Luke Vargas

Life expectancy in the U.S.

reached a record high in 2024, with Americans now living 79 years on average.

That follows the largest year-to-year drop in deaths stemming from drug overdoses, with the National Center for Health Statistics saying they decreased by more than 26 percent between 2023 and 2024.

The increase in life expectancy signals a rebound from declines during the coronavirus pandemic and progress in tackling the opioid crisis.

And finally, enthusiasm for GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Wegovi and Ozempic isn't letting up.

Nearly one in five Americans have now tried them amid a marketing push pitching them as lifestyle fixes.

But journal health columnist Sumathi Reddy says that obesity doctors and researchers find that messaging problematic, as new research confirms that the drugs were designed to be lifelong treatments.

And to read more about what happens when you stop taking GLP-1s, check out the link we've left in our show notes.

And that's it for What's News for this Thursday morning.

Today's show was produced by Daniel Bach and Hattie Moyer.

Our supervising producer was Sandra Kilhoff.

And I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal.

We will be back tonight with a new show.

And until then, thanks for listening.

Here is your morning brief for Wednesday, January 28th.

I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal.

Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar was sprayed with an unknown substance at a town hall meeting in Minnesota last night.

Police booked the suspect behind the incident on suspicion of third-degree assault.

Omar, who gained attention as a member of the progressive squad of Democratic lawmakers, has frequently drawn the ire of President Trump, who on Monday said that the DOJ and Congress were looking at her and suggesting she had profited from Minnesota's massive welfare fraud scandal.

Responding to those comments, Omar told the journal that Trump had an unhealthy and disturbing obsession with her and the Somali community, and that in spite of him calling for investigations against her for years, quote, they have found nothing.