National / International News

Apple's chief executive Tim Cook acknowledges shareholder unease over the technology giant's falling share price, but says the company is working on a pipeline of "great stuff".

Chelsea will play Manchester United in the FA Cup quarter-finals after a comfortable victory over Middlesbrough.

Dreadlocks have become so popular in South Africa that thieves are now snatching them from people's heads and selling them for a profit.

Think about your favorite foods. About how they taste and how they make you feel. A lot of the foods we crave -- and we use that word intentionally -- are so good because of three main ingredients: Salt, sugar and fat.

When mixed in just the right amounts, they're an almost irresistible combination. And the food industry knows it.

"Salt, Sugar, Fat" is also the title of Michael Moss's new book about how food companies keep us coming back for more. They've built a sophisticated system, from food engineers looking for the exact combination of flavors to inspire the deepest craving, to marketing departments that coach kids to beg parents for Lunchables and sugary snacks.

One of the tricks of the trade? Vanishing caloric density. "If you can fool people into a product that melts in their mouth, their brain is less apt to detect that there's a ton of calories in there."

But Moss says it's not quite as black and white as "healthy" or "unhealthy." Food companies may have goals to provide healthy food, but they're also sensitive to what shoppers are putting in their carts. And there's financial pressure. "Every time the companies cut back a bit, Wall Street is there, watching the sales, watching the profits, urging the companies to go back to salt, sugar, fat. And they do."

As for his own favorite tastes? Moss says he usually craves salty and fat-filled treats.

A former Lib Dem activist is to meet police over what she describes as a "very serious" incident involving former party chief executive, Lord Rennard.

Class-action lawsuits accuse Anheuser-Busch of watering down Budweiser and other beers and then misleading consumers about their alcohol content. The company denies the claims; in tests commissioned by NPR, samples of Budweiser were found to be in line with their advertised alcohol content.

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Class-action lawsuits accuse Anheuser-Busch of watering down Budweiser and other beers and then misleading consumers about their alcohol content. The company denies the claims; in tests commissioned by NPR, samples of Budweiser were found to be in line with their advertised alcohol content.

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Marissa Mayer's decision to ban working from home at Yahoo has sparked a debate about the effectiveness of teleworking. NPR's Steve Henn, who works a fragmented schedule from his Silicon Valley home, says research on what works is mixed, but success largely depends on the job and whom you're collaborating with.

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Lawsuits filed in several federal courts allege Anheuser-Busch waters down Budweiser and other beers and then misrepresents their final alcohol content. The brewer says the claims have no merit. Here's a twist: Industry insiders tell us water does get added to beer before it's packaged.

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While many Republicans are actively looking for ways to expand the party by reaching out to a wider audience, the conservative Club for Growth is looking for ways to rid the party of those it believes have strayed too far. And it has a new website to target what it calls "Republicans In Name Only."

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Autistic children may find it easier to socialize with other people in the presence of animals. An Australian study suggests that animals could help autistic children connect with therapists, teachers and their peers.

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Most public schools are unlikely to feel the effects of the sequester before September. But educators and administrators nationwide are worried they may be forced to cut Head Start enrollment, after-school programs, reading coaches and even teachers when those budget reductions hit.

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The victory of the candidate backed by Michael Bloomberg's anti-gun superPAC in an Illinois primary was more than just another achievement on the gun control front. It was one more win in Bloomberg's unique assault on what he views as the public health problems of our time.

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Michael Higdon's 19th goal of the season sinks Celtic at Fir Park and moves Motherwell back into second place in the SPL.

Elba Esther Gordillo, president of the influential teachers union, was denied bail. She stands accused of embezzling $160 million of union funds.

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There's some new data out today from Brandeis University on the racial wealth gap in this country. It has tripled in the past 25 years. Whites getting richer, African-Americans not. The study's ongoing -- the same set of families, black and white; 25 years of research into total wealth, not just paychecks.

Tom Shapiro did the analysis, which points to housing as a huge factor, how where you live affects how much wealth you have.

"As homes are bought a little lower down in the socioeconomic ladder, housing wealth does grow," Shapiro said. "But the point is it doesn't grow nearly as much or as fast."

When Shapiro first started the study in 1984, the total wealth gap between blacks and whites was $85,000. In 2009, that gap had tripled to $236,500.

"For a typical white family, a $1 increase in average income over the 25 years returns about $5 of wealth," Shapiro said. "For that same typical African-American family -- that same $1 average increase in income -- returns only 69 cents in wealth...Part of the equation there is that that typical African-American family has less wealth to start out with than the typical white family."

Shapiro said data show that the wealth in the African-American community has gone up tremendously over the past 25 years, but "we need to keep growing in a way that bring the African-American, or the communities of color, line closer -- that is, put it on the same trajectory of growth and prosperity as that of the white wealth growth line."

And if we don't, Shapiro said, "I fear. I know what toxic inequality looks like. Shared economic prosperity needs to be spread much more broadly for the United States to compete globally as an economy."

The predetermined nature of the coming budget crisis known as sequestration is part of a long tradition of using countdowns as a way to manage chaos.

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Seven councils withdraw certain meat products from schools and care homes amid fears of horsemeat contamination.

The US Supreme Court hears an Alabama county's challenge to a landmark 1965 voting rights law.

Italian comedian-turned-politician Beppe Grillo, whose movement holds the balance of power in parliament, rules out a coalition with the centre-left.