National / International News

The diseases killing more than 150,000 Britons a year

Glasgow stand-off Duncan Weir makes his first start for Scotland in Saturday's Six Nations match against Wales.

A two-year-old was among at least 250 children in the UK helped last year by a unit which tackles forced marriages, a report finds.

Also: Alice B. Toklas' fudge recipe; a fireproof edition of Fahrenheit 451; and a Milton scholar on ghostwriting the Sweet Valley High series.

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From toxic infant formula to the widespread use of gutter oil in local restaurants, the Chinese have little confidence in their government’s ability to make sure their food is safe.

Shaun Rein, author of The End of Cheap China, says creating a "super agency" is essential to restore consumer confidence and address the current risks.

"Otherwise, the government is going to face severe social instability and dissatisfaction in the coming five years," says Rein. "People have the money, they have the education, and they’re no longer willing to accept it."

More and more middle class Chinese are buying imported milk formula, imported vaccinations for their kids, and imported food -- good news for American companies exporting food to China, but not so much for domestic companies.

Rein says a new Chinese equivalent to the FDA comes partly in response to falling revenue for domestic brands.

 

 

The financial ombudsman service is taking on 2,000 new cases a day following PPI complaints, with numbers rising at "unprecedented" rates.

The UK's most senior judge warns that the legal profession will be "troubled" by aspects of plans to allow courts to examine secret intelligence in private.

Two former chiefs of Afghanistan's Kabul Bank are sentenced to five years in jail for the multi-million dollar fraud that almost led to its collapse in 2010.

Teen pop idol Justin Bieber angers parents by emerging onstage for a concert at London's O2 Arena almost two hours late.

Scottish ministers say targets on keeping up police officer numbers are being exceeded, despite a small drop at the end of last year.

Why MPs sometimes vote both yes and no on big issues

Last November, a man went online and posted a blunt query: "Why are there so few lady game creators?" The question quickly spawned an international response under the Twitter hashtag #1reasonwhy.

"One reason why" there are so few women game creators? Well, just the other day there was a post about a 7-year-old girl in Philadelphia who created a mobile game app, but organizers asked her to prove it was her work after assuming her brother did it. She proved it no problem, but would a boy have been asked?

"I was contributing to the 1reasonwhy hashtag with some of my industry experiences, and as I typed away and hit 'tweet', I suddenly thought who are we helping with this?" says veteran video game writer Rhianna Pratchett, who just finished an overhaul of the 'Tomb Raider' game where she set out to bring depth to the famous protagonist, Lara Croft.

Pratchett worried about hashtag horror stories scaring off people who might want to break into her industry, so she started a supplemental discussion, hashtag #1reasontobe, with reasons for women to be in the video gaming industry.

Though Pratchett says her personal experience with sexism at work has been limited, she notes that there's video game developers may need an attitude adjustment.

To hear Prachett's "reasons to be", click on the audio player above. And tell us, do you work in the tech world? Could you distill the issues facing women in your industry into one tweet or one hashtag? Tell us in a comment below. 

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl talks to Newsnight about his documentary, Sound City.

A barber silenced by Cornwall Council for using a loud hailer to warn drivers about traffic wardens asks other shop keepers to use whistles for alerts.

FBI records detailing investigations into threats made against the late singer, including letters from obsessed fans and an alleged $250,000 extortion attempt, are released.

Europe’s Herschel space telescope, which has helped transform our understanding of star birth and galaxy evolution, is expected to cease operations this month.

England captain Alastair Cook insists he has faith in fellow opener Nick Compton going into the first Test against New Zealand.

European investigators say Singapore has become a centre for the illegal fixing of football match results around the world

The sequestration may cause more disruptions than just delayed refund checks at the Internal Revenue System. The budget cuts could give an edge to tax evaders and cheats, who already cost the government billions of dollars each year. If workers are furloughed, the IRS would have fewer eyeballs to scour tax returns.

“I can’t recommend that anyone try to get a fraudulent return through, but if you were trying to get one through, this might be the year to do it,” says Dan Hood, editor-in-chief of TaxPro Today magazine. As hard as it might be, Hood suggests, the IRS perhaps deserves an exemption from the public's scorn this year.

“No one has any sympathy for the IRS, but they really do have an incredibly full plate this year,” Hood says.

Even before the newest round of budget cuts, the IRS was already down staff and resources.

Richard Cebula, who teaches finance at Jacksonville University’s Davis College of Business, says the shaky job market could mean more temptation for taxpayers to sequester some of their own income from their tax return.

“What happens is people become more desperate, they worry about their job security, and they try to find ways in cutting corners. Including the corner that turns in the direction of the Internal Revenue Service,” Cebula says. Still, Cebula estimates that about 10 percent of taxable income will go unreported this year, the same as last year.

The IRS has a message for potential tax evaders: It expects to hold off on any furloughs until summer -- after income-tax returns have been processed.

German drug maker Bayer says it will challenge India's decision to allow the production of a cheaper generic copy of a patented cancer drug.