News From Around the Web
#10 Roger Daltrey Questions Big Pharma as He Nears the End of His Time at the Teenage Cancer Trust - Fraser Lewey for Louder
The Who's Roger Daltrey is coming to the end of his hugely successful 24-year stewardship of the Teenage Cancer Trust's annual charity shows, and his latest round of press interviews find him in typically skeptical form. “I don’t think they’ll ever find a cure for cancer,” says Daltrey. “I don’t think they want to find a cure. I’m being cynical here, but scientists look after the science, but they also look after themselves. You do imagine if they did find a cure tomorrow, it would be fabulous for the country, but there’d be an awful lot of scientists out of work. You might think I’m being cynical, but I do think that.” Daltrey goes on to reiterate that so-called 'Big Pharma' has more to lose than it does to gain by finding a cure. “It’s just human nature, isn’t it?" he says. "You’re not going to invent something that’s going to put you out of work.”
#9 The 'Old American Dream Died,' Realtor Details Salary Needed to Buy a Home and Afford a Middle-Class Life in 2024 - Kira Mautone for Fox Business
Smith explained how, just a few years ago, $60-$70K a year would have been sufficient to qualify for a home. With the average cost of a house being around $400K-$420K in 2024, people's salaries would need to be around $120K a year for people to even qualify, Smith explained. Smith also explained how a $120K salary, even without children, becomes a far lower number when confronted with the crippling debt most Americans are facing today.
#8 Meta Aims to Hide Suicide, Eating Disorders Content From Teens on Instagram and Facebook - Collin Jones for Blaze Media
Meta described three new initiatives that they plan to implement. They are as follows: "We will start to hide more types of content for teens on Instagram and Facebook, in line with expert guidance; we’re automatically placing all teens into the most restrictive content control settings on Instagram and Facebook and restricting additional terms in Search on Instagram; [and] we’re also prompting teens to update their privacy settings on Instagram in a single tap with new notifications." “Take the example of someone posting about their ongoing struggle with thoughts of self-harm. This is an important story and can help destigmatize these issues, but it’s a complex topic and isn’t necessarily suitable for all young people,” Meta said. “Now, we’ll start to remove this type of content from teens’ experiences on Instagram and Facebook, as well as other types of age-inappropriate content.”
#7 Congress leaders agree on a stopgap bill extending government funding to March - AP
Congressional leaders are preparing a stopgap bill to keep the federal government running into March and avoid a partial shutdown next week. The temporary measure will run to March 1 for some federal agencies whose approved funds are set to run out Friday and extend the remainder of government operations to March 8. That's according to a person familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss it. The stopgap bill, expected to be released Sunday, would come as House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has been under pressure from his hard-right flank in recent days to jettison a recent bipartisan spending deal with Senate Democrats. The bill would need Democratic support to pass the narrowly divided House.
#6 Trump's Embrace of Far-Right Activist Laura Loomer Worries His Allies - NBC News
Trump has offered Loomer praise during the campaign, and it has some allies and advisers worried that he’s giving a figure they see as a fringe, far-right activist too close of an embrace — one that could come back to bite him during a general election campaign. “Everyone who works for him thinks she’s a liability,” one Trump ally said.
#5 Real Estate Owners Saddled with Half-Empty Office Buildings as Hybrid Work Trend Continues - Jon Wertheim for CBS News
City office buildings are in trouble. For a century, the towers have been propped up by two pillars. One, workers filling the buildings all week. Two, money flowing freely in the form of loans to borrow, buy, and build. Those days are over. As hybrid work hardens from trend to new normal, office occupancy rates have hit all-time lows. Meanwhile, interest rates have spiked to historic highs… and now the mortgage comes due: $1.5 trillion in commercial real estate loans expire in the next two years. It's enough to make you rethink the future of cities. We crisscrossed Manhattan, talking to players big and small about a sector rocked to its foundations.
#4 Big Pharma's Puppets: Baffled Doctors Can't Explain Why More Young People Have Cancer - Tracy Beanz and Michelle Edwards for The Highwire
A headline in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal reads, “Cancer is Striking More Young People, and Doctors are Alarmed and Baffled.” Really? With the disastrous experimental mRNA jabs in the picture, how can any responsible doctor be “alarmed and baffled” at significant changes in our health? With 81 percent of the U.S. population injected with at least one dose of the gene-damaging concoction, common sense alone dictates taking a very close look at any possible role the jab plays in increased cancer diagnoses.
#3 Police Arrest 6 pro-Palestine Activists Over Alleged Plot to Disrupt London Stock Exchange - Aliza Chasen for CBS News
Police arrested six pro-Palestine activists on Sunday over their alleged plot to target and disrupt the London Stock Exchange, officials said. Investigators determined that members of the Palestine Action group planned on causing damage and locking themselves onto infrastructure Monday morning to block the stock exchange building from opening for trading. "These are significant arrests," Metropolitan Police Detective Superintendent Sian Thomas said. "We believe this group was ready to carry out a disruptive and damaging stunt which could have had serious implications had it been carried out successfully."
#2 US Climate Envoy Kerry Stepping Down to Help Biden Campaign - Trinity Audio for National News
US climate envoy John Kerry, a key player in the Biden administration's push to tackle climate change, will step down to work on the president's reelection bid, media reported Saturday. The former secretary of state and senator has spent the last three years liaising with other countries to up commitments on climate change, including at the most recent COP28 UN climate summit in Dubai. Kerry, 80, intends to help Joe Biden's campaign by publicizing the president's work in combatting global warming, according to multiple US media outlets citing officials familiar with the situation.
#1 UK Faces a Cost of Dying Crisis as Funeral Costs Reach Record High - Rupert Jones for The Guardian
Growing numbers of grieving families are having to sell belongings, raid their savings, or borrow from friends to cover the cost of a loved one’s funeral, according to a report that says the “cost of dying” has hit a record high. There has also been an increase in the number of “public health funerals,” formerly known as pauper’s funerals, which are arranged by the local council for someone who has died without relatives and with no way of paying for their own send-off, said the insurer SunLife.
And Now for Something Special 
On this January 15th, Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday:
10 Surprising Facts About Martin Luther King Jr. - Nik Popli for Time
- He was the first Black person to be named TIME Man of the Year
- MLK improvised part of his 'I Have a Dream' speech
- An assassination attempt affirmed his faith in nonviolence
- King is the only non-President whose birthday is a national holiday
- King started college at 15
- The King family paid hospital bill for Julia Roberts’ birth
- His family believes James Earl Ray was framed for his assassination
- He was the youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize
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He was named after the Protestant reformer Martin Luther
