Facebook and edX are teaming up to see if online education works in a new pilot program.  The new initiative will provide students in Rawnada wth free aces of eduation.  The program will be under he umbrella of Internet.org, a program bringing the internet to two-thirds of teh world now living without it.

The platform developed by Harvard and MIT will allow students to ask questions, interact with teachers, participate in group discussions and engage with their peers. What’s more, the Rwandan government will work with edX to adapt the course materials, thereby creating more locally-relevant content, as well as expand its free Wi-Fi in campuses throughout the East African country.

In Romania, two business-savvy sisters have used financing from IFC client Garanti Bank to create hundreds of jobs at their shoe and clothing company, miniPRIX.

With IFC’s support, the bank is building a profitable, high-impact business targeting the fast-emerging women entrepreneurs market.

Blinding speed and low latency are giving way to instrumentation and fine-tuning as the objective of algorithm users.  “Speed is changing from being a competitive edge to being a requirement of the trading platform,” said Hazem Dawani, chief executive of OptionsCity, provider of the Freeway platform. “The trend is to build intelligent trading strategies that use predictive analytics.”  Algorithms Get Smarter

Twice every business day in London, representatives of five banks and some select clients participate in a phone call in which offers to buy and sell gold are put forward. These calls determine the morning and afternoon gold fixings, which serve as the benchmark for trillions of dollars in transactions around the world. Silver fixings work similarly, with only three banks involved.  Price Manipulation by Banks

Why Financial Literacy is Important

World is one of America’s largest providers of installment loans, an industry that thrives in at least 19 states, mostly in the South and Midwest; claims more than 10 million customers; and has survived recent efforts by lawmakers to curtail lending that carries exorbitant interest rates and fees.

Installment lenders were not included in a 2006 federal law that banned selling some classes of loans with an annual percentage rate above 36 percent to service members — so the companies often set up shop near the gates of military bases, offering loans with annual rates that can soar into the triple digits.      Bilking the Poor