National / International News

Batches of Waitrose beef meatballs withdrawn from shelves for containing pork were made at a factory in Glasgow.

Lord Justice Goldring is appointed coroner to the new inquests into the deaths of the 96 victims of the 1989 Hillsborough disaster.

As investigators work to determine whether the charred body inside a California mountain cabin is that of former Los Angeles police officer Christopher Jordan Dorner, dramatic reports are emerging about what authorities hope were the last hours of the massive manhunt for the accused killer.

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An exams body raises concerns that the situation which led to the re-grading of more than 2,000 English language GCSE papers in Wales last year could arise again.

The director of meat firm raided by the Food Standards Agency says he has not been ordered to suspend operations at his company by the organisation.

Anoushka Shankar, musician and daughter of Indian sitar legend Ravi Shankar, says she was sexually abused as a child, in a video for a campaign to end violence against women.

A painkiller that increases the risk of heart attack and stroke is being overprescribed, say researchers.

Nine schoolchildren are in hospital in the South African city of Johannesburg after being hit by lightning in two separate incidents, officials say.

A sat-nav system that can pinpoint a car's location to within two metres is being developed in Spain.

Sixty-eight years ago today, British and American Air Forces dropped more than 2,600 tonnes of high-explosive bombs on the German town of Dresden.

In last night's State of the Union address, President Obama declared he wants to make pre-school available to every child in America:

"Every dollar we invest in high quality early-childhood education, can save more than $7 later on -- by boosting graduation rates, reducing teen pregnancy, even reducing violent crime."

Marketplace's education reporter Amy Scott shares her thoughts on universal pre-school access, high-school funding, and Obama's plans for higher education.

 

In last night's State of the Union address, President Obama proposed a new trade deal with Europe:

"Tonight I am announcing that we will launch talks on a comprehensive transatlantic partnership with the European Union."

Marketplace's Europe bureau chief Stephen Beard breaks down the specifics of the deal, gauges EU reaction, and explains the obstacles ahead.
 

 

An investigation into a chair-lift accident at the Lecht Ski Centre that left six people - including five children - in hospital and 30 needing rescued gets under way.

It has emerges that people in Belfast are waiting 45 weeks to see an ear, nose and throat consultant.

Sales of mobile phones declined by nearly 2% in 2012, a study suggests.

From climate change to the federal deficit, President Barack Obama covered a lot of ground in his State of the Union address Tuesday night. But he got very specific when addressing minimum wage.

“Tonight, let’s declare that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty, and raise the federal minimum wage to $9.00 an hour,” he said.

The $1.75 raise from the current hourly rate would affect about 15 million people, according to the White House. Additionally, President Obama wants to tie the minimum wage to the cost of living.

That’s the part of his speech that struck Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute.

“Minimum workers are one group of people in this country who literally have to wait for an act of Congress to get a raise,” she says.

She adds that by making future increases automatic, the government could take a “fix it and forget it” approach that would benefit that entire economy, because when people have more money in their pockets, they spend more.

But there are two sides to this argument.

Unemployment is still hovering around 8 percent. That shows companies have been slow to bring on new workers.

“You have to worry about whether firms are close to the margin of letting workers go anyway,” says Hoyt Bleakley, a professor at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. “It’s going to be hard to encourage them to hire people if what we’re doing is cranking up what they’re required to pay workers.”

He says companies may decide that workers who are worth $7.25 per hour now might not be worth $9.00 an hour.

But Paul Sonn, the legal co-director of the National Employment Law Project, says the President is following the lead of many states legislatures.

“Since the recession, there’s been a surge activity in the states [around minimum wage],” Sonn says.

Nineteen states have minimum wage requirements that are higher than the federal rate. Washington State is the tops the list at $9.19 an hour.

From climate change to the federal deficit, President Barack Obama covered a lot of ground in his State of the Union address Tuesday night. But he got very specific when addressing minimum wage.

“Tonight, let’s declare that in the wealthiest nation on Earth, no one who works full-time should have to live in poverty, and raise the federal minimum wage to $9.00 an hour,” he said.

The $1.75 raise from the current hourly rate would affect about 15 million people, according to the White House. Additionally, President Obama wants to tie the minimum wage to the cost of living.

That’s the part of his speech that struck Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute.

“Minimum workers are one group of people in this country who literally have to wait for an act of Congress to get a raise,” she says.

She adds that by making future increases automatic, the government could take a “fix it and forget it” approach that would benefit that entire economy, because when people have more money in their pockets, they spend more.

But there are two sides to this argument.

Unemployment is still hovering around 8 percent. That shows companies have been slow to bring on new workers.

“You have to worry about whether firms are close to the margin of letting workers go anyway,” says Hoyt Bleakley, a professor at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. “It’s going to be hard to encourage them to hire people if what we’re doing is cranking up what they’re required to pay workers.”

He says companies may decide that workers who are worth $7.25 per hour now might not be worth $9.00 an hour.

But Paul Sonn, the legal co-director of the National Employment Law Project, says the President is following the lead of many states legislatures.

“Since the recession, there’s been a surge activity in the states [around minimum wage],” Sonn says.

Nineteen states have minimum wage requirements that are higher than the federal rate. Washington State is the tops the list at $9.19 an hour.

US police say charred remains have been found in the rubble of a burnt-down cabin where murder suspect Christophe Dorner had been hiding.

Apple boss Tim Cook calls a lawsuit brought by shareholder David Einhorn over what to do with the computer giant's cash pile a "silly sideshow".

Two people are arrested on suspicion of murdering a man found shot in a street in Dartford.