--- description: Fuel's Paradise A majority of Americans are paying less than $2 per gallon for gas for the first time since 2009, and the ever-cheapening fuel... title: Morning Must Reads: January 24 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Morning Must Reads](/tag/morning-must-reads/) ## Morning Must Reads Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Morning Must Reads: January 24 by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 24, 2015 2:05 PM CUT  The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC. The early morning sun rises behind the US Capitol Building in Washington, DC.Mark Wilson—Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 24, 2015 2:05 PM CUT [Fuel’s Paradise](http://time.com/3681225/gas-prices-fuel-oil-gallon/ "undefined") A majority of Americans are paying less than $2 per gallon for gas for the first time since 2009, and the ever-cheapening fuel is helping put more money in consumers’ pockets and bolster the economy [NASA Finds ‘Super Earths’](http://time.com/3678418/nasa-kepler-mission-milky-way-exoplanet/ "undefined") NASA’s Kepler Mission has found many planets in the “Goldilocks zone,” where it isn’t too hot or cold for water to exist [McDonald’s CEO Asks for Time](http://time.com/3681238/mcdonalds-2014-results/ "undefined") McDonald’s CEO Don Thompson cited a litany of actions the company is taking to reverse steep declines in sales [Federal Judge Strikes Down Gay-Marriage Ban in Alabama](http://time.com/3681349/alabama-gay-marriage/ "undefined") A U.S. district judge ruled Friday in favor of two Mobile women who sued to challenge Alabama’s refusal to recognize their marriage performed in California. The judge said a state statute and 2006 amendment to the Alabama Constitution violated the U.S. Constitution [Big Storm Headed for the East Coast](http://time.com/3680079/noreaster-coming/ "undefined") A nor’easter could wreak havoc all along the East Coast this weekend, with a mix of rain and snow that will likely cause airline and traffic delays along the I-81 and I-95 corridors. Up to a foot of snow could accumulate in some locations [Obama to Cut Short India Trip to Visit Saudi Arabia](http://time.com/3681382/obama-india-saudi-arabia/ "undefined") The schedule change, announced shortly before Obama left for India, means the president will skip plans to see the Taj Mahal, and instead pay a call on an influential U.S. ally in the volatile Mideast. Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah died Friday at age 90 [An Asteroid Will Fly Close to Earth on Monday](http://time.com/3681100/nasa-asteroid-earth/ "undefined") It doesn’t sound like a close shave, but in astronomical terms, it is. An asteroid will fly within 745,000 miles of Earth on Monday, NASA said, the closest a space rock will fly to Earth until 2027 [Chicago Cubs Hall of Famer Ernie Banks Dies at 83](http://time.com/3681376/chicago-cubs-ernie-banks/ "undefined") Ernie Banks, the Hall of Fame slugger and two-time MVP who always maintained his boundless enthusiasm for baseball despite decades of playing on miserable teams, died Friday night. He was 83 [Emma Watson Launches New Anti-Sexism Initiative](http://time.com/3679969/emma-watson-heforshe-initiative-davos/ "undefined") _Harry Potter_ star and U.N. Women Global Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson unveiled the the HeForShe IMPACT initiative, a one-year pilot project geared toward advancing women by working with governments, companies and universities [Ebola Vaccines Get Tested in Liberia](http://time.com/3680429/two-ebola-vaccines-are-heading-to-trials-in-liberia/ "undefined") The long-awaited vaccine for Ebola is heading to clinical trials in Liberia. Two vaccines, with the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) support, will start efficacy testing in Liberia in the beginning of February [SkyMall Files for Bankruptcy](http://time.com/3680482/skymall-bankruptcy/ "undefined") The parent company of in-flight shopping catalog SkyMall has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, citing an increased prevalence of mobile devices on planes as the primary reason for the company’s flagging sales [Apple Store Chief Gets the Big Bucks](http://time.com/3680242/apple-watch-store-angela-ahrendts/ "undefined") How much does Apple care about its retail stores? Enough to pay more than $70 million to the woman heading them up, making her the highest-paid exec at the company. Angela Ahrendts earned $73.4 million in 2014, almost all of it in stock awards [_Get_ ](http://time.com/politicsemail "undefined")[TIME](http://time.com/politicsemail "undefined")[_’s_ ](http://time.com/politicsemail "undefined")[_The Brief e-mail every morning in your inbox_](http://time.com/politicsemail "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3681390/morning-must-reads-january-24/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3681390/morning-must-reads-january-24/"},"headline":"Morning Must Reads: January 24","datePublished":"2015-01-24T14:05:33.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T03:51:00.341Z","description":"Fuel's Paradise A majority of Americans are paying less than $2 per gallon for gas for the first time since 2009, and the ever-cheapening fuel...","url":"https://time.com/3681390/morning-must-reads-january-24/","keywords":["Morning Must Reads","NASA","Obama","storm","Saudi Arabia","asteroid","Gas","Fuel"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb24c27fcf0ec0da8/6986837dcd6848a30809364f/morning-must-reads1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Morning Must Reads","caption":"Capitol","creditText":"Mark Wilson—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/morning-must-reads/","name":"Morning Must Reads"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3681390/morning-must-reads-january-24/","name":"Morning Must Reads: January 24"}}]}] ```