The bleak yearend sale suffered by retailers is expected to extend to Valentine's Day. A survey by the National Retail Federation said most of couples will probably spend less than $20 each as they celebrate love day on Saturday.

The NRF estimate is that average spending for Valentine's Day will be at $102.50 or a 15.6 percent decline compared to 2008.

A study by researchers from King's College in London of 800 Britons ages 13 and 14 showed that teenagers of a generation ago were brighter than today's youth.

The survey was based on measurement of understanding of abstract scientific concepts such as volume, density, quantity and weight, with the results placed side-by-side with a similar study made in 1976.

The school board here decided Friday to fire a science teacher accused of burning a cross on a student's arm and teaching creationism in his class.

The board, however, will give John Freshwater, 51, of Mount Vernon Middle School two weeks to appeal the decision to end his contract and argue his case before the firing is made official on July 7.

British school teachers are advocating for education reforms, including a return to an early 1980s style of teaching, characterized by a strong liberal education. In essence, teachers are calling for more hours for play and less rigid methods in teaching young Britons how to read.

Steve Sinnott, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, told Guardian Unlimited, "Teachers want a return to a system which is liberal and flexible and not top-down and imposed by government. We want a return to a time when there was a potential for magic moments in the classroom."

Stricter absenteeism rules had little effect on British students after truancy rates rose 33 percent. The British government has spend almost $2 billion to overcome the problem, but 63,000 more British students skipped classes in the '06-'07 school year, compared to '05-'06.

Family holidays and ailments topped the list of the reasons why British pupils skipped school. Schools Minister Kevin Brennan said 3.47 percent of the absences were attributed to illness, especially among female students and poor pupils on free school meals. This was followed by family holidays which accounted for 0.7 percent of the absences. The family holidays ate up 6.8 million schools days, although 90 percent of the students who availed of this had the school's permission.