SQL in display query generates error because of "u.* AD actor" statement

Hi,
for no apparent reason after months of working without issue I am getting this sql error:

SELECT ni.nid, ni.recipient, ni.is_new, nm.subject, nm.body, nm.format, nm.tag, nm.timestamp, u . * AS actor
FROM user_notifications_index ni
INNER JOIN user_notifications_messages nm ON ni.nid = nm.nid
INNER JOIN users u ON nm.actor_uid = u.uid
WHERE ni.recipient =1
ORDER BY nm.timestamp DESC
LIMIT 0 , 30

MySQL said: Documentation
#1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near 'AS actor FROM user_notifications_index ni INNER JOIN user_notifi' at line 1 

I was able to trace the error back to the code:

u.* AS actor

removing which I have no errors and the module seems to work well as before.

Moreover the error reported makes the module fail silently, I had to debug the code by hand to find the problem reported.

I just wanted to report this issue to understand if anybody else is experiencing this and if the maintainers could use this information to fix, improve or to suggest a solution.

Thanks.

A.M.