DNA analysis of oldest living land animal reveal patterns on genes that appear to protect functioning of mitochondria The ancient quest to extend human lifespan has received a boost after scientists analysed the genetic code of the world’s oldest living land animal, a giant tortoise called Jonathan. The tortoise, which lives in the grounds of Plantation House, the official residence of the governor of Saint Helena in the South Atlantic, is believed to be 194 years old, making him a contemporary of Queen Victoria and Charles Darwin. Continue reading...

‘Transparent information sharing’ from Moscow is required to conduct full risk assessment, UN agency says The World Health Organization has said it does not have the “full picture” from Russia following the suspected death from plague last week of a 28-year-old laboratory worker in Siberia. Darya Shipilova died two days after falling ill with cold-like symptoms. She was an employee at the anti-plague research institute in the eastern city of Irkutsk, with some reports suggesting she was infected after a workplace accident. Continue reading...

Maricarmen’s eviction from Madrid apartment after over seven decades set off wave of protests against housing crisis * ‘Now is the moment’: housing activists at Madrid encampment pin wary hopes on Spain’s early election María del Carmen Abascal, the 87-year-old whose eviction set off a nationwide wave of protests against Spain’s housing crisis, has died. News of her death came two weeks after Maricarmen, as she had come to be known across Spain, was evicted from the Madrid apartment where she had lived for more than seven decades. Continue reading...

Hundred-and-fifty-year-old Wych elm in Newcastle, Co Down has grown sideways owing to strong winds The “astonishing and bizarre” Bendy Tree in Northern Ireland has been crowned the winner of this year’s tree of the year competition. The wych elm tree, located in Newcastle, County Down, owes its name to its near horizontal trunk, which has grown sideways owing to the strong seaside winds coming off the Irish Sea. Continue reading...

MIT computer scientist led development of software for moon mission and earned Presidential Medal of Freedom Margaret Hamilton, the computer pioneer whose software powered the first moon landing, has died, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) announced on Wednesday. She was 90. In an era before titles such as software engineer and computer scientist became mainstream, Hamilton, who died on 30 September, learned to program under the tutelage of a renowned MIT meteorologist. Continue reading...

Nine out of 10 people felt motivated to act after watching film outlining threats to food security, economy and public health The British government must be honest about the scale of the threat posed by climate and nature breakdown, researchers have said, after nine out of 10 people surveyed after watching a briefing on the issue felt more motivated to act. Last November, in the “first-of-its-kind national emergency briefing”, nine experts gave stark assessments in Westminster Hall in London of the scale of the changes needed in the UK to adapt to the rapidly changing climate and ecological landscape. Continue reading...

A landmark report reveals that the world must change the way it produces food to avoid a biodiversity collapse

Researchers found five events, including Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, caused serious damage to mental wellbeing across UK Brexit, Liz Truss’s mini-budget and other “shocks” over the last 10 years have led to a serious and lasting deterioration in the UK population’s mental health, research has found. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the first and second Covid lockdowns also triggered big rises in psychological distress, as measured by the number of people with depression and anxiety. Continue reading...

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Minister says they could not see parties cooperating, while official says coalition should be formally ruled out Senior Labour party figures said it is very unlikely their party would cooperate with the Greens in the future after they adopted a policy treating Zionism as a form of racism. One Labour minister said they could not foresee how the two parties could work together, while a government official said Labour should formally rule out a future coalition or other arrangement. Continue reading...

Jaafar Ashtiyeh was covering violence against olive farmers when settlers set upon him with the butts of their guns Armed Israeli settlers beat a photographer in the presence of Israeli soldiers, hospitalising him, as he covered worsening settler violence against olive farmers in the occupied West Bank. Jaafar Ashtiyeh, a 58-year-old veteran photographer for Agence France-Presse in Palestine, was assaulted by a group of settlers, who beat him with the butts of their guns, despite him being marked as press. He was assaulted in view of about a dozen armed Israeli soldiers. Continue reading...

Landmark roles were in 50s classics directed by Elia Kazan and Alfred Hitchcock, before going on to play Superman’s adoptive mother in later life Eva Marie Saint, one of the last survivors of Hollywood’s golden age of the 1940s and 50s, has died aged 102. Her screen work spanned six decades: Saint made her screen debut opposite Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s celebrated thriller North by Northwest, and in one of her last screen appearances played Superman’s adoptive mother Martha Kent in the 2006 superhero film Superman Returns. A family spokesman said on Tuesday that Saint had died of natural causes at her home in Los Angeles. Continue reading...