Timelapse shows snow cover Bourbon Street in New Orleans

Environment

January 21, 2025

Daniel Wine - CNN

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👋 Welcome to 5 Things PM! We’re three weeks into 2025. How are your New Year’s resolutions holding up? If you vowed to exercise more — and things aren’t going well — don’t stress! Doing this one simple thing for just five minutes a day actually makes a big difference.

Here’s what else you might have missed during your busy day:

5 things

1️⃣ Bus safety: Lawmakers across the US passed legislation that allowed school districts to introduce stop-arm cameras on school buses. One vendor said it has installed cameras on 30,000 buses in 18 states. Whether they keep students safe depends on who you ask.

2️⃣ Whirlwind weekend: The extraordinary developments involving TikTok will be one for the history books. The popular video app was banned, then restored in a matter of hours. Here’s a rundown of how we got to this point — and what could happen next.

3️⃣ On the move: Earth’s magnetic north pole is shifting, and scientists just released a new model updating its position. It’s now closer to Siberia than it was just a few years ago and is continuing to drift toward Russia.

4️⃣ ‘Aphrodisiac honey’: Customs officials in Europe warned people not to consume the illegally imported honey mixed with medicines used to treat erectile dysfunction. The drugs are restricted in countries such as France, where doctors must prescribe them.

5️⃣ Bumpy rides: Turbulence on flights is usually caused by mountains, storms or powerful jet stream currents, so it’s not surprising that rocky ranges are featured prominently on a new list of the world’s most turbulent flights.

Watch this

❄️ Snowy scene: Timelapse footage shows snowfall blanketing Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Historic amounts are falling in Louisiana, Texas and Florida as a once-in-a-generation storm hits.

Top headlines

• 24 Democratic states and cities sue over Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship
• Here’s what will get more expensive from 25% tariffs on Mexican and Canadian goods - - • Netflix is raising prices after reporting its biggest-ever subscriber jump

Check this out

🍛 Delicious dishes: As a food and travel writer, Chris Dwyer knows he has a dream job. He has eaten at some of the world’s best restaurants and shared his favorite meals — including one that cost just $2 from a tiny takeout store.

What’s buzzing

🎂 Corporate mandate: Nothing Bundt Cakes now requires stores to open for at least five hours on Sundays. Some of the whimsical bakery chain’s franchisees are furious.

Quiz time

✅ Sen. Marco Rubio became the first high-level Cabinet official approved by the US Senate. Which position does he hold?
A. Secretary of education
B. Director of national intelligence
C. Secretary of defense
D. Secretary of state
⬇️ Scroll down for the answer.

Celebrity corner

⭐ ‘We definitely didn’t fit in’: Actor Rami Malek reflected on his complicated upbringing as an Egyptian-American growing up in Southern California.

Good vibes

🧳 A big move: Austin Mullins and Jack Richards watched a lot of TV together during the pandemic. That’s how they became intrigued by the idea of buying an older property and renovating it. The couple explain why they swapped New York City for Uruguay.

Thanks for reading

👋 We’ll see you tomorrow.
🧠 Quiz answer: D. Rubio’s confirmation vote for secretary of state took place just hours after Donald Trump was sworn in as president.
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5 Things PM is produced by CNN’s Chris Good, Meghan Pryce and Kimberly Richardson.