National / International News

Scotland coach Scott Johnson dismisses his side's poor record away to England and challenges his players to make history.

A school for pupils with special needs in Newtownabbey, County Antrim, has been closed for a week following the discovery of a bacterium which can cause Legionnaires' disease.

A new study looking at mass shootings in 25 states found that high-capacity magazines and assault weapons make shootings 54 percent deadlier.

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The pound weakens further against the euro, seeing its biggest one-day falls in almost three years, on continuing signs the eurozone economy is improving.

Hillary Clinton has addressed state department employees on her last day as America's top diplomat.

The head of the campaign for the Union says an independent Scotland would clearly have to apply to become a member of the European Union.

Guacamole Fresh is up for an Academy Award later this month. The extremely short animated film is a charming stop-motion take on the beloved Mexican dish. The twist? See the ingredients.

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When it comes to football players suffering brain injuries, many NFL fans seem to have moved past denial, the first stage of coping with a terrible reality. It's followed by anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance.

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More than 150 nightclubs, restaurants and bars in Brazil are declared unsafe and closed by authorities, following a fire that killed 236 people.

Universal benefits for pensioners will be protected for almost a year after the 2015 general election, Downing Street says.

West Ham co-owner David Sullivan alleges he and a player were threatened by an agent during the transfer window.

Google agrees to set up a fund to help French media to solve a row with news sites that demanded payment for the search giant to display their links.

The Labor Department released its latest jobs numbers today -- 157,000 jobs created in January, with an uptick of 0.1 percent in the overall unemployment rate to 7.9 percent. It follows the trend we've seen in the unemployment reports for the last few months -- good, but not spectacular job growth across the country. Some positive news came in the form of the jobs numbers from November and December, which were revised upward.

"I think there's a lot to be taken, that's positive, from the number today," said Fortune magazine's Leigh Gallagher. "Specifically the number of the long-term unemployed is going down quite dramatically, and that's a very important factor."

"It's a steady move in the right direction," said Reuters' Felix Salmon. "But it's going to take a very, very long time before we hit that 6.5 percent target that the Fed has. We all wish it would be faster, and frankly, given how successful all of corporate America is -- as you can see from the stock market -- wouldn't it be nice if they started hiring people with some of those profits?"

Salmon referenced the five-year high the Dow reached today -- closing above 14,000 -- but warned: "The Dow is a completely meaningless average. It's not even an index; it's an anachronism -- and the fact that anyone pays any attention to it just never ceases to astonish me."

"I think there is meaning," countered Gallagher. "But I will say this -- this is something that not everyone is partaking in. We are still living in a country that is a tale of two markets, economies, people, classes, everything."

And we asked them to give us some suggestions for some weekend reading:

Gallagher recommended :

• A fascinating look at how the NRA evolved from a marksmanship group to a mighty lobbying organization.
• The evolving relationship between the Republican Party and big business.
• Fortune's Jessi Hempel on Blackberry's Hail Mary pass.

Salmon's choices:

• Liaquat Ahamed's exit interview with Tim Geithner.
• Chip Brown on the North Dakota oil boom.
• Paul Barrett: Will brain industry lawsuits doom (or save) the NFL?

In a letter to President Obama, Clinton said she was "more convinced than ever" that the U.S. could be a force for good.

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Not up to speed about the big game between the 49ers and Ravens? We've got a few bits of "wisdom" that could help you get through the game.

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Africa Cup of Nations organisers say 43,000 tickets remain unsold for the two semi-finals, in Durban and Nelspruit.

Prime Minister David Cameron tells a UN meeting in Liberia that "eradicating extreme poverty" must be the focus of a new set of international development goals.

The former headteacher of a private girls boarding school in Denbigh tells a tribunal that he was the victim of an unfair campaign to dismiss him.

The fight over the Second Amendment could cost Pennsylvania businesses more than $40 million in lost revenue thanks to the postponement of one of the nation's largest hunting and fishing shows. Event organizers had banned the display of legal assault weapons, leading several vendors to boycott it.

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Former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown will not seek the Republican nomination for Senate in a special election to replace Sen. John Kerry, the Democrat who on Friday becomes secretary of state. The decision leaves Republicans scrambling to find a competitive candidate in the deep blue state.

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