Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh are to visit Magdalen College on November 27th to mark the 550th anniversary of the foundation of the college.

The Queen is to have lunch with Fellows and some students and college staff. Students have been invited to put their names in a draw to determine those who will be invited to lunch with the Queen.

Charles Byers, 1st year Music student at Magdalen says “I’m deeply honoured by this event. It’s amazing to have such an opportunity, I’ve already put my slip into the drawing box and I’m very excited.”

Queen Elizabeth II, at 81, became Britain’s oldest-ever monarch on Thursday.

An author who was thrown out of Oxford University has won a prestigious award for children’s writing. Andy Stanton won the Roald Dahl Funny Prize with ‘Mr Gum and the Dancing Bear’, a book filled with dark humour surrounding the curmudgeonly behaviour of the title character.

The prize, worth £2,500, is designed to draw attention to new children’s writing and encourage young readers to read more books.

Stanton spent twelve years working in odd jobs after leaving the university but found success after writing the series of books to entertain his cousins. His series is now to be made into a Nickelodeon animation.

A pensioner has died after being knocked to the ground in Oxford city centre. Two women were arguing outside the British Home Stores outlet on Queen Street when they accidentally pushed over the 74-year-old.

The woman was taken to the John Radcliffe infirmary to be treated for head injuries after the incident on Monday afternoon. Her condition deteriorated overnight and she died in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

A 35-year-old woman is being held in police custody in relation to the incident. Police have appealed for anyone who may have witnessed the incident to contact them.

Outraged Brasenose students studying for a four-year degree have been told they may not be eligible for college accommodation next year.

Third year students applying for their fourth or fifth year of accommodation in College or in the Frewin Annex will now be placed at the bottom of the housing ballot for their final year, below students going into second and third year.

This could result in some fourth year students having to live out of college in the same year that they sit their final examinations.

One student called the rooms in college at the bottom of the ballot “the worst rooms in Brasenose, which have literally no windows”.

Students were sent a message on Monday informing them of procedural changes to the allocation of rooms.

The lateness of this announcement has angered many of the college’s population.

An anonymous Brasenose student explained, “this is the first everyone has heard of it and so many will now have literally a few days to sort out other accommodation for next year since student rooms in Cowley etc are already being rented out”

Due to the late notice of the unexpected procedure, the college has agreed to allow fourth-year scientists to keep their priority in the tenancy ballot for this year. However, this priority will be removed next year.

The college will continue to guarantee all undergraduate students three years of accommodation, either on the main College site or the Frewin Annexe, situated five minutes from the college.

However, this has not satisfied many current third-year students who stated that they were given to believe that they would be offered college accommodation for each year of their studies.

One third-year scientist called the introduction of the new procedures a “disgrace” and spoke of his disbelief at the college’s refusal to provide any warning of the change.

He said, “it’s a disgrace, I can’t believe the college have done this without giving any notice or offering any justification. I’m outraged.”

The current Brasenose website states that the college has “accommodation for later year students on both sites” and:

“In recent years Brasenose has been able to accommodate all undergraduates wanting College accommodation.”

The Bursar of the college was unavailable for comment.

Armed police flanked the Bodleian on Tuesday night as Shimon Peres arrived in Oxford to present a lecture to students and staff at the Sheldonian.

But the heavy security could do little to prevent a verbal assault on Peres as students interrupted his speech with a series of attacks on Israel’s policy on Palestine.

Throughout the course of the talk, entitled ‘the globalisation of peace’, a series of eight students stood up and shouted statements in what they described as a gesture on behalf of the Palestinians.

One student shouted, “I represent the thousands of farmers who’ve had their land stolen illegally to build Israeli settlements.”

Another student, who loudly heckled Peres and called him a war criminal, was escorted out of the building by security guards.

Around 40 students gathered in front of the Sheldonian to protest at Peres’ visit and at one point chants of ‘Free Palestine’ threatened to drown out his voice.

The response of other students to the hecklers was mixed, with some booing and hissing and some clapping in response to those who interrupted the president. At the end of the talk, some students present remained seated while others stood to enthusiastically applaud.

Peres was invited to Oxford by Andrew Graham, Master of Balliol College, in order to inaugurate the first of a series of five lectures on the subject of peace.

Mr Graham said that he was “well aware of the opposition that has been expressed about this invitation” but that “the fundamental purpose of a University which is to hear and discuss and examine all points of view.”

During his speech, Peres hailed the election of Barack Obama as “the end of racism” and “a clear demonstration that we live in a different world.”

He also addressed the problems of peace negotiations and the progress made by Israel in the fields of science, agriculture, alternative energy and medicine.

Watch Cherwell’s video of the protest against Peres’ lecture here