Traveling piano man, galaxy shows off new look, Enron’s elaborate joke: Catch up on the day’s stories

By Daniel Wine, CNN

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👋 Welcome to 5 Things PM! There’s a name for that feeling you get after spending too much time scrolling aimlessly. It’s a modern condition familiar to most of us — and it’s also Oxford’s word of the year. (Well, technically words of the year.)

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

5 things

1️⃣ Piano man: Danny Kean has been traveling around the United States with his piano and dog for nearly 20 years. He has put more than 250,000 miles on his pickup — and built connections with people through music all along the way.

2️⃣ Landmark law: Sex workers in Belgium are now entitled to formal employment contracts — including sick pay and maternity leave — under new legislation that just went into effect. They also have access to health insurance and unemployment benefits.

3️⃣ Stellar transformation: The James Webb Space Telescope captured a surprising new view of the Sombrero galaxy, revealing a perspective quite different from the wide-brimmed Mexican hat for which it was named. See what it looks like now.

4️⃣ Making history: Chase Strangio, an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, is poised to become the first known transgender person to argue before the US Supreme Court. He’ll do so as part of the most high-profile dispute on the docket this session.

5️⃣ Enron again? The toxic brand synonymous with corporate fraud that collapsed in bankruptcy more than two decades ago is making a comeback of sorts. It all appears to be an elaborate joke.

Watch this

🤖 Robot helpers: Dozens of companies showed off their latest innovations at a humanoid robotics conference in France. They’re aiming to have them live and work in people’s homes someday.

Top headlines

• Who is Kash Patel, Trump’s pick for FBI director?
• What to buy now before Trump’s tariffs kick in
• Florida woman sentenced to life in prison for zipping her boyfriend in a suitcase for hours until he died

Check this out

☕ Latte with a view: Coffee lovers interested in catching a glimpse of the world’s most reclusive nation can book their travel plans. Starbucks has just the spot for you.

Quotable

Harsh weather: Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who have been displaced multiple times from Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip are now facing the arrival of winter.

Quiz time

📺 Actor Jaleel White played the iconic role of Steve Urkel on “Family Matters.” What was his famous catchphrase?
A. “Did I do that?”
B. “Have mercy”
C. “How rude”
D. “Dyn-o-mite”
⬇️ Scroll down for the answer.

Celebrity corner

⭐ ‘I am healing’: Several months after suffering a severe eye infection, Elton John says he still cannot see. The music icon, who appeared on stage in London over the weekend, remains optimistic about his recovery and thanked his husband for being “my rock.”

Good vibes

☀️ Cooler crops: Farmers all over the world are having trouble keeping their crops alive because of an increasingly volatile climate. A startup founded in the desert of Saudi Arabia thinks it might have a solution.

Thanks for reading

👋 We’ll see you tomorrow.
🧠 Quiz answer: A. “Did I do that?” White spoke to CNN about the impact playing the character had on his life.
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5 Things PM is produced by CNN’s Tricia Escobedo, Chris Good, Meghan Pryce and Kimberly Richardson.

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