Morning Must Reads: January 29

4 minute read

ISIS Extends Deadline

ISIS released a message late Wednesday purportedly by Japanese hostage Kenji Goto, extending the deadline for Jordan’s release of an Iraqi would-be hotel bomber linked to al-Qaeda. The audio was released as Jordan had offered a precedent-setting prisoner swap

This Is Why You’re Always Cold

Frigid weather isn’t solely to blame for your chill: your metabolism, vascular function and thyroid play major roles in keeping warm

Malaysia Calls MH370 An Accident

Malaysia on Thursday declared the crash of Flight MH370 an accident, clearing the way for victims’ relatives to proceed with compensation claims

Mehcad Brooks to Play Jimmy Olsen in Supergirl

The upcoming CBS superhero series Supergirl has cast Mehcad Brooks as young photojournalist Jimmy Olsen. The 34-year-old will be playing the love interest of the title lead, depicted by Glee star Melissa Benoist

The Ebola Virus Is Mutating, Say Scientists

Scientists at a French research institute say the Ebola virus has mutated, and they are studying whether it may have become more contagious

1 in 5 U.S. Kids Relies on Food Stamps

Twenty percent of children in the U.S. need food stamps to eat, according to federal data released on Wednesday. Data compiled by the U.S. Census shows that 16 million children in the country used food stamps in 2014 — a jump from prerecession levels

Williams, Sharapova to Meet in Australian Open Final

Top-ranked Serena Williams beat Madison Keys to set up an Australian Open final against second-seeded Maria Sharapova. Sharapova, who beat Ekaterina Makarova in an all-Russian semifinal, has lost her last 15 head-to-head matches to Williams

Penn State President: Freeh Acted Like Prosecutor in Review

Penn State’s president on Wednesday dismissed the university-commissioned review of how top administrators handled child-molestation complaints about former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky as “not useful to make decisions”

Sony and Spotify to Unveil New Music Service on PlayStation

Spotify and Sony are launching a premium music service called PlayStation Music, offering over 30 million songs to listen to in the background of a PlayStation game. It will initially only be accessible on Sony game consoles and Xperia devices

Phoenix Is Monitoring 1,000 People for Measles

Health staff in Arizona are monitoring 1,000 people, including around 200 children, who could have been exposed to measles at the Phoenix Children’s East Valley Center after a woman who visited the medical facility came down with the disease

Taylor Swift’s 1989 Heads Back to the Top

Taylor Swift’s 1989 could be topping the Billboard 200 chart again. After two weeks out of the top spot, the singer’s smash-hit album is currently sitting at No. 2, and those in the know believe it has the power to reach No. 1 for a 10th week

Inventor of the Laser Dies at 99

Charles Townes, the Nobel Prize–winning physicist credited with the invention of the laser and its predecessor — the maser — died in Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday. Townes’ health had been rapidly deteriorating, and he died on the way to the hospital

We will hold an #AskTIME subscriber Q&A this Friday, January 30, at 1 p.m., with TIME columnist, Joel Stein, who wrote this week’s cover story on his experience working with the “sharing economy” companies such as Uber, Airbnb, Lyft, RelayRides, Yerdle and others. He is the author of Man Made: A Stupid Quest For Masculinity. His other stories can be found here.

You can submit your questions beforehand on Twitter using the #AskTIME hashtag or in the comments of this post. We depend on smart, interesting questions from readers.

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