Summer school for less well-off primary pupils
Thousands of children will get ‘top-up’ classes to prepare them for transition to secondary school Seventy thousand primary school leavers will take part in intensive two-week summer schools this year to keep them from falling behind during the six-week break. Nick Clegg will announce tomorrow that the “top-up” lessons will be provided to children from [...]

EU, US Congratulate Algeria on Elections
The European Union and the United States have endorsed Algeria’s parliamentary elections as an important step toward reform, even as some opposition forces expressed suspicion that the vote was fraudulent. The head of the EU observer team there, Jose Salafranca, criticized Algeria Saturday for not giving foreign observers free access to the nationwide electoral roll. [...]

US to make profit from bailouts, Treasury says
The US will make a profit from bailing out the nation’s banks and carmakers at the height of the financial crisis, the Treasury Department has said. The bank bailouts may result in a return of $2bn (£1.3bn), the Treasury said in its latest projections for the government’s response to the crisis. And the recovering auto [...]

China sets up rare earth body to streamline the sector
China has set up a rare earth association in a bid to streamline the sector’s development, as it continues to face criticism over its policies. Beijing has imposed quotas on exports of rare earth elements, a move which its critics say has pushed up prices. Last month, the US, Japan and the European Union filed [...]

Pakistan’s Zardari to make ‘personal’ visit to India
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) – President Asif Ali Zardari is expected soon to make the first visit to India by a Pakistani head of state since 2005, with relations between the nuclear-armed rivals at their warmest in years. Zardari’s spokesman said on Sunday that the visit would be personal but held out the possibility that it could [...]

Green rooftops help clean up Beijing’s air
As public debate on air pollution heats up, many are increasingly looking to the Chinese capital’s skies to cool rapid urbanization with more greenery. The Beijing municipal government has already announced plans to improve the quality of the city’s air by covering 100,000 sq m of roofs with greenery by the end of this year. [...]

Burma’s Opposition Party Wins By-Election in Landslide
Democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi declared a “new era” for Burma Monday, after her party claimed a landslide victory in Sunday’s parliamentary by-elections. Although official results could take days, the opposition National League for Democracy says it won at least 43 of the 44 seats it had contested. That includes the four seats in [...]

Polly Higgins was honoured as Campaigner of the Year at PEA Awards 2012
Polly Higgins was honored on March 21st with the distinction of Campaigner of the Year at the The People and Environment Achievement Awards. The PEA Awards recognise that all major breakthroughs by government, business and NGOs in environmental stewardship and social justice start with a person. Polly Higgins was recognised for her passionate commitment to [...]

Greenpeace calls for zero deforestation globally by 2020
Greenpeace reiterated its call for an end to deforestation in Brazil by 2015 and globally by 2020 during its launch of an awareness-raising expedition down the Amazon River aboard the Rainbow Warrior. “Brazil is now the sixth largest economy in the world, the largest meat exporter and second largest grain exporter. Brazil’s rise to become [...]

Bill to boost startups wins Senate approval
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Senate voted by a wide margin on Thursday to pass a bill to boost small business growth, notching a rare election-year bipartisan victory though some Democrats and watchdogs warned the legislation would erode investor protections. The ‘JOBS Act,’ which passed the Senate 73 to 26, would make it easier for [...]