Wine, CNN

👋 Welcome to 5 Things PM! Of all the countries around the world, which passports carry the most clout? The most powerful one is red on the outside, purple on the inside and gives you access to 195 global destinations visa-free.

Here’s what else you might have missed during your busy day:

5 things

1️⃣ Safety first: Millions of visitors and thousands of athletes will descend on Paris for the Olympic Games starting this week, and keeping them all safe is a massive undertaking. Organizers plan to deploy about 35,000 police officers each day.

2️⃣ Retail reboot: Overstock.com, one of the biggest names in e-commerce, is being revived just a year after its new owners ditched the name in favor of Bed Bath & Beyond. The relaunched site will place a bigger emphasis on closeout and liquidation deals.

3️⃣ Bogus tally: Hundreds of fraudulent votes were cast for one finalist in the prestigious Hugo Awards, which honor the best works in science fiction and fantasy. About 10% of the votes were made under “obvious fake names,” the administrators said.

4️⃣ Doll diversity: Mattel launched the first-ever blind Barbie in an effort to make the iconic toy more inclusive and represent more sections of society. She carries a white and red cane and wears sunglasses on her head for additional eye protection.

5️⃣ Date with destiny: It was time for his sixth-grade field trip, and six little words — “boxed lunch on the Capitol steps” — jumped out to CNN’s Forrest Brown. That 60-mile adventure with some South Carolina classmates changed his life.

Watch this

🥐 Don’t be a cliché: Paris will welcome about 15 million tourists for the Summer Olympics. It’s easy to stand out, so CNN’s Saskya Vandoorne offers some helpful tips on how to navigate France’s capital city like a local.

Top headlines

• Secret Service director resigns after criticism over security failures at Trump rally
• Top two Democrats in Congress endorse Kamala Harris
• The planet just experienced the hottest day on record

Check this out

🪴 Nature’s canvas: Spanish artist Almudena Romero knew from a young age that she loved plants, so it’s no surprise that she made them the medium to showcase her work.

Quotable

Brave revelation: Smith stunned the judges during her final interview at the Miss Kansas competition when she said that her abuser was in the audience. She plans to continue to speak out against domestic violence and will compete for the Miss America crown in January.

Celebrity corner

📖 Deep thoughts: Keanu Reeves, who is making the rounds to promote his first novel, explains why mortality has been on his mind lately.

Quiz time

🦈 Sharks living off the coast of Brazil just tested positive for which drug?
A. LSD
B. Heroin
C. Cocaine
D. Methamphetamine
⬇️ Scroll down for the answer.

What’s buzzing

💪 Performance piece: A sweaty bodybuilder sitting in the window of a Paris showroom is garnering lots of attention from passers-by. This is why it’s there.

Good vibes

😎 We like to wrap things up on a positive note:
Now that Harris is running for president, people are clamoring for Maya Rudolph to play her again on “Saturday Night Live.” The former “SNL” cast member won an Emmy for her 2019 portrayal of Harris during a VP debate.

Thanks for reading

👋 We’ll see you tomorrow.
💬 What did you like about today’s 5 Things PM? Did we miss anything? Email us: 5ThingsPM@cnn.com
🧠 Quiz answer: C. Cocaine was found in their systems, the first time that the drug has been detected in free-ranging sharks.
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5 Things PM is produced by CNN’s Tricia Escobedo, Meghan Pryce and Kimberly Richardson.

Article Topic Follows: CNN - National

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