Fruit flies offer DNA clue to why women live longer

Scientists believe they have discovered a clue to why women tend to live longer than men - by studying fruit flies.

Fruit flies can give clues to what
happens in other species

Writing in Current Biology, they focus on mutations in mitochondrial DNA - the power source of cells.

Mitochondria are inherited only from mothers, never from fathers, so there is no way to weed out mutations that damage a male's prospects.

But one ageing expert said there were many factors that explained the gender difference in life expectancy.

By the age of 85, there are approximately six women for every four men in the UK, and by 100 the ratio is more than two to one.

And females outlive males in many other species.

'No effect' on females

In the research, experts from Australia's Monash University and the UK's Lancaster University analysed the mitochondria of 13 different groups of male and female fruit flies.

Mitochondria, which exist in almost all animal cells, convert food into the energy that powers the body.

Dr Damian Dowling, of Monash University who was one of the researchers, said the results point to numerous mutations within mitochondrial DNA that affect how long males live, and the speed at which they age.

"Intriguingly, these same mutations have no effects on patterns of ageing in females," he said.

"All animals possess mitochondria, and the tendency for females to outlive males is common to many different species.

"Our results therefore suggest that the mitochondrial mutations we have uncovered will generally cause faster male ageing across the animal kingdom."

They suggest this is because there is no evolutionary reason for the faults that affect males to be picked up - because mitochondria are passed down by females.

Dr Dowling added: "If a mitochondrial mutation occurs that harms fathers, but has no effect on mothers, this mutation will slip through the gaze of natural selection, unnoticed.

"Over thousands of generations, many such mutations have accumulated that harm only males, while leaving females unscathed."

Tom Kirkwood, professor of ageing at Newcastle University said the paper was "intriguing".

He said: "It may be it does tell us something rather important about mitochondria and the difference between male and female fruit flies.

"And we know that mitochondria are important for ageing in a number of species.

"But I certainly don't think this is a discovery that explains why women live five-to-six years longer than men.

"There are other things we know also count - lifestyle, social and behavioural factors. But the biggest difference in biology is that we have different hormones."

Facebook has more than 83 million illegitimate accounts

Facebook has said it believes there are now more than 83 million illegitimate accounts on the social network.

Advertising is Facebook's main revenue stream

In company filings published this week, it said 8.7% of its 955 million active accounts broke its rules.

Duplicate profiles - belonging to already registered users - made up 4.8% of its membership figure.

User-misclassified accounts amounted to 2.4% - including personal profiles for businesses or pets - while 1.5% of users were described as "undesirable".

The estimate comes at a time of growing concern about the effectiveness of marketing on the platform.

Facebook defined duplicates as "an account that a user maintains in addition to his or her principal account."

It said profiles were "user-misclassified" if "users have created personal profiles for a business, organisation, or non-human entity such as a pet".

It added that "undesirable" accounts included those using fake names which were "intended to be used for purposes that violate our terms of service, such as spamming".

'Harm our business'

Facebook, whose business model relies on targeted advertising, is coming under increased scrutiny over the worth of its advertising model which promotes the gathering of "likes" from users.

"We generate a substantial majority of our revenue from advertising," the company said in its filing.

"The loss of advertisers, or reduction in spending by advertisers with Facebook, could seriously harm our business."

Last month, the BBC's technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones set up a fake company called VirtualBagel to investigate allegations of fake "likes".

His investigation found that the large majority of "likes" for the fake firm originated from the Middle East and Asia.

Many users appeared to be false, such as "Ahmed Ronaldo" - apparently a Cairo-based user who is employed by Spanish football club Real Madrid.

Last week, digital distribution firm Limited Press alleged that, based on its own analytics software, 80% of clicks on its advertisements within Facebook had come from fake users.

In a post on its Facebook page, the company said: "Bots were loading pages and driving up our advertising costs. So we tried contacting Facebook about this. Unfortunately, they wouldn't reply.

"Do we know who the bots belong too [sic]? No. Are we accusing Facebook of using bots to drive up advertising revenue. No. Is it strange? Yes."

After a surge of attention to the company, it has since removed the Facebook posting, and said Facebook was now looking into its concerns.

US resists control of internet passing to UN agency

The US has confirmed it would resist efforts to put the internet under the control of the United Nations.

The UN's Dr Toure says any change to governance
of the internet must be supported by all countries

At present several non-profit US bodies oversee the net's technical specifications and domain name system.

They operate at arms-length from the US government but officially under the remit of its Department of Commerce.

There has been speculation that other nations will push for a change later this year, but they cannot force the US to comply.

The US has set out its position in documents filed with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) - the UN agency responsible for encouraging the development of communications technologies.

The ITU is hosting a conference in December in Dubai to which representatives from 178 nations have been invited to review the International Telecommunications Regulations (ITR).

The ITR is a 1988 treaty which set out rules for how traffic should flow between different telecom networks, and how to calculate charges for traffic exchanged between carriers in different countries.

The rise of the internet and mobile devices has led to calls for it to be revised, but countries are expected to disagree over the changes needed.

The US's ambassador to the conference, Terry Kramer, outlined his worries in a statement published by the country's Department of State.

"The US is concerned that proposals by some other governments could lead to greater regulatory burdens being placed on the international telecom sector, or perhaps even extended to the internet sector," he wrote.

"The United States also believes that existing multi-stakeholder institutions, incorporating industry and civil society, have functioned effectively and will continue to ensure the health and growth of the internet and all its benefits."

Leaked documents

The ITU does not publish submissions by each country - leaving it up to the individual states to decide which material to release. But a site called Wcitleaks.org has posted proposals leaked to it.

They include a submission from Russia suggesting the ITU could become responsible for allocating at least some of the internet's addresses as well as the "determination of the necessary requirements".

At present US-based Icann (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) co-ordinates the codes and numbering systems, deciding which new internet address endings should be allowed as an alternative to .com. It then leaves it to ISPs (internet service providers) to assign individual addresses.

President Vladimir Putin has signalled Russia's final submission could go further. In 2011 he said he was keen to discuss "establishing international control over the internet using the monitoring and supervisory capabilities of the International Telecommunication Union".

The Russia Today news service has since reported that China and India had backed this stance.

No votes

But the ITU has made it clear that any changes to the treaty must have unanimous support, and it would block members trying to put any matter to a vote.

"We never vote because voting means winners and losers and you can't afford that," Dr Hamadoun Toure, the ITU's secretary-general told the BBC.

"Whatever one single country does not accept will not pass."

He acknowledged that some countries were unhappy with the way Icann had looked after the internet address system.

"Some people are saying the governments are not consulted enough," he said.

But he played down the idea that there would be a serious effort to seize control of its functions and pass them to the ITU.

London 2012: Games transport challenge as athletics starts

The Olympic Stadium is being used for the first time since the London 2012 opening ceremony

Transport plans for London's Olympics face their sternest test ahead of what is expected to be the Olympic Park's busiest day since the Games opened.

More than 200,000 people will be at the park later, including up to 80,000 who will descent on the Olympic Stadium for the start of athletics events.

The Central Line, which serves the Olympic Park in Stratford, is suspended from Liverpool Street to Leytonstone.

British hopes for medals are in rowing, track cycling and swimming later.

Problems on the Central Line follows a signal failure at Bethnal Green station, London Underground said. Tickets are being accepted on National Rail services in the area, while Transport for London are encouraging those attending the Games to use alternative lines and stations close to the Olympic Park.

Team GB have risen to fifth in the overall medal table with five golds after three were secured on Thursday.

Among the gold medallists on day six were track cyclist Sir Chris Hoy. His victory, with Philip Hindes and Jason Kenny in the team sprint, represented his fifth Olympic title and equalled rower Sir Steve Redgrave's record British, Olympic gold medal haul.

Meanwhile, hopes are high for rowers Katherine Grainger, who has three silvers from three previous Olympics, and Anna Watkins in the double sculls, swimmer Rebecca Adlington, who defends her 800m freestyle title, and the men's track cycling pursuit team.

Highly fancied heptathlete Jessica Ennis also gets her campaign under way at the Olympic Stadium, in the 100m hurdles, the high jump, the shot put and the 200m.

Other British athletes in action on Friday will include world champion Dai Greene in the men's 400m hurdles heats and defending Olympic champion Christine Ohuruogu in the women's 400m.

In developments on Thursday:

• Peter Wilson took gold for Britain in the men's double trap shooting event. He said it "felt amazing" and was "a dream come true"
• Etienne Stott and Tim Baillie triumphed in the two-man canoe slalom at at the Lee Valley White Water Centre, ahead of fellow Britons David Florence and Richard Hounslow
• US swimmer Michael Phelps won his 20th Olympic medal, in the men's 200m individual medley and became the first swimmer to successfully defend the same title twice. He will be looking to win his 21st Olympic medal on Friday when he takes part in the men's 100m butterfly
• The latest set of Royal Mail stamps honouring Britain's gold medallistswere printed in the wake of Thursday's three golds, with the promise of more to come with each gold medal
• Sports Minister Hugh Robertson said Team GB's "superb performances" had given them great momentum

Friday's events at the 80,000-capacity Olympic stadium will bring thousands more people pouring into the east London park and mean access to the neighbouring Westfield shopping centre will be restricted for the next two days.

Only staff and Olympic ticket holders will be able to go into the centre between 10:30 BST and 17:00 as organisers seek to minimise congestion.

Transport for London (TFL) said public transport services and roads to the Olympic Park would be exceptionally busy on Friday and urged anyone not going to the site to avoid the area.

The Docklands Light Railway, Jubilee and Central lines are expected to be busier than usual, especially in the morning, evening and late-evening peaks and driving in central London should be avoided where possible, TFL said.

London's transport commissioner Peter Hendy said: "This Friday and Saturday will be the busiest days of the Games so far as the Olympic Stadium opens its doors and sporting events continue to take place across the capital.

"Westfield Stratford City may not be open to shoppers without a ticket during these times but London has a rich and vast array of other attractions to offer during the Games."

Among other British sporting interest on Friday will be Andy Murray playing Novak Djokovic in the men's tennis singles semi-finals at Wimbledon, and Great Britain's women's football team taking on Canada in their quarter-final match in Coventry.

Syria crisis: UN General Assembly to vote on resolution

The UN General Assembly is due to vote on a resolution that condemns the Security Council for failing to stop the violence in Syria.

The conflict in Syria has claimed some 20,000 lives

The text is not legally binding but is intended to increase pressure on the council to take action.

Russia and China have blocked attempts at the UN to impose sanctions against Damascus.

The vote follows the resignation of UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, whose peace plan failed to end the bloodshed.

Announcing his decision on Thursday, Mr Annan said growing violence had made his job untenable, but also hit out at "continuous finger-pointing and name-calling" at the UN Security Council, which he said had prevented any consensus on action.

The Syrian government expressed "regret" at Mr Annan's decision to stand down. Correspondents say it is a clear recognition that the political process has failed.

Activists say 170 people died across the country on Thursday, including in Syria's biggest city, Aleppo, where government forces have been trying to reclaim areas seized by the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told the Security Council that UN observers in Aleppo were seeing "a considerable build-up of military means, where we have reason to believe that the main battle is about to start".

More than 50 people were said to have died in Hama, south of Aleppo.

Also on Thursday, at least 10 people were reported killed when mortars hit a Palestinian refugee camp at Yarmouk, on the southern edge of the capital, Damascus. Both sides blamed one another for the incident.

Activists say more than 20,000 people - mostly unarmed civilians - have died in 17 months of unrest.

Text 'toned down'

The UN resolution requires only a simple majority of the 193-member General Assembly to pass.

But, unlike a Security Council resolution, it will not be legally binding.

Drafted by Saudi Arabia, which openly supports the armed rebellion against President Bashar al-Assad's rule, the text condemns the Syrian government's use of "heavy weapons" and its failure to withdraw forces from civilian areas, as demanded by Mr Annan's peace initiative.

In an attempt to maximise votes, diplomats have toned down the wording of the text by dropping an explicit demand for President Assad to stand down, according to AFP.

"The aim is to increase pressure on the Assad government. We want as many people to back this which is why some changes have been made," one Arab diplomat told the news agency.

France's UN ambassador, Gerard Araud, said it would show that Russia and China were in a "tiny minority" at the UN General Assembly.

Russia and China have vetoed resolutions on the crisis three times, citing opposition to any action which might be seen as regime change imposed from outside.

"Those same countries who were pushing this resolution most actively are the countries who are providing weapons to the armed opposition groups, this is unfortunately the tragedy of the matter and something which made Kofi Annan's efforts so difficult," Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin said.

Meanwhile, China expressed regret at Mr Annan's decision not to renew his mandate, the foreign ministry said in a statement.

"We understand the difficulty of Annan's mediation work, and respect his decision," it said, according to AFP.

Mr Annan's six-point peace plan for Syria was intended to bring an end to the fighting. But it was never fully adhered to by either side and the violence has continued to escalate.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he was in discussion with the Arab League to find a successor to "carry on this crucial peacemaking effort".

But the BBC's Jim Muir, who is monitoring events in Syria from neighbouring Lebanon, says is hard to imagine a figure with anything approaching the stature and profile of Mr Annan taking over the task, when the prospects for success are currently negligible.

Shift work link to increased risk of heart problems

Shift workers are slightly more at risk of having a heart attack or stroke than day workers, research suggests.

An analysis of studies involving more than 2m workers in the British Medical Journal said shift work can disrupt the body clock and have an adverse effect on lifestyle.

It has previously been linked to an increased risk of high blood pressure and diabetes.

Limiting night shifts would help workers cope, experts said.

The team of researchers from Canada and Norway analysed 34 studies.

In total, there were 17,359 coronary events of some kind, including cardiac arrests, 6,598 heart attacks and 1,854 strokes caused by lack of blood to the brain.

These events were more common in shift workers than in other people.

The BMJ study calculated that shift work was linked to a 23% increased risk of heart attack, 24% increased risk of coronary event and 5% increased risk of stroke.

But they also said shift work was not linked to increased mortality rates from heart problems and that the relative risks associated with heart problems were "modest".,

The researchers took the socioeconomics status of the workers, their diet and general health into account in their findings.

No rest

Dan Hackam, associate professor at Western University, London, Ontario in Canada, said shift workers were more prone to sleeping and eating badly.

"Night shift workers are up all the time and they don't have a defined rest period. They are in a state of perpetual nervous system activation which is bad for things like obesity and cholesterol," he said.

The authors say that screening programmes could help identify and treat risk factors for shift workers, such as high blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

They add that shift workers could also be educated about what symptoms to look out for, which might indicate early heart problems.

Jane White, research and information services manager at the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, said there were complex issues surrounding shift work.

"It can result in disturbed appetite and digestion, reliance on sedatives and/or stimulants, as well as social and domestic problems.

"These can affect performance, increase the likelihood of errors and accidents at work, and even have a negative effect on health.

She said the effects of shift work needed to be well managed.

"Avoiding permanent night shifts, limiting shifts to a maximum of 12 hours and ensuring workers have a minimum of two full nights' sleep between day and night shifts are simple, practical solutions that can help people to cope with shift work."

Ellen Mason, senior cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said the increased risk to an individual shift worker "was relatively small".

"But many Brits don't work nine to five and so these findings becomes much more significant.

"Whether you work nights, evenings or regular office hours, eating healthily, getting active and quitting smoking can make a big difference to your heart health."

Spoof newspaper executive tweeter accused of hacking

The man behind a Twitter account spoofing the chief executive of a newspaper group has been accused of hacking into an email account.

Northcliffe Media, owned by the Daily Mail, has taken legal action to make Twitter reveal the man's identity.

In court documents, the company accused "@UnSteveDorkland" of making staff "fear for their safety".

The account holder told the BBC he denied "all accusations of illegal conduct set out in this document".

Twitter has said it will comply with a court order and reveal the user's details on 1 August.

However, the BBC understands, the account holder will be challenging the decision with the help of a pro-bono lawyer, whose services are provided free of charge "for the public good", in the US. The account holder is also being advised by internet rights groups.

If the court order, which has been posted on the Guido Fawkes blog, is quashed, lengthy court proceedings could result.

'Hacking email'

Court documents filed at the beginning of the month accused the account holder of being "the creator and/or maintainer of at least three particular accounts", which impersonated - to varying degrees - Steve Auckland, Northcliffe's chief executive.

"At least some of the information made public on Twitter by the defendant was not known publicly," the court papers said.

"And on information and belief, the only way that such information could be obtained was by hacking into an email account at the plaintiff's [Northcliffe] business."

It also accused the account owner of posting information "apparently obtained from surveillance of plaintiff's employees", as well as engaging in other fraudulent and defamatory activity.

The account older told the BBC he denies all of the accusations outlined in the document.

'Abusive and obsessive'

Northcliffe's Mr Auckland said in a statement: "I can confirm we have taken action to ask Twitter for help in identifying the individual in order to protect our staff from harassment.

"We made no request for, nor had any input in, a decision to stop tweeting. Our first priority is a duty of care to all of our employees."

Northcliffe is yet to make public the specific tweets at the centre of their accusations, although one source at the company told the BBC they were concerned about "homophobic" remarks.

Speaking last week, the account holder denied making offensive comments on the social network.

"People can make their own judgement," he told the BBC.

"I've not taken anything down. It's all in the public domain, I've not touched them at all."