National / International News

The father of a 26-year-old Welsh soldier who is missing in the French Alps says he is hoping for news of his son.

Burgers containing horsemeat have been supplied to hospitals in Northern Ireland.

A man accused of killing six of his children in a house fire watched his wife have sex with another man, a court hears.

The Indian army says it killed a Pakistani soldier who strayed over the border in the disputed territory of Kashmir on Thursday.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority says it will investigate expenses claims submitted by MP Nadine Dorries.

The N-Dubz rapper is given a six-month sentence suspended for 18 months after a petrol station brawl.

The sports apparel company Under Armour is opening a new store in Baltimore Friday to test a new, lighter strategy.

The company was founded by a former football player and is known for its hard-core, performance sportswear. An early slogan of the company was, “We must protect this house,” chanted by super sweaty football types.

That strategy’s did well by the company, which currently has a market cap of over $5 billion.

“You know you listen to these presentations by the management and it’s like they’re half time rallies,” says Sean McGowan, an analyst with Needham and Company. “That’s great and it’s worked phenomenally well.”

Video of Under Armour® Protect This House

But McGowan also says that early attempts to attract more female customers could be summed up as making men’s clothes smaller and pink.

Now the new store, which also has men’s and kids' gear, is a lighter, cheerier store experience.

Chelsea Castner, a brand planner with Just Ask A Women, says brighter colors are a good start.

“If they can bring a little element of surprise to make her feel like she’s having a glamorous moment in a sweaty gym, that’s key,” she says.

It’s also key to the company’s growth prospects. Women’s sales were less than half of men’s sales last year.

Gov. Sam Brownback plans to get rid of Kansas' income tax and cut the size of state government. Some lawmakers say it's a great experiment that will show that lower tax rates and streamlined bureaucracy can stimulate growth; others are concerned about overreaching.

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The celebrated double-amputee Olympic sprinter Oscar Pistorius now faces a murder charge in the shooting death of his girlfriend in South Africa. Before this recent turn, his compelling story brought him corporate sponsors like Nike.

Now he’s the latest in a long line of athletes in legal jeopardy, moral trouble or both. Companies that sponsor athletes have an evolving playbook for dealing with incidents like these, and communications professionals give Nike high marks for its response.

Shortly after Pistorius was arrested, a Nike ad with the unfortunate slogan “I am the bullet in the chamber” disappeared from his website. Nike put out a brief statement expressing sympathy for the families and saying it won’t comment while police investigate.

“An A+ response” is how legal crisis communicator Rich Nichols, with PRO Sports Communications, describes Nike’s move. As an attorney, his clients include Marion Jones, the track athlete who lost her Olympic medals after admitting performance-enhancing drug use. Nichols says Nike is among the best at managing scandal smartly.

“That’s why they’re number one at what they do,” he says.

Nike has certainly got plenty of experience with scandal, from Lance Armstrong to Tiger Woods, to name a few. Like on the track, becoming number one is about speed.

“Sponsors are expected to have a reply much more rapidly than they were in the past,” says Steve Dittmore, a sports management professor at University of Arkansas and former communications staffer for the Olympics.

Nike’s statement was brief. The terseness of a response is key to removing the brand from the bad headlines.

“More talking equals more coverage,” says crisis PR consultant Eric Dezenhall. “So what you’re getting is very simple statements and that’s it. We’re not gonna say anything more.”

A key feature of the response at this stage, before a court’s judgment or the athlete’s admission of wrongdoing, is that the sponsor won’t criticize or support the athlete. Withholding judgment gives the company options.

If a star is rehabilitated, sponsors can continue their multimillion-dollar investment. But if things get worse, they’re still free to dump the athlete.

Mark Garrison: After Pistorius was arrested, a Nike ad with the unfortunate slogan “I am the bullet in the chamber” disappeared from his website. Nike put out a brief statement expressing sympathy for the families and saying it won’t comment while police investigate. The terseness is key to removing the brand from the bad headlines.

Eric Dezenhall: More talking equals more coverage. So what you’re getting is very simple statements and that’s it. We’re not gonna say any more.

PR crisis consultant Eric Dezenhall gives Nike high marks for its strategy and he’s not the only one.

Rich Nichols: That’s an A+ response.

Attorney Rich Nichols is with PRO Sports Communications. His clients include Marion Jones, the track athlete who lost her Olympic medals after admitting performance-enhancing drug use. Nichols says Nike has a long record of managing scandal smartly.

Nichols: Nike’s always been that way. That’s why they’re number one at what they do.

They’ve certainly got plenty of experience, from Lance Armstrong to Tiger Woods, to name a few. Like on the track, becoming number one is about speed. Steve Dittmore is a sports management professor at University of Arkansas.

Steve Dittmore: Sponsors are expected to have a reply much more rapidly than they were in the past.

Sponsors tell the athletes they’ve invested in, and the world, they’re withholding judgment. Again, Eric Dezenhall.

Dezenhall: We will neither embrace you or chastise you, but we will go into suspended animation pending the resolution of a certain situation.

That way the sponsor retains the option to keep the star if things turn out all right, or dump him if they don’t. In New York, I'm Mark Garrison, for Marketplace.

A reality TV show featuring the girlfriend of Oscar Pistorius is to be broadcast this weekend as scheduled, despite her tragic death.

"It was horrible, just horrible" said one passenger, tears welling in her eyes. Tales of hoarding and gross conditions make the five-day experience in the Gulf of Mexico sound like one very unpleasant trip.

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A meteor crashing in Russia's Ural mountains has injured at least 950 people, as the shockwave blew out windows and rocked buildings.

Police and health and safety officials are investigating the death of an elderly woman after an incident at a Stirling care home.

A British backpacker who went missing after setting out on a run in the Australian outback has been found.

Shares in the French luxury goods firm, PPR, rise to their highest level in 12 years after strong earnings, boosted by sales of Bottega Veneta handbags.

Europe-wide controls on food products are urged by a Welsh shadow minister as a farming union says it is appalled by the horsemeat scandal.

UK food suppliers respond to Downing Street criticism they failed to speak out over the horsemeat crisis, as UK-wide test results on food products are due.

A teenager who went missing 25 years ago vanished in an area of London where a paedophile ring was active, detectives reveal.

The Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has criticised a hospital trust's actions after a whistleblower broke a gagging order to raise concerns about patient safety.

Facebook says it has taken steps to prevent the identities of 13 to 17-year-olds being revealed to adults using its new search facility.