Today's news

Strathclyde university wins £1m contract
An executive education contract worth £1 million has been awarded to the University of Strathclyde Graduate School of Business. The school is to provide a tailored programme for up to 300 executives at Babcock International, the asset-management company. The "Babcock Academy", which will run over a two-year period, will include strategy, finance and project management.
The Financial Times

Universities look to exploit division over student visa plans
Students and universities will tomorrow try to exploit disagreements between ministers over international student visas - quoting a fighting speech by Tony Blair. The government's immigration bill, which is due to be discussed in the House of Commons tomorrow, removes the right of appeal against the refusal of student visas. Coupled with steep increases in visa charges, universities argue that these changes will deter some of the 200,000 foreign students who contribute to the UK's £4 billion export earnings from higher education.
The Guardian

V&A to put new focus on work of a camera genius
For the first time in 30 years, a big exhibition of work by Diane Arbus, the New York photographer who transformed the art of taking pictures of people, will be seen in London. More than 200 of her works are to be put on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum, the largest selection ever shown. Martin Barnes, the V&A's curator of photographs, promises a revelatory view of Arbus, who is something of a cult figure among photographers. "There's a huge amount of stuff that's barely been seen," he says. "Arbus has a claim to be one of the great artists of the 20th century."
The Guardian

Kenyan MPs 'laziest in Africa', says lecturer
Kenyan MPs might be the best paid in Africa but they have been accused of also being the laziest. Legislators in Nairobi have failed to pass a single Bill during the current session of parliament. All but one of the 20 new laws before the Nairobi parliament are still in the first reading stage, and the next recess is in 12 weeks. Only 10 new laws have been introduced on to the statute books since President Mwai Kibaki's National Rainbow Coalition came to power in 2002, compared with 41 new laws in Tanzania in the same period. Dr Mutakha Kangu, a university lecturer who researched MPs' effectiveness, said that MPs "are just earning taxpayers' money, with little to show for it".
The Daily Telegraph

Deep Impact smashes all expectations
The Deep Impact probe has smashed into Comet Tempel 1, producing a blast of light that prompted the mission control room at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, US, to erupt into cheers and applause. Scientists and engineers jumped in the air, pumped their fists and hugged one another. Not only had their mission to deliberately collide with a comet for the first time succeeded perfectly, but the prospect of a damp squib - with the impactor passing right through a diffuse, rubbly comet - had fizzled away.
New Scientist, The Guardian, The Daily Telegraph

Having a shower can 'cause brain damage', suggests new research
Taking a shower could give you brain damage, new research suggests. It can expose people to dangerously high levels of manganese, a poisonous metal dissolved in water. It has been linked to damage to the nervous system. Most countries have strict guidelines for 'safe levels' in water, to which suppliers must adhere. But they do not take into account inhalation of steam vapour while showering, warn US scientists. Inhaling it leads to a 'direct unfiltered pathway of toxins' to the brain which increases the risk, they argue.
The Evening Standard, The Daily Mail, The Daily Telegraph

Letters
Regarding examination support for dyslexic students.
The Times

From the weekend's papers:

Saturday

• Vice Chancellor of Ulster University forced to stand down after allegations that he attended meetings under the influence of alcohol. The Daily Telegraph, The Times Higher Education Supplement (June 24)
  
• The Duke of Edinburgh opened a new computing research centre in Edinburgh. The Scotsman

Sunday

• Two out of three students leaving university this summer without a graduate job. The Mail On Sunday
  
• Good training can beat a degree. The Sunday Express