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Arne Duncan describes the improvements in K-12 education in two regions of the U.S.- the District of Columbia and Tennessee between 2011 and 2013, shown by the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). The hard work of educators, parents and school officials is paying off and offers examples for other parts of the country, says Duncan. Lessons include facing the facts, not dumbing down by setting low standards. With higher standards Tennessee students were only 34% proficient in math and 45% in reading compared to the 91-92% with lower standards. Republicans followed up on the work of Democrats in the state. Soliciting feedback from critics and experts- the feedback was used to improve systems and learning to help teachers and students. Schools chancellor Kaya Henderson says improving teacher quality was critical, and so was academic rigor. Still Duncan says more needs to be done, this only shows the right direction for states lagging behind, and one should not get complacent. The other areas college enrollment and dropout rates need to be followed carefully. International PISA results still show the U.S. at 27th in math and 14th in reading of 65 countries- making this only the beginning in setting the future course for U.S. educational improvements....

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WSJ with subscribers up to 4.1 million and other Dow Jones products, are key parts of revenue for Murdoch's business group in 2025. 85% of profits are derived from Dow Jones for News Corp. The Australian and British newspapers do not generate much profit and The Sun has seen years of losses. These newspapers gave Murdoch his start in Australia and UK, but have built up losses today.

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BBC says this England team is fighting to avoid the worst Ashes cricket performance in a century. England lost the Second Test at the Gabba in Brisbane by 8 wickets- again. Mitchell Starc with 6 wickets for 75 runs in the first innings and batting in second innings for 77 runs was agains the key player in Brisbane. Neser with 5 wickets for 42 runs for Australia in the second innings reduced England's chances.

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Mr. Giuseppe Conte, Italy's prime minister in the governing coalition of Five Star and Northern League parties was ignored by party leaders. He now finds himself leader of the Five Star Movement with which his views were aligned without being a member. In a new coalition of the establishment Democratic party and the Five Star party of Beppe Grillo after the earlier coalition collapsed Mr. Conte finds a new role as a leader.  Once an obscure lawyer who was looking for a job teaching job at Rome University even when he was prime minister Mr. Conte became popular with his speech in parliament strongly critical of Mr. Salvini.

This also gives Italy the chance to improve relations with the European Union.

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Shohei Ohtani is a rare phenomenon in American baseball as a star pitcher and hitter. NYT looks at Ohtani's  prodigous season in the American League.

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Solar energy manufacturing capacity gets a strong start as the government puts in place the investments and policies to make Indian solar energy modules more competitive than Chinese made modules. This is part of the investment in production India promised at the Glasgow conference on climate change.

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The role of Merz and Leyen of the CDU is bigger than is grasped in the trade deal with India and the change that Germany has made in shifting the gaze and engagement of the European community towards the 1.4 billion people of India for a new start after the disappointment of the relationship with China from the Merkel years. Merkel completely failed to understand China its history, and Asia and its history. India as the homeland of Buddhism is the source of the spiritual culture of China and Japan, Korea and Vietnam. The intervening period of invasions from north in the 15th to 17th century and British rule and the European early shift to science and industry in the 18th to 20th century has acted as a hazy atmosphere that clouds many perceptions of how Indian, Chinese, and Japanese history has evolved.  For Merkel there was the additional layer of misperceptions from the period growing up the GDR, or Communist East Germany in Soviet influence. This is why Merz completely fit into the Kite festival mood and atmosphere on the banks of the Sabarmati in Ahmedabad and at the Sabarmati Ashram of Gandhi in January 2026. Leyen also of the Christian Democrats could grasp the fact that German philosopher Schlegel translated the Bhagavad Gita from Sanskrit into German soon after Charles Wilkins did this in 1724. People to people ties have great potential to develop between Europe and India now that the engagement is set for the next 20 years at every level by Leyen, Merz and Modi, so that the world is completely transformed in ways that can never be imagined today.  ...

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The widespread popularity in Japan of former Osaka governor, and current Mayor, Toru Hashimoto, at a time when each of the two major political parties have no more than 20% support. His effort is to shake up the staus quo, saying what is needed is "creative destruction, to dismathle everything and start from scratch." Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's standing, as was the case for previous prime ministers, is low in opinion polls. Hashimoto has pushed through spending cuts in Osaka by reducing the salaries of overpaid bus drivers and other workers. He brings fresh ideas but critics say he would centralize decisionmaking if elected, and the party is too focussed on one leader's views and personality.

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The improbable story of a quick turnaround if only one stays engaged, the story of college basketball coach Dan Monson of UC Long Beach who is asked to leave after losing several games and goes on to take his team to the NCAA Tournament with 3 wins in 3 days.

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After a promising start the Pakistan batting order collapses with 8 wickets lost for 36 runs over 78 balls. Player of the match is bowler Jasprit Bumrah with Rohit Sharma a close second for a fast paced 86 runs. It gives India a 7 wicket win with many overs to spare.

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Peter Praet, former IMF economist and former executive director of the National Bank of Belgium, takes over the position of head of the Economics department of the European Central Bank. He succeeds Jurgen Stark of Germany who resigned over policy differences on the purchase of sovereign government bonds by the ECB.