Friends of an 18-year-old university student missing since last month have spoken of their despair after his body was found in the Serpentine.

Yen Zhen Anthony Soh, known as Anthony, was last seen on March 22 after an evening drinking with friends at Imperial College student union in South Kensington.

His family launched a campaign through Facebook, Twitter and the media to help find the first-year mechanical engineering student.

Some 3,000 people signed up to the Facebook group. But yesterday police divers pulled the body of a man from the lake in Hyde Park. It is yet to be formally identified but is thought to be that of Anthony.

Lin Yang, a friend of his brother Jeff, posted a message of Facebook saying: “Jeff is now with his immediate family, there will be no further searching. Ant’s body has been found.”

Anthony’s other brother Justin called the student “an amazing brother” and told those who had joined the Facebook campaign: “Thank you for every-thing you people have done, even being a member has let us know how much you care for Anthony.”

Friends reported Anthony missing on March 23 when he failed to appear at lectures. Electronic records showed he had not used his swipe card at his halls of residence, Wilson House in Paddington. The body was found by a Hyde Park boat worker yesterday morning.

He said: “We had customers on the lake and someone pointed out there was something. It was floating on the other side of the island. It was caught on one of the chains. We knew there was someone missing and there was a possibility they were in the lake.”

A police cordon was created around the area. Detectives said the death was being treated as “unexplained”.

Friends posted messages on Facebook in tribute to the teenager, whose parents live in Gillingham. Chris Rowlands wrote to Anthony’s brother: “I think you can be proud of such a wonderful man, and hold your head high when calling him your brother.

“Anthony was an amazing human being, and your entire family has coped incredibly well in the last two weeks. We are all here for you for whatever you need.”

Anthony hasn’t been seen since Tuesday and is missing in London. Everyone been great at passing the message in their status, this might be another way to spread word quickly. Please add all your friends to this group and spread awareness!!!

Also, please DO NOT TRY CONTACT HIS MOBILE: his family have his phone, so please do not call or text it. thank you.

Heres the info from the university site:

The College is concerned about the whereabouts of Anthony Soh (also known as Yen) who is a first year Mechanical Engineering student at Imperial. He was last seen in the Students’ Union bar in Beit Quad on the South Kensington Campus (Prince Consort Road SW7 2BB) at 23.00 on Tuesday evening (22 March) and is believed to have left there to return to his accommodation in Wilson House close to Paddington station (Sussex Gardens, W2 1UF).

The police are treating Anthony Soh as a missing person and are appealing for information. Anthony is described as oriental, with short, dark hair. He was last seen wearing a checked blue/white/green hooded top, blue jeans, a purple t-shirt and blue suede plimsolls.

The College urges anyone who may be able to help to contact the Marylebone Police Station on 0300 123 1212 quoting the reference 11MIS009968. Or contact via email at cw-misperunit@met.police.uk

Police have released CCTV footage of people they wish to interview after Prince Charles’s car was attacked during December’s student protests.

The Metropolitan Police have issued the pictures taken from cameras in the Regent Street and Oxford Circus area of London on Thursday 9 December.

A convoy, including a car carrying the prince and the Duchess of Cornwall, was attacked in the area.

The protests were in response to the rise in tuition fees.

The Met’s Operation Malone team is investigating the violence in the capital that day.

Police say the newly-released images and footage show a woman striking the royal car and causing damage to one of the convoy vehicles.

In one picture, the woman is seen with a man, whom police also wish to trace as a potential witness.

Officers are also keen to trace two men seen separately attacking the royal car.

Det Ch Supt Matthew Horne, who is leading the Operation Malone team, said: “We believe that most of the people whose pictures we have released may have committed serious offences of violent disorder and criminal damage in this area and urge them, or anybody who knows them, to come forward and speak to us.

“We understand the importance of the right to protest, but people who break the law and endanger those who wish to protest peacefully by committing criminal offences must face the inevitable consequences of their actions.

“I would like to remind anybody involved in attacks of violence that we will investigate them and do everything in our power to bring them before a court.

“Those who are convicted of an offence will have to face the consequences of having a criminal record, which could have a potential impact on their future employment and travel.”

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall were travelling to the Royal Variety Performance at the London Palladium in a distinctive Rolls-Royce Phantom VI when the incident occurred.

Their car was surrounded by as many as 20 demonstrators on Regent Street. One of the vehicle’s windows was smashed and paint was thrown at it.

At least three metal dustbins were also hurled at two other cars in the convoy and the duchess was poked in the ribs through an open window. White paint was also thrown over the vehicle.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson ordered an internal review into the incident, which has been presented to Home Secretary Theresa May.

Operation Malone detectives are collating and trawling through hours of CCTV and footage gathered by police during the protests, to identify people for potential prosecution.

The Student Loans Company (SLC) has been continuing to take loan repayments for months after former students paid off their debts, it has been revealed.

About 57,000 graduates are waiting for refunds after excess payments were taken out of their wage packets.

Consumer organisation Which? discovered from a freedom of information request that £15m had been overpaid this year.

SLC said it could not work out the amounts repaid until employers filed their annual tax returns.

“The result is that there is a time lag,” it explained in a statement, “And some borrowers nearing the end of their repayments are likely to overpay.”

‘Complete disgrace’
Dougie Mackintosh paid his loan off in June, but the £98 deductions were still being made four months later.

“When yet another payment came off in October I pretty much hit the ceiling,” the Inverness-based 29 year old energy surveyor told the BBC.

Each month, Mr Mackintosh had complained about the extra repayments, only to be told that a “stop notice” had been sent to the tax office, HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), which manages the deductions from pay.

But HMRC claimed to have heard nothing from SLC.

“It’s a complete disgrace,” said Mr Mackintosh. “They seem to be totally incompetent.”

The £15m overpaid by former students to SLC this year is up from £9m in 2009.

Revamp

Which? found some ex-students were still having deductions made 11 months after their loans were repaid.

Others have had to wait long periods to have their money refunded. In one case, it took six months for the funds to be returned and even then some of the refund was missing.

Mr Mackintosh’s problems have become even worse.

Last weekend he received a further letter from the loans company, informing him that they would start deductions from his salary shortly. Yet his whole debt had already been cleared.

“I need the full pay packet for buying Christmas presents, and now it’s as if I hadn’t been paying in the first place.”

SLC has revamped the system so that former students can switch their repayments to direct debit in the last two years of repaying their loans, and it has asked 68,000 eligible ex-students if they’d like to make the change.

“Switching to direct debit means you can choose your monthly repayment date and we can make sure your repayments stop at exactly the right time,” SLC said.

Which? is urging SLC to ensure that former students are not kept in debt for longer than they need to be.

“Paying off a debt is a stressful experience,” says Which? chief executive Peter Vicary-Smith, “So the last thing people need is to find that they’ve been paying out more than they needed to.”

Two primary school teachers have been arrested on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children.

Both of the male teachers, aged 37 and 43, who teach at separate schools in Solihull in the West Midlands, were arrested in Monkspath. Since then both have been suspended until further notice.

A police spokesman said: “At this stage… there is nothing to suggest any physical contact between the suspects and the children.”

They were bailed for further inquiries and for seized property to be examined.

The older man teaches at St Patrick’s School in Earlswood, while the 37-year-old works at Monkspath School in Shirley.

Solihull Borough Council will shortly be contacting parents whose children attend the schools to inform them directly of the arrests, the police spokesman added.

Letters are being sent out and arrangements being made to offer parents advice and information.

Solihull Council has set-up an advice line for concerned parents.

Det Ch Supt Gareth Morgan, head of West Midlands Police Public Protection Unit, said: “This inquiry is still in its very early stages and at this time it is important to emphasise that both men have been arrested for possessing images.”

He added: “This is clearly a very sensitive case which will raise many questions among parents.

“It is an immediate priority to reassure them by providing as much information as and when we can to answer those questions.”

“To do that effectively we will progress the investigation as thoroughly and quickly as possible and continue to engage with families and the wider community.”

Durham University was founded by Act of Parliament in 1832 and granted a Royal Charter in 1837. It was one of the first universities to open in England for more than 600 years, and is claimed to be England’s third oldest after Oxford and Cambridge.

Durham is a collegiate university, with its main functions divided between the central departments of the University and 16 colleges. In general, the departments perform research and provide centralised lectures to students, while the colleges are responsible for the domestic arrangements and welfare of undergraduate students, graduate students, post-doctoral researches and some University staff. Colleges decide which students they are to admit, and appoint their own fellows (senior members). In Durham, “the university” often refers to the University as opposed to the colleges.

“Long established as a leading alternative to Oxford and Cambridge”, the University attracts “a largely middle and higher class student body” according to the Times Good University Guide. The latest University League Table 2010 published by The Complete University Guide ranked Durham 5th in the UK after Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College and LSE. The University was also named Sunday Times University of the Year in 2005, having previously been shortlisted for the award in 2004.

The Chancellor of the University is Bill Bryson, appointed by the University’s Convocation on 4 April 2005. The post-nominal letters of graduates have “Dunelm” attached to indicate the university.

Residential life

Durham requires its students to live in college for the first year of their undergraduate life, with students ‘living-out’ in their second year and then having the option to move back into college, usually via a ballot system. The Colleges provide a key role in the pastoral care and social centre of students with each running a college tutorial system, along with JCRs providing events and societies for undergraduate members, MCRs being a centre for postgraduate students and the SCRs for the college officers, fellows and tutors. Each college has a unique identity and a variety of facilities for students ranging from computer rooms and libraries to tennis courts and gyms. Most colleges have their own sports teams and compete in the collegiate leagues such as Durham College Rowing and have their own theatre company and orchestra which operate parallel to the university level sports teams and organizations.

Student organizations and media

Approximately 130 student clubs and organizations run on Durham’s campus. These include numerous student government, special interest, and service organizations. Durham Students’ Union (DSU) charters and provides most of the funding for these organizations, and represents students’ interests when dealing with the administration. The DSU also operates events based in Dunelm house ranging from club nights such as Planet of Sound, Revolver (alternative & indie), Twisted (underground electronic) and the Jazz café. The DSU also runs a Comedy Café, Fresher’s Ball, Silent Discos and Vintage fashion fair amongst others.

Palatinate, Durham’s independent student run fortnightly newspaper, has been continually published since 1948. Notable former editors include George Alagiah, Hunter Davies, Piers Merchant, Timothy Laurence, Jeremy Vine and Harold Evans. Purple Radio is the online radio station founded in 2005 and is the University recognised radio station. The station operates from Dunelm House and is run by student volunteers. Student views and opinions are represented by Durham21, an independent student website, founded in 2001, which has won the NUS Website of the Year Award in five of the last six years and is also the current holder. the fun and beautiful journal is a termly magazine which publishes poetry, stories, photography and artwork submitted by students. After the Palatinate it is Durham’s largest printed publication.

The London School of Economics and Political Science, commonly referred to as the London School of Economics or LSE, is a specialist constituent college of the University of London in London, England. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidney Webb, Beatrice Webb and George Bernard Shaw, the School joined the federal University of London in 1900 as the Faculty of Economics. Degrees were issued to the school’s students from 1902 onwards.

Today, the LSE remains a specialist single-faculty constituent college of the University with just 8,700 full-time students. It describes itself as the world’s leading social science institution for teaching and research, which spans the full breadth of the social sciences. It is among the world’s most selective universities, with the lowest admissions rate of any university in Britain. LSE has also produced many notable alumni including several Nobel laureates as well as many foreign heads of state.

Consistently placed among the top higher education instititutions in the world in university rankings, LSE was found to have the highest percentage of world-leading research of any university in the UK as of 2008. It is a member of the Russell Group.

The LSE has its own students’ union, the LSESU, which is affiliated to the National Union of Students and the National Postgraduate Committee, as well as to the University of London Union. The students’ union is often regarded as the most politically active in Britain – a reputation it has held since the well documented LSE student riots in 1966-67 and 1968–69, which made international headlines.

The Union is responsible for the organisation and undertaking of entertainment events and student societies, as well as student welfare and issues regarding accommodation and other matters. As of 2010, there are over 200 societies (more than any other UK students’ union), 40 sports clubs, a Raising and Giving (RAG) branch and a thriving media group.

The Media Group is a collective of four distinct outlets, each with their own history and identity. A weekly student newspaper The Beaver, is published each Tuesday during term time and is amongst the oldest student newspapers in the country. The Union’s radio station Pulse! has existed since 1999, and the television station LooSE Television has existed since 2005. The Clare Market Review one of Britain’s oldest student publications was revived in 2008 and has gone on to win many national awards. Students also get access to London Student, which is published by the University of London Union.

In various forms, RAG Week has been operating since 1980, when it was started by then Student Union Entertainments Officer and now New Zealand MP Tim Barnett.

Affiliated with the LSESU, the LSE Athletics Union is the body responsible for all sporting activity within the university. It is a member of British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS). In distinction to the “blues” awarded for sporting excellence at Oxford and Cambridge, LSE’s outstanding athletes are awarded “purples”

The University of Warwick is a British campus university located on the outskirts of Coventry, West Midlands, England. It was established in 1965 as part of a government initiative to expand access to higher education, and in 2000 Warwick Medical School was opened as part of an initiative to train more doctors in Britain. The University describes itself as a research led institution and in the last Research Assessment Exercise the University was the 7th highest-ranked research institution in the UK.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Warwick had a reputation as a politically radical institution. More recently, the University has been seen as a favoured institution of the British New Labour government. Warwick was one of the first UK universities to develop close links with the business community, and has been successful in the commercialisation of research. This commercial approach has resulted in its being nicknamed “Warwick University Limited” (or, more recently, “Warwick University PLC”).

Warwick is a member of the Russell Group. It also used to be a member of the 1994 Group but withdrew in July 2008.

The University’s coat of arms includes atoms of two isotopes of lithium, a DNA helix to represent science and also the Bear and Ragged Staff of Warwickshire and the Elephant and Castle of Coventry. The bear is not chained in the current depiction of the University’s coat of arms, although it was in earlier versions and in the letters patent issued by the College of Arms.

The University of Warwick Students’ Union is one of the biggest Students’ Unions in the UK, currently having over 260 societies and 76 sports clubs, including everything from Squash to Skydiving. It has an annual turnover of approximately £6 million, the profit from which is used to provide services to students and to employ its staff and Sabbatical officers. The Union is divided into two buildings: Union North (mainly societies and administration) and Union South (entertainment facilities). Union South contains four club venues, seven bars and a cafe over four floors, with some “full Union (building)” events such as Top Banana and Skool Dayz. Drinks prices are not considered to be particularly cheap but have recently been reduced for some events.

The Union has also recently hosted such bands as Ash, Sugababes, Amerie, The Kooks, Reel Big Fish, The Departure, The Subways, Idlewild, The Rory Mckenna variety show, Hell is for Heroes, The Automatic, The Dave Wright experience, Boy Kill Boy, Amy Winehouse, The Killers, The Streets, Feeder and Scouting for Girls.
The Union is a member of the National Union of Students (NUS), West Midlands Area NUS (WMANUS) and National Postgraduate Committee (NPC).

University College London (UCL) is a constituent college of the University of London, based primarily in Bloomsbury, London.

Founded in 1826, UCL was the first university institution to be founded in London, the first university institution in the United Kingdom to be established on an entirely secular basis and admit students regardless of their religion, and the first to admit women on equal terms with men.UCL became one of the two founding colleges of the University of London in 1836. UCL’s founding principles of accessibility and liberalism have encouraged the institution to champion innovation, diversity and relevance to society, positioning it at the forefront of education and research.

UCL has been consistently ranked among the top five university institutions in the UK, and was ranked 4th in the world in the 2009 THE–QS World University Rankings.

University College London (UCL) is located in Bloomsbury, Central London. The main campus is on Gower Street, although there are also other UCL buildings throughout London. The Gower Street campus includes the UCL science and main libraries, the language departments, the history departments, the Bloomsbury theatre, the biology and physics departments, and the Petrie Museum of Egyptian Archaeology. A further set of buildings based around neighbouring Gordon Street and Gordon Square includes the Institute of Archaeology, the chemistry department, the philosophy department the Bartlett School of The Built Environment and the School of Slavonic and East European Studies.

The area around UCL is occupied by a number of other renowned institutions, including the British Library, the British Museum, the Royal Academy of Art, the British Medical Association, and the Wellcome Trust. Many University of London schools and institutes are close by, and these include the SOAS, Birkbeck, University of London, the Institute of Education, the School of Advanced Study, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the Senate House Library, which houses the University of London’s world-class research collections; these focus on the arts, humanities and social sciences. (All UCL students on degree courses, and all UCL staff have full access to this library and its electronic resources).

The nearest London Underground station to the main UCL campus is Euston Square. Other nearby stations are Warren Street, Russell Square and Goodge Street, as well as Euston Underground and railway station.

The University provides an invigorating intellectual climate in which staff have close contacts with one another and with colleagues in other U.K. and overseas universities and research establishments. All Schools in both the sciences and the arts are actively involved in pushing back the frontiers of knowledge.

Physically the University is closely integrated with the town; the modern purpose-built library and many academic Schools are located centrally. The growth in physical and mathematical sciences has been accommodated at the North Haugh on the edge of St Andrews. A modern sports centre with adjacent playing fields and halls of residence are also located in this area.

St Andrews is relatively small, despite being a “city”, with a basic population approaching 17,000. The University population (staff and students) numbers nearly 9,000. On average one in three people you see in the street have something to do with the University. You start to feel very quickly that you belong.

What makes the University of St Andrews special ?