Passion, EThics, and Action

Peta's Ingrid Newkirk: making the fury fly | World news | The Observer: "There's something maddening about arguing with Ingrid Newkirk, but then she's a provocateur. It's what she does. And it's what Peta, built in her image, does. It's why battery chickens are depicted in concentration camps and why last year she launched a legal case that named five Orcas as plaintiffs and sued SeaWorld for enslavement. (It failed, but she's surprisingly upbeat about it. The judge, she says, didn't simply throw it out, as he could have done. He was very "respectful" and heard the lawyers out. "It failed, but all the slavery cases fail when they're first brought.")

Newkirk's argument is that if you're against slavery, it doesn't matter who is being enslaved. She is completely confident that one day we will look back on this as the dark ages. And, when she gets in full spate, describing the way that chickens are crushed en route to slaughter, their wings broken, the pain and inhumane conditions that they suffer, I find it hard to deny that she has a point.
What have you made of the horsemeat scandal, I ask her, and her eyes light up. "There's this sentimental view that we don't want to eat horse. I've been in horse slaughterhouses, chicken, cow slaughterhouses, a dog slaughterhouse in Taiwan and none them wants to go down the ramp. They all kick. They all struggle. They're all petrified. It's purely sentimental.""

The Heat is on-

This is Bangalore’s hottest March in 15 years - The Hindu: "If you have been complaining about the unbearable heat for the past couple of days, be prepared for the worse in the days to come.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has said this is the hottest March Bangalore has seen in 15 years, with the city recording the highest maximum temperature of 36.6 degrees Celsius on Friday.

In 1996, the city recorded the highest maximum temperature of 37.3 degrees Celsius.

Light drizzle on Saturday night in some parts of the city, including Malleswaram and Jayanagar, brought the temperature down a notch.

There will be, however, no respite in the coming days. “The hottest day in April last year was when the temperature touched 37.5 degrees Celsius. This April could be the same or even worse, subject to whether there will be thunderstorms,” an official said."

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Cutting hours, cutting health care costs

Obamacare prompts fears for low-wage workers as employers exploit the rules | World news | guardian.co.uk: "In January, a janitor in Cincinnati received a piece of chilling news from one of her superiors, who had just met with upper management. The company, the supervisor said, was considering cutting some full-time employee hours down below 30 per week in order to avoid paying for new healthcare costs associated with Obamacare.

The janitor, who asked to be called Jennifer for fear of retaliation from management, is well into her 40s and now worries for her livelihood.

After over six years of working for ABM Industries, a company worth $4bn, she works full-time for $9.80 an hour. She says that with so many bills, including several monthly prescriptions, she often finds herself so short on money that she cannot eat satisfactorily. "I want to – I need to – work full-time" Jennifer said. She is a member of the local Service Employees International Union, which has struggled to bargain with ABM for better wages and steady hours."

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Amazon- the Ugly, Uglier and Ugliest

Amazon tax petition hits 100,000 signatures | Books | guardian.co.uk: "More than 100,000 people have signed a petition launched by an independent bookseller calling on Amazon "to pay their fair share of tax in the UK" and warning the online retail giant that "the unfair advantage that your tax dodge gives you is endangering many UK high street businesses".

Booksellers Frances and Keith Smith, who count the MP Margaret Hodge and the author Charlie Higson among their supporters, are now planning to deliver their appeal to 10 Downing Street, accompanied by a large crowd of authors and other allies.

Hodge, chair of the public accounts committee, was one of the MPs to lay into Amazon over its tax affairs last year, when the online bookseller – alongside Starbucks and Google – was accused of diverting hundreds of millions of pounds in profits to tax havens."
Amazon's fees hike for third-party traders provokes fury | Technology | The Guardian: "n France, the internet retailer is putting up fees on sales of DVDs, music and video games from about 10% to about 15%. In Germany, fees for traders selling tyres are to be lifted from 7% to 10%. In Britain, sellers of automotive parts face a fee rise from 12% to 15%.


Amazon defends use of swear word in ad as 'light-hearted' | Media | guardian.co.uk: "Amazon has sparked outrage by defending the use of the word "cunt" in a product image used by a retailer on its website, arguing that it was featured in a "light-hearted" way that was not likely to offend any particular group, such as women.

The Advertising Standards Authority banned an internet ad which appeared on Amazon.co.uk for a Christmas card which featured the text: "You're a cunt. Sorry, I meant to say 'Merry Christmas'."

In its ruling the ASA said it was banning the ad under harm and offence rules in the advertising code, on the grounds that it was likely to cause serious or widespread offence."

Global warming predictions- hot and true

Global warming predictions prove accurate | Environment | guardian.co.uk: "Forecasts of global temperature rises over the past 15 years have proved remarkably accurate, new analysis of scientists' modelling of climate change shows.

The debate around the accuracy of climate modelling and forecasting has been especially intense recently, due to suggestions that forecasts have exaggerated the warming observed so far – and therefore also the level warming that can be expected in the future. But the new research casts serious doubts on these claims, and should give a boost to confidence in scientific predictions of climate change.

The paper, published on Wednesday in the journal Nature Geoscience, explores the performance of a climate forecast based on data up to 1996 by comparing it with the actual temperatures observed since. The results show that scientists accurately predicted the warming experienced in the past decade, relative to the decade to 1996, to within a few hundredths of a degree."

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Fewer butterflies, in Naperville and in other places- more butterflies in the stomach

Butterflies suffer devastating year after UK's wet summer | Environment | The Guardian: "Fewer butterflies flew in British skies in the miserable summer of 2012 than for thousands of years, leaving several species in danger of extinction from parts of the country.

The country's most endangered butterfly, the high brown fritillary, saw its small population slump by 46%, while another rare species, the black hairstreak, fell by 98%, as 300,000 fewer butterflies were recorded on the wing compared with 2011.

The wettest ever year recorded in England was equally damaging for once common species: of 56 native species monitored, 52 saw their numbers decline from the previous year, with big losses for once-ubiquitous small tortoiseshell, common blue and large and small whites."

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No Power for Power drinks

Doctors, Sen. Durbin call on energy drink makers to not appeal to kids - chicagotribune.com: "Dr. David Zich is fed up with seeing young patients check into his emergency room convinced that they're going to die.

The symptoms — heart palpitations, anxiety, shortness of breath, tremors — are caused by consumption of highly concentrated stimulants like caffeine and have become "commonplace" in emergency rooms, said Zich, who specializes in emergency medicine and internal medicine at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

"When I find out that they've drunk three Red Bulls, sometimes I think, are you surprised?" Zich said Monday at a news conference about consumption of energy drinks by youths. Some of the drinks contain far more caffeine than a standard soda or cup of coffee."

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Massive rise in disruptive behaviour, warn teachers | Education | The Observer

Massive rise in disruptive behaviour, warn teachers | Education | The Observer: "Teachers have warned that disruptive behaviour in classrooms has escalated sharply in recent years, as funding cuts to local services have left schools struggling to cope.

A survey by the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) found that the vast majority of staff had recorded a rise in the number of children with emotional, behavioural or mental health problems.

The union collated numerous examples of challenging behaviour, ranging from violent assault to defamatory campaigns on social media.

Suggested reasons for the deteriorating behaviour include a lack of boundaries at home, attention-seeking, an absence of positive role models at home, low self-esteem and family breakdown."

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Burden of Poverty, and Shame- excellent story by Ms. Barbara Ellen

How shaming the poor became a new bloodsport | Barbara Ellen | Comment is free | The Observer: "Perhaps some of you are aware of the phenomenon of "slut-shaming" – whereby generally a female (why bother pretending, it's always a female) is contemptuously attacked, usually online, for anything from her dress style to what is perceived as sexually promiscuous behaviour.

A much-mimicked online example, "Hey Girls, Did You Know?", produced such observations as "Hey girls, did you know that boobs go inside your shirt?" and "That you spread Nutella, not your legs?". It burns like acid that girls and women would do this to each other, though guys do it too, sometimes filming their victim "sluts" naked or engaged in sexual activity, then passing the footage around.

On a wider level, one disquieting feature of these modern takes on slut-shaming is how quickly (indeed shamelessly) they embedded themselves into the collective psyche as borderline normal. Another disturbing aspect is that it doesn't take much imagination to draw parallels between slut-shaming and attitudes towards the poor."

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Placebo effect

The perfect pill for whingers – the placebo | Barbara Ellen | Comment is free | The Observer: "Researchers at the universities of Oxford and Southampton have revealed that 97% of doctors in a study have prescribed placebos to patients at least once. These were impure placebos (that is, treatments unproven for the condition), including antibiotics for viral infections, non-essential scans and blood tests, and complementary or alternative medicine that was not evidence-based. Also, 12% of the doctors had prescribed pure placebos, such as sugar pills or saline injections.

It's interesting that some doctors prescribe actual sugar pills. Come to think of it, I believe I might have been sold a few at acid-house events. Joking apart, there seems to be a difference between placebos being administered in clinical trials, and ordinary patients being duped. However, according to this study, it's not perceived as deception because placebos sometimes work, even if the patients are told that that's what they're getting. Moreover, used wisely, doctors believe that they help people."

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Water fights: no one wins.

Water scarcity: government and business co-operation crucial | Guardian Sustainable Business | Guardian Professional: "Today is World Water Day, and with 2013 declared the international year of water cooperation by the UN, focus on this vulnerable resource is more intense than ever.

The reasons for concern are summed up in the Worldwatch Institute's (WI) Vital Signs report: "Some 1.2 billion people — almost one fifth of the world — live in areas of physical water scarcity, while another 1.6 billion face what can be called economic water shortage."

Shortages and degradation of quality are serious threats to economic growth and social cohesion unless water is managed properly. One barrier to this is a lack of action at government level, which is why 45 companies signed a special communiqué at Rio+20 highlighting the urgency of the global water crisis and calling on ministers to take action."

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Obesity, a significant problem? CEO salary obesity, that is...

Main Street Incomes Stay Flat, Big CEO Packages Return | Daily Ticker - Yahoo! Finance: "Some CEOs did extraordinary well last year, specifically John Donahoe of eBay (EBAY), Jeffrey Immelt of General Electric (GE), Jim McNerney of Boeing (BA) and Kenneth Chenault of American Express (AXP). All of the aforementioned chief executives brought home more than $20 million in 2012."

Donahoe’s total compensation nearly doubled to $29.7 million from $16.5 million; Immelt’s pay rose 20% to $25.8 million; Chenault saw his total compensation jump 24% to $28.5 million and McNerney’s rose 15% to $21.1 million. Boeing’s board awarded the generous compensation package to McNerney before serious battery problems and fuel leaks grounded the company’s new Dreamliner jets. Boeing stock is trading at a five-year high.

CEO compensation may be returning to pre-financial crisis levels but companies are also aligning executive pay more closely to stock and financial performance.

“More than half of the compensation awarded to 51 CEOs last year was tied to their companies' financial or stock-market performance,” according to The Wall Street Journal and consulting firm Hay Group.

At the same time, Wall Street executives are also getting special perks and bonuses if they leave their jobs to become public servants in Washington. A study by the Project on Government Oversight found that several Wall Street firms including Morgan Stanley (MS), Goldman Sachs (GS), The Blackstone Group (BX), JPMorgan (JPM) and Citigroup (C) offer high-level employees stock rewards and other financial windfalls if they become government officials.

“Companies may be fueling the revolving door and making it easier for their alumni to gain influence over public policy,” writes Michael Smallberg, the study’s author. “These companies seem to be giving a special deal to executives who become government officials. In exchange, the companies may end up with friends in high places who understand their business, sympathize with it, and can craft policies in its favor.”

Former Wall Street executives who became high-ranking government employees include:

• Treasury Secretary Jack Lew
• Former Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson
• Former deputy secretary of state for management and resources Thomas Nides
• Former under secretary of state for economic growth, energy and the environment Robert Hormats
• Former Fannie Mae Chairman and CEO Franklin Raines.

The study says Morgan Stanley’s executives are eligible to receive a bonus if they go to work for a “governmental department or agency, self-regulatory agency or other public service employer." JPMorgan provides its executives with a stock award from the executives' long-term plan if they accept “a full-time position in an elected or appointed office in local, state, or federal government...not reasonably anticipated to be a full-career position.”

Chop-suey-ing restaurant bills

Americans Cut Restaurant Spending as Taxes Bite: EcoPulse - Bloomberg: "Even as consumers open their wallets for bigger-ticket purchases including cars and furniture, weakness has surfaced at full-service companies such as Brinker International Inc. (EAT) and Darden Restaurants Inc. (DRI), as well as limited-service chains including McDonald’s Corp. (MCD) and Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM)
Shrinking Paychecks
U.S. paychecks have shrunk this year after Congress and President Barack Obama let the tax that funds Social Security benefits revert to 6.2 percent from 4.2 percent. Meanwhile, the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded has risen about 12 percent since Dec. 31, to $3.69, including a one-week jump of 17 cents between Jan. 27 and Feb. 3, based on data from Heathrow, Florida-based AAA, the largest U.S. motoring organization."

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Gray Market = Green Money for Costco and others

A High Court 'Gray Market' Win for Costco, EBay - Businessweek: "In a victory for companies like Costco (COST) and EBay (EBAY)—not to mention cash-strapped college students—the Supreme Court ruled that textbooks and other goods made abroad can be resold in the U.S. without violating American copyright law. In other words: You bought it, you own it.

The 6-3 decision offers legal protection and legitimacy to what has been estimated as a $63 billion “gray market,” in which third parties import brand-name goods protected by copyright or trademark in the U.S. Some of those gray market goods are resold online or at brick-and-mortar discount retailers. The retailers, like EBay and Costco, want to continue to sell goods manufactured and sold abroad at lower prices, even if those goods arguably violate a U.S. copyright. The Tuesday decision clears the way for them to do so."

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Icy Steel Nerves in dealing with the Billionaire Binges

Iceland’s Lost Billionaires Unmourned as Riches Draw Ire - Bloomberg: "After gaining fame for its debt bubble and the havoc that ensued when it burst, Iceland now is purging itself of the values that brought it to the brink of ruin. The only country to take a former prime minister to court for failing to prevent the crisis has since forced banks to forgive foreign-currency mortgage debt. And in a move to prevent speculation, the Interior Ministry this year proposed limiting land ownership by offshore investors after repeatedly rejecting approaches by Chinese billionaire Huang Nubo.
Iceland’s collapse -- which sent average disposable incomes plunging 20 percent between 2008 and 2010 after the banks defaulted on $85 billion -- even prompted the pro-deregulation Independence Party to pledge its commitment to welfare over investor rights.
Sigurdardottir, whose coalition faces elections in April, says the result is greater economic stability. Her party’s goal is to continue “shielding those groups in society that need it most,” she said in an interview."

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Climate debate cut from national curriculum for children up to 14 | Environment | The Guardian

Climate debate cut from national curriculum for children up to 14 | Environment | The Guardian: "Debate about climate change has been cut out of the national curriculum for children under 14, prompting claims of political interference in the syllabus by the government that has failed "our duty to future generations".

The latest draft guidelines for children in key stages 1 to 3 have no mention of climate change under geography teaching and a single reference to how carbon dioxide produced by humans impacts on the climate in the chemistry section. There is also no reference to sustainable development, only to the "efficacy of recycling", again as a chemistry subject.

The move has caused alarm among climate campaigners and scientists who say teaching about climate change in schools has helped mobilise young people to be the most vociferous advocates of action by governments, business and society to tackle the issue."

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Art of writing warm stories

The unseasonal cold. How seasonal - People | Popular Stories, Obituaries &More | The Irish Times - Fri, Mar 15, 2013: "Still, it wasn’t all grim back in the day, was it? We had the Americans to look at, with their tooting flutes and pompoms and solid thighs in 15-denier nylons and prancing patent-leather boots. God, you would have killed a badger with your bare hands or swept the moss off the Skellig needles to have been an American in those hungry days.
Those pompommed girls from Annapolis and Illinois, with their big shiny teeth and elastic gum-chewing jaws, were like another species to my childhood eyes. They were like big oxygen-breathing Crolly dolls.
I met one of them when I was on a train with my mother; we were on our way to visit my grand-aunt in Killarney. “Are you going on vacation?” the American asked me. She had a polo-neck and cheekbones and tassels on her shoulder bag; I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I’d never heard the word. “No,” I replied. “We’re going on holidays.”"
Anyway, enjoy, as our Stateside cousins will no doubt implore. Have a nice day and pack an extra pair of socks and a bikini; in this weather, you can’t afford to put all your asps in one basket.

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The Devon-ish Death of the "Apostrophe"

Outrage at local authority plans to abolish apostrophe | Society | The Guardian: "The sometimes vexing question of where and when to add an apostrophe appears to have been solved in one corner of Devon: the local authority is planning to do away with them altogether.

Later this month members of Mid Devon district council's cabinet will discuss formally banning the pesky little punctuation marks from its (no apostrophe needed) street signs, apparently to avoid "confusion".

The news of the Tory-controlled council's (apostrophe required) decision provoked howls of condemnation on Friday from champions of plain English, fans of grammar, and politicians. Even the government felt the need to join the campaign to save the apostrophe.

The Plain English Campaign led the criticism. "It's nonsense," said Steve Jenner, spokesperson and radio presenter. "Where's it going to stop. Are we going to declare war on commas, outlaw full stops?""

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New Zealand: Hot, Dry, and Definitely not milky

Worst New Zealand Drought in 30 Years Weighs on Economic Growth - Bloomberg: "New Zealand is experiencing its most widespread drought in at least 30 years, the government said today, as dry conditions across the North Island threaten economic growth and cause global milk prices to rise.
“Nearly all farmers in every part of the North Island are facing very difficult dry conditions,” Minister for Primary Industries Nathan Guy said in a statement. It’s the first time in at least three decades the entire island is suffering from drought, his spokesman Phil Rennie said by telephone.
Finance Minister Bill English warned this week the drought may curb economic expansion in the nation, where dairy exports of NZ$11.4 billion ($9.4 billion) last year made up 25 percent of all merchandise shipments abroad. The local dollar is heading for a fourth weekly decline, which would be the longest losing streak since May, after the central bank held the cash rate at a record-low yesterday and cited concerns the dry conditions may “substantially reduce economic output.”"

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Yuan- one of the top three currencies for settling trade transactions?

China to Free Currency in 5 Years, Says Hong Kong Exchanges’ Li - Bloomberg: "“Asia is the future for all of us,” Andreas Preuss, chief executive officer of Eurex AG, said during the panel discussion. He said the expected population growth in the region and the increase in average wealth would create demand for futures and options contracts.
Since China started a pilot program allowing the use of yuan to settle international transactions in 2009, the proportion of its trade conducted in the currency has increased to 9 percent from less than 1 percent, according to the People’s Bank of China. By 2015, a third of China’s cross-border trade will be settled in yuan, making the currency one of the three most used in global trading along with the dollar and euro, HSBC forecast this week in a report.
London Racing
London is racing against Paris and Zurich to become the center for yuan trading in Europe as China seeks to take its currency global. "

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Not for profit- but highly profitable for faculty and administrators

Universities Pile on Faculty Perks as Student Costs Grow - Bloomberg: "Exit bonuses are becoming more common among senior executives at large colleges in major cities, said Stephen Joel Trachtenberg, a former president of George Washington University who does executive-pay consulting.
Typically, such “super severance” amounts to one to three times an administrator’s annual salary and bonus, according to Charles Skorina, founder and president of an executive-search firm in San Francisco who specializes in placing finance executives at universities.
Especially at universities on the East and West coasts, where real estate expenses and other costs are high, trustees including Wall Street executives are eager to pay their presidents top dollar, Skorina said. They look for ways to pay additional compensation that doesn’t show up in annual surveys that can anger donors and employees, he said.
“You look for sweeteners, the car and driver, the house and then a back-end exit bonus,” said Skorina. “An exit bonus is palatable because until the guy leaves you don’t have to deal with it.”"

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RUnning: more may not be faster

Faster in the 1980s: an experiment in old-school running training | Life and style | guardian.co.uk: "On 16 January 1982, a fellow Durham City Harrier and very good friend of mine ran the Orange Bowl Marathon in Miami in 2 hours, 14 minutes and 45 seconds. In 2012, that would have been good enough to make him fourth in the British rankings. But in those days, it wasn't so simple. Brendan Foster had medals on the world stage as well as world records to his name, Charlie Spedding would go on to win bronze in the 1984 Olympic marathon, and Dennis Coates had finished fifth in the Olympic steeplechase. Despite my friend's talent, he had no guarantee of getting one of 12 places in the national road relays; he was a lesser light amongst a group of distance runners in the north-east.

Roll forward to the present day and the ever-declining standard of distance running in the UK, especially on the men's side, is discussed at great length."

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L&T - lights out with World Bank

World Bank bans L&T for forgery - The Hindu: "The World Bank has barred Larsen & Toubro (L&T) from doing any business with it or the projects funded by it for six months, after finding that a senior executive of the conglomerate has indulged in fraud.

The debarment will continue till September 6, making L&T ineligible for being awarded contracts for any World Bank-funded projects, from receiving any loan proceeds made by the Bank or participating in any Bank-financed project.

The sanction order, dated March 7, said L&T’s ineligibility would continue across the entire World Bank group and had been imposed on L&T ‘for fraudulent practices’ as per the bank’s procurement guidelines against fraud and corruption."

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Sun shines...on China

China Drives Record Solar Growth Becoming Biggest Market - Bloomberg: "The $77 billion solar-energy industry is forecast to expand the most since 2011, as China becomes the biggest market for the first time and drives annual global installations to a record.
New generation capacity will rise about 14 percent this year to 34.1 gigawatts, equal to about eight atomic reactors, according to the average estimate of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. That would beat the 4.4 percent growth in 2012, when demand shrank in Italy and France after subsidies were cut."

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$1.1M bonus for 5 months of work - the Yahoo way

Yahoo pays CEO $1.1M bonus for 5 months of work - Yahoo! Finance: "SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer received a $1.1 million bonus for her first five-and-half months running the Internet company.
The award disclosed Wednesday supplements Mayer's annual salary of $1 million and $56 million in long-term stock compensations that she received after Yahoo Inc. lured her away from Google Inc. to become its CEO last July. The amount included $14 million in stock to offset the loss of money that she would have received had she remained at Google."

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Standing up for public interest: Legendary Fry and others

Authors call on party leaders to save libel reform | Law | The Guardian: "Some of the Britain's most acclaimed authors and playwrights including Stephen Fry, Sir Tom Stoppard, William Boyd, Margaret Drabble, Ian McEwan and Sir Salman Rushdie have called on the main party leaders to honour their pledge and implement a defamation bill aimed at transforming 170-year-old laws they say have silenced scientists and authors as well as journalists and activists.

In an open letter, the authors tell David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Ed Miliband they are "deeply concerned" that the bill is going to be killed off after three years going through the legislative process simply because it had become entangled in a political row over the Leveson report on press regulation in the past month.

They said it was "entirely inappropriate, and even reckless, for libel reform to be sacrificed to the current political stalemate" in the letter, organised by the writers' lobby group English Pen."
..

The authors say that a number of scientists have faced "ruinous libel suits simply for blowing the whistle on dangerous medical practices" in the past three years . If the defamation bill became law, the risk of libel action would be lessened because of a new public interest defence. Big corporations such as drugs companies would also have to prove serious financial harm before they could take action.

"If the law is not reformed, bullies will continue to be able to prevent the publication of stories that are often not only in the public interest, but a matter of public health and safety," the letter says.

Other signatories are Lisa Appignanesi, Jake Arnott, Amanda Craig, Victoria Glendinning, Mark Haddon, Ronald Harwood, Michael Holroyd, Howard Jacobson, Hisham Matar, Philippe Sands, Will Self, Kamila Shamsie and Raleigh Trevelyan.

Austerity = pain, and more for women

Women are now to the left of men. It's a historic shift | Seumas Milne | Comment is free | The Guardian: "Labour's lead over the Conservatives among women has now hit 26% (51% to 25%), according to the most recent ICM/Guardian poll, compared with a 7% lead among men. No wonder Tory strategists are panicking. Some pundits have played down the ICM figure as a rogue result based on small samples.

But women have been backing Labour over the Tories by margins well into double figures since last autumn. And it's not just in party support that there's a glaring gender gap. On a wide range of issues – from cuts in pensions, benefits, health and education to tax increases on the rich – women in Britain are not only strongly opposed to coalition policies – they're often significantly more hostile to them than men.

While both men and women back a mansion tax, for example, two-thirds of women support it, compared with 57% of men. And it is not hard to see why. Women are bearing the brunt of the coalition's austerity onslaught. In the week of International Women's Day, which was set up to campaign for women's rights and freedoms, these are being undermined and reversed by Cameron's coalition."

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President Hugo - legend in South America

Tributes to Hugo Chávez flow in from South American leaders | World news | guardian.co.uk: "Tributes and condolences after the death of Hugo Chávez have flowed in from South America, where many saw the Venezuelan president as the inspiration behind increased regional intergration and the remarkable political gains of leftwing parties since the Venezuelan president began his "Bolivarian revolution".

Bolivia announced seven days of mourning. The presidents of Brazil and Argentina cancelled a summit. In Colombia Chávez was hailed as the decisive figure in that country's ongoing peace process; in Ecuador as a revolutionary figurehead; and in Chile – which has taken a different political path – as a key figure in regional intergration.

In Cuba the official evening newscast devoted its entire programme to Chávez as the country came to grips with him being outlived by Fidel Castro, 86, who took Cuba into communist rule and endorsed Chávez as his revolutionary successor in South America. "

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Leadership that makes a difference- Gladstone Primary

The school where they speak 20 languages: a day at Gladstone Primary | Education | The Guardian: "That was when Gladstone Primary School in Peterborough was judged "inadequate" by Ofsted, the teaching inspectorate's lowest mark. The school was ordered to improve, and was inspected with alarming regularity until it did. After a stressful 16 months, Ofsted has finally issued a glowing report. "Standards are rising rapidly. Pupils are making good progress often from a low starting point," judged inspectors. The behaviour of children at the school had always been good – in one report last year inspectors described pupils as "delightful" – but now the school was performing well academically. The head was praised for expecting high standards and for having "significantly improved the school"; the school was graded "good" in every aspect."

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Leadership that makes a difference- Gladstone Primary

The school where they speak 20 languages: a day at Gladstone Primary | Education | The Guardian: "That was when Gladstone Primary School in Peterborough was judged "inadequate" by Ofsted, the teaching inspectorate's lowest mark. The school was ordered to improve, and was inspected with alarming regularity until it did. After a stressful 16 months, Ofsted has finally issued a glowing report. "Standards are rising rapidly. Pupils are making good progress often from a low starting point," judged inspectors. The behaviour of children at the school had always been good – in one report last year inspectors described pupils as "delightful" – but now the school was performing well academically. The head was praised for expecting high standards and for having "significantly improved the school"; the school was graded "good" in every aspect."

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A Shark Tragedy

Sharks at risk of extinction from overfishing, say scientists | Environment | guardian.co.uk: "Sharks risk being driven to extinction due to overfishing, with almost 100 million killed each year, scientists have warned.

Many species of shark need better protection to prevent their extinction within coming decades, researchers warned in advance of a global conference on the trade in threatened species.

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) will consider greater protection of vulnerable sharks, including porbeagles, oceanic whitetip and three types of hammerhead to preserve their populations.

Sharks are caught for their fins for use in shark fin soup, a delicacy in Asia. The fins are cut off with the dead carcass being thrown back into the sea. Sharks grow slowly and take years to reproduce, which makes them vulnerable to overfishing."

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Italian or French- the Language Delicacy

Quebec language police try to ban 'pasta' from Italian restaurant menu | World news | guardian.co.uk: "They are known as the language police, a unit within the regional Quebec government that seeks to protect French from the rising tide of English. It deploys inspectors to rein in recidivist anglophones, take on big corporate transgressors such as Guess, the Gap and Costco and conduct spot checks to follow up thousands of public complaints.

Now, however, zealots in the Office québécois de la langue française (Quebec Board of the French Language) may have gone a step too far in picking a fight with an Italian restaurant known for its celebrity clientele including Bono, Rihanna, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jerry Seinfeld and Robert De Niro.

After a five-month investigation into an anonymous complaint, Massimo Lecas received a letter from the board telling him that his establishment, Buonanotte, had broken the law by including the words "pasta" on the menu and "bottiglia", the Italian word for bottle, instead of the French word bouteille."

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