Bomb kills seven at Israeli university
A bomb at a student cafeteria in Jerusalem killed seven people and injured more than 60 yesterday in the first Palestinian attack on a university during almost two years of violence. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem had been seen as a place where Jewish and Arab students could learn in peace. Five foreigners and two Israelis were killed. Palestinian terrorist group Hamas claimed responsibility for the attack.
( The Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Financial Times, The Times, The Guardian, The Independent )
Parents insure against student dropouts
Parents are spending hundreds of pounds on insurance to protect themselves against the cost of their children dropping out of university. For a one-off payment of about £170, parents can protect themselves against the waste of tuition fees – just over £1,000 a year – while £400 will cover the repayment of student loans.
( The Times )
Royal Society criticised over racial awareness
A Parliamentary inquiry cleared the Royal Society of discriminating against women yesterday, but found it guilty of a serious “lack of awareness” of racial issues. A report by the Commons Science and Technology Committee rejected that the society was prejudiced against appointing women fellow but was highly critical of its attitude to members of ethnic minorities.
( The Times, The Independent )
Lecturer charged over quiz show win
A lecturer was charged yesterday by police investigating an alleged swindle involving the TV quiz show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? . Tecwen Whittock, head of business studies at Pontypridd College in South Wales, was charged with conspiracy and deception following a police inquiry into the show in which Major Charles Ingram won the £1 million jackpot.
( Financial Times, Daily Mail, The Times, The Guardian, The Independent )
Poetry judge quits
British poetry was thrown into turmoil yesterday over allegations of cronyism involving one of the country’s top poetry awards, the £10,000 Forward prize. US poet Michael Donaghy announced his resignation as chairman of the judges after claims that the prize for a collection of poetry had fallen into the hands of a group of poets represented by publisher Picador. Mr Donaghy and another of this year’s judges, Sean O’Brien, are published by Picador.
( The Daily Telegraph, The Times, The Guardian, The Independent )
Experts see danger if nuclear treaty collapses
The collapse of the nuclear test ban treaty would pose a far greater threat to US security than if the treaty comes into force and some countries cheat, according to a report by the US National Academy of Sciences.
( Financial Times )
65m-year-old comet crater uncovered
An underwater crater left by a massive meteorite that collided with Earth 65 million years ago has been discovered off the Yorkshire coast. The crater is almost two miles wide and 1,000ft deep. It was located by Phil Allen, a physicist with Production Geoscience in Aberdeenshire.
( The Times, The Guardian )
Squids muscle in on humans
Giant squid are growing so fast that they now take up more space on the planet than humans, scientists believe. Researchers at the Institute of Antarctic and Southern Ocean Studies in Tasmania say that global warming has helped the creatures expand their breeding areas. Their findings are reported in the journal Australasian Science .
( Daily Mail )
Woofs all add up
Research published today suggests that dogs can count. Using a technique that has been used to show that five-month-old babies can count, researchers at Lincoln University and the University of Minas Gerais in Brazil jointly studied a group of mongrels. Their findings are reported in New Scientist. In a separate study, also reported in New Scientist , University of California scientists have found that dogs’ barks have a range of meanings.
( The Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, The Times )
Cats at risk from passive smoking
Passive smoking can kill cats, according to research carried out at Tufts University in Massachusetts and Massachusetts University. Cats that live in a smoking household are at much greater risk from the most common type of cat cancer – feline lymphoma.
( Daily Mail )
Scientists blame cats for sparrows’ decline
Years of research have confirmed that the domestic feline is a prime suspect in the disappearance of the house sparrow from Britain. The inquiry was led by the British Trust for Ornithology.
( The Independent )