Getty Images 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…
A 19-year-old New Zealander has died of a “serious head injury” sustained in a social media-inspired game of tackle with friends, police said. The young man, identified in local media as Ryan Satterthwaite, died in hospital on Monday after a game of “run it straight” in the city of Palmerston North. Meant to recreate collisions…
Ian Youngs Culture reporter Getty Images Salgado dedicated himself to photographing nature and indigenous life in his later years Sebastião Salgado, regarded as one of the world’s greatest documentary photographers, has died at the age of 81. The Brazil-born photographer was known for his dramatic and unflinching black-and-white images of hardship, conflict and natural beauty,…
George Wendt, who starred as Norm Peterson in the popular comedy series Cheers, has died at the age of 76. The beloved actor and comedian died peacefully in his sleep at his home early on Tuesday morning, his family said. “George was a doting family man, a well-loved friend and confidant to all of those…
Getty Images Yuri Grigorovich’s productions of Ivan the Terrible and Romeo and Juliet redefined Soviet ballet Acclaimed Russian ballet choreographer, Yuri Grigorovich, has died aged 98. Described as one of the greatest choreographers of the 20th century, he was artistic director of the Bolshoi Ballet from 1964 to 1995, which he is said to have…
Thomas Mackintosh BBC News Getty Images The recovery process is expected to take several weeks A diver has died during preliminary operations to recover British tech tycoon Mike Lynch’s superyacht from the waters off the coast of northern Sicily, local police said. The accident happened on Friday while the diver was underwater in Porticello, police…
Former British Army officer and mercenary Simon Mann, who was part of a coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea in 2004, has died of a heart attack while exercising, friends confirmed. The 72-year-old made millions of pounds from protecting businesses in conflict zones before he took part in the failed attempt to overthrow the west African…
Jill Sobule, a ground-breaking American songwriter whose hit I Kissed a Girl is widely considered the first song with openly-gay themes to crack the Billboard Top 20, has died in a house fire in the US city of Minneapolis, her publicist has said. Sobule, whose satirical anthem Supermodel featured in the 1995 coming-of-age film Clueless,…
Vanessa Buschschlüter BBC News Reuters Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas was born in 1908 The world’s oldest person, Brazilian nun Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas, has died at the age of 116. Born on 8 June 1908 in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, Inah Canabarro Lucas became a Catholic nun in her early…
Virginia Giuffre, who accused Prince Andrew and Jeffrey Epstein of sexual abuse, has died by suicide aged 41, her family has said. Giuffre was one of the most outspoken accusers of convicted sex offenders Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, his former girlfriend. She alleged they trafficked her to the Duke of York when she was 17,…
