National / International News

More women than men said they felt very tired or exhausted most days or every day when government surveyors asked them. Overall, about 15 percent of women said they were worn out compared with 10 percent of the men.

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More women than men said they felt very tired or exhausted most days or every day when government surveyors asked them. Overall, about 15 percent of women said they were worn out compared with 10 percent of the men.

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Radio 1 had an issue: Should its Official Chart show play the song, or would that be too tasteless since it was pushed to the top of the charts by critics of Margaret Thatcher? Those who didn't admire the Iron Lady have used the song to make their voices heard.

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Long-standing problems have held back improvements in services at Blaenau Gwent council, the public spending watchdog says.

The judge says the severance would violate a federal code aimed at reining in large payouts to departing CEOs of bankrupt companies.

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Sex education in schools is at risk of being "watered down" if proposed changes to England's science curriculum go ahead, experts have warned.

The by-election in South Shields to replace former Foreign Secretary David Miliband will take place on 2 May, Labour sources confirm.

The rapid rise of the British firm behind goal-line technology

Web and phone games aimed at children that charge for extras are being investigated by the Office of Fair Trading

To buy or not to buy?

The leap into homeownership is always a big decision. But buying now, post-housing crisis, can be especially challenging -- especially for lower-income buyers.

“Everyone’s looking to apply for a mortgage,” says Chris Gilliam, a counselor with Beyond Housing, a Saint Louis nonprofit, which does community development and runs home-buyer education classes.

Gilliam stands in front of roughly two-dozen potential homeowners on a recent Saturday morning.

“Credit will be evaluated,” he tells them. “They’re looking at more things than they used to. They’re going to look at your bank statements.”

Some workshop attendees know they’re going to buy and are here to qualify for down-payment assistance. Katherine Estrada, a vet technician, is not so sure.

“When I was younger, we had a great house,” she says. “But unfortunately, you know, things fell through. My father lost his job, he was injured.”

Her family was foreclosed on in 1998, and spent a long time bumping from family member to family member, rental to rental. Now, Estrada is 22 and out on her own. She’s looking for some stability -- and a good investment.

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while, since everyone’s like, ‘Foreclosures! Property, this, property that,’” she says. “But it’s like if I get in a house and three years later, if I need a new roof, I’m not going to be a situation where I have to get another loan out to pay for something.”

It’s a position echoed by many here: on the one hand, there’s this fear of missing out on low interest rates and low housing prices. But on the other, there’s caution.

“Fear and trepidation about foreclosure is higher than it’s been in the past,” says Beyond Housing CEO Chris Krehmeyer, while driving through some affordable neighborhoods where the organization builds and rents homes. “We think that’s a good thing. We want people to go into this eyes wide open.”

He stops on short on a dead-end street, in front of a new brick home with beige siding that’s been on the market for over a year. “From a sheer what-you-can-buy-for-what-you-can-afford [perspective], the house itself is a great value,” he says. “However, when you think about the neighborhood and the community, is this the place that you think is the best investment possible for you?”  The house next to it is vacant, boarded up with rotting plywood. A few houses down, there’s what Krehmeyer figures is a fresh eviction; a former tenant’s belongings are piled on the front lawn.

Krehmeyer wants people to buy here, because homeowners who are literally invested in a neighborhood can help stabilize it. But he also knows that some of the best deals right now can be risky investments. It’s difficult for a potential homebuyer to know whether that nice brick home will retain its value. And will that value increase over time? It’s hard to predict what will happen to a neighborhood in five or ten years.

Plus, money that’s tied up in a house can’t be invested in other places.

“Historically, the stock market has outperformed the housing market in terms of an investment,” says Ray Boshara, a senior advisor with the Federal Reserve Bank of Saint Louis. “Many people even think it’s wrong to think of home-ownership as an investment given the risk.”

Boshara says low-income buyers need to build up savings and other investments; they shouldn’t let all their money get tied up in a house. But homeownership does have its advantages.

“There are tax subsidies to support homeownership for a big part of the population,” he says. “And there’s other evidence that when people own homes, there’s other outcomes associated with that, like saving and investing. Your kids are more likely to go to college.”

While homeowners with mortgages do pay interest, their monthly payments can become a form of automatic investing -- they’re less likely to skip a mortgage payment than other kinds of saving during a tough month.

“It’s a forced savings plan,” explains Boshara. “It requires you, by making that mortgage payment, to put money into your house.”

Ultimately, the decision to buy is part economics, part emotion.

“I just want to leave my kids something,” says home health-aid Coretta Johnson. “I want to have something in my life that I can said I accomplished and I did. And so as of right now, I can’t say that. I can’t say that I can leave them anything.”

Johnson already works seven days a week, but she wants to pick up some night shifts to pay down a few thousand dollars in credit card debt. She hopes that will help her qualify for a loan under the new, tighter standards.

“I have to do this,” she says.

Plans to change England's national curriculum are being rushed in and could create chaos, head teachers are warning.

Matilda the Musical has been praised by critics for its "marvellous" opening night on Broadway in New York.

The measles epidemic centred on Swansea is not expected to peak for another four weeks, as officials warn that too few children are being vaccinated.

The package addressed to the controversial Arizona lawman was safely destroyed. Tests for explosive residue confirmed it contained black powder, authorities say.

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A court in Burma sentences three Muslims to 14 years in jail for their role in communal violence that has left more than 40 dead.

Farmers' leaders write an open letter to ministers appealing again for financial aid following March's blizzards.

The good news: Inflation remains in check. The bad news: Consumers were less willing to spend last month.

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A police officer who reportedly wrote on Twitter that he hoped Baroness Thatcher's death was "painful and degrading" resigns.

The issue of whether Radio 1 should play a song at the centre of an anti-Margaret Thatcher campaign on this week's Official Chart Show is dividing opinions in the media and beyond.

France's upper house of parliament votes to legalise gay marriage, meaning the bill will become law after a final vote in the lower house, due in May.