Today's news

Oxford withholds full support from Paulin
Oxford University stopped short of giving full backing to the poet Tom Paulin, a lecturer at Hertford College, after he was criticised for allegedly saying that all US-born settlers in Israel should be killed. (The Daily Mail)

Second black scholar quits Harvard
Cornel West, a prominent black academic in Harvard University's Afro-American studies department, has defected to Princeton University after a series of rows with Harvard president Larry Summers over his work. He follows the philosopher K. Anthony Appiah, another leading black scholar. (The Daily Telegraph, The Times)

Universities give state-school students leg-up
At least ten British universities have changed their admission arrangements to admit pupils from low-performing state schools with lower A-level grades (The Daily Telegraph)

Rogue genes switched off
A method of switching off rogue genes has been developed by researchers at Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory in New York. It could clear the way for new approaches to treating cancer and other diseases. (The Times)

Testosterone link between lions and bald men
A community of man-eating lions may share a link with bald men. Scientists suspect that high levels of the male hormone testosterone may account for the lack of manes and unusual aggression in Tsavo lions in Kenya. Testosterone causes male-pattern baldness and heightens aggression inhumans. (The Times)

Human traces in Ice-Age Tibet
David Zhang Dian, a Hong Kong-based researcher, has discovered fossilised hand and footprints near Lhasa, the Tibetan capital, which suggest that human settlements existed there during the Ice Age 16,000 years earlier than previously thought. (The Times)

Seac to meet in public
The Spongiform Encephalopathy Advisory Committee (Seac), which advises the government on BSE, will hold its meetings in public from the autumn. (The Guardian)

Prince William to change to geography
Prince William is to change his university course from history of art to geography in September, after he has completed his first year at St Andrews, it was reported last night. (The Daily Mail)

DFES backs screening for dyscalculia
The Department for Education and Skills is backing a pilot scheme to screen children for dyscalculia, the mathematical equivalent of dyslexia. Experts believe up to 420,000 children may be affected. (The Daily Mail)

Whole-class reading in decline, adviser says
Roger Beard, a key adviser behind the government's revival of traditional teaching in primary schools, warns that whole-class reading is in decline. (The Daily Mail)