Congestion pricing off to strong start, your personal ‘dopamenu,’ craft beer crisis: Catch up on the day’s stories

Entertainment

February 12, 2025

Daniel Wine - CNN

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👋 Welcome to 5 Things PM! If you’re like many people, you might feel zapped of energy and in need of some motivation to get going. But finding that inspiration can feel like a chore. Learn how to create your own “dopamenu” — a personalized list of rewarding activities to boost focus, motivation and well-being.

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

5 things

1️⃣ Congestion pricing: President Donald Trump wants to end New York City’s landmark traffic policy, but the program — the first in the US — is off to a strong start. Some drivers’ commutes are getting faster, and more people are walking around lower Manhattan.

2️⃣ Crushed by tariffs? American craft beers, brewed in steel and canned in aluminum, are expected to take a hit from Trump’s new tariffs. They’re driving up the cost of critical materials for the once-flourishing industry, which has suffered several blows in recent years.

3️⃣ ‘It’s the wild west’: A legal loophole lets children on social media see enticing ads for marijuana with potentially dangerous consequences, experts say. A recent survey found that almost 26% of 12th graders said they have used cannabis in the past 12 months.

4️⃣ Bundle of energy: Astronomers using a giant network of sensors, still under construction at the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea, found the highest-energy “ghost particle” ever detected. These neutrinos arrive at Earth from the far reaches of the cosmos.

5️⃣ Modern makeover: One of the most popular tourist attractions in Paris is about to close for five years so it can be “reinvented.” When it first opened in 1977, the industrial exterior and brightly colored exposed pipes sent shockwaves through society.

Watch this

🦈 Survival story: Two American tourists shared details of their harrowing shark attack in the Bahamas. A friend pulled them out of the water, and they were treated at a clinic before returning home to Florida.

Top headlines

• After Putin call, Trump says negotiations to end Ukraine war will start ‘immediately’
• Senate votes to confirm Tulsi Gabbard as director of national intelligence
• DOGE’s power expands as federal agencies start planning large-scale layoffs

$10,000

🏀 That’s how much the University of Massachusetts will pay a student who made a half-court shot during a halftime promotion, even though his foot was on the line.

Check this out

🐢 Shell we dance: Sea turtles are renowned for their incredible migrations, traveling thousands of miles across vast oceans with few visible landmarks. A new study shows what happens when their superpower leads them to food.

Celebrity corner

⭐ New look: Comedian and former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Pete Davidson has been showing off his ink-free skin and said he’s been slowly removing about 200 tattoos.

Quiz time

🇺🇸 Which US president, pictured here, was a big supporter of tariffs and served from 1897 until his assassination in 1901?
A. Grover Cleveland
B. Benjamin Harrison
C. William McKinley
D. Theodore Roosevelt
⬇️ Scroll down for the answer.

Good vibes

🎾 ‘Mini dream come true’: Professional tennis player Belinda Bencic celebrated winning her first tournament as a mother at the Abu Dhabi Open. She dropped the first set before dominating the last two, then carried her 9-month-old daughter Bella onto the court during the trophy ceremony.

Thanks for reading

👋 We’ll see you tomorrow.
🧠 Quiz answer: C. McKinley referred to himself as “a tariff man, standing on a tariff platform.”
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5 Things PM is produced by CNN’s Chris Good, Meghan Pryce and Kimberly Richardson.