Iranians are furious over last week's plane crash

Iran...Impeachment...Elections...North Korea...Australia fires

view in browser Monday 01.13.20 Nearly half a million people in the Philippines are being evacuated from areas near the Taal Volcano. It's not very big, but it's one of the country's most active volcanoes ... and scientist say it may blow soon. Here's what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and Out the Door. By AJ Willingham Iran Iran admitted to accidentally shooting down the Ukrainian International Airlines flight that was departing from Tehran last week. Now, the global community is in a tense spot as anger simmers and accusations fly. Thousands of Iranian protesters filled the streets this weekend condemning Iranian authorities for the act, which left 176 passengers and crew dead. The chief commander of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps outright admitted it was a mistake, but Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei blamed the US for the current "turbulent situation" between the two countries. A prominent Canadian CEO, whose colleague lost family in the crash, also said the US was partially to blame because of the escalating rhetoric and threats leading up to the crash. Those rhetoric and threats, by the way, are still in play. The Islamic political party Hezbollah declared that, as retribution for recent US airstrikes, all American bases in the area are vulnerable to attack. Not long after that threat, Iraq's Balad Air Base was hit by several rockets. The base houses US and Iraqi troops. No troops were reported to be killed in the blasts.    Impeachment   Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has stepped up to force House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's hand in the upcoming senate impeachment trial, and she's not relenting without a fight. Pelosi called out McConnell on his support of a resolution that would dismiss the two articles of impeachment entirely, calling the effort a "cover up." She's still stalling on sending over the articles of impeachment to the Senate, but the House is expected to vote this week to name their impeachment managers, send over the articles and get the ball rolling -- bipartisan cooperation or no bipartisan cooperation. Meanwhile, the White House strategists are reportedly putting together a trial brief with the key legal arguments of President Trump's defense. Expect this to be a very important document once the trial starts.    Elections    Two countries, two elections, two new paths forward. The Mediterranean country of Malta elected a new prime minister, lawyer Robert Abela. The outcome of the election was a surprise. Abela and his party were seen as having a slim chance in the race to replace former PM Joseph Muscat, who stepped down in December. Muscat's time in office was overshadowed by an investigation in the death of a journalist in 2017. The country has since had a crisis of press freedom, and journalist organizations say Abela has his work cut out for him to set the situation right. Meanwhile, Taiwan re-elected President Tsai Ing-wen in a landslide, sending a forceful rejection of China's desire to bring Taiwan under the same kind of "one country, two systems" arrangement it has with Hong Kong.   North Korea   The US is ready to resume diplomatic negotiations with North Korea -- but is the feeling mutual? The two countries last abandoned talks in October, and since then North Korea has railed against the prospect of denuclearization, insulted the US and President Trump and threatened to send a "Christmas gift" in the form of what many assumed to be a new long range missile launch. Now White House national security adviser Robert O'Brien says the White House is extending an olive branch of sorts. He said the fact that North Korea has yet to make good on any long range missile threats is an optimistic sign for the future.    Australia fires   Australia's Prime Minister Scott Morrison has admitted there were things he "could have handled much better" in  his country's deadly bushfire crisis. The prime minister has been heavily criticized for his tone-deaf interactions with fire-ravaged communities. Just days before Morrison spoke publicly about his government's responsibility in the crisis, thousands of Australians marched across several capitol cities pleading for the government to acknowledge the role climate change may have played in the fires. The blazes have burned more than 18 million acres, killed dozens of people and left behind billions of dollars in damages.    Sponsor Content from Radius Bank This fee-free checking account by Radius paid their average customer $860 in 2019. Rated 5 stars by Nerdwallet, Rewards Checking pays 1.00% APY, UNLIMITED cashback on purchases and  ATM fee rebates worldwide. Open an account today! People are talking about these. Read up. Join in. Here are all the winners from the Critics' Choice Awards  Which Critics' Choice choice did the Critics' Choice critics choose? A paralyzed man set a new world record for finishing a marathon in an exoskeleton suit  Every hero needs a cool suit, eh?  'Star Wars' was eclipsed at the box office by '1917'  Which chronicles a very, very different type of war.  A Conservative mom group is blasting Burger King for saying the 'd' word in an ad  Five bucks if you can guess what 'd' word they're talking about. I put the answer under the video at the bottom.  Convenience stores like Wawa and Sheetz are America's new favorite restaurants That's right, because we're AMERICANS. And we have ELEGANT TASTE.  2,000 pounds The amount of sweet potatoes and carrots the New South Wales government has dropped over different wallaby colonies endangered by the ongoing bushfires. They're hoping this supplementary food will help the little creatures survive.    Americans want to know the latest developments and seek the truth. On social media, wild rumors can fly, and our adversaries can manipulate disinformation to their advantage. This is now well documented.   A group of former US government officials, who penned an open letter to the Trump administration asking officials to resume the practice of holding regular press briefings.  Like "Frozen," but real The Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival is going on right now in China. Let's take a tour of some of last year's chilly attractions, shall we? (Click here to view) Oh, and the "d" word? It's damn.  Advertisement Share Tweet ALL CNN NEWSLETTERS update preferences or unsubscribe CNN Five Things shows up in your inbox every weekday at 6AM ET and Sundays at 9AM 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! Sign up to get updates on your favorite CNN Original Series, special CNN news coverage and other newsletters. Copyright © 2020 Cable News Network, Inc. A WarnerMedia Company, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you subscribed to CNN's 5 Things newsletter.