National / International News

A unemployed mother of 11 who is set to move into a £400,000, six-bedroom council house that is being built in Tewkesbury has said she may not move because of the abuse she and her family have been subjected to.

A witness heard "gunshots, screams and more shots" from Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius's home on the night girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp was shot dead, police say.

Corrosion problems on the Forth Road Bridge appear to have been resolved, according to the latest inspection reports.

Discussions are under way about transforming the Boucher Road area of south Belfast into a sporting village.

Telecoms regulator Ofcom announces the winners of its 4G mobile auction, which raises a lower-than-expected £2.34bn for the Treasury.

Packaged food makers are giving new meaning to thinking outside the box. Everyone from Campbell's to Cadbury is ditching cans, bottles, cups and containers and getting in on the pouch parade.

Pouches may reduce packaging costs, increase shelf life, or appeal to a new demographic. Its aesthetics that drove Campbell's to introduce its new "Go Soup" in pouches. The 144-year-old soup maker wanted a young, modern look for their new line, which is targeted at millennials.

The Chicago Tribune reports that across all consumer goods -- including food, toiletries, and other household items -- pouch use increased 37 percent from 2007 to 2012.

Here are just a few products squishing their way into pouches:

Campbell's Go Soup: Launched August 2012, these new flavors are supposed to appeal to twenty-somethings, but may have missed the mark.

 

StarKist Flavor Fresh Pouch: Launched in 1999, StarKist was one of the first tuna fish packagers to use pouches.

 

Yoplait Go-Gurt: Also launched in 1999, as a new yogurt to-go.

Arbor Mist frozen wine cocktails: Arbor Mist released their fruit flavored pouches starting in 2012. Pouched and boxed wines have grown in popularity recently,  even the New York Times is on board.

 

GU Energy Gel: The company started making their energy gel in 1991 as much more convenient way for athletes to get nutrients during exercise -- bite, tear, and squirt.

 

Capri Sun: One of the most famous pouches out there, Capri Sun has been distributed in the U.S. since 1981.

 

Heinz ketchup: Heinz introduced a free-standing 10-ounce ketchup pouch in 2012 as a smaller, lower-cost alternative to their standard bottles.

 

Mott's Snack & Go applesauce: Made for "families on the go," the pouch is a single serving size of applesauce that can be squeezed out through the top.

 

Cadbury Chocolate mini-fingers: Though a box is the traditional delivery method, Cadbury's now sells "snack size" pouches.

 

Ed Leigh meets up with the GB Snowboard Slopestyle team as they prepare for the 2014 Winter Olympics

A human rights charity accuses Dubai police of beating and giving electric shocks to three British men who are awaiting trial on drugs charges.

Also: Explosion rocks Kansas City; Office Depot and Office Max to merge; Jesse Jackson Jr. expected to plead guilty; NHL's Blackhawks tie record for best start.

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The housing sector has been among the economy's bright spots. The news about single-family homes is a sign that trend will continue.

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UK Prime Minister David Cameron has described one of the bloodiest massacres in British colonial history as "a deeply shameful event" on the final day of his trip to India.

David Cameron becomes the first serving UK prime minister to pay his respects at the scene of one of the bloodiest massacres in British history.

When you go out to eat at a restaurant and pay by credit card, what should you do with your receipts? Leave them on the table? Throw them away?

Paddy Hirsch, senior producer of personal finance at Marketplace, says you should always keep your customer copy. In order to further protect yourself against the rare wayward restaurant employee intent on altering your tip, follow the steps below:

1. Write your tip amount clearly and boldly on the restaurant receipt copy; this will make it more difficult to alter.

2. If you are not going to leave a tip, write "0.00"

3. If you are leaving a cash tip, write "cash"

4. Never leave the "Total" section blank.

5. If you suspect your tip amount has been altered, contact the restaurant first to ask for refund.

6. If the restaurant does not cooperate, contact your credit card company to dispute the discrepancy.

To hear more about how to protect yourself and the future of paper receipts in an increasingly digital world, click on the audio player above.

UK unemployment fell in the three months to December, while the number in work also jumped to a new record, official figures show.

5 live asked the founder of the Everyday Sexism Project why she was cataloguing incidences of sexism in everyday life.

It looks like a contractor may have hit a gas line. A strong odor convinced authorities to start evacuating people from the area. Then, shortly after 6 p.m. local time, a restaurant exploded. The force was felt blocks away.

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Richard Briers, who died on Sunday, became a household name in the 1970s in The Good Life. But how many people were inspired by the show?

Edinburgh Zoo's male panda bulks up ahead of the mating season

Bruce Willis action sequel A Good Day to Die Hard tops the UK and Ireland box office chart, despite receiving a frosty response from critics last week.

Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel sets the pace ahead of Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton during testing in Barcelona.