Unique Customs

v January 17 is St Anthony’s Day in Mexico. It’s a day when people ask for protection for their animals. They bring their animals to church. But before the animals go into the church, the people usually dress them up in flowers and ribbons.
v On August 15 of the Lunar Calender, Koreans celebrate Chusok to give thanks for the new harvest. It’s a day when people honor their ancestor by going to their gravesites to take them food and wine and clean the gravesites. Also on Chusok, a big meal with moon-shaped rice cakes is eaten.
v One of the biggest celebration in Argentina is New Year’s Eve. On the beginning of December 31, families get together and have a big meal. At midnight, fireworks explode everywhere and continue throughout the night. Friends and families meet for parties, which last until next morning.
v Long ago in India, a princess who needed help sent a silk bracelet to an emperor. After he helped the princess, the emperor kept the bracelet as a sign of the loyalty between them. Today,in India, during the festival of Rakhi, men promise to be loyal to the women in exchange for a bracelet of silk, cotton and gold thread.
v On the evening of February 3, people in Japanese families take one dried bean for each year for their age and throw the beans around their homes and shrines, shouting “Good Luck in! Evil Spirit out!” This is known as “Setsubun” the time to celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of Spring.

Getting Around HongKong

Getting Around Hongkong

Hongkong has an excellent transportation system, both old and new. If we fly there, we will arrive at one of the most modern airport in the world. And during our visit, there are many ways to get around Hongkong
1. Ricksaw
This word comes from the Japanese Jinrikisha . It’s a two-wheeled vehicle that is pulled by one person. Today, there are still about fifty in Hongkong, but they are only for tourists.
2. Ferry
Take one of these to cross from Hongkong island to Kowloon or to visit one of the smaller islands. You can also use them to travel to Macau and Guangdong. They are safe and comfortable, and one of the cheapest boat rides in the world.
3. Subway
Hongkong’s underground railway is called MTR – Mass Transit Railway, It’s the fastest way to get aroud. Two tunnels under the harbor and go from Hongkong island to Kowloon.
4. Tram
These are found on Hongkong island and take you to the Victoria peak-548 meters.( 1800 above sea level). The system is over a hundred years old. In that time, there has never been an accident. Two cars carry up 120 passengers each.

Teachers demand 10% pay increase

The biggest teachers' union in England and Wales is calling for a 10% pay rise - and says the economic downturn should not be an "excuse" for low pay rises.

The National Union of Teachers has submitted its demand to the profession's pay review body.

A government spokesman says the current recommended 2.3% offer represents a "good deal" for teaching staff.

Last year about a third of schools in England and Wales were shut by a one-day teachers' strike over pay.

Shortages warning

Christine Blower, acting general secretary of the NUT, says that the government and pay body should not be "tempted to use the economic downturn as an excuse" for lower pay increases.

"In this round, our case for a 10% pay rise is based on long-term trends in recruitment, retention and turnover. It also reflects the extent to which teachers' pay has fallen behind other graduate professions," says Ms Blower.

The union's submission to the School Teachers' Review Body (STRB) calls for "teachers' pay scales to be increased by £3,000 or 10%, whichever is the greater".

It also calls for "an additional increase to restore in full the pay losses resulting from below-inflation pay awards from 2005 onwards".

The NUT says that teachers are falling behind in pay and that it will make "teaching unattractive to graduates who can earn more with less stress in other fields".

The union warns that without improvements in pay there will be a return to teacher shortages.

Last year, the STRB, the pay body for teachers in England and Wales, recommended a 2.3% pay increase, and it is now reviewing that figure.

A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families says "the recommended 2.3% pay award represents a good deal for both teachers and taxpayers".

"We have increased teachers' pay by an average of 19% in real terms since 1997 to recognise the challenging but rewarding job they do with the average salary for classroom teachers now £31,400."

There have been several reports from the TDA teacher recruitment agency that the economic downturn has boosted interest in teaching - with people looking for more secure public sector jobs.

The TDA, which has reported a 40% increase in online recruitment inquiries, has been targeting banking and finance workers who might want to switch to teaching.

But the NUT says that the recession is only likely to create a temporary increase in interest in teaching.

Last spring, the NUT staged the biggest teachers' strike for two decades in pursuit of a pay demand. Classroom closures were believed to have affected more than two million pupils.

Primary education 'too narrow'

Children in England are getting a primary education that is too narrow, because schools focus too much on maths and English, claims a major report.

The author of the Cambridge University report warns that too much emphasis on testing the basics could "impoverish" learning in areas such as the arts.

Professor Robin Alexander says this could mean a "deficient" education.

The government has rejected the claim as "insulting" and says it "flies in the face of international evidence".

The Cambridge Primary Review's interim report is part of the biggest independent inquiry into primary education in England for 40 years.

Their education, and to some degree their lives, are impoverished if they have received an education that is so fundamentally deficient Professor Robin Alexander Cambridge Review

It calls for an urgent debate about the purpose of primary education.

The report says inadequacies in the primary curriculum stem from a mistaken belief that breadth in the curriculum is incompatible with improved standards in the "basics" of maths, literacy and numeracy.

History, geography, science and the arts have been "squeezed out", it argues.

The report's authors suggest learning in primary schools is skewed towards subjects which are formally tested in the national tests, used to draw up league tables.

It calls testing "the elephant in the curriculum", noting that in Year 6 especially, the final year of primary school, "breadth competes with the much narrower scope of what is to be tested."

Professor Robin Alexander, director of the Cambridge Primary Review, said: "Our argument is that their [children's] education, and to some degree their lives, are impoverished if they have received an education that is so fundamentally deficient."

'Eight new domains'

The review suggests the primary curriculum should be "re-conceived" with 12 specific aims, which it arranges in three groups:

• The needs and capacities of the individual: wellbeing; engagement; empowerment; autonomy
• The individual in relation to others and the wider world: encouraging respect and reciprocity; promoting interdependence and sustainability; empowering local, national and global citizenship; celebrating culture and community
• Learning, knowing and doing: knowing, understanding, exploring and making sense; fostering skill; exciting the imagination; enacting dialogue.

These aims would be achieved through eight "domains", rather than a small number of subjects.

The domains would be: arts and creativity; citizenship and ethics; faith and belief; language, oracy and literacy; mathematics; physical and emotional health; place and time (geography and history); science and technology.

Prof Alexander said there had always been a problem in primary schools with striking the right balance between the basic skills, such as numeracy and literacy, and other areas, such as history.

"All of them should be taught to the highest possible standard, raising the quality of educational experience across the board," he said.

The report warns that tests limit the last year of primary school

"The key benefit to pupils is a retention of the statutory entitlement of a broad and balanced curriculum."

A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families denied primary pupils were getting inadequate schooling.

"To say our children are receiving a deficient education is insulting to hard working pupils and teachers everywhere and flies in the face of international evidence," he said.

"English children were recently recognised as being the highest achieving in maths and science among European countries."

The government has commissioned its own independent inquiry into primary education. Its interim findings - already published - called for a flexible, less-overloaded time table.

Sir Jim Rose, heading the review, suggested there could be six broader "areas of learning", rather than up to 14 individual subjects, such as history, geography and science.

'Freedom and flexibility'

The spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families continued: "We thank Professor Alexander for his contribution and Sir Jim Rose will no doubt read it with interest as part of his extensive, independent consultation into the primary curriculum, which is still gathering evidence from a wide range of experts and academics, teachers, parents and the public."

He added that the Rose Review's aim was to give teachers more freedom and flexibility, smooth children's transition between the stages of their education, and ensure the best possible educational outcomes for all children, he added.

Acting general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, Christine Blower, said it was a matter of "concern" that the government was keeping the Cambridge Primary Review "at arms length".

"His proposals for the primary curriculum have depth, credibility and, above all, respond to the realities of the primary classroom."

Nick Seaton, of the Campaign for Real Education, said children needed to be taught the basics at primary school, as well as a range of subjects.

"But if literacy and numeracy are taught well there should be enough time in the curriculum to teach the other subjects," he said.

The Cambridge Primary Review is an independent body which began its research on primary education in 2006.

The primary curriculum report is its 10th published study. A final report will be published later this year.

Brown signals 100% mortgages curb

Gordon Brown has said he is considering curbs on 100% mortgages to encourage more responsibility in the market.

The prime minister said the Financial Services Authority would be considering controls which will force people to save for longer before buying homes.

Writing in The Observer, he called for a new age of sobriety in UK banking, calling for the return of "prudent", old-fashioned high street banks.

He also said banks should not dabble in complex international investments.

Critics have described the calls as "humbug" after Mr Brown's previous support of light-touch bank regulation.

During his time as chancellor, the prime minister was openly critical of other European banking systems for their strict regulation and inflexibility.

Britain, he said, was strong because of its light-touch regulatory environment, which encouraged investment and created jobs and wealth.

But BBC political correspondent Joe Lynam said the credit crunch and the ensuing financial crisis had changed Mr Brown's attitude to banking.

In The Observer, the prime minister sketches out a future where bankers will be the "servants" rather than the masters of Britain's currently ailing economy.

We have got to get the balance right between serving homeowners better and encouraging responsibility in the market Gordon Brown

He says the Financial Services Authority will be considering controls on mortgages of more than 100% of a home's value and so-called high multiple mortgages offering loans of up to six times an applicant's salary.

More caution in the mortgage market, he says, would reduce chances of a future property crash.

Mr Brown argues "more responsible" banking will restore trust and unlock more business and mortgage lending for families and businesses.

He wants banks to make loans "on prudent and careful terms, not just to people with large deposits but to first-time buyers and those on middle and modest incomes who wish to buy their home but who have not been able to save a huge deposit."

'Absolute madness'

He went on: "We have got to get the balance right between serving homeowners better and encouraging responsibility in the market."

In the article he rules out legislation to create a "rigid divide" between retail high street banks, which offer standard deposit accounts and loans, and investment banks trading globally in complex financial instruments.

Mr Brown believes pressure from consumers seeking somewhere safe to put their money will drive banks back to a model more common before the de-regulatory "big bang" in the City.

But Alex Brummer, City editor of the Daily Mail, told the BBC it was "humbug" for the prime minister to now ask people to forget those years of deregulation when bankers could "do what they wished".

Rihanna speaks after photo leaked

Pop star Rihanna has issued a statement thanking fans for their support after an alleged assault by her R&B singer boyfriend Chris Brown.

However, she declined to comment on a leaked photograph which appears to show her with facial injuries.

"At the request of the authorities, Rihanna is not commenting about the incident involving Chris Brown," the star said via her spokesperson.

"She wants to assure her fans that she remains strong."

'Saddened'

Brown was questioned by police on 8 February over a complaint of assault.

Police said the 19-year-old got into an argument with an unidentified woman in a parked car in the Hancock Park area of Los Angeles, which escalated after they left the vehicle.

Both Brown and Rihanna pulled out of that night's Grammy awards, where they had been due to perform.

He has since said he was "sorry and saddened" by the incident and was seeking counselling.

Prosecutors have asked police to provide more information before deciding what charges, if any, to pursue against him.

Iran mixed football match furore

The leading Iranian football club has apologised for allowing its women's team and its men's youth team to play each other.

Esteghlal football club, which was top of the Iranian league, said it had penalised three officials.

This was the first mixed football match since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the Associated Press reported.

Mixed sports are strictly forbidden in Iran. Women are not even allowed into football grounds to watch men's games.

'Moral values'

The match is reported to have happened earlier this month at a stadium in south Tehran.

Iranian media say the men's team won 7-0.

But the head of the club's academy, Alireza Mansourian, said the two teams had come into contact only briefly, after their training sessions overlapped.

"On examination, I concluded that the incident did not happen in the way it is alleged," he said.

He insisted the club "is committed to moral values".

The club announced on its website that three officials, including the women's and youth team coaches, had been suspended and fined.

Mr Mansourian, a prominent former footballer, is also reported to have been fined.

The incident is said to be under investigation by the state-run sports governing body, which enforces gender segregation within sport.

Controversial Men-Women League

The match took place on a training ground between the Esteghlal women's team and their men's youth team. Mixed sports are strictly forbidden in Iran, and women are not even allowed to go into football grounds to watch men's games.

As Esteghlal is owned by the government, there was an immediate inquiry. The two coaches involved have been suspended for a year and fined and the head of the club's academy has also been fined. He claimed that the two teams only came into contact briefly after their training sessions overlapped and he insisted his club was committed to ''moral values'', as he put it.

But the Iranian media say the two teams played a match in which the boy's team won seven - nil.

Jon Leyne, BBC News, Tehran

Evinronmentalist try to save dolphins

Environmentalists are beginning another desperate effort in a few hours to save a school of dolphins stranded for days off New York's Long Island coast. Several dolphins from the group of twenty or so have already been guided out to sea, but some have died and a number remain trapped in the shallow waters of a cove. Environmentalists will use high frequency sound generators and a flotilla of small boats to try to herd the dolphins to safety. The creatures are growing increasingly weak and it's thought today's rescue effort may be a last chance to save them.

Australia condemns comments by a Muslim cleric

The Australian government has condemned a Muslim cleric who referred to Jews as pigs and encouraged children to become martyrs. Sheik Feiz Mohammed, who is the head of an Islamic youth centre in the (eastern) city of Sydney, made the comments in a series of videotaped lectures.

An Australian government minister said the views were reprehensible and offensive.

Sheik Feiz is reported to have spent the past year in Lebanon. His comments were made public in a British television documentary screened this week.

Dog as a result first commercial clonning

Several years ago Edgar and Nina Otto froze the DNA of their dog, Lancelot. When he died last year, the couple were devastated and they decided to get a clone produced by a South Korean laboratory.

The biotech firm Best Friends Again claim that Lancelot Encore, as they've named the new puppy, is the world's first commercially cloned dog. The laboratory in South Korea, BioArts, includes a scientist that lost his research professorship at Seoul University in 2004, after fraudulently claiming he'd cloned human embryos and stem cells.

The new owners here in Florida say they're happy with their new dog and don't plan to clone any others.

It's thought that between three and four million unwanted dogs are killed at shelters across the US every year.

Andy Gallacher, BBC News, Miami

USA sent troops to Afghanistan

This is the first big military decision from the new White House team. In a written statement, Mr Obama said Afghanistan had not received the strategic attention, direction and resources it urgently required.

Speaking on Air Force One, the president's spokesman Robert Gibbs suggested that the extra troops were sorely needed in order to address an immediate crisis combating a deteriorating situation ahead of a Taleban spring offensive.

In the longer term though it's not yet clear what the president intends to do about Afghanistan. In advance of a visit to Canada he told a Canadian TV interviewer that he thought the war was still winnable, al-Qaeda could still be stamped out. On the other hand he said the spread of extremism could not be stopped solely through military means, diplomacy and development were also important.

He may well add to the seventeen thousand troop reinforcements, his commanders would like more, but the president has yet to decide on a long-term plan.

Justin Webb, BBC News, Washington