British researchers have raised the tantalizing prospect of treating a range of brain diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, all with the same drug.
In a study, published in Nature, researchers prevented brain cells dying in mice with prion disease.
It is hoped the same method for preventing brain cell death could apply in other diseases.
The findings are at an early stage, but have been heralded as “fascinating”.
Many neuro-degenerative diseases result in the build-up of proteins which are not put together correctly – known as misfolded proteins. This happens in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s as well as in prion diseases, such as the human form of mad cow disease.
Researchers at the University of Leicester uncovered how the build-up of proteins in mice with prion disease resulted in brain cells dying.
They showed that as misfolded protein levels rise in the brain, cells respond by trying to shut down the production of all new proteins.
Researchers at the University of Leicester uncovered how the build-up of proteins in mice with prion disease resulted in brain cells dying
It is the same trick cells use when infected with a virus. Stopping production of proteins stops the virus spreading. However, shutting down the factory for a long period of time ends up killing the brain cells as they do not produce the proteins they actually need to function.
The team at the Medical Research Council laboratory in Leicester then tried to manipulate the switch which turned the protein factory off. When they prevented cells from shutting down, they prevented the brain dying. The mice then lived significantly longer.
Each neuro-degenerative disease results in a unique set of misfolded proteins being produced, which are then thought to lead to brain cells dying.
Prof. Giovanna Mallucci said: “The novelty here is we’re just targeting the protein shut-down, we’re ignoring the prion protein and that’s what makes it potentially relevant across the board.”
The idea, which has not yet been tested, is that if preventing the shut down protects the brain in prion disease – it might work in all diseases that have misfolded proteins.
Prof. Givanna Mallucci added: “What it gives you is an appealing concept that one pathway and therefore one treatment could have benefits across a range of disorders.
“But the idea is in its early stages. We would really need to confirm this concept in other diseases.”
The study has been broadly welcomed by other scientists although many point out that the research is in its infancy.
Superhero movie The Avengers has broken the record for the biggest US opening weekend, taking $200 million, early figures show.
The previous best opening weekend was Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which opened in July 2011 with $169 million.
Included in the top five of biggest openers are The Dark Knight and Spider-Man 3.
The Dark Knight, starring Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader, took $158 million in its opening weekend in 2008, while Spider-Man 3 took $151 million.
Both superheroes will once again be seen on screen during the summer.
Superhero movie The Avengers has broken the record for the biggest US opening weekend, taking $200 million
The Avengers, directed by Joss Whedon, failed to beat the final Harry Potter’s first day takings record of $91 million but surpassed it over the following two days.
No other big films dared go up against it, with only the British film The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel being released on the same day.
The Avengers has so far taken $641 million worldwide.
Francois Hollande has been celebrating his victory in France’s presidential election.
Socialist Francois Hollande – who polled just under 52% of votes in Sunday’s run-off election – said he was “proud to have been capable of giving people hope again”.
Centre-right incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy is the first French president not to win a second term since 1981.
Francois Hollande has vowed to rework a deal on government debt in eurozone member countries to try and promote growth.
Admitting defeat soon after polls closed on Sunday evening, centre-right incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy wished “good luck” to Francois Hollande.
Jubilant Hollande supporters gathered at the place de la Bastille in Paris – a traditional rallying point of the Left – to celebrate.
President-elect Francois Hollande and the new First Lady Valerie Trierweiler celebrating in Paris
Francois Hollande – the first Socialist to win the French presidency since Francois Mitterrand in the 1980s – earlier gave his victory speech in his stronghold of Tulle in central France.
He said he would push ahead with his pledge to refocus EU fiscal efforts from austerity to “growth”.
“Europe is watching us, austerity can no longer be the only option,” he said.
After his speech in Tulle, Francois Hollande headed to Brive airport to fly to Paris to address supporters at the place de la Bastille.
“I am the president of the youth of France,” he told the assembled crowd of tens of thousands of supporters.
“You are a movement that is rising up throughout Europe,” he said.
Francois Hollande will begin work on forming a new government on Monday and must act quickly to reassure other eurozone countries he is up to the considerable challenge he faces.
He feeds a renewed sense of hope in the country – particularly among the young – that amid the austerity, there can be jobs and salaries, our correspondent adds. Francois Hollande offers a fresh start – but the debt problems for France are still the same
Francois Hollande has called for a renegotiation of a hard-won European treaty on budget discipline championed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy.
Angela Merkel had congratulated the president-elect by phone and invited him to Berlin to hold talks soon.
Francois Hollande’s campaign director, Pierre Moscovici, told AFP news agency that the two had agreed to work together on “a strong Franco-German relationship in the interest of Europe”.
UK Prime Minister David Cameron also called Francois Hollande to congratulate him.
Francois Hollande capitalized on France’s economic woes and President Nicolas Sarkozy’s unpopularity.
The Socialist candidate has promised to raise taxes on big corporations and people earning more than 1 million Euros a year.
He wants to raise the minimum wage, hire 60,000 more teachers and lower the retirement age from 62 to 60 for some workers.
In his concession speech, Nicolas Sarkozy told supporters: “Francois Hollande is the president of France and he must be respected.”
The outgoing president said he was “taking responsibility for defeat”.
Hinting about his future, Nicolas sarkozy said: “My place will no longer be the same. My involvement in the life of my country will now be different.”
During the campaign, he had said he would leave politics if he lost the election.
Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been in office since 2007, had promised to reduce France’s large budget deficit through spending cuts.
He becomes the latest European leader to be voted out of office amid widespread voter anger at austerity measures triggered by the eurozone debt crisis.
Francois Hollande is expected to be inaugurated later this month. A parliamentary election is due in June.
Advances in nutritional research are beginning to shine a light on the potentially slimming effects of some of the most sinful foods, such as chocolate, cheese or a big glass of wine.
Red wine
Scientists in the U.S. have identified a compound in red wine that could help you slim. Called piceatannol, it appears to slow the growth of fat cells, which means that rather than topping up your calorie total, red wine could be a dieter’s friend. Piceatannol appears to alter the way new fat cells grow.
Normally, it takes ten days for a fat cell to reach maturity, and once it has, it is difficult to shrink with diet and exercise. However, when there’s piceatannol in the blood, fat cells are stopped from maturing. Scientists believe that if they isolate the compound, they may be able to use it in anti-obesity drugs.
You may be able to reap the fat busting benefits by having one glass of red wine a day. Any more, however, and you could be adding too much to your daily calorie load – half a bottle of wine is around 250 calories, but at 510 calories, a bottle a day is not only highly calorific, but also damaging to health.
Curry
Living off spicy takeaways – including curries – has always been thought of as a surefire route to weight gain, but researchers at Canada’s Laval University have found that a chemical contained in chillies could boost your body’s ability to burn fat and curb your appetite. This is because capsaicin, the chemical that gives chillies, cayenne and paprika their characteristic pungency, stimulates the natural process where some of the food we eat is converted immediately to heat. Called diet-induced thermogenesis, this process is good news for dieters because it means we burn up calories rather than storing them.
Scientists found that chilli can also reduce your appetite. Studies show that when men and women eat chilli-spiked food, they feel less hungry and eat significantly less at subsequent meals. Incorporating chillies into your breakfast has been shown to be effective at encouraging you to opt for a smaller lunch. But if you can’t face the thought of a spiced-up egg-white omelette (51 calories for three eggs), you can get your chilli fix at the end of the day with a hot curry, ideally tandoori, tikka or bhuna as they tend to be made without creamy sauces.
Advances in nutritional research are beginning to shine a light on the potentially slimming effects of some of the most sinful foods
Nuts
There’s no doubt that nuts are fattening. Or are they? As a snack, nuts pack a heavier calorie punch than crisps (a handful of crisps is around 40 calories, whereas you can easily notch up 300 calories with a fist-full of peanuts). But nutritional experts believe they could be a better choice for dieters. Research shows that people who snack on nuts tend to be slimmer than those who don’t.
A study from Purdue University, Indiana, found that when a group of 15 normal-weight people added about 500 calories’ worth of peanuts to their diet, they consumed less at subsequent meals. The participants also revved up their resting metabolism by 11%, which means they burned more calories – even when relaxing. Researchers from the University of Barcelona say this is because nuts stimulate the hormone serotonin, which boosts happiness, decreases appetite and improves heart health. It takes only 1oz of raw, unpeeled walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts a day to start reducing fat around your abdomen.
Coconut oil
Coconut oil has acquired a bad reputation for being high in saturated fat. But research is emerging that indicates this fat might behave differently from other saturated fats. Coconut oil is predominantly made up of short and medium-chain fatty acids. These compounds don’t boost cholesterol levels – in fact, they lower the risk of heart disease and can help weight loss because your body is able to burn them more quickly than other fats.
Use small quantities in cooking or baking instead of butter or unhealthy oils. It remains stable at high temperatures so is great for frying, too.
Cheese
For long-term dieters one of the most sorely missed foods is often cheese. With its high fat and calorie content (42 cals and 3.5g of fat per 10g slice) it’s all-too often sacrificed in favour of more slimming sandwich fillings and meal toppings. But studies now show cheese can help you lose weight – particularly around your abdomen. Cheese contains protein, which helps us feel fuller more quickly, but scientists also believe the calcium in cheese encourages the body to burn more fat because it helps your body increase the amount of fat it eliminates. The best cheeses are feta or Edam as they are lower in fat per serving, but keep away from rich creamy ones such as Camembert.
Chocolate
Even though chocolate is loaded with calories, dark chocolate contains antioxidants and ingredients such as bioflavonoids that scientists believe may promote weight loss. A study at the University of California found that chocolate-eaters tended to be slimmer than those who didn’t touch the stuff. They were also less likely to get heart disease or suffer strokes. But milk chocolate adds calories and depletes the proportion of essential slimming nutrients. So choose dark chocolate with a high percentage of cocoa (70% or more) as the crucial nutrients are contained in the cocoa. As an added bonus, its bitter taste may also suppress appetite.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for an early general election in Israel in four months’ time.
The vote is expected to take place in September, a year before he is required by law to seek a new mandate.
Benjamin Netanyahu leads a centre-right coalition which includes his own Likud, and the Labour party of Ehud Barak.
He has been prime minister since 2009. Opinion polls suggest that he is by some distance the most popular politician in Israel.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called for an early general election in Israel in four months' time
Benjamin Netanyahu told a meeting of party workers in Tel Aviv that he didn’t want “a year and a half of political instability accompanied by blackmail and populism”.
After listing the accomplishments of his government, Benjamin Netanyahu said he would like to lead a broadly based coalition after the election.
French Socialist Francois Hollande has been elected as new president, according to early estimates.
Francois Hollande got about 52% of votes in today’s run-off, according to projections based on partial results, against 48% for centre-right incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy.
He would be the first French socialist president since 1995.
Analysts say the vote has wide implications for the whole eurozone.
French Socialist Francois Hollande has been elected as new president, according to early estimates
Francois Hollande has vowed to rework a deal on government debt in member countries.
The estimates were carried by French media after all polling stations closed at 20:00.
Exuberant Hollande supporters have already converged on Place de la Bastille in Paris – a traditional rallying point of the Left – to celebrate.
Francois Hollande capitalized on France’s economic woes and President Nicolas Sarkozy’s unpopularity.
The socialist candidate has promised to raise taxes on big corporations and people earning more than 1 million Euros a year.
He also wants to raise the minimum wage, hire 60,000 more teachers and lower the retirement age from 62 to 60 for some workers.
Nicolas Sarkozy, a centre-right leader who has been in office since 2007, had promised to reduce France’s large budget deficit through budget cuts.
It is only the second time an incumbent president fails to win re-election since the start of France Fifth Republic in 1958.
The last was Valery Giscard d’Estaing – he 1981 was beaten by socialist Francois Mitterrand, who had two terms in office until 1995.
The new president is expected to be inaugurated later this month.
Protesters against Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin have clashed with police in the capital Moscow, ahead of his inauguration on Monday for a third term.
The protest was peaceful until a small group of demonstrators tried to break through the lines of riot police.
Opposition activists Alexei Navalny, Sergei Udaltsov and Boris Nemtsov have all been detained.
A rival demonstration in support of Vladimir Putin has also been taking place.
Organizers said about 20,000 people took part in the opposition march – to an island close to the Kremlin – although police put the figure at about 8,000.
Alexei Navalny urged protesters not to disperse until those arrested had been released.
Protesters against Russian President-elect Vladimir Putin have clashed with police in the capital Moscow, ahead of his inauguration on Monday for a third term
Speaking to a radio station by phone from a police van, Alexei Navalny also told the protesters to insist that the authorities carry out the reforms they have promised.
Police have been blocking the protesters from crossing a bridge over the Moscow River.
Clashes broke out when more people crowded towards the bridge and riot police wielding batons pushed demonstrators back towards the rally site, witnesses said.
Protesters launched a sit-in by the police lines.
They were refusing to leave unless Vladimir Putin’s inauguration was cancelled. They were also demanding an hour of TV airtime and new elections, our correspondent says.
Dozens of protesters are said to have been arrested.
TV images then showed police storming the stage of the rally where left-wing activist Sergei Udaltsov had been addressing protesters, and taking him to a waiting vehicle.
Before he was seized, Sergei Udaltsov had called for the inauguration to be cancelled and said through a loud-hailer: “We will not leave.”
The crowd chanted back: “We are the power.”
Russia’s Interfax news agency later reported that Alexei Navalny – an anti-corruption blogger and nationalist – had been arrested and Dozhd TV tweeted that liberal politician Boris Nemtsov had also been detained at the rally.
It was an embarrassing start for President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign yesterday as he held his first political rally of the 2012 race in a half-empty arena.
With First Lady dressed head to toe in campaign colors at his side, Barack Obama targeted swing states Ohio and Virginia that are critical for his bid to remain in the White House.
Barack Obama formally launched his Chicago-based re-election effort last year but his official political events have been confined to fundraisers since then.
That changed this weekend, however, with results which may have surprised Barack Obama.
The President, who was propelled to power in the 2008 election thanks in part to huge rallies across the nation, hoped to regain that momentum with events in large arenas in Columbus, Ohio and Richmond, Virginia.
Come game time, however, with his first event – which was free and open to the public – held at Ohio State University, his numbers appeared to fall flat, according to several reports.
One photo taken and posted to Twitter by Republican rival Mitt Romney’s campaign spokesman Ryan Williams showed the floor and seats with more space than people.
The venue holds 20,000 and according to figures from Barack Obama’s campaign, 14,000 attended the event – 70% of the stadium’s seating capacity.
According to the paper, event organizers busied themselves moving people from the stage’s surrounding seats to the arena’s floor to depict a better crowd to television cameras.
Barack Obama targeted swing states Ohio and Virginia that are critical for his bid to remain in the White House
Aiming to encourage his supporters, Barack Obama released an email prior to his rally reminding them to watch his first rally and donate money.
“The crowd’s starting to form in Columbus, and they’re ready to go,” he said in the email.
“In a little while, I’ll go on stage for the first rally of 2012.”
Barack Obama’s campaign is eager to get the president on the road and at the center of the political battle.
“We’re ready to go,” campaign manager Jim Messina told reporters in a recent conference call.
“While Mitt Romney has been busy endearing himself to the Tea Party and making promises he can’t keep, we’ve been busy building the largest grassroots campaign in modern American history.”
The Republican National Committee released their own email earlier Saturday morning, however, in the mocking form of fake prepared remarks for the president’s rally in Columbus.
“Ohio, thanks for the tepid welcome. I know I’m not as popular here as I once was, so I’ll take what I can get,” the RNC said in the imagined speech it dubbed “as prepared for reality”.
“It turns out the hope and change I promised didn’t work out. So, we’ve launched a new strategy: hype and blame,” the RNC’s email said.
Since Mitt Romney became his party’s presumptive nominee, Barack Obama has criticized his opponent in formal and informal situations – a sign that he is more than ready to launch the attacks that are expected to characterize a potentially ugly and negative campaign.
Republicans accuse Barack Obama of infusing politics into his official White House events and scoff at the notion that his campaigning is just starting.
The president has done official trips in recent months to highlight his energy record and to tout proposals to reduce costs for students. Young people are an important constituency for his campaign.
The Obama campaign has mapped out several scenarios to win the 270 electoral votes needed to capture the presidency, and the choice of states for his inaugural rallies was not coincidental.
Ohio, with its large cache of 18 electoral votes, is a particularly coveted prize.
No Republican has made it to the White House in the last century without winning the state. Barack Obama bested Republican rival John McCain there in 2008.
Ohio has struggled with a loss of manufacturing jobs, but its unemployment rate, at 7.5% in March, is below the national average, which was 8.2% in March and dipped to 8.1% in April.
That could help blunt Mitt Romney’s attacks on Barack Obama’s economic record. The president’s campaign also hopes to capitalize on union anger over an attempt by the state’s Republican governor, John Kasich, to limit collective bargaining rights for firefighters, police officers, and other state workers. The law was later repealed.
Polls show Barack Obama is leading Mitt Romney in Ohio and Virginia. An average of polls by RealClearPolitics showed the president ahead in Ohio by 4.2 percentage points and ahead in Virginia by 3.2 percentage points.
Virginia had an even lower unemployment rate in March, coming in at 5.6%.
The Obama campaign will also try to capitalize on an advantage with women voters in the state, where the governor – Republican Bob McDonnell – promoted legislation that would have required women to undergo an invasive trans-vaginal sonogram before getting an abortion.
Michelle Obama will also help attract the female vote. The popular first lady, who has done fundraisers across the country for her husband’s campaign, will be at his side for both rallies.
Scientists have found that dinosaurs may be partly to blame for a change in climate because they created so much flatulence.
Professor Graeme Ruxton of St Andrews University, Scotland, said the giant animals spent 150 years emitting the potent global warming gas, methane.
Large plant-eating sauropods would have been the main culprits because of the huge amounts of greenery they consumed.
The team calculated the animals would have collectively produced more than 520 million tons of methane a year – more than all today’s modern sources put together.
It is thought these huge amounts could easily have been enough to warm the planet.
Scientists have found that dinosaurs may be partly to blame for a change in climate because they created so much flatulence
One of the animals, a 90-ton argentinosaurus, which measured 140 ft in length, would have consumed at least half a ton of food in one day.
After breaking down in the animal’s stomach it would have produced thousands of litres of the greenhouse gas compared with a modern cow which only produces 200 litres of methane daily.
Methane is up to 20 times more effective in trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide (CO2).
It is created from a variety of natural and human-influenced sources which include landfills, natural gas, petroleum sources and agricultural activities.
Scientists claim humans have pushed levels of the gas up 2.5 times higher than they should be and estimate this is responsible for 20% of modern global warming.
Cows and other livestock currently only emit about 100 million tons of methane a year.
According to Prof. Graeme Ruxton and his co-researcher David Wilkinson, of Liverpool John Moores University, this is only a fifth of what was produced when Dinosaurs walked the Earth.
“In fact, our calculations suggest these dinosaurs may have produced more methane than all the modern sources, natural and human, put together,” said David Wilkinson to the Sunday Times.
The research is due to be published in an academic journal this week.
Greek main parties have suffered dramatic losses in the parliamentary election, according to exit polls.
The latest polls put centre-right New Democracy in the lead with 19-20.5% of the vote, down from 33.5% in 2009.
Centre-left Pasok is put in third place with 13-14%, down from 43.9%. Syriza, a left-wing coalition, is put ahead of it in second place with 15.5-17%.
Pasok and New Democracy, in coalition since last November, were expected to lose support to anti-austerity parties.
There is widespread anger across Greece to harsh measures imposed by the government in return for international bailouts.
Syriza opposes the government’s austerity measures.
The neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party could enter parliament for the first time if the exit poll prediction of it winning 6.5 -7.5% of the vote comes to fruition.
Greek main parties have suffered dramatic losses in the parliamentary election, according to exit polls
The first official results are expected later on Sunday night.
“The truth is here – the reality of this result is that at the moment this produces no government,” said Theodoros Pangalos, outgoing deputy prime minister and senior Pasok official.
“It is not a question at the moment of who gets a little more or a little less.”
If no party wins enough votes to form a government, the winner will have to seek a coalition with rivals.
Coalition negotiations can take place over three days. If they fail, the party in second place can try to form a coalition, and if still unsuccessful, the third party will receive the mandate.
If still no coalition emerges, Greece will go to another election – a prospect which would alarm Greece’s international creditors.
The ability of any new government to carry on with the austerity programme will be crucial for Greece’s continued access to bailout funds from the EU, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund – the so-called Troika.
Any political instability may prompt fresh questions over the country’s place in the eurozone.
Under the current plan, a further 11 billion Euros of savings in spending are due to be found in June.
Othan Anastasakis, director of south-east European studies at Oxford University, said it would be “incredible” if no party won more than 20% of the vote.
“This is really unprecedented,” he said.
“The whole landscape becomes even more unpredictable after the election. We don’t know if there will be a coalition or how long it will survive. I don’t see it surviving very long.
“Greeks are sending a very strong message abroad, which is <<enough with austerity>>.”
The ultimate millionaire’s toy is a $190,000 flying hovercraft, which is able to glide over land and water and soar through the air.
Available through U.S luxury goods firm Hammacher Schlemmer, the bright yellow amphibious and airborne vehicle features a 130 horsepower twin-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine and can hit speeds of up to 70 mph.
The craft can take to the air in short bursts and reach heights of fifty-feet above the water, ice or land.
This ability makes the flying hovercraft unique, enabling the pilot to simply hop over insurmountable obstacles that would stump a normal craft.
Available through U.S luxury goods firm Hammacher Schlemmer, the bright yellow amphibious and airborne vehicle features a 130 horsepower twin-cylinder, liquid-cooled engine and can hit speeds of up to 70 mph
Turbocharged and fuel-injected, the craft’s integrated wings are propelled by a 60 inch wood/carbon composite turbine and a 1,100-rpm fan inflates the nylon skirt around the craft used for hovering.
The durable vehicle is able to operate on sand, mud, grass, swamp, desert, ice and snow.
Capable of traveling 160 miles on one tank, the flying hovercraft is perfect for the customer who is unsure whether they want to travel by the water or air to their destination.
Steady in winds of up to 25 miles per hour, the hovercraft can also take to the water in waves of up to six feet.
Able to accommodate up to three passengers with a combined weight of no more than 600 pounds, the flying hovercraft even comes with a PVC roof to make sure that no one gets sprayed.
Controlled via a main joystick, the pilot simply pushes, twists and pulls to accelerate, turn and brake.
Even though the craft can fly, according to Hammacher Schlemmer it must be registered as a boat.
BBC Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson sparked a new controversy by suggesting that long queues at airport control could be solved by “a bit of racism”.
Jeremy Clarkson said that delays were caused because immigration officials could no longer use their discretion to wave certain passengers through.
“Nobody is waved through any more. Immigration officials are not allowed to use their discretion,” Jeremy Clarkson said.
“Common sense has been erased from the system. And the result is plain for all to see. There’s a two-hour wait. And come the Olympics they’re saying that time frame will double.
“Net result: Immigration officials have to assume that the nice family of four coming back from their holiday in Sardinia is going to cheat the social out of millions then blow up during the 100 metres final.”
Jeremy Clarkson sparked a new controversy by suggesting that long queues at airport control could be solved by “a bit of racism”
Jeremy Clarkson then went on to say there is a possible solution to the problem.
“Nobody likes a racist. Nobody likes prejudice. It has no place at work, at play or on the terraces of a football stadium. It has no place at school, or in government.
“But at Heathrow airport? Hmmm.”
However, a spokesman for the Public and Commercial Services Union, which represents Border Force workers, said: “Clarkson is an idiot.”
Meanwhile, some Twitter users took to the social networking site to express their views.
Some said they agreed with his views. A woman known only as Alice said: “Jeremy clarkson (sic) has summed up what will go wrong this summer. GO JEREMY! He is brilliant.”
Jeremy Clarkson used his weekly column in The Sun to highlight the problem of long waits for those coming through border control at Heathrow airport.
He said that since security checks were tightened by Home Secretary Theresa May, officials have been prevented from only targeting those deemed “high risk”.
Jeremy Clarkson, who is no stranger to controversy and has become known for his provocative comments, hit the headlines in December after he suggested that striking public sector workers should be shot in front of their families.
The gaffe came when he appeared on the BBC’s The One Show during Britain’s biggest public sector strike for the past 30 years.
The BBC was also forced to apologize about an item on BBC2’s Top Gear which led to the Mexican ambassador complaining about the “outrageous, vulgar and inexcusable insults” made about Mexicans by Jeremy Clarkson and his co-hosts James May and Richard Hammond.
In February 2009, Jeremy Clarkson famously insulted then-prime minister Gordon Brown by calling him a “one-eyed Scottish idiot” – a reference to the fact he is blind in one eye.
The previous year the BBC also received nearly 2,000 complaints when Jeremy Clarkson joked about lorry drivers murdering prostitutes.
Joan Ritchie Silleck and Robert Ritchie, the heirs of Richard Ritchie, the man who developed the formula for Pepsi-Cola in 1931, have sued snack and beverage giant Pepsico Inc. on Friday.
Richard Ritchie’s daughter, Joan Ritchie Silleck, and his son, Robert Ritchie said they wanted to erase any doubt that his documents were theirs to share with historians, collectors and film producers.
A lawsuit filed in Manhattan federal court by the two states that they wanted to “tell their father’s extraordinary life story without interference or the threat of litigation” from Pepsi.
The lawsuit asks the court for undisclosed damages for what it called Pepsi’s “improper interference with their rights in the Ritchie invention and the Ritchie documents”.
They alleged that the documents had been “physically and legally” controlled by a member of the Ritchie family for more than 50 years.
The estate of Richard Ritchie’s late son, Richard, was also identified as a plaintiff.
The heirs of Richard Ritchie, the man who developed the formula for Pepsi-Cola in 1931, have sued giant Pepsico Inc. on Friday
Richard Ritchie was a chemist with the Loft Candy Company when he developed the Pepsi-Cola formula for Loft in 1931.
He stayed with Pepsi-Cola after it became independent, but joined Cantrell & Cochrane Company in 1962.
Richard Ritchie retired in 1982 and died in January 1985.
According to the lawsuit “the heirs are the rightful owners of the Ritchie invention because, inter alia, Pepsi failed to require that Mr. Ritchie transfer ownership to the Ritchie invention to Pepsi despite knowing that he had developed the Pepsi-Cola formula while working as an employee of another company”.
The case is Joan Ritchie Silleck, the estate of Richard James Ritchie and Robert Ritchie vs. Pepsico Inc, in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Los Angeles police are searching for Gavin Smith, a missing movie executive who disappeared on Tuesday.
Gavin Smith, 57, a longtime 20th Century Fox employee, was last seen driving his black 200 Mercedes 420E sedan between 9 and 10 p.m. near his Oak Park family home, according to a police bulletin.
He has worked in the film corporation’s distribution department in Calabasas for nearly 18 years.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department enlisted the public’s help in its search for Gavin Smith, branch manager for theatres in Dallas and Oklahoma City, in a special bulletin distributed on Friday.
Fox distribution president Chris Aronson told The Hollywood Reporter there was no indication of problems that might have led to his disappearance.
“We are very concerned about Gavin. We are actively doing what we can to assist the L.A. Sheriff’s department,” Chris Aronson said.
Los Angeles police are searching for Gavin Smith, a missing movie executive who disappeared on Tuesday
The executive’s son Evan Smith, a basketball player at the University of Southern California, logged on to Twitter to ask the public for help finding his father today.
“Please help me find my Dad. Retweet to get the word out please,” he wrote, with a link to a story about Gavin Smith’s disappearance.
Gavin Smith is described by the sheriff’s department as being 6ft 6in tall and weighing 210 lbs.
He has grey hair with blonde highlights, green eyes and a goatee; he also has a 5in scar on his calf and a 4in scar on his inner right wrist.
Investigators say he was last seen wearing purple pants and black and grey shoes.
The Sheriff’s Department asks that anyone with information contact its Homicide Bureau, Missing Person’s detail.
Kim Kardashian’s lawyer, Laura Wasser, accused Kris Humphries of attempting to prolong the proceedings to dissolve their marriage for publicity’s sake during a brief hearing Friday morning.
But Kris Humphries is not intimidated, according to Radar Online, and he is pressing for a divorce trial rather than an out-of-court settlement in order to get the truth out.
“The only way that this case won’t go to trial is if Kim publicly apologizes to Kris and admits that she only married him for television ratings,” revealed a source close to Kris Humphries.
“Kris just wants the truth to come out and Kim is just absolutely livid that she isn’t getting her own way. Kris wants Kim to answer questions about their relationship, under oath.”
The source continued: “Kris is ready for a fight and he has said that Kim should <<bring it on>>. Kris won’t be silenced and he isn’t after her money, he doesn’t want one dime from her.
“It’s just about the truth coming out, something that Kim’s camp seems to be petrified about.”
Kris Humphries is pressing for a divorce trial rather than an out-of-court settlement in order to get the truth out
Kris Humphries, 27, wants to know what happened to one of their wedding presents – a $325,000 white Ferrari – given to the couple by a wealthy Malaysian businessman, among other things.
“Kris is ready to be deposed and answer questions under oath. He looks forward to Kim being deposed and he will be there when it happens,” the source said.
Earlier this week, Kim Kardashian tweeted her approval of a radio show that was publicly criticizing Kris Humphries.
The hosts of the Cipha Sounds and Rosenberg radio show on Hot 97 approved of Kim Kardashian’s new boyfriend rapper Kanye West and called Kris Humphries a “nobody” on the air.
“He went from being an unknown NBA player to one of the most talked about players, just because of dating Kim,” said Rosenberg, adding: “He even became a better basketball player after dating and marrying her.”
Kim Kardashian, who has 14 million followers and was just recognized as the number one most-followed person on Instagram, immediately took to her Twitter page to comment.
She wrote: “Was listening to Hot 97 this morning! Thanks for the shout out lol! I love those guys!!!”
It’s a move that Kris Humphries allegedly considers really low since he has never “stooped” to the same tactics.
“Kris wasn’t listening to the show but he would never support anyone speaking unkindly or maliciously about Kim. It’s just not who he is as a person,” the source told Radar Online.
“It’s disappointing that Kim has chosen to embrace that sort of negativity about their relationship. Kris has moved on and even if she continues to behave in this manner he won’t change who he is and sink to her level, it’s just not necessary.”
Kim Kardashian infamously split from Kris Humphries and filed for divorce just 72 days into their union last October.
Kris Humphries is seeking an annulment. However his legal team argued they need more time to gather information to decide whether to pursue allegations that the couple’s marriage was a fraud.
Superior Court Judge Stephen Moloney told both sides to return to court on August 15 for a status hearing.
Experts say antipsychotic drugs are seen as the most effective treatment of psychotic episodes, but they are also recognized to have devastating side effects.
Doctors say many patients don’t like taking medication long term, but a study published in the Lancet suggests that taking antipsychotic medication more than halves the risk of relapse in schizophrenic patients.
David Strange was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when he was 25. He was sectioned and given antipsychotic drugs, which he says made him feel “a bit better for a while,” but gave him a succession of unpleasant side effects.
But without medication, the voice he hears is a constant stream of abuse that “comments on what other people are thinking and the horrible things they want to do to me”.
“I used to see nasty, dirty rat-like things running around when I went outside, I could see people in the streets screaming abuse at me and making obscene and threatening gestures.
“I was hearing a voice that was saying all kinds of nasty things about me. I was terrified, I tried to kill myself.”
Professor of psychiatry Stefan Leucht, from the Technische Universitat in Munich, led the latest research. He also found that fewer patients on antipsychotic drugs were readmitted to hospital – one of the highest costs associated with mental illnesses.
David Strange says taking antipsychotic drugs for 14 years has helped him deal with his hallucinations and the voices he hears. They are still present but they no longer dominate his life.
One of the many drugs David Strange was given was thioridazine, which gave him an irregular heartbeat, something which can be potentially fatal. He remembers lying down with his heart beating really fast, thinking he did not have long left to live.
“Some drugs made me so anxious I tried to kill myself and ended up getting locked up in hospital.”
Even what he refers to as the “good ones” give him muscle and joint pain, jerkiness similar to the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and severe sexual dysfunction.
But he says he would still rather take the drugs than try and function without them.
“Being unmedicated is an unliveable hell. I’m happy to put up with all of this just to be more functional and less scared.”
Antipsychotic drugs are seen as the most effective treatment of psychotic episodes, but they are also recognized to have devastating side effects
The longer antipsychotic drugs are taken, the more chronic the side effects become. The nature of mental illness means patients are often prescribed medication for the rest of their lives.
Daniel Levy, 54, has bipolar disorder and has been taking antipsychotic drugs for nearly 30 years. During that time he has been sectioned and has also attempted suicide.
“The drug chlorpromazine made me tremble, it also made me dribble. When I first became ill I was warned there are certain drugs that weaken the lower lip, even now I still dribble.
“I don’t know I’m doing it until I notice it on my clothes. It looks absolutely terrible.”
But the drug did help him to stay out of hospital and was effective in controlling his symptoms.
“The side effects are the price I pay for keeping out of hospital,” says Daniel Levy.
“It’s a balancing act – doctors never know in advance how you will react to a particular drug.”
Newer “atypical” antipsychotic drugs show fewer of the physical tremor-inducing side effects and are commonly prescribed to patients starting treatment for the first time, says Dr. Oliver Howes from the Institute of Psychiatry, UK.
These still often lead to severe weight gain, increasing the risk of diabetes, blood clots and cardiovascular diseases. The risk is especially high for patients who stay on medication for many decades.
“We have no way of knowing in advance if a given drug is going to suit a patient – so sometimes patients have to try several before they find one that both helps them and is tolerable,” says Dr. Oliver Howes.
Unfortunately the drugs with the most side effects are also the ones which have been shown to be the most effective and are supported by many years of research, says Prof. Stefan Leucht.
He says that if a patient experiences unpleasant side effects, their clinician should always try another drug, but acknowledges that this is not always possible in practice as some doctors are afraid to change their patient’s medication if it appears to be working well.
Dr. Oliver Howes says the side effects of antipsychotics need to be put into perspective.
“Mental health illnesses are devastating. There is a substantial loss of life associated with illnesses such as schizophrenia, predominantly from suicide. We want to prevent that.”
• Antipsychotic medication helps weaken delusions and hallucinations. It can control (but not cure) symptoms in about four out of five people
• Older antipsychotics work by reducing the action of a chemical in the brain called dopamine. They can cause side effects such as stiffness, shakiness, restlessness, sexual problems and unwanted movements, mainly of the mouth and tongue
• Newer antipsychotics work on different chemicals in the brain. These are less likely to produce unwanted movements but can cause weight gain, diabetes, tiredness and sexual problems
France is prepared for the second round of presidential election that could see a socialist winner for the first time since 1988.
In the first round socialist Francois Hollande won 28.6% of the vote, ahead of incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy on 26.2%.
Rising unemployment and the euro crisis have dominated the campaign.
Nicolas Sarkozy says he averted recession and will preserve a “strong France”. Francois Hollande contends the country is in “serious crisis” and needs change.
Polls in mainland France and Corsica will be open from 08:00 to 18:00, with voting stations in big cities remaining open for another two hours.
On Wednesday the two rivals took part in a testy debate, watched by an estimated 17.9 million people, and continued to campaign until Friday.
Francois Hollande – who has long been regarded as favorite – said turnout on election day could affect the result.
Nicolas Sarkozy said no election had ever been so “undecided”.
Nicolas Sarkozy says he averted recession and will preserve a "strong France” while Francois Hollande contends the country is in "serious crisis" and needs change
In the final days, each stepped up his appeals to voters who backed far-right leader Marine Le Pen and centrist Francois Bayrou in the first round.
Marine Le Pen, who attracted 6.4 million voters, has said she would cast a blank ballot but called on supporters to “vote according to their conscience”.
Francois Bayrou, who attracted almost 9% of the first-round vote on 22 April, said he would back Francois Hollande in the second.
The socialist candidate has also been endorsed by hard-left candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon, who won 11% of the vote.
President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has been in office since 2007, has promised to reduce France’s large budget deficit and to tax people who leave the country for tax reasons.
Francois Hollande, for his part, has promised to raise taxes on big corporations and people earning more than 1 million Euros a year.
He wants to raise the minimum wage, hire 60,000 more teachers and lower the retirement age from 62 to 60 for some workers.
If elected, Francois Hollande would be France’s first left-wing president since Francois Mitterrand, who completed two seven-year terms between 1981 and 1995.
It would also be the first time an incumbent president has lost a re-election bid in France since Valery Giscard d’Estaing in 1981.
The presidential vote will be followed by a parliamentary election in June.
2012 Olympics stadium has been officially opened by nine-year-old Niamh Clarke-Willis at a ceremony in east London.
Niamh Clarke-Willis joined LOCOG head Lord Sebastian Coe to hit a button which launched balloons into the sky above the venue for this summer’s Games.
Around 40,000 members of the public were at the Olympic Stadium in Stratford to witness the opening, which included a laser light show.
The “2,012 hours to go” event tested the park’s management and security.
Lord Sebastian Coe said: “It’s a fantastic feeling. The seven years have just flown by. Tonight is only the start of the story.
“We want thousands of young people to be inspired to take up sport. We hope that for a few of them it will be the start of their journey.
“I’m grateful to everyone who came here tonight to celebrate this moment in history.”
Niamh Clarke-Willis joined LOCOG head Lord Sebastian Coe to hit a button which launched balloons into the sky above London Olympic Stadium for this summer's Games
Spectators had to queue to enter the venue after airport-style security checks.
Simon Levy, who came to the Olympic Park for the first time on Saturday, said: “It’s not a problem, really. It’s much quicker than the airport and it’s good to be checked because now we know we’re safe.”
Police helicopters flew over the park and armed police patrolled the area.
Adrian Casy, a security guard at the Olympic Stadium, said Saturday’s events were among the main rehearsals for the games, particularly in moving and managing the crowds of spectators from the park and from one venue to another.
“Honestly, so far, so good, although we’re still trying hard to make it run smoother,” said Adrian Casy, adding that some spectators were wearing “insufficient clothing” to cope with the weather conditions.
TV presenters Vernon Kay and Gabby Logan hosted the event which saw entertainment from impressionist Jon Culshaw, actor Hugh Bonneville, singer and former Spice Girl Melanie C, rapper Chipmunk and comedian Jack Whitehall.
Some 140,000 people are expected at the Olympic site over six days.
The celebrations are part of the British Universities and Colleges Sport Outdoor Athletics Championships and the Visa London Disability Grand Prix which are test events for the venue.
London 2012 hopefuls Perri Shakes-Drayton and Holly Bleasdale are competing at the BUCS event which runs from 4-7 May.
Later in the week, the Olympic Stadium will also play host to the Sainsbury’s 2012 School Games, for 1,600 school-aged elite athletes.
Supermoon has graced the skies, appearing bigger and brighter than usual, as it comes closer to the Earth – and is likely to bring higher tides.
The phenomenon, known as a perigee full moon, means the Moon appears up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than when it is furthest from the planet.
The optimum effect was seen – cloud permitting – at 04:30 BST (03:30 GMT).
The Royal Astronomical Society’s Dr. Robert Massey said the Moon’s size may be more obvious than its brightness.
“The eye is so good at compensating for changes in brightness that you simply don’t notice (that element) so much,” said Dr. Robert Massey.
Supermoon has graced the skies, appearing bigger and brighter than usual, as it comes closer to the Earth
When the Moon appears at its biggest it will be just 356,400km (221,457 miles) away, compared to its usual distance from Earth of 384,000km (238,606 miles).
Dr. Robert Massey said: “When the Moon is closest to the Earth and full or new, you get an increase in the tidal pull in the ocean because the gravity of the moon and the sun line up.”
He added: “The Moon is always beautiful and a full moon is always dramatic.”
Scientists have dismissed the idea the perigee could cause strange behavior – like lycanthropy – or natural disasters.
The Moon’s distance from Earth varies because it follows an elliptical orbit instead of a circular one.
The Associated Press has apologized for sacking Ed Kennedy, a war reporter who broke the news that World War II had ended one day before the agreed embargo.
Ed Kennedy defied the military censors to report the Nazi surrender on the night of 7 May 1945 in France.
The US and the UK had agreed to suppress the announcement for a day so that Russia could stage a second surrender ceremony in Berlin.
AP has now said Ed Kennedy did the right thing in breaking the embargo.
“It was a terrible day for the AP. It was handled in the worst possible way,” said president and CEO Tom Curley.
Ed Kennedy defied the military censors to report the Nazi surrender on the night of 7 May 1945 in France
Ed Kennedy was one of 17 reporters taken to witness the formal surrender of German troops to the Allies at 02:41 on 7 May 1945.
The group was sworn to secrecy by US military commanders, told not to report the news until 15:00 on the 8th – a full 36 hours later.
But when Ed Kennedy heard that German radio had announced the surrender at 14:41 on the 7th, he went ahead and published his story an hour later – a day ahead of the competition.
Ed Kennedy was one of 17 reporters taken to witness the formal surrender of German troops to the Allies at 02.41 on 7 May 1945
For this, Ed Kennedy was first rebuked by AP, then fired.
“The absurdity of attempting to bottle up news of such magnitude was too apparent,” he would later write.
Ed Kennedy died in a traffic accident in the US in 1963, at the age of 58.
His daughter, Julia Kennedy Cochran, told AP she was “overjoyed” by the apology.
“I think it would have meant a lot to him,” Julia Kennedy Cochran said.
Tom Curley, who retires later this year, has co-written an introduction to Ed Kennedy’s newly published memoir, Ed Kennedy’s War: V-E Day, Censorship & The Associated Press.
He now says the reporter should have been commended rather than sacked.
“Once the war is over, you can’t hold back information like that. The world needed to know.”
Sixty-seven years ago, in May 1945, the Nazi regime collapsed being squeezed ever more tightly between two fronts – the Soviet Union on one side and the Western Allies on the other.
But which of these fronts was the most important?
Throughout the Cold War, and ever since, each side has tended to see its own contribution as decisive.
“In the West, for some time… public opinion has taken the view that the Soviet Union played a secondary role,” said the Russian historian Valentin Falin.
On the other hand, opinion polls show that two-thirds of Russians think the Soviet Union could have defeated Hitler without the Allies’ help, and half think the West underestimates the Soviet contribution.
Richard Overy, professor of contemporary history at King’s College London, noted that after the war, Adolf Hitler’s foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop listed three main reasons for Germany’s defeat:
• Unexpectedly stubborn resistance from the Soviet Union
• The large-scale supply of arms and equipment from the US to the Soviet Union, under the lend-lease agreement
• The success of the Western Allies in the struggle for air supremacy.
Opinion polls show that two-thirds of Russians think the Soviet Union could have defeated Hitler without the Allies' help, and half think the West underestimates the Soviet contribution
Richard Overy said that for decades Soviet historians underplayed the significance of US and UK lend-lease in the Soviet Union’s success, but that Russia has recently shown just appreciation.
Valentin Falin, however, says Russians never forgot the help they received from their allies.
“You ask any Soviet person, whether he remembers what a Dodge or a Willis is!” he said.
“The Americans supplied us with 450,000 lorries. Of course, in the final stages of the war this significantly increased our armed forces’ mobility, decreased our losses and brought us, perhaps, greater success than if we had not such help.”
Richard Overy accepts that the Western powers played a smaller role on the battlefield itself than the Soviet forces but says their bombing campaigns made a huge contribution.
“Bombing diverted a lot of manpower and military equipment from the front in Russia, while it restricted the expansion of the German war economy,” he said.
He also agreed that the West still only has a weak understanding of the Soviet Union’s role.
“Because Britain and the US had to invade Europe by sea [Italy in 1943, and France in 1944] they have more of a sense of <<liberating>> a German-conquered Europe,” he said.
Valentin Falin, meanwhile, argued that the war could have been brought to an end more quickly if the second front, in France, had been opened before 1944.
“How many millions of people would have remained alive?” he asks.
“Many death camps reached full power precisely in the second half of 1943 and in 1944.”
Richard Overy said that the West has a view of the war as a global conflict, because of its fight against Japan, for example, whereas the Soviet view is of a “national crusade to repel the invader”.
Valentin Falin cited figures suggesting that German forces suffered 93% of their casualties on the Soviet front and argued that this shows the Soviet contribution was decisive.
But he added that every single US, UK, Canadian or other Allied soldier who died “made a big, important and necessary contribution to the victory, which was a shared victory”.
Kim Kardashian decided to tweet past sexy photos of herself when she was a blonde.
Kim Kardashian, 31, wrote on her Twitter page: “I’m bored. Oh hiiiiii!” along with a recent photograph of herself.
“Oh hiiiii” was a frequent catchphrase as Kim Kardashian posted photo after photo after photo.
The reality star tweeted two photographs of herself as a blonde back in 2009.
Kim Kardashian resembled Jennifer Lopez with her honey-toned highlights.
Kim Kardashian tweeted photographs of herself as a blonde back in 2009
In one shot she poses in seductive bondage-style gear, while in another she didn’t appear to be wearing any trousers.
It’s hard not to admit that Kim Kardashian, who posted the caption “Gluten free is the way to be” did look amazing in her stiletto boots and black bikini.
The now-brunette beauty also added a snap of herself with sister Kourtney Kardashian.
She looked lovely in a royal blue jumpsuit, while her older sibling donned an embellished top.
Kim Kardashian wrote: “Can u spot who is wearing Kardashian Kollection & who is wearing KDash???”
Though bored, Kim Kardashian doesn’t look as upset as one might assume she should given that her lawyer believes ex-husband Kris Humphries is deliberately delaying their divorce proceedings.
Laura Wasser told a Los Angeles judge yesterday that she believes Kris Humphries’ “personal feelings and maybe some media drive is keeping the case alive”.
She added: “Certainly they’ve been separated longer than they’ve been married.”
In other family-related news, stepfather Bruce Jenner just admitted how clueless he is on national television.
According to a study in facial recognition, white babies aged just nine-months-old show signs of racial bias.
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst found that by the young age the babies were already discriminating against those of different races in their ability to recognize faces and emotional expressions.
They analyzed 48 Caucasian babies with little to no experience of African-American or black individuals.
Split into a group of five-months-olds and another of babies aged nine months, they were tasked with differentiating between faces of their people within own race and then of those belonged to another, unfamiliar, race.
Babies from the five-month-old group were far more adept at distinguishing faces from different races, while the nine-month-olds were able to tell apart two faces within their own race with greater ease.
In a second experiment the babies’ brain activity was detected using sensors.
They were shown images of faces of Caucasian or African-American races expressing emotions that either matched or did not match sounds they heard, such as laughing and crying.
Brain-activity measurements showed the nine-month-olds processed emotional expressions among Caucasian faces differently than those of African-American faces, while the 5-month-olds did not.
The shift in recognition ability was not a cultural thing, rather a result of physical development.
Researchers at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst found that by the young age the babies were already discriminating against those of different races in their ability to recognize faces and emotional expressions
Researchers found that the processing of facial emotions moved from the front of the brain to regions in the back of the brain in the older age group.
“These results suggest that biases in face recognition and perception begin in preverbal infants, well before concepts about race are formed,” said study leader Lisa Scott in a statement.
“It is important for us to understand the nature of these biases in order to reduce or eliminate [the biases].”
This is similar to how babies learn language, medicalxpress.com reported. Early in infancy babies do not know yet which sounds are meaningful in their native language, so they treat all sounds similarly.
As they learn the language spoken around them, their ability to tell apart sounds within other languages declines and their ability to differentiate sounds within their native language improves.
The results further earlier research which found that adults have more difficulty recognizing faces that belong to people of another race, indicating that the disparity begins sooner than previously realized.
The report is published in the May issue of the journal Development Science.
Vogue magazine has been the world’s fashion bible for decades, its pages adorned with beautiful clothes – all too often modeled by painfully thin women.
Now, in a groundbreaking move, Vogue has pledged it will no longer use photographs of dangerously underweight models.
In a statement published across all of its 19 international editions on Thursday, Vogue’s editors promised not to picture models under the age of 16 or those who they believe have an eating disorder.
Vogue’s editors said the six-point pact, called The Health Initiative, aims to encourage a healthier approach to body image within the fashion industry, which has been lambasted for promoting anorexia.
Alexandra Shulman, editor of British Vogue, said: “As one of the fashion industry’s most powerful voices, Vogue has a unique opportunity to engage with relevant issues where we feel we can make a difference.”
Vogue also promised to take more measures to look after models, including protecting their privacy and giving them healthy food and drinks backstage at shoots and fashion shows.
In a statement published across all of its 19 international editions on Thursday, Vogue’s editors promised not to picture models under the age of 16 or those who they believe have an eating disorder
Editors agreed to be “ambassadors” for a healthy image and “not knowingly work with models under the age of 16 or who appear to have an eating disorder”.
They added: “We will work with models who, in our view, are healthy and help to promote a healthy body image.”
Girls under the age of 16 have already been banned from catwalks in London and the US, but this is the first time a magazine has issued its own standards.
In 2009, Alexandra Shulman spoke out against the practice of designers providing tiny sample sizes.
She sent a strongly worded letter to fashion houses saying she had been forced to hire girls “with jutting bones and no breasts or hips” so they could get into the clothes.
The letter also revealed Vogue regularly re-touched pictures to make models look healthier.
And in their statement, Vogue editors said they would encourage designers “to consider the consequences of unrealistically small sample sizes of their clothing, which limits the range of women who can be photographed in their clothes, and encourages the use of extremely thin models”.
Vogue will also ask modelling agencies not to send underage girls, and for them to check models’ ages when they are photographed for shoots.
The health of catwalk models was brought into the spotlight five years ago, when two young South American models died from what appeared to be complications related to eating disorders.
Their deaths lead to the British Fashion Council banning the use of models under 16, but they are still used in magazines.
Proposals for medical checks were shelved because they were seen as too intrusive.
And Britain has not gone as far as countries including Italy and Spain, which ban catwalk models whose body mass index is below a certain level.
Sara Ziff, 29, a former teen model and the founder of The Model Alliance, a US union which aims to improve working conditions in the fashion industry, welcomed the move.
She said: “Most editions of Vogue regularly hire models who are minors, so for Vogue to commit to no longer using models under the age of 16 marks an evolution in the industry.”
In a survey, Sara Ziff found more than half of models start working between the ages of 13 and 16.
Jonathan Newhouse, chairman of Vogue’s publisher, Condé Nast International, said: “Vogue believes that good health is beautiful.
“Vogue editors around the world want the magazines to reflect their commitment to the health of the models who appear on the pages and the wellbeing of their readers.”
In addition to agreeing not to knowingly work with models under 16 or with eating disorders, the Vogue pact says the magazines will help “structure mentoring programmes” for younger models and raise awareness of the problem of model health.
The publisher of Vogue, Conde Nast, is also responsible for several other magazines, including Glamour and Allure, but a spokesperson said there are no current plans for these guidelines to be adopted across the company.
A new Australian study has found that fertility treatment used to help infertile men become fathers can raise the risk of birth defects in babies.
Research on more than 300,000 babies found those born using Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) had a significantly higher risk of developing abnormalities than those conceived naturally.
Researchers linked a census of more than 6,100 births that occurred as a result of fertility treatment in South Australia to a registry of more than 300,000 births and 18,000 birth defects.
The report by the University of Adelaide published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that on average defects were present in 8.3% of pregnancies that involved fertility treatment compared to 5.8% of those conceived naturally.
According to the study, in vitro fertilisation (IVF) posed the least risk to women opting for assisted conception, with defects occurring in only 7.2% of pregnancies.
ICSI is primarily used for male fertility problems and this risk is decreased using frozen eggs, according to the study’s lead author, Associate Professor Michael Davies.
“I don’t want to scare people,” he said because the majority of babies were born healthy.
“But this may be due to developmentally compromised embryos failing to survive the freeze/thaw process,” he said.
“While assisted reproductive technologies are associated with an increased risk of major birth defects overall, we found significant differences in risk between available treatments.”
Research on more than 300,000 babies found those born using Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) had a significantly higher risk of developing abnormalities than those conceived naturally
More than 3.7 million babies are born each year through assisted reproduction.
Methods include everything from drugs to coax the ovaries to make eggs to artificial insemination and IVF. Fertility treatments account for about 4% of births in Australia and as many as 8% of them in Denmark, where costs are widely covered, Michael Davies said.
In the United States, more than 60,000 babies were born in 2009 from 146,000 IVF attempts. About three-quarters of them used ICSI, or intracytoplasmic sperm injection.
ICSI was developed because of male infertility. But half the time, it was not done for that reason but to improve the odds that at least some embryos will be created from an IVF attempt.
In 2005, the last year for which data was available, 5,935 babies were born as a result of IVF treatment compared to 5,265 babies born with the help of ICSI.
One surprising find within the research was a tripling of risk among women who used the drug clomiphene citrate to stimulate ovary production, though this was among a small group within the study.
The drug is cheap and easily available through the internet, raising the possibility of abuse, but it is known to cause foetal abnormalities if the woman taking is not aware she is already pregnant.
The drug is prescribed after a mandatory pregnancy test in a clinical setting, but this can be avoided in self-medication.
Associate Professor Michael Davies said: “While confined to a small group in our study, this is of particular concern as clomiphene citrate is now very widely available at low cost, and may easily be used contrary to manufacturers’ very specific instructions to avoid use if pregnant, as it may cause fetal malformations.
“This aspect of the study will need additional confirmation from future research.
“A history of infertility, either with or without assisted conception, was also significantly associated with birth defects.
“While factors associated with the causes of infertility explained the excess risk associated with IVF, the increased risk for a number of other treatments could not readily be explained by patient factors.
“ICSI, for instance, had a 57% increase in the odds of major defect, although the absolute size of the risk remained relatively small.”
