Today's news

Clarke leans towards top-ups
Education secretary Charles Clarke yesterday admitted that the government would not need to seek the backing of MPs if it wanted to introduce top-up fees in the next parliament. Former education secretary Estelle Morris broke her silence on the issue since resigning in October. She signalled concern for the future funding of higher education by warning that access for poorer students must be the government’s priority.
( The Guardian, Daily Mail, Financial Times, The Times )
Interview with Charles Clarke on top-up fees
( The Independent )

Debts perk for public service graduates
Graduates who work in the public services could have their university debts written off, it emerged yesterday. The government fears that they will be deterred from taking relatively low-paid jobs and attracted to the private sector instead in a bid to repay loans and tuition fees quickly.
( Daily Mail )

British academic tells of torture
A British academic who is being detained in Indonesia accused of violating her tourist visa has revealed the extent to which she was allegedly intimidated, harassed and forced to witness hour-long torture sessions. Lesley McCulloch will go on trial today.
( The Guardian )

Dolly scientist wants licence to clone humans
The leader of the team that cloned Dolly the sheep has applied for a licence that would enable him to clone human embryos. Ian Wilmut has applied to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority for a licence allowing him to take an unfertilised human egg and to try to develop it into an early embryo.
( The Guardian, The Independent )

Blood test to predict heart attack
A blood test for heart disease that is cheap, simple and could take a few minutes has been developed at Imperial College London. The test, called metabonomics, can detect when blood vessels are beginning to clog.
( The Telegraph, The Independent, Daily Mail, The Times )

Learned societies facing huge rent bills
Five of Britain’s most prestigious learned societies face crippling rent bills from Whitehall after 130 years of rent-free existence. If the government wins a forthcoming High Court case, it will seek to make the societies, all historic charities, pay heavily for their accommodation in Burlington House in Piccadilly, London. The five are: Society of Antiquaries, the Royal Astronomical Society, the Royal Society of Chemistry, The Linnean Society and The Geological Society.
( The Independent )

Reformists warn students of crackdown
Leading reformists in Iran warned students yesterday that powerful conservatives were planning to impose emergency rule if largely peaceful university demonstrations against a death sentence on dissident history lecturer Hashem Aghajari got out of hand.
( The Independent, Financial Times )

Degrees of difference
Report on business degrees, including Sloan masters at London Business School and French business school Insead’s EMBA.
( Financial Times )

Terror on campus
Report on John Kilgore, the Cape Town academic who was unmasked by the FBI as a member of the terror organisation that kidnapped Patty Hearst.
( The Times, T2 )