National / International News

The U.S is using and spewing less carbon these days. Chalk it up to better car mileage, energy efficiency, and the fracking boom. We burn more natural gas for electricity, and less dirty coal.

"However, that is still pretty much a U.S. phenomenon," says Markus Wrake with the International Energy Agency.

The IEA’s new report shows that globally, the carbon inside every unit of energy produced is virtually unchanged from 20 years ago. One reason: The natural gas revolution has yet to go global.

"Whereas we in the United States do see a lot of coal to gas switching, in fact in Europe we see a lot of the opposite," says Wrake.

Coal use in Europe has gone up lately, as well as emerging economies, like China and India.

"It’s safe to say that energy demand is growing fastest in the countries that can least afford renewables," says Kevin Book with Clear View Energy. "So what they are using primarily is coal."

The IEA says without more action, global temperatures are on track to rise at least two degrees Celsius.

 

Aston Villa captain Stiliyan Petrov says he is lucky to be alive after his first year of leukaemia treatment.

Known for his succinct style on the air, the broadcaster was teamed with the exuberant Madden for years on CBS and Fox. He was also the voice of the Masters golf tournament and U.S. Open tennis. Summerall died Tuesday. He was 82.

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Funeral of former UK PM Baroness Thatcher

A pregnant woman who fell to her death on the day her three children were found dead was sometimes overwhelmed by life, her family say.

A woman dies, a 16-year-old girl is critically injured and four others are hurt in a house fire in Birmingham.

Bank of America said this morning that its profit quadrupled last quarter compared with a year ago, though that was below expectations. Toymaker Mattel also reported a quadrupling of profit last quarter, helped in part by cost cutting.

David Kelly, chief global strategist with JP Morgan Funds, joins Marketplace Morning Report host Jeremy Hobson to explain what's got profits up.

A mother who was jailed for life for murdering her toddler son has had her conviction quashed on appeal.

BMW is to begin building the Mini in India, in a move that suggests confidence in the country's emerging car market.

Brazil allows 900 Haitian migrants to stay in the country as pressure grows on two towns at the centre of an influx of immigrants.

A scientist who faked research data for experimental anti-cancer drugs is the first person in the UK to be jailed under scientific safety laws.

Ivory Coast asks the UN for drones to monitor its border with Liberia, as the number of military personnel in the region are reduced.

A targeted MMR vaccination campaign starts among more than 2,000 pupils at five comprehensives in Swansea and Neath Port Talbot.

Africans abroad send back more money to Africa than aid donors

A proposal to have the union flag fly over the cenotaph in the grounds of Belfast City Hall is set to be rejected.

Pakistan sends troops to help its citizens affected by a deadly 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck just over the border in Iran.

Gold prices are down again this morning, after falling by more than 10 percent since Friday -- its biggest drop in 30 years. Oil prices are also lower.

But how do these drops in commodity prices affect your wallet?

Marketplace's Senior Producer of personal finance Paddy Hirsch joins Morning Report Host Jeremy Hobson to explain.

 

Also: Shakespeare's favorite month; Edith Wharton's birthplace is now a Starbucks; book cover designers on jacket art.

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Britain's biggest retailer, the supermarket Tesco, has announced its first drop in profit in 20 years -- and its U.S. business expansion may be partly to blame. Tesco, which owns the grocery store chain Fresh & Easy, has announced that it will close down its 199 locations and exit the U.S. market.

Marketplace's Stephen Beard in London joins Morning Report host Jeremy Hobson to explain why the company struggled to make it in America.

Patients having some operations are being asked if they would prefer to be awake and watch a film, with Dirty Dancing proving popular.