Latest news with #Legiond'Honneur
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
French scientist behind abortion pill dies aged 98
The French scientist who created the abortion pill has died at the age of 98. Étienne-Émile Baulieu helped develop the oral drug RU-486, also known as mifepristone, which has provided millions of women across the world with a safe and inexpensive alternative to a surgical abortion. Dr Baulieu died at his home in Paris on Friday, his widow confirmed in a statement. Simone Harari Baulieu said: "His research was guided by his commitment to progress through science, his dedication to women's freedom and his desire to enable everyone to live better and longer lives." French President Emmanuel Macron called Dr Baulieu "a beacon of courage" and "a progressive mind who enabled women to win their freedom". "Few French people have changed the world to such an extent," he added in a post on X. Aurore Bergé, France's gender equality minister, said Dr Baulieu "was guided throughout his life by one requirement: that of human dignity" in a post on X. Dr Baulieu was born Étienne Blum on 12 December 1926 in Strasbourg. He changed his name to join the French resistance against the Nazi occupation when he was 15. Following his graduation, he travelled to the United States where he worked with the man known as the father of the contraceptive pill, Dr Gregory Pincus. Dr Pincus advised him on focusing on sex hormones. Back in France, Dr Baulieu designed a method to block the effect of the hormone progesterone – which is essential for the egg to implant in the uterus following fertilisation. While the abortion pill was developed within 10 years, Dr Baulieu spent decades pushing international governments to authorise the drug despite facing fierce criticism and sometimes threats from opponents of abortion. The World Health Organisation (WHO) added it to its list of essential medication only in 2010. Presenting him with the Grand Cross of the Legion d'Honneur in 2023, Macron said: "You, a Jew and a member of the resistance, were heaped with the most atrocious insults and compared to Nazi scientists. "But you held firm, out of love for freedom and science." Upon Wyoming becoming the first US state to ban the abortion pill in 2023, Dr Baulieu noted he had spent a large part of his life trying to increase "the freedom of women", adding such bans were a step in the wrong direction. His recent research included trying to find a way to prevent the development of Alzheimer's disease, as well as a treatment for severe depression. New York county clerk blocks Texas abortion telehealth suit Women seeking abortions after using 'natural' contraception
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
French scientist behind abortion pill dies aged 98
The French scientist who created the abortion pill has died at the age of 98. Étienne-Émile Baulieu helped develop the oral drug RU-486, also known as mifepristone, which has provided millions of women across the world with a safe and inexpensive alternative to a surgical abortion. Dr Baulieu died at his home in Paris on Friday, his widow confirmed in a statement. Simone Harari Baulieu said: "His research was guided by his commitment to progress through science, his dedication to women's freedom and his desire to enable everyone to live better and longer lives." French President Emmanuel Macron called Dr Baulieu "a beacon of courage" and "a progressive mind who enabled women to win their freedom". "Few French people have changed the world to such an extent," he added in a post on X. Aurore Bergé, France's gender equality minister, said Dr Baulieu "was guided throughout his life by one requirement: that of human dignity" in a post on X. Dr Baulieu was born Étienne Blum on 12 December 1926 in Strasbourg. He changed his name to join the French resistance against the Nazi occupation when he was 15. Following his graduation, he travelled to the United States where he worked with the man known as the father of the contraceptive pill, Dr Gregory Pincus. Dr Pincus advised him on focusing on sex hormones. Back in France, Dr Baulieu designed a method to block the effect of the hormone progesterone – which is essential for the egg to implant in the uterus following fertilisation. While the abortion pill was developed within 10 years, Dr Baulieu spent decades pushing international governments to authorise the drug despite facing fierce criticism and sometimes threats from opponents of abortion. The World Health Organisation (WHO) added it to its list of essential medication only in 2010. Presenting him with the Grand Cross of the Legion d'Honneur in 2023, Macron said: "You, a Jew and a member of the resistance, were heaped with the most atrocious insults and compared to Nazi scientists. "But you held firm, out of love for freedom and science." Upon Wyoming becoming the first US state to ban the abortion pill in 2023, Dr Baulieu noted he had spent a large part of his life trying to increase "the freedom of women", adding such bans were a step in the wrong direction. His recent research included trying to find a way to prevent the development of Alzheimer's disease, as well as a treatment for severe depression. New York county clerk blocks Texas abortion telehealth suit Women seeking abortions after using 'natural' contraception
Yahoo
08-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'I woke up in a bath two days after VE Day'
A veteran said he drank so much when celebrating the end of World War Two that he woke up two days later in a bath in Belgium. Douglas Cracknell from Cransford in Suffolk, was 19 years old on VE Day on 8 May 1945, which marked the Allied victory over Nazi Germany in Europe. He served with the 5th Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry as a rifleman and was in Bruges when the end of the war in Europe was announced. He said people went "berserk". Mr Cracknell, now aged 99, was recently awarded the Legion d'Honneur by the French government in a ceremony at Framlingham College near his home, which he said he was "amazed" by. "I was on a guard duty and everybody went berserk. That was a really wonderful time," Mr Cracknell said of Victory in Europe Day, 80 years ago. "To think the way people acted at that time was fantastic... [they were] drinking and singing and dancing with each other in the street; it was marvellous. "We had several drinks and I think I probably lost about two days of my life because I was sat in the bath when I came to." Mr Cracknell was enlisted in the Army when he was 18 [Contributed] Mr Cracknell said as a younger teenager he did not expect to be enlisted to fight and said his father told him that he expected it to be over before he reached fighting age. However, he joined the Army and took part in landings at Arromanches in Normandy on 22 June 1944, shortly after the first D-Day landings, and fought across north-west Europe. They faced bloody battles including taking part in Operation Jupiter with the capture of Hill 112, a key strategic point in Normandy that cost the lives of 10,000 men. Mr Cracknell was also injured during several points of the war including shrapnel wounds to his face and a temporary loss of hearing. Mr Cracknell was awarded the Legion d'Honneur this year by the French government for his efforts in the war [Contributed] Mr Cracknell was keen to share his story to ensure people today knew what veterans went through. "There's only a few of us left from that era," he continued. "I haven't had an easy time, but I haven't had a hard time either. "I've been able to bear it all, but some of them broke down. I was fortunate I think that I got through it. "Some nights I sit here on my own and think about my mates and what that would have been like if they were all here. I think it would have been lovely. "I think people should really know what others went through to save them." Follow Suffolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X. More on this story
Daily Mirror
07-05-2025
- General
- Daily Mirror
VE Day saw millions celebrate while this British Paratrooper unearthed Nazi Germany's darkest horrors
Peter Belcher was already a veteran of the D-Day landings and the Battle of the Bulge, but the worst was yet to come As millions celebrated VE Day across a war-torn Europe, British paratrooper Peter Belcher was coming to terms with the harrowing sights at a Nazi concentration camp. Even as a seasoned veteran of key battles like D-Day and the Battle of the Bulge, he was unprepared for what awaited him. A six-time decorated hero, honoured with France's esteemed Legion d'Honneur for his role in the nation's liberation - by May 1945, Belcher found himself in northern Germany, where his unit joined forces with the Russians. But when the Germans surrendered two days later, there was no jubilant celebration for Corporal Belcher or his comrades. Close by, a rail track vanished into the trees, leading to one of numerous concentration camps established by the Nazis. Now a centenarian, Mr. Belcher, who served with the 2nd Battalion Oxfordshire & Buckinghamshire Light Infantry within the 6th Airborne Division, recounted: "We actually... with the padre, went to a nearby concentration camp and there were two survivors still in there." He remembers the disbelief of those left: "They just didn't believe, because the gates were open and nobody about, that they could just walk out." What the Brits found inside horrified them: "There was a pile of bodies. There was a pit already dug and the bodies were literally skin and bone, piled high." In the following days, they enlisted local villagers to help bury the dead. Reflecting on VE Day from his home in Devizes, Wiltshire, Mr Belcher summed it up simply as "relief", saying that everyone collectively breathed a sigh of relief, thankful that at last, the conflict had ended. But his stay in England was short-lived – within just 10 days, he returned and soon set off once more to take part in the warfare still raging in the Far East. Mr Belcher is one of the roughly 60 veterans residing at Broughton House Veterans Care Village in Salford, Greater Manchester. This revered institution has been a sanctuary for over 8,000 ex-service members since its inception in 1916. Another veteran calling it home is Jean Mack, aged 92. Having enlisted in the Royal Navy at 21, she hailed from Putney, London. Her teenage years were spent in Worthing, East Sussex, where she witnessed the end of the war. Mrs Mack recalls: "I presumed it was over simply because all the adults, they all seemed to be going mad about something and dancing everywhere." She reminisces about an unforgettable sight: "There was a big, I think it was an air-raid shelter at the end of our road and there was a piper, how he got up on there I don't know... complete in his kilt marching round and round the top of there." Meanwhile, Reg Mitchell, now 91 and originally from Twickenham, London, has vivid memories of the city reeling under the Blitz, with Germany's victory and consequent invasion appearing imminent. Mr Mitchell, who dedicated 25 years to the RAF and retired as a Flight Lieutenant, reflected: "We lived in the house which had a cellar." He shared: "And as kids we spent the first years on the steps of the cellar at night. It was endless, you know, although they were getting it in the East End, we were getting the noise. "Almost every night. We virtually lived in the cellar." However, VE Day brought different memories for him, particularly of his family finding a clever way to earn some extra cash. His brother-in-law had participated in the war and had seized a Nazi flag from the town hall in Aachen, Germany. Mr Mitchell recalled: "My father and my brother-in-law went round the streets with this flag, inviting people to pay sixpence to spit on it. "I can distinctly remember that." The Allies' Victory in Europe signalled the end of combat but also unveiled the full extent of the Nazi Holocaust as advancing Allied forces discovered the death camps. Mr Mitchell shared: "Around that time specifically I can remember Belsen, because that was opened up just before VE Day because there were pictures in the paper. "And it left a mark on me. I had a very good friend at school, his father was a local rabbi, and they obviously would've known what was happening but we didn't." Mike Clarke, 90, another resident at Broughton House, remembers the VE Day bonfire held in his home village of Barwick-in-Elmet, near Leeds, West Yorkshire. Mr Clarke, who later served in the RAF for 22 years, said: "It wasn't like any other day. "I think there was a feeling of relief, no doubt about it because you were thinking, the killing, the dying is stopping." Mr Clarke, who lost two uncles in the war, also said that the anniversary should be commemorated not only for the victory in Europe but also for revealing the horrors of the Holocaust. He shared: "For those who gave their lives particularly and having seen, four or five weeks prior to the end of the war, you went to the cinema and you got the news on the cinema, and we seen pictures of Belsen and that was quite horrific. "During four years or five years of the war we, as peasants, didn't sort of realise what was going on with the Jews, homosexuals and everybody else that Hitler tried to get rid of – got rid of. "So, it was quite enlightening seeing that on the cinema. So, the end of that type of thing was a blessing."
The Independent
05-05-2025
- General
- The Independent
Queen says her father was ‘lucky' despite being shot in the face during war
Queen Camilla has revealed her father's near-death experience during the Second World War, describing him as "so lucky" to have survived a facial gunshot wound. The revelation came during a conversation with veteran Douglas Cracknell at Clarence House, broadcast as part of the BBC's VE Day coverage. Major Bruce Shand, the Queen's father, served with the 12th Lancers and was twice decorated with the Military Cross for his bravery. His first award came in 1940 during the harrowing retreat to Dunkirk, and the second in 1942 for his service in North Africa. While the Queen did not elaborate on the circumstances surrounding her father's injury, her comment underscores the dangers he faced during the conflict. She told Mr Cracknell: 'My father, who was captured at El Alamein, he was shot at and the bullet went through one side of his face, came out the other and he was so lucky because he didn't hit his teeth or his tongue.' The 99-year-old responded: 'I always done what my father told me to do… Keep your head down.' 'Keep your head down, yes well that's what I'd like to say is possibly very sensible advice because here you are today to tell the tale,' the Queen replied, laughing. Reading an extract of her father's diary, Camilla said: 'Letters from home were very much the linchpins of our existence and the arrival of the post to regular intervals never failed in its excitement. 'I still recall the thrill some weeks after coming into the camp when somebody appeared in the library to tell me that there were a dozen letters waiting for me on my bed.' 'I remain eternally grateful to my many correspondents, family and otherwise,' she continued. The Queen told Mr Cracknell that her father 'never' talked to her about the war after he returned home. 'But I think really it should be talked about,' the veteran responded. 'We need it for future generations,' Camilla said, adding that passing down stories from the war to younger people was 'very important because they wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for all of you'. Earlier in the conversion, the Queen admired Mr Cracknell's Legion d'Honneur medal and said he should be 'very proud' of it. Of his memories of VE Day, the veteran recalled: 'I was in Bruges and they read out that the war was over and then that was chaos.' 'I woke up two days later in a barn,' he added, laughing.
