Bee attack in France: 24 injured in Aurillac; hive removed after Asian hornet threat
An unusual bee attack in the French town of Aurillac injured 24 people on Sunday morning, as reported by ABC news. Three of the victims were in critical condition but have since improved, local officials said.
Lt Col Michel Cayla, head of the local fire service, said he had never seen anything like it. He described the scene as dramatic because of the number of people hurt, the panic it caused and the seriousness of some injuries.
'In terms of the number of victims, the panic among the people and the severity of some of the injuries, it was impressive,' he told broadcaster TF1.
According to the Prefecture of Cantal office, the attack lasted around 30 minutes.
People walking in the area were stung repeatedly. Firefighters and medical teams quickly arrived to help the injured, while police set up a safety perimeter until the bees calmed down.
The three people in critical condition were rushed to a local hospital. Aurillac's mayor, Pierre Mathonier, told broadcaster BFM TV on Monday that all three were now in better condition.
One of them, a 78-year-old, had suffered cardiac arrest and had to be revived.
The mayor said this person is now stable, while the other two are in good health.
The mayor suggested the bees may have become aggressive after Asian hornets, a type of large wasp tried to attack their hive. The hive had been on the roof of a hotel in the town centre for over 10 years. The hive has since been removed and relocated outside the town by a beekeeper.
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Hindustan Times
2 hours ago
- Hindustan Times
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First Post
5 hours ago
- First Post
History Today: When Louise Brown's birth marked the dawn of IVF
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In 2007, Pratibha Patil was sworn in as the first woman President of India. On July 25, 1917, dancer-turned-spy Mata Hari was sentenced to death by a French military court. And in 1984, Soviet cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya became the first woman to walk in space. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD World's first 'test tube' baby born On July 25, 1978, at 11:47 pm in Oldham General Hospital, Lancashire, England, Louise Joy Brown was born weighing 5 pounds, 12 ounces. Her birth was unlike any other in human history. Louise was the world's first baby conceived through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) — an extraordinary scientific breakthrough that not only revolutionised reproductive medicine but also profoundly reshaped cultural and ethical debates surrounding human conception. This moment marked the culmination of years of pioneering medical research, social controversy, and a fundamental leap in our understanding of fertility science. 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They also struggled with funding, relying partially on private backers and working in relative isolation from the mainstream medical establishment. Their persistence paid off in late 1977, when Lesley and John Brown, a working-class couple from Bristol who had been trying to conceive for nine years, agreed to undergo the then-experimental procedure. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Lesley Brown suffered from blocked fallopian tubes, making natural conception virtually impossible. After reading about Steptoe and Edwards in a magazine, the Browns decided to take a chance. On November 10, 1977, doctors retrieved a single mature egg from Lesley's ovaries via laparoscopy. This egg was fertilised with John Brown's sperm in a laboratory petri dish at the Bourn Hall Clinic in Cambridge, then incubated and monitored for proper cell division. After 2.5 days of development, the embryo was transferred into Lesley's uterus. There was cautious optimism. The embryo implanted successfully, and for nine months the Browns' pregnancy proceeded normally. On the night of July 25, a caesarean section was performed due to delivery complications. Louise Brown was born — healthy, breathing, and utterly ordinary in every respect except for the way she was conceived. News of Louise's birth generated headlines around the world. Many hailed it as a triumph of modern medicine and human ingenuity. Others, including religious authorities and some bioethicists, raised serious concerns about the moral implications of creating life outside the womb. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Catholic Church, in particular, voiced strong opposition, warning that IVF could lead to the commodification of human life, embryo destruction and a slippery slope toward eugenics. Others questioned whether children born through IVF would be psychologically or physically different. Louise Brown herself would later reflect that she grew up 'just like any other kid,' with no physical or psychological differences attributable to her method of conception. Her birth gradually helped erode stigma and normalise IVF for millions of families around the globe. Nevertheless, her arrival also brought forward larger ethical questions still debated today: What defines parenthood? Should there be limits to embryo manipulation? What about the fate of unused embryos? And who has access to these expensive treatments? Despite the controversy, the success of Louise's birth opened the floodgates for further development in assisted reproductive technologies. By the mid-1980s, IVF clinics were emerging across Europe, the United States and Australia. In 1981, Elizabeth Carr became the first IVF baby born in the United States. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Other nations followed rapidly. Techniques improved dramatically: egg retrieval became more precise, embryo freezing more reliable, and implantation methods less invasive. IVF no longer required natural ovulation cycles; hormonal stimulation could increase the number of retrievable eggs. By the 1990s, intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) was introduced, allowing even severely infertile men to father children by injecting a single sperm directly into an egg. The cumulative effect was seismic. In the decades following Louise Brown's birth, over 12 million babies have been born worldwide through IVF and related technologies, according to the International Committee Monitoring Assisted Reproductive Technologies (ICMART). IVF has become standard practice for treating infertility, enabling same-sex couples and single parents to have biological children. Countries like Israel and Denmark now fund fertility treatments through public health insurance. In contrast, access remains limited or prohibitively expensive in many other parts of the world, including parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America. Despite their groundbreaking work, recognition for the IVF pioneers came slowly. Edwards was eventually awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2010, just three years before his death. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The world's first 'test tube baby' Britain's Louise Brown (R) listens as Professor Robert Edwards (L) addresses the media during 25th anniversary celebrations of the revolutionary fertility treatment ' In Vitro Fertilization' ( IVF) at Bourne Hall in Cambridgeshire, UK, July 26, 2003. File Image/Reuters Steptoe passed away in 1988, before Nobel rules allowed posthumous recognition. Purdy's contributions were marginalised for decades; her name was initially omitted from official plaques and commendations. In recent years, efforts have been made to restore her role in history. A commemorative plaque unveiled in 2015 at Bourn Hall Clinic, now a major fertility centre, included her name alongside Edwards and Steptoe. As for Louise Brown, she has embraced her place in history, living a private life in Bristol, working in administrative roles, and raising two children conceived naturally. 'I was just a baby,' she has often said in interviews. 'It's the doctors who should be remembered.' The birth of Louise Brown on July 25, 1978, stands as a watershed moment not only in medical science but in human culture. It proved that conception was no longer bound solely by natural fertility. For millions of individuals and couples who once faced hopelessness, IVF opened new doors — and new definitions of family. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Pratibha Patil becomes first woman president of India On July 25, 2007, Pratibha Devisingh Patil was sworn in as India's 12th President, becoming the first woman to hold the office. 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Born in Moscow in 1948, Savitskaya was a celebrated aviator before joining the esteemed ranks of cosmonauts. Yevgenyevna became the first woman to perform a space walk on July 25, 1984. Image/Russian Space Already the second woman in space after Valentina Tereshkova, this mission marked a historic leap forward in gender representation in the space programme. Her EVA featured scientific experiments such as metal cutting and welding, underscoring women's capability in demanding technical roles and paving the way for future female astronauts. Her achievement remains a milestone in space exploration and women's empowerment in STEM. With inputs from agencies
Time of India
15 hours ago
- Time of India
Number of kids diagnosed with refractive errors go up in Coimbatore
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