QCA appoints Greener as interim chairman
City grandee Sir Anthony Greener, deputy chairman of BT and former chairman of drinks giant Diageo, is to be chairman of the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority on an interim basis until April 30 2003. He replaces Sir William Stubbs, who was sacked by Ms Morris last month for his part in the A-levels debacle. The post is part time and unpaid.
Countess of Longford dies, aged 96
Historian and royal biographer the Countess of Longford CBE died peacefully in her sleep today aged 96, her daughter Lady Antonia Fraser said. She was the widow of penal reformer Lord Longford, who died last year. They met as students at Oxford University.
Fresh tremors shake Manchester
Another earthquake rocked Manchester overnight taking the number of tremors to shake the region to 19, the British Geological Survey said today. An earthquake measuring 2.8 on the Richter scale was recorded at the BGS headquarters in Edinburgh at 2.53am.
Edinburgh researchers tackle leukaemia cells
Edinburgh University researchers have begun a project which aims to make laboratory-grown leukaemia cells change form and then prime a patient's own immune system to kill off malignant cells. If successful, the study could give doctors a way of destroying residual leukaemic cells that are undetectable by microscope, helping to treat acute myeloblastic leukaemia (AML), one of the most common forms of leukaemia in adults.
Cost of public study in the US rises by 9.6%
The cost of study at a public university in the United States rose more quickly in the past year than at any time over the past decade, according to figures released by the College Board. At four-year public institutions, tuition and fees now average $4,081 (£2,630) a 9.6 per cent increase on 2001-02. At four-year private schools, tuition and fees increased by 5.8 per cent to an average $18,3. A search for alternative sources to declining tax revenues was blamed for the increase at public universities.
Details: www.collegeboard.com/press/cost02/html/cost02a.html
Human rights activists lobby for release of Xu Zerong
Human Rights Watch has called on US president George W. Bush to use this week's summit with Chinese president Jiang Zemin to press for the release of historian Xu Zerong, who was jailed earlier this year for sending 1950s material on the Korean war to researchers outside China. Professor Xu is a Chinese national and resident of Hong Kong who taught at Guangzhou University after completing his graduate studies at Oxford University.