Could coffee contain an anti-cancer agent?
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Coffee has been linked to a reduced risk of dying from prostate cancer in a study of nearly 50,000 US men.
Those who drank six or more cups a day were found to be 20% less likely to develop any form of the disease – which is the most common cancer in men.
They were also 60% less likely to develop an aggressive form which can spread to other parts of the body.
But charities say the evidence, reported in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, is still unclear.
They do not recommend that men take up coffee drinking in the hope of preventing prostate cancer.
The study looked at about 48,000 men in the US who work as health professionals.
Every four years between 1986 and 2006, they were asked to report their average daily intake of coffee.
During this 20-year period, 5,035 of the men were diagnosed with prostate cancer, including 642 fatal cases.
Prostate cancerEach year about 37,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer in the UKSome 10,000 die from the diseaseSymptoms include problems passing urine but they may be mild or non-existent
No difference was seen between caffeinated and decaffeinated coffee, suggesting caffeine itself was not the cause.
But even relatively small amounts of coffee – one to three cups per day – were found to lower the risk of lethal prostate cancer by 30%.
The researchers think there may be unknown compounds in coffee that protect against the disease.
Lead researcher Dr Kathryn Wilson, from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, said: “At present we lack an understanding of risk factors that can be changed or controlled to lower the risk of lethal prostate cancer.
“If our findings are validated, coffee could represent one modifiable factor that may lower the risk of developing the most harmful form of prostate cancer.”
Commenting on the study, Dr Helen Rippon of The Prostate Cancer Charity, said other studies had not shown the link and the research evidence was still unclear.
She added: “Although this study is a welcome addition to our knowledge, it is far from definitive and we would not recommend men who are not already habitual coffee drinkers to become so in the hope of preventing prostate cancer.
The dataPrevious studies have shown no clear link between coffee and prostate cancer riskMen who drank six or more cups of coffee per day had a slightly lower risk of any form of prostate cancer and a substantially lower risk of lethal prostate cancer compared with non-coffee drinkers, according to the researchersBoth caff and decaff were associated with similar risks
“Heavy caffeine intake is associated with other health problems and men with benign prostate problems might well make urinary symptoms worse.”
Yinka Ebo, senior health information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: “There’s no need for men to start drinking gallons of coffee in an attempt to lower their prostate cancer risk.
“A number of other studies looking at coffee and prostate cancer have found that drinking coffee does not affect the risk of the disease, and this study only found a lower risk of advanced prostate cancer in men who drank more than six cups a day.
“We would need to see these results repeated in other large studies before we can be sure whether coffee consumption affects the risk of prostate cancer.”
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Bill Gates says Microsoft’s decision to buy Skype will provide better video conferencing opportunities
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Microsoft’s founder, Bill Gates, has said he advocated the company’s takeover of Skype, and urged other board members to support the move.
Last week Microsoft agreed to pay $8.5bn (£5.2bn) for the loss-making internet phone service.
“I was a strong proponent at the board level for the deal being done,” Mr Gates, Microsoft’s chairman told the BBC’s Hardtalk programme.
The multi-billion dollar deal is Microsoft’s largest ever acquisition.
“I think it’s a great, great deal for Skype. I think it’s a great deal for Microsoft,” he added.
Skype enables its users to contact each other over the internet for free, while charging for calls made to both traditional landline phones and mobiles.
The Luxembourg-based company, which has 663 million users worldwide has however struggled to make a profit.
But in the interview with the BBC’s Stephen Sackur, Mr Gates said the decision to buy Skype was strategic.
“The idea of video conferencing is going to get so much better than it is today. Skype actually does get a fair bit of revenue,” said Mr Gates.
“It’ll be fascinating to see how the brilliant ideas out of Microsoft research, coming together with Skype, what they can make of that.”
You can see the full interview in the UK on BBC News Channel on Wednesday 18 May at 0430 BST. Outside the UK it will be broadcast on BBC World News on Wednesday at 0330, 0830, 1530, and 2030 GMT.
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Mark Mardell: Mr Cameron and Mr Obama need one another to end the Afghan war
When President Barack Obama and the first lady visit London next week there will be pomp and pageantry aplenty.
The many Americans who seemed entranced by the royal wedding may be delighted that their president will be staying in Buckingham Palace, will be the Queen’s guest of honour at a state banquet, and will get a tour of Westminster Abbey.
But it will be a time for serious business too.
The top of the list couldn’t be more serious: Afghanistan. The prime minister and the president will be talking about making peace with the Taliban in Afghanistan and ending the fighting for British and American troops.
Senior Western diplomats in Washington say that the killing of Bin Laden could be a “pivot” that could give “extra vigour” to the quest for a political solution in Afghanistan.
The Washington Post reports US and Taliban representatives have held three direct meetings.
My impression is that Mr Obama and Mr Cameron will be talking in some detail about the progress and direction of talks.
One of the big issues is the role played by other powers in the region. Diplomats say Pakistan is the key, and that what’s needed is a balancing act where the country is committed to a solution without exercising a veto or having an “unhealthy” involvement.
This is critical for both men – and for their war-weary electorates.
Just as President George Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair needed each other to go to war in Iraq, Mr Cameron and Mr Obama need each other to end the war in Afghanistan against the judgement of those in their respective militaries who would rather stay and push for a clear victory.
Mr Obama is expected to make a big speech next month ahead of the troop withdrawals he has promised will begin in July.
Just when British soldiers start coming home – and how many – probably depends on the details of what the Americans do. Mr Cameron has made 2015 a clear deadline for the end of a combat role. The senior diplomat suggested that it was difficult to imagine a serious wind down “without a decisive move in the political process”.
There will be more meat in next week’s visit than just what is on the menu at the state banquet.
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The five soldiers had been mentoring and living with the Afghan police
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An inquest into the deaths of five British soldiers in an attack by a rogue Afghan policeman in 2009 resumes on Tuesday.
They were shot at an police checkpoint in Nad-e-Ali in Helmand province.
The suspect, named only as Gulbuddin, opened fire with a machine gun from a rooftop before escaping from the scene.
The soldiers were Warrant Officer Class 1 Darren Chant, Sgt Matthew Telford, Guardsman Jimmy Major, Cpl Steven Boote, and Cpl Nicholas Webster-Smith.
They had taken off their body armour and were drinking tea with their Afghan colleagues in the courtyard of the compound after returning from patrol when the incident happened.
Six more British soldiers and two Afghan policemen were wounded in the attack at Checkpoint Blue 25.
The Taliban said it was responsible for the killings, although UK military sources have suggested it is more likely that the incident was a one-off and unconnected to insurgents.
A preliminary hearing in February was told that the taking of opium and cannabis was commonplace amongst the Afghan National Police, including those being mentored by British forces.
Coroner David Ridley said: “There is a culture that smoking of opium or cannabis is, to them, like to us the smoking of cigarettes.”
Although the hearing was told Gulbuddin was a cannabis user, the coroner said there was no evidence the Afghan man was under the influence of drugs at the time of the attack.
The inquest will resume at Wiltshire and Swindon Coroner’s Court in Trowbridge, Wiltshire.
In a Channel 4 Cutting Edge programme, soldiers injured in the attack revealed how they pretended they were dead to escape the gunman.
Guardsman Steve Loader said: “I’ve never been so scared in my life.”
The troops had been mentoring and living with the Afghan police at a compound.
WO Chant, 40, Sgt Telford, 37, and Guardsman Major, 18, were from the Grenadier Guards, and Cpl Boote, 22, and Cpl Webster-Smith, 24, served with the Royal Military Police.
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The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh flew into Baldonnel military airbase.
The Queen has been welcomed on her first visit to the Republic of Ireland by President Mary McAleese.
After flying into Baldonnel military airbase, outside Dublin, for the four-day visit, the Queen emerged wearing a green coat and hat.
One of the Republic’s biggest ever security operations is in place, amid a rise in dissident republican violence.
A pipe bomb found on a passenger bus bound for Dublin on Monday was made safe by an Irish army team.
At Baldonnel airbase, the royals were greeted by an Irish Air Corps guard of honour and presented with flowers by a south Dublin schoolgirl, eight-year-old Rachel Fox.
The Queen was then escorted to Aras an Uachtarain, the official residence of the Irish president in Dublin’s Phoenix Park. The visit is taking place following Mrs McAleese’s invitation.
King George V was the last reigning monarch to visit the country, in 1911, when what is now the Republic was then part of the UK.
Ahead of the visit, UK Prime Minister David Cameron said: “One hundred years on from the last time a British monarch visited Ireland, I think there is a great sense of history and occasion.”
“The relationship between the Crown and Ireland has been one of the longest and most difficult in the history of Britain’s monarchy”
Nicholas Witchell Royal correspondent, BBC NewsChequered history behind Queen’s Irish trip
He added: “I think the real effect… will be a marker that just as we are solving some of the problems there have been between us in the past, just as we are helping each other through these difficult economic times, now is a great moment for people in Britain and people in Ireland to remember what it is we share.”
Mr Cameron will join the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh for part of their trip on Wednesday, while Foreign Secretary William Hague will follow the usual practice of accompanying the royals throughout their visit.
The Queen will attend events at Trinity College Dublin, the National War Memorial Gardens in Islandbridge and Croke Park stadium.
What do the people of Dublin think about the royal visit?
Croke Park is the home of Gaelic games where in 1920, during the Irish War of Independence, British forces fired into the crowd at a football match, killing 14 spectators and players.
The Queen is also to make a speech at a state dinner at Dublin Castle.
There are plans for the Queen and Prince Philip to visit the Irish National Stud in County Kildare, as well as the Rock of Cashel in County Tipperary and a technology park in Cork.
The bomb on the bus was found in a holdall in the luggage compartment on Monday night during a check in Maynooth, County Kildare, to the west of Dublin.
About 30 people who were on board the bus were taken off and transported to Dublin in another vehicle.
The device was later made safe in a controlled explosion carried out by an Irish army bomb disposal team.
The coded bomb threat relating to London, which was received on Sunday, was the first issued by Irish dissidents outside Northern Ireland in 10 years, officials said.
However, the threat level for Northern Ireland-related terrorism in Britain remains unchanged at substantial. In Northern Ireland it is severe.
The cost of the security operation has been estimated at 30 million euros (£26m), with measures including:
Deployment of more than 6,000 Irish police and Defence Forces personnel onto the streets of DublinIncreased surveillance of known republican dissidentsA ring of steel, comprising 25 miles of crowd-control barriers, installed around the Irish capitalChecking of thousands of manhole covers and lamp-posts, and parking bans imposed on 30 city centre streets
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