Oxford's season ends in style - The Dub podcast "It was almost like the season in a microcosm because it was much better than you expected but I think I'd go further than that and talk about how vibrant it was "It was an advert for what you want the Championship to be The one thing it didn't have was the nail-biting stomach-crushing pressure of some of the previous weeks." BBC Radio Oxford's Jerome Sale shares his thoughts on the 3-3 draw at Swansea on the final day former U's defender Ben Purkiss and supporter and podcaster George Elek on the latest episode of The Dub podcast They reflect on Oxford's final week of the season staying in the Championship and what might happen in the summer transfer window Listen to the full episode of The Dub podcast on BBC Sounds. but will Yamal build legacy to rival Messi 'Calamity keeper' or 'human wall' - which Donnarumma will Arsenal face Premier League reaction & Champions League race latest as Forest draw at Palace The final series of Man Like Mobeen has arrived John Simm stars in the provocative 90s drama Warm-hearted comedy with Ben Miller and Sally Phillips Follow two ambitious river restoration projects Who has made Troy's Premier League team of the week Trailblazer Zhao set to take snooker to 'another level' in China Alexander-Arnold leaves as modern Liverpool great - but fans will feel hurt Zhao beats Williams in historic final - highlights VideoZhao beats Williams in historic final - highlights 'Scheffler and DeChambeau wins further raise US PGA excitement levels' Match-fixing scandal to Crucible champion - fall and rise of Zhao 'We need to take a look at ourselves' - Arsenal stalling at wrong time Palmer's brilliance could be key moment in Chelsea's Champions League quest Europa League 'papering over cracks' for Man Utd - Rooney VideoEuropa League 'papering over cracks' for Man Utd - Rooney Ask Me Anything the new BBC Sport service designed to serve you Bayern's 'James Bond' - how Kane clinched his first trophy Nine bolters with a shot of making the Lions squad How 'absolutely outstanding' Palmer 'destroyed' Liverpool VideoHow 'absolutely outstanding' Palmer 'destroyed' Liverpool Still number one & 'sparring' with Draper - return of Sinner Saints 'punch' favourites Leinster in game for the ages VideoVardy the best £1m ever spent - Shearer Poppy's tears Elton John & Happy Gilmore - McIlroy on Jimmy Fallon show Two opposing views on football's transgender ban Copyright © 2025 BBC. 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Following the conclusion of the 2024/25 season Oxford City Football Club can confirm the list of retained and released players Captain Reece Fleet will leave the club this summer after ten years with the Hoops alongside fellow long-serving defender Lewis Coyle Also set to depart the MGroup Stadium is defender Canice Carroll who has played a pivotal role in the squad throughout the last four seasons Re-joining the club this season from Salisbury the central defender was a key component in the squad turning its fortunes around Carroll also played a big role in the squad that played in and since joining the club has gone on to make 125 appearances scoring seven goals The Full Retained/Released List can be found below Players Currently Under Contract for the 2024/25 Season: The following players have had their contract options triggered and will remain at the club: The following players have been offered new terms and remain in discussion with the club: The following players have returned to their parent clubs following their loan spells: The following players have departed Oxford City FC after the expiration of their contracts: The following players have been invited back for pre-season: We would like to thank those who spent time on loan with us as well as those departing the club this summer We will keep supporters updated for when further news is available ALL RIGHTS RESERVED | OXFORD CITY FOOTBALL CLUB Move comes as industry grapples with impact of Donald Trump’s steep 25% tariffs on cars imported to US The Mini owner, BMW has ended 180 agency staff contracts at its factory in Oxford as the British car industry grapples with global economic uncertainty and steep US tariffs Donald Trump announced 25% tariffs in March hitting all cars imported to the US from overseas from 3 April in the hope of forcing carmakers to invest in production in the US The tariffs have left British manufacturers who sell large numbers of cars to the US scrambling for a response However, Britain’s largest automotive employer, Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), has just restarted shipments to the US despite questions over whether it can make a profit on its cheaper models. JLR last month paused shipments to try to work out how to respond to the tariffs The tariffs arrived as the British car industry was already in a perilous state with UK car production in 2024 half the level seen in 2019 Carmakers are also struggling to shift to electric car production The Oxford Mini plant has been running well under capacity for five years, with the 2024 production at 110,000, compared with 234,000 at its peak in 2018 The 180 staff whose contracts were ended in April were all agency workers The job cuts represent only a small proportion of the 3,500 workers at the Oxford factory and it is understood the company often uses temporary workers to manage fluctuations in production the cuts illustrate the difficulties facing British carmakers On top of the tariffs, carmakers have had to contend with slower growth in demand for electric cars than previously expected. BMW had already reacted in February by delaying a £600m investment to upgrade the Mini factory for electric production It is understood BMW does still plan to go forward with that investment although a formal decision on the timing is yet to be made The electric version of its leading Range Rover model is going through final testing However, a bigger question mark remains over the timing of the next Jaguar. JLR last year launched a bold rebrand of the ageing Jaguar marque with a December launch event in Miami that emphasised its hopes of targeting a global Trump’s tariffs would add 25% to the cost of the car from the factory gate adding a big obstacle to a profitable launch The company had already cut back the production of cheaper models made at its Halewood factory in January with hundreds of voluntary redundancies and payouts for people taking early retirement as it changed shift patterns The production cuts were brought in as JLR prepared to upgrade the factory to be able to make further unnamed electric cars Trump’s tariffs could make it harder for JLR to justify increases to production again Free daily newsletterGet set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning A JLR spokesperson said: “The US is an important market for JLR’s luxury brands, and 25% tariffs on autos and auto parts remain. As we work to address the new US trading terms with our partners, we are enacting planned short-term actions as we develop our mid- to longer-term plans. We will give a further update at our full-year results in May.” Further JLR job losses are expected by people with knowledge of the internal situation, although no redundancies have yet been announced. Who will qualify for the Champions League as Forest draw at Palace Is the risk that Mercedes took with Antonelli paying off Alexander-Arnold leaves as modern Liverpool great - but fans will feel hurt 'Scheffler and DeChambeau wins further raise US PGA excitement levels' Solskjaer on Besiktas Ten new Fellows have joined the Eric and Wendy Schmidt AI in Science Postdoctoral Fellowship programme at the University of Oxford the programme is helping to accelerate the next scientific revolution by applying artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to research across the natural sciences the Schmidt AI in Science Fellows are developing cutting-edge AI tools and applying them to pressing scientific challenges The 2025 cohort brings together outstanding early-career researchers from departments across the Mathematical who will use AI to advance fields ranging from cosmology to conservation and from solar cell design to storm surge prediction You can view all news or browse by category Thank you to all the members for the Jack Army who cheered on the Swans against Oxford United in our final game of the season Check out our pick of the pictures of the magnificent home support at the Swansea.com Stadium © 2025 Swansea City Association Football Club Limited Serious questions about the handling of the David Fletcher abuse scandal remain unanswered after the Diocese of Oxford refused to expand on its joint statement with his former church Anglican Ink reported last month that Fletcher had Permission to Officiate (PTO) in Oxford Diocese when safeguarding concerns first emerged about his behaviour towards women the conservative evangelical flagship church in central Oxford where he had been Rector from 1986 to 1998 He held the Bishop of Oxford’s PTO until July 2018 Fletcher therefore had PTO in Oxford Diocese for the first two years of Croft’s episcopate In February following the Channel 4 News revelations that Fletcher was an abuser of women and girls Oxford Diocese and St Ebbe’s issued a joint statement This followed an earlier statement by St Ebbe’s which said: ‘Since 2017 by which time David Fletcher was very unwell and had ceased doing any ministry St Ebbe’s received reports from two women about him having been inappropriately tactile with them These were referred to the Diocesan Safeguarding Team {DST} No other concerns have been reported to St Ebbe’s in relation to him.’ The Oxford Diocese-St Ebbe’s joint statement said that in 2017 Fletcher was told ‘to avoid physical contact that had any possibility of being considered inappropriate’ following a report of him ‘being inappropriately tactile with a member of the church’ It also said that in 2019 ‘David Fletcher’s behaviour was again raised when a report of inappropriate tactility was passed to St Ebbe’s via a third party’ ‘who confirmed that the appropriate action had been taken in 2017 and advised that the report did not meet the threshold for further action.’ The joint statement added that a further concern about Fletcher emerged in 2021: ‘St Ebbe’s heard indirectly of a couple who had approached David Fletcher to confront him about his behaviour some years previously The couple were contacted and encouraged to make a report to the Diocese David Fletcher was seriously ill at this point and In March Evangelicals Now ran a news story in which an Oxford Diocese spokesperson was quoted clarifying how St Ebbe’s handled the disclosures: ‘The 2017 complaint was handled by St Ebbe’s when first reported Anglican Ink last week contacted Oxford Diocese in the light of the news that Fletcher had PTO in 2017: ‘We know that Fletcher had PTO during the first two of years of Bishop Croft’s episcopate and that the St Ebbe’s leadership handled the initial disclosure about Fletcher themselves ‘Would Oxford Diocese be prepared to issue a statement on the handling of the 2017 disclosure about a minister holding the Bishop’s licence at the time and about the fact that the Bishop was not informed until at least two years later that there were safeguarding issues around Fletcher What is Oxford Diocese’s position on this delay?’ AI also asked for further details about the handling of the 2017 disclosure by St Ebbe’s Who told Fletcher to ‘avoid physical contact that had any possibility of being considered inappropriate’ Roberts’s clerical number two at the church Was the church’s safeguarding officer present Oxford Diocese responded: ‘The diocese and St Ebbe’s actions in light of complaints made about David Fletcher’s behaviour have been detailed in this statement, on St Ebbe’s website Following the Channel 4 News investigation more women have come forward with disclosures about their abuse by Fletcher It is to be hoped for the sake of all his victims that there is full transparency from both Oxford Diocese and St Ebbe’s about the scale of the scandal the culture that enabled him to abuse his position of trust is an evangelical journalist based in the UK Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player March 2025 data reveals the US is poised to experience a significant decline in inbound travel this year pushing the full recovery of international arrivals to 2029 international perceptions of the US have taken a hit—at a time when we had expected to build on post-pandemic momentum Official data releases for March 2025 show international travel to the US in decline The drops are attributable to the global fallout from the intensified “America First” stance although later Easter timing also contributed The March data reflect foreign visitor patterns before the April 2 “Liberation Day” tariff announcement [email protected] © Oxford Economics 2025 all rights reserved Notifications can be managed in browser preferences. Skull’s ‘shameful history’ charted in new book exploring colonial theft of ancestral remains I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our Privacy notice Oxford University academics used a chalice made from a human skull – potentially belonging to an enslaved Caribbean woman – at formal dinners until as recently as 2015 created from a sawn-off skull adorned with a silver rim and stand was used for decades as a drinking cup in the senior common room at Worcester College curator of world archaeology at the university’s Pitt Rivers Museum It was eventually repurposed to serve chocolates instead of wine after it began to leak The item’s “shameful history” is detailed in his forthcoming book Every Monument Will Fall, which explores the colonial origins of contemporary conflicts and the theft of ancestral human remains The ritual at Worcester College was phased out in response to mounting dismay among fellows and guests and in 2019 the college invited Prof Hicks to investigate the chalice’s origins Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy, who chairs a cross-party parliamentary group on Afrikan reparations told the outlet: “It is sickening to think of Oxford dons itself enriched by the proceeds of centuries of colonial violence and extraction swilling drink out of a human skull that may have belonged to an enslaved person and has been so little valued that it has been turned into an object.” Noting that the identities of colonial victims were often erased from history as a result of racist ideas about British and white supremacy with this forming “part of the dehumanisation and violence” Prof Hicks said he had been unable to find any record of who the skull belonged to But carbon dating showed the skull was around 225 years old and its size and circumstantial evidence suggest it came from the Caribbean and may have belonged to an enslaved woman Worcester College insists the latter suggestion “cannot be substantiated” the chalice’s ownership was thoroughly documented – with alterations to the item providing an example “of how the legacies of empire persist” Silver hallmarks suggest the skull was made into a chalice in the City of London in 1838 the year of Queen Victoria’s coronation and of the emancipation of enslaved people in British colonies It was sold at auction in 1884 by Bernhard Smith, an Oxford graduate who collected weaponry and armour. Prof Hicks believes that Smith may have been gifted the chalice by his father, who served in the Caribbean as a Royal Navy commander at the time of the abolition of the slave trade in the British empire The chalice was purchased – for five pounds and five shillings – by the Victorian soldier and archaeologist Augustus Pitt Rivers who founded the Oxford museum bearing his name in 1884 The Sotheby’s auction listing showed it had a wooden stand inlaid with a Queen Victoria shilling and a Greek inscription carved into the bone and the broken wooden stand has been replaced with a silver one The chalice was finally donated to Oxford in 1946 by the archaeologist’s grandson in what Prof Hicks described as one of his first acts after being released from his internment during the Second World War as a Nazi sympathiser and follower of the British fascist Oswald Mosley The younger Pitt-Rivers inscribed his name on the chalice’s rim echoing that of his grandfather which is carved above the entrance to the Oxford-based museum at which Prof Hicks works As well as seeking to “give some degree of humanity” to the woman to whom the skull belonged by piecing together her story, Prof Hicks said the overall aim of the book is to ask whether “this is anomaly, or whether there is a wider conversation we need to have about human and ancestral remains in our museums and universities” Prof Hicks is backing a fresh call from MPs to ban the sale of ancestral remains and prohibit their display in museums. An Oxford University spokesperson said: “Worcester College can confirm that it is in possession of a vessel which is made from part of a human skull of unknown origin. “The item was given to the college in 1946 by a former student, George Pitt-Rivers (1890-1966). In the 20th century, the vessel was sometimes on display with the college’s silver collection and used as tableware. The college does not hold records of how often this was the case, but it was severely limited after 2011, and the vessel was completely removed 10 years ago. “The college’s governing body sought expert scientific and legal advice to address whether the item should be retained, and if not, how it should be disposed of appropriately. DNA testing was unable to identify the geographic or ethnic origin of the skull, and as such the suggestion that the skull is that of an enslaved woman from the Caribbean cannot be substantiated. “As a result of this advice, the college resolved that the item should be stored in the college archives in a respectful manner, where access to it is permanently denied. As Dr Hicks acknowledges in his book, the college has dealt with the issue ethically and thoughtfully.” Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies {"adUnitPath":"71347885/_main_independent/gallery","autoGallery":true,"disableAds":false,"gallery":[{"data":{"title":"worcester college","description":"Oxford, United Kingdom - August 14, 2015: Main courtyard of Worcester College in Oxford. Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England.","caption":"The skull was used in a common room ritual at Worcester College The skull was used in a common room ritual at Worcester College Join the conversation You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account OTTAWA — Liberal Leader Mark Carney has been accused of taking other people’s ideas as his own in the federal election campaign Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience We apologize, but this video has failed to load.Try refreshing your browser, ortap here to see other videos from our team.Play VideoArticle contentIt isn’t new The National Post obtained a copy of Carney’s 1995 thesis for his doctorate in economics from Oxford University titled “The Dynamic Advantage of Competition.” It shows 10 instances of apparent plagiarism according to the judgment of three university academics who reviewed the material or slightly modified quotes from four previous works without proper acknowledgement or attribution Your guide to the world of Canadian politics By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc The next issue of First Reading will soon be in your inbox Interested in more newsletters? “He’s just directly repeating without quotations That’s what we call plagiarism,” said Geoffrey Sigalet an assistant professor and member of UBC Okanagan president’s advisory committee on student discipline which handles plagiarism cases for the university The National Post provided the 10 examples to Carney’s campaign team He was sworn in as prime minister on March 14 and is currently running in an election that will be held April 28 Carney’s campaign at first provided a statement from his doctoral supervisor at Oxford University “I believe you are mischaracterizing this work I see no evidence of plagiarism in the thesis you cited nor any unusual academic practices,” said American economist Margaret Meyer Official Fellow of Economics at Nuffield College “Mark’s thesis was evaluated and approved by a faculty committee that saw his work for what it is: an impressive and thoroughly researched analysis that set him apart from his peers,” added Meyer When you have something lifted verbatim from a source in there without quotation marks or citation.. A professor who is also a graduate from Oxford University speaking on background out of fear of being sued by Carney agreed that the problematic passages in the Liberal leader’s thesis would fall within the plagiarism definition “Oxford’s guidelines are not atypical from other universities,” he said “When you have something lifted verbatim from a source in there without quotation marks or citation… that constitutes plagiarism,” added the professor Oxford University administrators were also provided the 10 examples of apparent plagiarism but did not respond to a request for comment by deadline called the allegations of plagiarism an “irresponsible mischaracterization” of Carney’s work While Carney refers extensively in his thesis to Michael E Porter’s 1990 book “The Competitive Advantage of Nations,” he duplicates parts of Porter’s work and presents several sentences — sometimes with minor tweaks to the wording — as his own In one paragraph on page 206 of Carney’s thesis government intervention can impede international competition and artificially support domestic profits.” in an industry or an economy where many firms are following harvesting strategies firms may maintain profitability even though they are losing competitiveness.” Those are virtually the exact sentences that can be found in Porter’s book on page 797 — except Carney added the extra determiner “an” and the adverb “even.” He did not use quotation marks or add a footnote to reference Porter’s work anywhere in the entire paragraph said “it is typical that overlapping language appears” when sources are “frequently referenced in an academic text.” over the course of this more than 300-page thesis the Michael Porter book… is cited dozens of times “The fact that he could get to grips with much more material than most students typically do in a shorter time and produce a longer thesis pretty much set him apart,” she told CBC Other examples of apparent plagiarism include a slight rewording of someone else’s sentence Carney wrote: “There are three reasons why domestic profitability is not a good indicator of true international competitive advantage.” He did not cite his source The original sentence in Porter’s book was as follows: “Domestic profitability is not a good indication of true international competitive advantage for three important reasons.” Sigalet said the above example might be considered by some as more of a “grey area,” but it would still constitute plagiarism according to Oxford standards we would consider it patchworking if it did not have the direct citation next to it Carney virtually duplicates an excerpt from Jeremy C Stein’s 1989 article “Efficient Capital Markets Inefficient Firms: A Model of Myopic Corporate Behavior” published in The Quarterly Journal of Economics Carney did not attribute the passage to Stein While Stein writes in his article: “In a steady state signal-jamming equilibrium managers will borrow a constant amount each period from the next period’s earnings and the market will correctly anticipate this borrowing.” Carney made it slightly shorter: “In the steady state equilibrium the managers will borrow a constant amount each period In developing a model to illustrate how domestic rivalry can promote a “dynamically-efficient” corporate strategy Shin’s 1994 article in the RAND Journal of Economics Shin wrote: “The setting for the game is a pure exchange economy with a finite number of states.” Carney wrote: “The setting for the game is a pure exchange economy with a continuous number of states.” He did not cite his source Carney duplicates another author’s sentences with minor changes by replacing “for example” with “e.g.” or changing one or a few words word “be” to “become,” or “likelihood” to “probability.” Carney wrote the following on page 190 of his thesis: “This argument assumes that shareholders are imperfectly informed and that temporarily low earnings may cause the stock to be undervalued increasing the probability of a takeover at an unfavourable price.” in an article for the Journal of Political Economy wrote seven years earlier: “If stockholders are imperfectly informed temporarily low earnings may cause the stock to become undervalued increasing the likelihood of a takeover at an unfavorable price.” Carney did not add proper citation to indicate that he lifted the author’s words But Carney did include a footnote to Stein’s work in a subsequent sentence in which he raised a different point The academics interviewed for this article dismissed the idea that Carney would have lacked the proper knowledge to properly attribute his sources at a PhD level the examples mentioned in this article do not pertain to one single section of his thesis “It seems like it’s all over the dissertation “Cases will be investigated and penalties may range from deduction of marks to expulsion from the University depending on the seriousness of the occurrence it can result in a penalty,” reads the website But social status hasn’t stopped universities from revoking degrees many European ministers have had to resign following allegations that some of their university work was plagiarized or after having been stripped of some of their academic credentials Claudine Gay resigned as president of Harvard University amid allegations of plagiarism but also after facing a heated congressional hearing over antisemitism on her campus She denied that she plagiarized in her articles “Domestic profitability is not a good indication of true international competitive advantage for three important reasons.” — Michael E “There are three reasons why domestic profitability is not a good indicator of true international competitive advantage.” — Mark Carney’s thesis government intervention can impede international competition and artificially support domestic profits.” — Porter government intervention can impede international competition and artificially support domestic profits.” — Carney thesis in an industry or economy where many firms are following harvesting strategies firms may maintain profitability though they are losing competitiveness differences in accounting standards in preparing financial statements make cross-national comparisons in profitability problematic as does the lack of systematic data in many countries.” — Porter firms may maintain profitability even though they are losing competitiveness differences in accounting standards and the lack of systematic data prevent international comparisons.” — Carney thesis “Social norms and values affect the nature of home demand…” — Porter social norms and values affect the nature of home demand.” — Carney thesis “Related industries are those where firms can share activities in the value chain across industries (for example technology development) or transfer proprietary skills from one industry to another.” — Porter “The former are industries which share activities in the value chain across industries (e.g. distribution channels or technology development) or transfer proprietary skills between them.” — Carney thesis increasing the likelihood of a takeover at an unfavorable price…” — Jeremy Stein “Takeover Threats and Managerial Myopia,” Journal of Political Economy “This argument assumes that shareholders are imperfectly informed and that temporarily low earnings may cause the stock to be undervalued increasing the probability of a takeover at an unfavourable price.” — Carney thesis “Maximizing the present value of their income will be equivalent to maximizing the following utility at each time t” — Jeremy C Inefficient Firms: A Model of Myopic Corporate Behavior “Maximising the present value of their income will be the same as maximising the following utility function at each time t” — Carney thesis “Earnings more than one period into the future can be ignored as current decisions have no effect on such earnings.” — Stein “Our simple characterisation of the effects of harvesting means that earnings more than one period in the future can be ignored since current decisions have no effect on these earnings.” — Carney thesis “In a steady state signal-jamming equilibrium and the market will correctly anticipate this borrowing and the market will correctly anticipate this borrowing.” — Carney thesis “The setting for the game is a pure exchange economy with a finite number of states.” — H.S “News Management and the Value of Firms,” The RAND Journal of Economics “The setting for the game is a pure exchange economy with a continuous number of states.” — Carney thesis transmission or republication strictly prohibited This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy You can manage saved articles in your account rhubarb and custard-coloured tower bedecked with anteaters and moles make a fun neighbour to the city’s dreaming spires The Oxford university building inspired by Tolkien … and the pandemicThis article is more than 1 month oldA chubby the anteater taking its place on this skyline of slender steeples and gurning gargoyles up there at the summit of the newest – and strangest – spire of them all ‘How do you mark Covid in a building?’” says David Kohn architect of this curious addition to the campus of New College “We were developing the designs in the middle of the pandemic when pangolins had been in the limelight for all the wrong reasons.” Near the pangolin, at the top of this striped stone campanile, cling other carved fauna. There’s an octopus, a moth and a golden mole joining a menagerie of creatures peering from the parapets below “Carvings of animals on buildings used to represent colonial expansion and the novelty of discovery,” says Kohn those same animals and territories are under huge pressure.” Clinging on … a pangolin carved by stone mason Fergus Wessel Photograph: Will PryceCurving its way between a trio of existing Edwardian villas on a leafy site at the southern fringes of suburban north Oxford the student flats are a sinuous stone snake of a thing The curvaceous horseshoe-shaped block wraps around mature trees topped with an undulating roof of metal tiles The eaves billow and bulge as they writhe across the site where the fluted tower rises 21 metres to a curlicued crown With its rhubarb and custard-coloured stonework “It has been a bit of a Marmite building,” admits the warden of New College a former ad man who used to head up the global branding giant where carved devils stare down from the ceiling and stone gargoyles leer from the chapel outside a seminal project of the Soviet avant garde He refers to an essay by Nikolaus Pevsner, written in the 1960s, on “picturesque planning” in which the historian uses Oxford to illustrate how buildings can animate the streetscape Kohn was a brave choice for the 646-year-old New College. At the time of the design competition in 2015 – when he was pitted against the likes of Japanese star Kengo Kuma and several established British firms – he had barely built a thing he has carved out a niche as one of the more distinctive voices in the often beige British architecture scene In a rare moment of enthusiasm for novelty its officers declared that Kohn’s design would “bring joy to all those who experienced it” Oxford’s design review panel even encouraged the architect to make his tower taller adding to the rhythm created by those of Harris Manchester and Mansfield colleges along the street Echoes of Middle-earth … the rollercoaster roofline Photograph: Will PryceClinching the competition Kohn flatteringly drew on New College’s history of “firsts” in his proposal The venerable institution lays claim to the first purpose-built quad conceived by its founder William of Wykeham in 1379 its crenelated parapet marking a firm boundary between town and gown It also boasts the first open-sided courtyard “I became fascinated by the glacial pace of how the college evolves,” says Kohn “They build a big project every couple of hundred years and each phase represents a kind of opening up to the city gradually embracing the outside world.” His contribution to the half millennium of innovation Oxford’s first ever curved quad – and the first to channel Tolkien and Gaudí Entering through the jaunty arched gateway of the porters’ lodge, shaped like a Japanese moon bridge, you find yourself in a world that has the cartoonish, fairytale air of a Miyazaki film with huge picture windows drifting unevenly across the facades and mansards and portholes poking through the eaves spiral staircases lead to curved corridors of en suite bedrooms and big shared kitchens The top floor rooms enjoy mezzanine bed platforms while ceilings sprayed with fluffy acoustic insulation add to the hallucinatory sense that you might have been swallowed into the belly of a cuddly toy The students seem delighted with their weird new digs praising the bright shared study space downstairs and the performance venue buried in the basement Another sweeping staircase leads to an underground domed rotunda where mustard yellow walls frame the entrance to a recital hall designed with theatre experts Charcoalblue another playful allusion to the medieval quad The students are delighted … a shared kitchen Photograph: Will PryceFacilities for the adjoining prep school are equally theatrical with an assembly hall housed in the bulging roof where the soffit plunges down towards the stage It is fittingly built on the site of the hall where Tolkien first permitted the Hobbit to be performed as a musical in the 1960s perhaps explaining why the whole place has echoes of Middle-earth If the project has a weakness, it is that the stagey formal gestures sometimes trump functionality. The tower makes a striking marker for the college, and it provides a distinctive home for the Gradel Institute of Charity after the alumnus-donor hedge fund manager with the rest of the trefoil-shaped plan taken up by a staircase and lift The quality of the stonework – by Grants of Shoreditch in London with carvings by Fergus Wessel – is impeccable But the interiors betray the design-and-build nature of the construction contract with clunky handrails and odd junctions giving off a cheaper air than you would expect from the budget The roof is also clumsy: its reptilian metal plates shimmer from a distance but The jarring look of Gaudí-by-algorithm is the result of a design change during construction when the planned concrete roof was switched to a timber structure – an admirable carbon-saving effort but one that came with unintended consequences these are small niggles for a project that should otherwise stand the test of time It is a gutsy contribution to the college that gleefully pushes the limits of its founder’s motto: “Manners makyth man.” New outlet due to welcome shoppers on Thursday regarded as key to helping revive famous London thoroughfare The UK boss of Ikea has backed calls to pedestrianise Oxford Street as the world’s largest furniture retailer finally opens its delayed store in London’s prime shopping destination Sitting in one of the mini-room sets designed to show off Ikea’s range of furnishings at the new store, Peter Jekelby, the chief executive of Ikea’s UK business, said he thought a plan to pedestrianise Oxford Street, backed by London’s mayor, Sadiq Khan would be “good for the street” and “make it easier to move around” Khan said the Ikea store was “a huge vote of confidence in London in our economy and in our plans to rejuvenate Oxford Street” and that attracting new companies would help “create new jobs and increase footfall” He said the “bold proposals” to pedestrianise Oxford Street were subject to consultation that closes on 2 May “so I encourage everyone to have their say” The exterior of the new Ikea store on the former Topshop site Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The GuardianJekelby added that Ikea which will employ more than 100 people in its new London store was committed to opening more outlets in the UK with plans for a major new site in Brighton this summer and smaller outlets in Norwich “There are still places and space that we could be present in.” He said Ikea was “about affordability” and so could thrive even in a time of “thinner wallets” He called on the UK government to foster stability in the UK market and not to overwhelm retailers with additional costs – after an increase in employer national insurance charges Jekelby said that business rates needed a rethink so they were “more fit for purpose” and did not “penalise certain ways of shopping” – as currently those who operate stores face higher costs from the property-based tax than rivals who operate solely online The store will display about 6,000 products Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The GuardianThe bright and colourful – and largely underground – Oxford Street outlet includes a 130-seat Swedish deli a live events space and one-to-one design services for kitchens The space is also brightened by huge animated displays of woodland scenes buzzing bees and a wide variety of Londoners who talk about their home design choices – some of which are recreated in the store ranging from “Billy” bookcases to drinking glasses and about 3,500 of those items will be available to take away on the spot The store’s opening is regarded by some as key to hopes for a revival of Oxford Street, which has gradually been rejuvenated after a slump in visitor numbers during the Covid pandemic, after which a number of sites sat vacant while a plethora of cheap American candy shops moved in The seven-storey former Topshop building is also home to Nike Town which is taking more space in some of the upper floors an outlet for beauty specialist Space NK as well as office space Researchers from the University of Oxford’s Department of Earth Sciences have helped to reveal the inner workings of Bolivia’s “zombie” volcano, Uturuncu. By combining seismology, physics models and analysis of rock composition, they identified the causes of Uturuncu’s unrest, alleviating fears of an imminent eruption. The findings have been published in the journal PNAS Bolivia’s “zombie” volcano -so called because despite being technically dead (last erupting 250 thousand years ago) This unrest manifests itself in a “sombrero” pattern of deformation with the land in the centre of the volcanic system rising up I am very pleased to be involved in this truly international collaboration Our results show how linked geophysical and geological methods can be used to better understand volcanoes and the hazards and potential resources they present Professor Mike Kendall, Department of Earth Sciences it is vitally important to assess the potential start and severity of an eruption from Uturuncu which could cause widespread damage and threat to life up to now there was no explanation for the continued volcanic unrest Scientists believed that the key to understanding this was to visualise the way that magma and gases move around underneath the volcano a collaboration between the University of Oxford the University of Science and Technology of China used signals detected from more than 1,700 earthquake events to perform high-resolution imaging of the plumbing system in the shallow crust beneath Uturuncu the “zombie”-like unrest of Uturuncu is due to the movement of liquid and gas beneath the crater with a low likelihood of an imminent eruption Volcanic plumbing systems are a complex mixture of fluids and gases in magmatic reservoirs and hydrothermal systems Previous studies have shown that Uturuncu sits above the world’s largest known magma body in the Earth’s crust and that an active hydrothermal system connects this body and the surface But it was unknown how fluids may be moving through this underground system This detailed analysis picked out possible upward migration pathways of geothermally heated fluids and showed how liquids and gases accumulate in reservoirs directly below the volcano’s crater The research team believe that this is the most likely cause for the deformation in the centre of the volcanic system and that the risk of a real eruption is low Co-author Professor Mike Kendall (Department of Earth Sciences University of Oxford) said: ‘I am very pleased to be involved in this truly international collaboration and the hazards and potential resources they present.’ The research team hope that similar studies using the joint analysis of seismological and petrological properties can be used to view the anatomy of other volcanic systems in the future The study ‘Anatomy of magmatic hydrothermal system beneath Uturuncu volcano, Bolivia, by joint seismological and petrophysical analysis’ has been published in the journal PNAS University of Oxford researchers have helped overturn the popular theory that water on Earth originated from asteroids bombarding its surface. Instead, the material which built our planet was far richer in hydrogen than previously thought. The findings have been published today in the journal Icarus A team of researchers at the University of Oxford have uncovered crucial evidence for the origin of water on Earth which has a composition analogous to that of the early Earth (4.55 billion years ago) they have found a source of hydrogen which would have been critical for the formation of water molecules they demonstrated that the hydrogen present in this material was intrinsic This suggests that the material which our planet was built from was far richer in hydrogen than previously thought The research team analysed the elemental composition of a meteorite known as LAR 12252 They used an elemental analysis technique called X-Ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) spectroscopy* at the Diamond Light Source synchrotron at Harwell A previous study led by a French team had originally identified traces of hydrogen within the meteorite inside organic materials and non-crystalline parts of the chondrules (millimetre-sized spherical objects within the meteorite) the remainder was unaccounted for – meaning it was unclear whether the hydrogen was native or due to terrestrial contamination The Oxford team suspected that significant amounts of the hydrogen may be attached to the meteorite’s abundant sulphur they shone a powerful beam of X-rays onto the meteorite’s structure to search for sulphur-bearing compounds in other parts of the meteorite that had cracks and signs of obvious terrestrial contamination (such as rust) This makes it highly unlikely that the hydrogen sulphide compounds detected by the team originated from an Earthly source Since the proto-Earth was made of material similar to enstatite chondrites this suggests that by the time the forming planet had become large enough to be struck by asteroids it would have amassed enough reserves of hydrogen to explain Earth’s present-day water abundance Tom Barrett DPhil student in the Department of Earth Sciences at the University of Oxford said: “We were incredibly excited when the analysis told us the sample contained hydrogen sulphide – just not where we expected Because the likelihood of this hydrogen sulphide originating from terrestrial contamination is very low this research provides vital evidence to support the theory that water on Earth is native - that it is a natural outcome of what our planet is made of.” The study ‘The source of hydrogen in earth's building blocks’ has been published in the journal Icarus * X-ray Absorption Near Edge Structure (XANES) spectroscopy is a technique that is used to identify what elements are in a material and what their chemical state is causing the atoms to absorb energy in a way that depends on what the element is Swedish furniture retailer’s arrival is seen as crucial to hopes of reviving the London shopping street Ikea will be bringing its mix of meatballs, lampshades and kitchen planning to London’s Oxford Street from 1 May, when the world’s largest furniture retailer finally opens its store 18 months late would house a 130-seat Swedish deli and showrooms as well as offering one-to-one design consultations The store will display about 6,000 Ikea products ranging from Billy bookcases to drinking glasses and about 3,500 of those will be available to take away on the spot said the store was part of the retailer’s efforts to get closer to where its customers live and we are thrilled to now have a home in its centre,” he said “We have worked carefully to ensure we maintain the character of this historic building while creating a modern retail environment for customers to explore and be inspired.” The store’s opening is seen as key to hopes for a revival of Oxford Street, which has gradually been rejuvenated after a slump in visitor numbers during the Covid pandemic, after which a number of sites sat vacant while a plethora of cheap American candy shops moved in Amid a debate over whether the street should be pedestrianised new stores on their way include a second Mango flagship and the gym operator Third Space as part of The Elephant a £132m redevelopment of the former House of Fraser store The beauty retailer Space NK is to open alongside Ikea in part of the former Topshop The upper floors of the building will be rented out as office space Ikea’s parent group bought the site, once the jewel in Philip Green’s retail empire but renovations have been dogged by complications The Swedish retailer said it had installed new insulation and a heat pump and dealt with water ingress problems in the basement floors The shop will employ 150 people after receiving 3,730 applications in just five days – a record for the retailer – when recruitment opened earlier this year This content is from an external website which may store cookies you have not consented to Watch our bitesize highlights from Swansea City's Championship fixture against Oxford United at the Swansea.com Stadium