National / International News

Social media sites are being used to help prevent deliberate grass fires as crews across Wales tackle a sudden surge in incidents.

A Princeton University alumna advised young women studying at her alma mater to find husbands now and not wait. Susan Patton's letter set off a heated discussion, but she stands by her words.

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The fire service urges land owners and land managers to stop controlled burning after almost 200 wildfires in the Highlands over the past week.

More than half of the nation's pipelines were built before 1970. In fact, ExxonMobil's Pegasus pipeline, which burst Friday in Mayflower, Ark., is 65 years old. According to federal statistics, pipelines have on average 280 significant spills a year. Most aren't big enough to make headlines.

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Robert Mueller has been the U.S. government's indispensable man when it comes to national security. When his 10-year term as FBI director expired, the Obama administration asked Congress for an unprecedented two-year extension. But now, the clock is ticking on finding his successor.

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Rumors abound of a major shakeup in the works for U.S. food aid programs. The U.S. would give aid groups money to buy food wherever they could get it cheapest and quickest, rather than shipping abroad commodities bought in the U.S. Already, groups that profit from the current system are mounting a fight.

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A compatible medical-legal partnership may sound like an oxymoron. But in hospitals and clinics across the country, doctors are welcoming lawyers into their practices. They say a lawyer may be just the prescription for some patients with intractable legal needs.

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India's Olympics medal-winning boxer Vijender Singh takes a dope test after charges that he took heroin procured from alleged drug smugglers.

Social networking site Facebook is expected to unveil a push into the smartphone market on Thursday from its headquarters in California.

Organisers of the Grand National at Aintree insist "safety and welfare are of paramount importance" at the meeting.

The prime minister praises the role of Scottish companies in supplying UK armed forces and stressed the need to maintain a nuclear deterrent.

Joanne Rutherford’s first graders at Peshine Avenue Elementary School in Newark, N.J., start class by drawing constellations. The classroom is equipped with a smartboard and a fancy projector, but those weren't bought with the $100 million donated to the city's public schools in 2010 by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. In fact, you won't find any of Zuckerberg's largess in Mrs. Rutherford's classroom. At least, not obviously.

“In some ways it’s less tangible," explains Newark Public Schools Superintendent Cami Anderson*, "but in many ways, it’s a lot more systemic and a lot longer lasting.” Anderson says Zuckerberg’s money isn’t buying things, it’s changing how things are done.

“Most significant from our standpoint," she says, "has been the support that he and other philanthropists gave to achieve a breakthrough labor contract with the Newark Teacher’s Union.”

Yes, a labor contract. Some $50 million helped broker an agreement with the union to accept a new teacher evaluation system and pay based on performance.

Kim McLain, who heads the Foundation for Newark’s Future -- the group in charge of doling out Zuckerberg’s money -- says this wasn't dictated by Zuckerberg, but it fits with the vision behind the donation.  

“One of the things that we firmly believe in is that in order to have a really good educational system, it starts with the teacher in the classroom,” she says.

Zuckerberg’s gift has also been used to help open several new schools, including charter schools, and to create a centralized system for tracking student progress.  

This doesn’t mean that everyone in Newark is toasting the founder of Facebook.

“It’s an agenda about which I have serious doubts,” says Paul Tractenberg, founder of the Institute on Education Law and Policy at Rutgers. He disagrees with the new approach, arguing that it will “weaken collective bargaining, weaken job security of teachers, [and] hold teachers accountable based largely on standardized test scores of their students.”

Superintendent Anderson says Newark’s underperforming schools need bold ideas and a break from the past.

“Private philanthropy can be a critical catalyst to remove systemic barriers that the system can’t remove," she says, because "the system is the problem sometimes.”

What will the changes mean for the first graders in Mrs. Rutherford’s class? It will be some time before these reforms can be judged on student preparedness and graduation. Like most investments, the returns aren’t instant.

Click here to see how the Foundation for Newark's Future has divied up Zuckerberg's $100 million donation so far.

*CORRECTION: The original article misspelled the name of Newark Public Schools Superintendent Cami Anderson. The text has been corrected.

AP McCoy rides Oscar Whisky, who is chasing a third straight Aintree Hurdle win, on day one of the Grand National meeting.

A bus crash in Papua New Guinea kills at least 24 people, local media report.

The Parades Commission is to ask the organisers of a dissident republican commemoration in north Belfast about a video of shots being fired.

Singapore's anti corruption agency, the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB), says it is investigating three Lebanese football officials.

The funeral of Kieran McManus, who was shot dead in west Belfast on Saturday, is due to take place later.

Papers react to union call for general strike

Archbishop Desmond Tutu wins the £1.1m ($1.6m) philanthropic Templeton Prize for 2013 for "affirming life's spiritual dimension", organisers of the award say.

The lights at Rome's famous Colosseum were switched off as part of a protest against the forthcoming trial of two Italian marines in India.