Today's news

University establishes an English outpost in China
Rising from what was once a paddy field is a little piece of England. One year after breaking ground, Nottingham University will open the first foreign campus on Chinese soil tomorrow. The 900 students enrolled at the £20 million, 96-acre Nottingham-at-Ningbo University will receive a British curriculum and degrees under the tutelage of imported lecturers, English-only tutorials and a replica of the Nottingham Trent tower, complete with chiming bells. From Monday, students will begin the same courses as their counterparts in Nottingham in finance and business management, international communications and international studies.
The Times

Student depression is costing £30m
British universities spend £30 million a year to provide counselling for students with mental health problems. Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act from 18 leading universities suggest that the number of students seeking counselling has risen by more than 20 per cent to 60,000 in five years. Universities have increased spending on counselling services by over 50 per cent in the period and now spend an average of £280,000, up from £185,000 five years ago.
The Times

Scoring more is proved pointless
Dull matches riddled with cynical fouls, a lack of goals and negative tactics may not be the fault of Britain's pampered footballers and millionaire managers, academics have claimed. Defensive play, which observers have warned is turning fans away from the game, could be the result of past efforts to make the game more entertaining. Luis Garicano of Chicago University and Ignacio Palacios-Huerta of Brown University in Rhode Island, said offering football teams three points for a league win - instead of two - had led to less, not more, attacking play.
The Daily Telegraph

Scientist quits UK over funding
A leading stem cell scientist is to leave Britain for a better funded research centre in Spain, his university has announced. Miodrag Stojkovic, leader of the research team that produced the UK's first cloned human embryo earlier this year, is moving from Newcastle University to the Prince Felipe Research Centre in Valencia. Christopher Edwards, the university's vice-chancellor, said that he "leaves a tremendous legacy for Newcastle and UK stem cell research. He will be a great loss to the stem cell team at Newcastle."
The Financial Times, The Times, The Guardian

Women warned of risks in 'epidemic' of late childbirth
Women who "want to have it all" are warned today about the dangers of delaying pregnancy to establish their careers. Three specialists in women's health and childbirth say women who wait until their 30s or 40s to have babies are defying nature and risking heartbreak. The doctors warn that while the age at which women in western societies choose to start their families has changed, their biology has not. The best age for childbirth remains at 20 to 35, they say. Susan Bewley, a consultant in maternal and foetal medicine, Prof Peter Braude, the head of the department of women's health, at Guy's and St Thomas's Hospital, London, and Melanie Davies, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at University College Hospital, say later pregnancy carries more risk for the mother and the baby.
The Daily Telegraph, The Times

Catholic Church recruits more student exorcists
It is a devil of a job but someone has to do it. Applications are invited for exorcism training at the Vatican's Rome university, the Athenaeum Pontificium Regina Apostolorum. The ten-week course includes sessions in exorcism rites, how to talk to the Devil, the tricks he uses to fight back and signs of the occult hidden in rock music and video games. Students also attend classes in psychology so that priests can distinguish between "real cases" of satanic possession and illnesses such as schizophrenia.
The Daily Telegraph