National Living Wage Comes Into Force

Millions of workers will be paid more from today as the new national living wage becomes compulsory.

The rate that everyone over the age of 25 can expect to receive is £7.20 per hour, an increase of 50p per hour on the previous minimum wage.

But the new wage has attracted criticism with unions saying it is not fair that those under 25 will miss out, and business groups saying it could hit productivity.

TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: "Britain desperately needs a pay rise, and this increase is good news for those aged 25 or older.

"But the Government must ensure that younger workers are not left behind - 21 to 24-year-olds will not be seeing an increase.

"This is not fair. Future wage increases must narrow the pay gap between old and young."

But Dr Adam Marshall, the acting director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: "The Government's new living wage will apply a ratchet effect to all companies' pay bills, and sits alongside a raft of other high employment-related costs.

"While many companies have the ability to increase pay, others will struggle to do so alongside pensions auto-enrolment, the apprenticeship levy, employer National Insurance contributions, and other up-front costs.

"Some will have to divert money from training and investment to increase pay, which could hurt their productivity. Others may stop hiring altogether."

The Government's aim is to increase the living wage to £9 an hour by 2020, a move that is likely to affect an estimated nine million workers.

Research by the Resolution Foundation found that more than a quarter of employees in the Midlands, Wales and Yorkshire and the Humber will benefit, compared to one-in-seven workers in London.

Labour accused the Government of performing a trick on the British people by giving with one hand and taking away with another.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Owen Smith said: "It's a typically cruel sleight of hand from the Tories to introduce their version of the living wage with one hand, while taking five times as much in cuts to Universal Credit and Tax Credits with the other.

Josh Hardie of the Confederation of British Industry said: "For wage increases to be sustainable they must go hand-in-hand with productivity growth.

"If the living wage doesn't get this balance right it will risk being unaffordable for many firms. Smaller businesses and those in key sectors like hospitality, retail and care are likely to be particularly affected."

Woman Plunges 25ft Down Starbucks Lift Shaft

A woman has broken her pelvis and one of her legs after falling 25ft down a lift shaft at a Starbucks coffee shop.

She tried to use the lift but fell down the shaft when she found nothing there, paramedics said.

The woman, in her 20s, was freed by firefighters and taken to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham.

It happened on Thursday lunchtime at the US chain's branch on Solihull High Street.

A Starbucks spokeswoman said the shop would stay closed while investigations are carried out.

She added: "We are shocked and distressed by this terrible incident and we're working closely with the authorities as they investigate how this could have happened."

Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council said a public protection officer was at the scene.

FBI Agrees To Hack iPhone In Murder Case

The FBI has agreed to help Arkansas prosecutors unlock an iPhone and iPod belonging to two teenagers accused of killing a couple.

It comes days after the agency revealed it had hacked an iPhone linked to the gunman in December's massacre in San Bernardino, California.

The Arkansas case involves teenagers Hunter Drexler and Justin Staton, who are accused of killing Robert and Patricia Cogdell.

Robert and Patricia Cogdell had raised Staton as their grandson

Both have pleaded not guilty to capital murder, aggravated robbery and other charges in last July's deaths of the 66-year-old couple at their home in Conway.

Faulkner County Prosecuting Attorney Cody Hiland said the FBI had agreed to help Conway Police Department on Wednesday afternoon.

Investigators say they believe 15-year-old Staton used the iPod to communicate about his alleged plans to kill the couple, who had raised him as a grandson.

Eighteen-year-old Drexler's lawyers say they are not concerned about any material on his iPhone.

The FBI hasn't revealed how it gained access to the iPhone 5c that belonged to San Bernardino killer Syed Farook.

Apple - which refused to help the agency, citing privacy concerns - is trying to find out how the encrypted device was accessed.

A prosecutor in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, has meanwhile asked the FBI to help unlock a phone owned by a murder victim.

Beyoncé Drops New Activewear Clothing Line

not have released any new music (yet), but the news that she is launching a fashion line was enough to get her fans buzzing on Thursday. The collection, dubbed IVY PARK, includes more than 200 pieces of activewear and will be available at Net-a-Porter, Topshop and Nordstrom on April 14, according to Elle.

The “Formation” singer made the announcement by posting the above video on WeAreIvyPark‘s YouTube channel and a photo of herself rocking a onesie from the line on her Instagram account. The brand’s website — which features instrumental snippets of what seem to be unreleased songs — is now live.

And if that wasn’t already enough to get the Beyhive excited, a rare interview with Queen B — in which she discusses “freedom, feminism and how her new fashion line helps women love their bodies” — will be featured in Elle’s May Women in Music issue.

Beyoncé Drops New Activewear Clothing Line

not have released any new music (yet), but the news that she is launching a fashion line was enough to get her fans buzzing on Thursday. The collection, dubbed IVY PARK, includes more than 200 pieces of activewear and will be available at Net-a-Porter, Topshop and Nordstrom on April 14, according to Elle.

The “Formation” singer made the announcement by posting the above video on WeAreIvyPark‘s YouTube channel and a photo of herself rocking a onesie from the line on her Instagram account. The brand’s website — which features instrumental snippets of what seem to be unreleased songs — is now live.

And if that wasn’t already enough to get the Beyhive excited, a rare interview with Queen B — in which she discusses “freedom, feminism and how her new fashion line helps women love their bodies” — will be featured in Elle’s May Women in Music issue.

Four Police Officers Killed In Car Bombing

icers have been killed in a car bombing near a bus terminal in the Turkish city of Diyarbakir.

A security source told Reuters two other people had been killed.

Another 20 people were wounded, including civilians, in what is a mainly Kurdish city in southeast Turkey.

The bomb detonated as a special forces bus passed, according to state-run media.

It damaged cars and shattered almost all the windows of a nearby high-rise.

At least six ambulances deployed to collect casualties and security forces rushed to seal off the area.

The city has suffered renewed violence since a ceasefire between the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and the government collapsed last July.

A PKK offshoot has claimed two car bomb attacks this year in the capital Ankara - including one on a military bus that killed 29.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility following the Diyarbakir blast.

It is the second major attack Turkey has suffered in a fortnight after an apparent Islamic State suicide bomber killed four foreigners in Istanbul.  

Architect Dame Zaha Hadid dies after heart attack

Architect Dame Zaha Hadid, whose designs include the London Olympic Aquatic Centre, has died aged 65.

Iraqi-born, this year she was the first woman to receive the Royal Institute of British Architects Gold Medal in recognition of her work.

She died following a heart attack on Thursday in a Miami hospital, where she was being treated for bronchitis. 

Her designs have been commissioned around the world, including Hong Kong, Germany and Azerbaijan.

Collecting her Gold Medal in February, Dame Zaha said she was proud to have been the first woman to win in her own right.

"We now see more established female architects all the time," she said. 

"That doesn't mean it's easy. Sometimes the challenges are immense. There has been tremendous change over recent years and we will continue this progress."

Dame Zaha's other creations include the Serpentine Sackler Gallery in London, the Riverside Museum at Glasgow's Museum of Transport, and Guangzhou Opera House in China.

She twice won the Riba Stirling Prize, the UK's most prestigious architecture award. In 2010 she won for the Maxxi Museum in Rome, winning again in 2011 for the Evelyn Grace Academy in Brixton.

Born in Baghad, she studied maths at Beirut University before embarking on her career at the Architectural Association in London.

In 1979 she set up her own company - Zaha Hadid Architects.

Her first major commission to be constructed was the Vitra Fire Station in Weil am Rhein in Germany.

The striking London Acquatics Centre in Stratford, which resembles a wave, features two 50-metre pools and a diving pool. After being used for the Olympics and Paralympics it was opened to the public in 2014.

"I love the London Aquatics Centre because it's near where I live," Dame Zaha said at the time.

She designed one of the stadiums that will take centre stage at the Qatar World Cup in 2022.

Last year, however, the Japanese government scrapped plans to build the futuristic-looking stadium she designed for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, opting instead for a scaled-down, less costly design.