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US House passes bill to raise minimum wage to $15 an hour

However, the Republican controlled Senate will be a major hurdle to implementation.

The US House of Representatives has voted to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 an hour by 2025, delivering a long-sought victory to liberals. However, it remained unlikely the bill would pass a Republican-controlled Senate. David Neumark of the University of California says its notable that companies like McDonald's have dropped their vocal opposition to big rises in the minimum wage, but the reasons might not be immediately obvious.

Meanwhile in the UK, MPs voted to back a measure which will make it a lot trickier for the new Prime Minister to force a no-deal Brexit by temporarily suspending parliament. Within minutes, currency traders were on the case -- lifting the value of the pound from its recent 27 month lows. Has the British currency really become a barometer of Brexit-related developments?

Also in the programme, we examine the challenges faced by organisations targeted by computer ransomware attacks.

Plus - is this the end of Instagram "likes"? Instagram is trying out hiding the number of these a post gets in several countries, including Australia and Japan, with more to come after a trial in Canada. But could this upset how influencers operate on the platform?

Presenter Nigel Cassidy is joined by guests Melody Hahn in New York City and Natasha Khan in Hong Kong

PHOTO: Protesters demanding higher wages. Copyright: Getty Images

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53 minutes

Broadcast

  • Fri 19 Jul 2019 00:06GMT

Podcast