Washington  - President Barack Obama said reforming the US education system was critical to the long-term health of the country's economy as he outlined his reform plans in a policy speech Tuesday.

Obama, whose time has mostly been taken up with a deepening recession since he entered office in January, warned that suffering standards of education could not be ignored and threatened the United States' global standing over the long haul.

Taipei - Tibetans in Taiwan held demonstrations and rallies on Tuesday to mark the 50th anniversary of China's 1959 occupation of Tibet.

Two Taiwan cities and one county have declared March 10 as "Tibet Day" as a protest to commemorate the Dalai Lama's fleeing Tibet to seek exile in India, as the Tibet Day.

The three places are Kaohsiung City, Pingtung County and Tainan City.

On Tuesday morning, Tibetan exiles and their supporters held a rally in the Cental Park in Kaohsiung, south Taiwan.

Harare - Thousands of Zimbabweans packed a stadium on Tuesday for an emotional farewell to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's wife, Susan, whose death in a car crash continues to be dogged by suspicion despite President Robert Mugabe calling it "the hand of God."

Over 10,000 supporters of Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) turned out at Glamis Stadium, where the coffin of his wife of 31 years, who was mourned in t-shirts and placards as a "heroine," "a rock," and "a mother," was displayed before her burial Wednesday.

Harare - The driver of the vehicle that collided with that of Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai last week, killing his wife and injuring him, appeared in court Monday on charges of culpable homicide, lawyers said.

Chinoona Mwanda, 35, was driving the truck contracted by the US international development agency, USAID that side-swiped Tsvangirai's car, causing it to roll three times. Tsvangirai's wife of 31 years, Susan, was killed in the weekend crash.

Washington - Former first lady Nancy Reagan welcomed President Barack Obama's decision Monday to allow government funding of embryonic stem cell research, which scientists believe could help cure diseases such as Alzheimer's that led to her husband's death.

Nancy Reagan, who has departed from many fellow Republicans who oppose stem cell research on religious grounds, said lifting the ban on federal funding would allow scientists to "move forward" with their investigations.

Washington  - US President Barack Obama on Monday reversed an eight-year long government block on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, a promising but controversial science, and rejected what he called a "false choice" between science and morals.

Obama signed an executive order that overturned former president George W Bush's policy limiting research on the cells, which was put in place during his first year in office back in 2001. Fulfilling a 2008 campaign promise, Obama said he would "vigorously support" scientists who pursue stem cell research.