Five Things to Know for Your New Day – Friday, March 21

There's a sea of challenges in the search for the Malaysian jetliner, Russia and the U.S. engage in tit-for-tat sanctions, and the fascination with Kurt Cobain lives on.

It's Friday, and here are the 5 things to know for your "New Day."

1. MISSING PLANE

Sea of questions: Australia says it wants to get answers for the families of those aboard the missing Malaysia Airlines jetliner. And it's scouring the southern Indian Ocean for objects it says may be related to the search for the plane. While this is the best lead yet on where Flight 370 might be, confirming it will be a lengthy process. The area is a remote, rarely traveled expanse of ocean far from commercial shipping lanes. But that has not stopped the massive search in the area more than 1,500 miles southwest of Australia.

2. UKRAINE CRISIS

Tit-for-tat sanctions:  It's a classic case of sanctions, and more sanctions. Yesterday, the U.S. blacklisted a bank and several Russians it described as "cronies" of President Vladimir Putin. Unbowed, Russia hit right back. It placed sanctions against nine top Americans, including House Speaker John Boehner and Sen. John McCain. And there's more trouble on the horizon. The lower house of parliament in Moscow overwhelmingly approved a treaty yesterday to annex the Crimea region, upping the ante in the biggest crisis in East-West relations since the Cold War.

3. TURKEY TWITTER BAN

#trendingtopic: Turkey's Prime Minister vowed yesterday to ban Twitter just days before elections. "Twitter, mwitter, we will eradicate it all," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, followed by immediate disruptions on the social networking site. But as things go in that world, that's a sure way to make it even more popular. Outrage erupted. Hashtags surged. Word spread. Twitter swiftly offered subscribers an alternative way that uses cell phone instant messaging.

4. KURT COBAIN

Fascination lives on: The public's fascination with Kurt Cobain goes on, long after he's gone. Seattle police recently developed film showing the scene where the Nirvana frontman's body was discovered. Shortly after, social networks erupted with posts suggesting there was something new in his death investigation. Not true, cops said. "Mr. Cobain is still deceased and the case is still a suicide," Detective Renee Witt said. "We did not reopen the case."

5. IRS SCAM

Beware of callers! If the phone rings and the caller says he represents the Internal Revenue Service, be suspicious. That's what the feds are saying about a nationwide phone scam that  has stolen $1 million from thousands of unsuspecting people. "The largest scam of its kind" is how they described it. The caller warns that those who owe taxes must pay using a pre-paid debit card or wire transfer, or risk getting arrested or deported.

Those are your five biggies for the day. Here are a couple of others that are brewing and have the Internet buzzing.

Too much to bear: Africa's last polar bear is so heartbroken over the death of the love of his life, he's stopped eating and swimming. Wang's girl, GeeBee, died in January. Johannesburg zookeepers are trying to cheer up the poor thing.

Happy dance: Our congressman dances better than your congressman! Atlanta's John Lewis is a big fan of Pharrell's hit song, "Happy." And he can certainly break it down.

Hitting the right notes: This guy sings Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" in various celebrity voices. Well ... we know you'll, er, love who you love. But we sure love this guy.

This is a new one:  So there's a whole community of people out there who squash up their faces for "Sellotape Selfies." Yup, exactly what it sounds like. Boy, this world is one strange place.

There you go. All you need to know to get an early start to your morning.
Be sure to tune in to "New Day," from 6 to 9 a.m. ET, join us at NewDayCNN.com and go and have a GREAT NEW DAY!