National / International News

Car giant Toyota says it is creating 70 jobs at its engine plant in Flintshire to meet an increase in demand.

Fresh violence erupts in northern Bangladesh a day after a senior Islamist party leader was sentenced to death by a special war crimes tribunal.

A new record is set by the number of people offering to be volunteers at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Children's charities are warning that more young people are self-harming and that younger children are being affected.

Abuses connected with undercover police activities show that an urgent review is needed of laws covering such work in England and Wales, MPs have said.

JC Penney's new CEO came in with a bold strategy: No more sales or coupons. It didn't work.

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The case before the court tests the constitutionality of a California referendum, narrowly passed by voters in 2008, that reinstituted a ban on gay marriage. The U.S. is calling on the court to declare the California law unconstitutional, a violation of the principle of equal protection.

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The military has to pack up more than 11 years worth of equipment and send it home. The number of containers to move is in the six figures, and some question whether everything can be shipped out by the end of 2014.

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Yahoo's telecommuting ban may be just what that company needs in a time of crisis. But some stay-at-home workers resent the implication that they are slacking off when the boss can't see them. Should society resurrect all the barriers between work and home?

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Sally Marlow, a researcher in alcohol addiction at King's College London, examines the challenge of tackling alcohol abuse - and how it can best be understood.

Getting enough sleep is as crucial as eating well and exercising. But with family life spinning faster and faster, solid shut-eye is sometimes hard to come by. That can hurt kids' health — and increase their weight.

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When it comes to pollinating our favorite crops — from coffee to watermelon — honeybees can't do it alone. Wild bees in the field play a critical role in creating bumper crops, a massive new study reports. But these bees are disappearing, and scientists say the rise of crop monocultures is partly to blame.

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Getting enough sleep is as crucial as eating well and exercising. But with family life spinning faster and faster, solid shut-eye is sometimes hard to come by. That can hurt kids' health — and increase their weight.

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When it comes to pollinating our favorite crops — from coffee to watermelon — honeybees can't do it alone. Wild bees in the field play a critical role in creating bumper crops, a massive new study reports. But these bees are disappearing, and scientists say the rise of crop monocultures is partly to blame.

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Householders speak of their anger after receiving a "rainforest" of leaflets in the run up to the Eastleigh by-election.

A railway line in South Yorkshire which was closed after a landslip is not likely to reopen until the summer, it is announced.

We've been exploring the housing market in cities across the U.S. This week, we turn our attention to Houston. There are very few areas around the country, growing as fast as Houston. In fact, the city was recently named "healthiest housing market for 2013" by Trulia. Thai Klam is a broker for RE/MAX 360 in Houston and joins us to discuss the Texas city's real estaste market.

"The economic landscape of Houston is really diverse. We have financial sectors along with the things that you think about -- oil, gas and the port of Houston. We have tons of jobs relocating here," says Klam. "If you're looking for purchasing homes in the Houston area, inventory's scarce as it is across the nation. We have such a diverse housing market that has been completely booming with the lack of new construction and pent-up demands to buy. So you're seeing a lot of rental properties coming up. You're seeing a lot of new apartment complexes being developed to accommodate the buying pool that is unable to buy. Currently right now it's a seller's market. It's shifted like that within the past, I'd probably say, 12 months. Buyers have to be educated in expectation to either submit a full-price offer or compete against other buyers that are possibly out there," says Klam.

Klam says the average price of a home is about $172,000 right now. He says at this time last year, the same home might have cost around $160,000. That's about an 8 percent appreciation over a year.

"You've got several types of buyer pools that are out there. You've have the Generation X and Y, and the Millennials coming to the market. That's about 84 million consumers altogether. And then the Baby Boomers, you're seeing a lot of downsizing as well," says Klam.

As for the outlying areas of Houston, Klam says you might be surprised to find that there's not much inventory that's out there.

Growing up in 1960s Nebraska, Linda Hernandez and her sister were among the few Latino students in town. When it was time to take the SAT, their guidance counselor told them not to bother. She told them that "all we would do is have babies," Linda says.

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Growing up in 1960s Nebraska, Linda Hernandez and her sister were among the few Latino students in town. When it was time to take the SAT, their guidance counselor told them not to bother. She told them that "all we would do is have babies," Linda says.

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Europe's most famous active volcano Mount Etna has been erupting, sending plumes of ash into the air.