Zimbabwe schools buckle under pressure of crisis
HARARE – Like an orchestra without a conductor: this is how mother Sharon Mpofu describes Zimbabwe's once proud education system, now in tatters as a political crisis rages around the country's children.

Rudd sparks an increase in the study of Asian languages
SYDNEY - Australia's Mandarin-speaking leader Kevin Rudd has helped spark an increase in the study of Asian languages, with record numbers of students signing up for Chinese, a major university said Friday.

Maths, science academy opened by PetroSA
State-owned oil and gas company PetroSA has opened a R1.2-million maths and science academy in Mossel Bay, to help about 300 learners from five disadvantaged high schools in the southern Cape.

Social Innovator - Margie Owen-Smith
Have you ever thought about the role that home languages play in the growth and development of your children? Trying to get to grips with maths formulae is complicated enough; imagine trying to understand them through a second language.

Crocodile crossing for SA pupils
A South African village is demanding that a bridge be built across a crocodile-infested river to stop children swimming it to get to school.

Teacher tangles with killer lion
British teacher survives being savaged by a lion - coming within millimetres of death.

Mao's English tutor dies at age 72
BEIJING - Zhang Hanzhi, an elegant Chinese diplomat who was Mao Zedong's English tutor and U.S. President Richard Nixon's interpreter during his historic 1972 trip to China, has died. She was 72.

Brain exercises take ten years off your mind
Doing the right kind of brain exercises can improve an elderly person’s memory by ten years as well as their mental agility, according to a major new study.

Greenhouse gases rising faster than UN forecasts: report
SYDNEY (AFP) - Greenhouse gas emissions are rising faster than worst-case predictions by the United Nations' top climate change body, said a new Australian report issued Thursday.

A Heartfelt Plea For Fine Malagasy Chocolate
A new book on the brain will reveal that dark chocolate is good for your heart as well as being ‘brainfood’ that helps lifts depression.