Today's news

Exam board admits lowering grades
The exam board at the centre of the row over claims of exam fixing has admitted that it lowered the grades of some pupils in this year’s A levels results. A leaked letter from the Oxford, Cambridge and RSA board shows that its chief executive, Ron McClone, intervened to penalise bright pupils to strike “a balance” in the results of the old and new-style A-level results.
( The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Times, Daily Mail )

Lecturer charged with sexually abusing girl
A British college lecturer is facing up to 40 years in jail in America after he allegedly influenced an under-aged girl via the internet to have sex with him. Jason Tsiricos, a joint branch secretary of the National Association of Teachers in Further Education, was arrested in Detroit at the end of last month and has been charged with sexually abusing the girl.
( The Times )

Let students hold purse strings
Report on why universities must be allowed to adapt to the free market, by Steven Schwartz, vice-chancellor of Brunel University.
( The Telegraph )

Ozone hole shrinking
The hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica will be closed within half a century, Australian researchers say. The team has found that the level of ozone-destroying chlorine from chlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere has begun to fall, two decades after the hole was first discovered by the British Antarctic Survey.
( The Telegraph, The Independent, Daily Mail )

100th new world discovered
Astronomers yesterday announced the discovery of the 100th planet known to inhabit another solar system. Dr Hugh Jones of Liverpool John Moores University led the team, which made the announcement at a conference on The Origin of Life, in Graz, Austria.
( The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Times )

Riddle of sealed door baffles Egyptologists
A mysterious sealed door deep within the Great Pyramids of Giza was breached yesterday for the first time in 4,500 years by a robot. But the attempt to solve one of Ancient Egypt’s lingering riddles succeeded only in setting up a fresh one – another sealed door.
( The Times, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail )

Charting floral gainers and losers
Some British wildflowers are now so rare that they are restricted to nature reserves, according to the New Atlas of the British and Irish Flora , published by Oxford University Press, which was launched yesterday.
( The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, The Times, Daily Mail )

Childhood brain cancer linked to flu
Childhood brain cancers could be linked to a baby’s exposure to the flu or measles viruses around the time of birth, says a new study from researchers at Newcastle University. Their findings are published in the British Journal of Cancer .
( The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent, Financial Times )

Antibiotics linked to rise in asthma
The epidemic in childhood asthma and allergies could be caused by women taking antibiotics during pregnancy, according to researchers at Nottingham University. The findings are published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Clinical Care Medicine .
( Daily Mail )

Eat and drink your way to mental health
People who experience mood swings can improve so much with simple dietary changes that they no longer need anti-depressants, according to researchers. The Food and Mood study, supported by the mental health charity Mind, found that 80 per cent of people interviewed said they felt better when they changed what they ate and drank.
( The Telegraph )

A split sense of purpose
Report on the dispute between professors about the role of business schools.
( Financial Times )