Salaries rise but vacancies fall
Graduates' salaries have risen but the number of vacancies has fallen and the jobless total for university leavers is expected to increase. Average earnings rose 3 per cent to £18,021 in the year to last September, the Careers Services Unit said yesterday. (Independent)
High salary Scotland magnet for graduates
Scotland has become a high-earning hotspot for graduates in their first jobs after university. The average starting salary in Scotland is now almost £19,500, which is £1,000 more than London. Scotland also had a 12 per cent increase last year in the number of graduate vacancies advertised on the central universities website - the largest source of employment openings - while the UK total fell by 25 per cent. (Times)
Cancer drug breakthrough
Scientists from St George's Hospital Medical School have made a breakthrough in the fight against the blood disease aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. By combining the drug rituximab with standard chemotherapy treatment they have boosted the two-year survival rate of patients from 57 to 70 per cent. (Daily Telegraph)
Royal Society defends research on animals
The Royal Society, Britain's national academy of sciences, today publishes a strong defense of the use of animals in research. It continues a scientific counter-attack, launched last week by the BioIndustry Association, against activists who want to stop all animal experiments. (Financial Times)
Newspapers censured over Euan Blair stories
Two newspapers have been found guilty of invading the privacy of the prime minister's 17-year-old son. The press complaints commission decided that the Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail broke the editor's code of practice by publishing the fact that he had applied for a place at Trinity College, Oxford. (Guardian, Times)
Language study age concern
A green paper due out next month is expected to suggest that studying foreign languages should no longer be compulsory for pupils aged over 14. The proposal is set to meet opposition from industry leaders, who are concerned about the competitive damage being wrought by many Britons' poor grasp of foreign languages. (Financial Times)