Paris / AFP Around 4.5 million pupils in OECD countries have failed to attain a sufficient level of proficiency in either reading, maths or science at the age of 15, according to a new study released by the think-tank. That figure equates to more than one in four of 15-year-olds in the 34 OECD nations. Analysis of results from the …

Brasília / Bloomberg Zika is a rarity in Brazil: a crisis that isn’t widely blamed on Dilma Rousseff’s government. And a mobilization against mosquitoes may even help the president climb out of a political hole. In the northeastern town of Limoeiro, corruption scandals and a deepening recession have eroded support for Rousseff’s Workers’ Party. But the town in Pernambuco state …

London / Bloomberg Thomas Cook Group Plc, the British originator of the package holiday, said public concern about terrorist attacks is prompting an upturn in demand for organized tours as people fear being stuck abroad on their own. While attacks on tourists in Tunisia, Egypt and Istanbul, as well as the Paris killings, have led some people to hold back …