National / International News

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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American singer Marie Osmond performs her 1970s hit single Paper Roses for a specially-invited group of 500 Kilmarnock football fans.

The first two contracts have been awarded for England's new school building programme.

The substance found on hundreds of seabirds washed up on the south coast is a "mixture of refined mineral oils", the Environment Agency says.

A suicide bomber attacks an entrance of the US embassy in the Turkish capital, Ankara, killing a security guard, officials say.

When U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice's name was floated as a potential Secretary of State, there was quite a bit of hand wringing in Washington. It appears, now, at least some of it was probably for naught.

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A 76-year-old man who bludgeoned his wife to death with a garden gnome is jailed for four years.

Male artists dominate a listeners' poll to find BBC Radio 6 Music's top 100 tracks of the past 10 years, with Coldplay's Clocks at number one.

Sir Alex Ferguson denies a Football Association charge over comments he made about an official after a game at Tottenham.

The iconic black cabs of London got a lift Friday when a Chinese company rescued the British automaker that manufactures the taxis. Zhejiang Geely Holding Group said it will pay $17.5 million to buy Manganese Bronze Holdings, which has been making the cabs since 1899.

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Two people are arrested on suspicion of murder after the body of a 16-year old girl is found in an alleyway in Blackpool.

The White House weighs in on the latest jobs numbers. And a look at the greatest flops of Super Bowl ads.

 Today's jobs report shows 157,000 new jobs created in January. It also has unemployment edging up to 7.9 percent. But the report also tells us that we added a lot more jobs near the end of last year than we thought. Alan Krueger chairs President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers. He tells us what the White House makes of today's numbers.

Anheuser-Busch is launching a new beer on the biggest ad stage of all: Sunday's Super Bowl. The multi-million dollar ad buy for Black Crown is a big bet. But debuting at the Big Game, doesn't guarantee success. We look at some of the most notorious Super Bowl product flops.

New Orleans is hosting the Super Bowl. The town is packed with the wealthy, like the CEOs who'll sit in skyboxes watching millionaires in helmets battle it out on the field below. But there's a bigger picture, from the middle class small business owners to the working class folks cooking the food and cleaning the rooms. So we thought we'd ask the people of New Orleans a question we've been asking all over the country: How do you know when you're wealthy?

And next week Marketplace's David Brancaccio begins hosting the mid-day update, focusing on the latest in technology. You can find all his tech coverage all the time at Marketplace.org.

A man escapes injury after hay bales fall from an overturned trailer onto his car.