Students Paid to Go to Class and Get Good Grades

Few things in France can provoke heated debate faster than moves to tinker with the country’s vaunted public-education system, which embodies republican values that date back to the French Revolution. It’s especially true when the changes involve an idea as capitalistic and nonegalitarian as paying certain students — the ones most apt to fail and drop out — to attend classes and get good grades.

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‘Sea turtles’ powering China’s Internet growth

“China is not on the Internet, it’s basically an intranet. Everything is banned by the Great Firewall,” says Sherman So, co-author of “Red Wired: China’s Internet Revolution.” With 338 million Internet users in June 2009, according to the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), China is no longer a niche market of the online industry.

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Reformists question legitimacy of Iran’s government

Three leading Iranian reformists who have rejected the results of last month’s election questioned the legitimacy of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s government Wednesday. This comes as Ahmadinejad is set to take office at the end of the month. Presidential candidate Mehdi Karrubi wrote a letter in his party’s newspaper, saying he would not recognize the government and vowing to “stand by the people and the revolution, until the end of my life.” His statement prompted Iran’s government to block publication of the newspaper

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