 Hi-tech Villagers

Kenya

Pastoralists in drought-stricken Kenya are getting help from satellite technology to reduce livestock loss. The Livestock Early Warning System combines data uploaded by villagers, who have been trained to use cellphones to record information on water levels and livestock per household, with satellite data to create a virtual real-time map of grazing and water conditions. A successful pilot project in northwest Kenya may be rolled out countrywide.

 Gender Ratio

China

Census data indicates that the gap between the number of boys and girls born in China has reduced for three consecutive years. Chinese families traditionally prefer male to female children. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's gender ratio stood at 117.78 newborn boys for every 100 baby girls in 2011, a decline from 119.45 in 2009 and 117.94 in 2010. This result indicates that government measures, including crackdowns on illegal prenatal gender tests and selective abortions, are proving effective.

 Economy Projection

China

China's economy is expected to expand at 8.2 percent in 2012 and 8.6 percent in 2013 as domestic demand will continue to boost the economy amid weak external demand, the World Bank (WB) said in its China Quarterly Update released in April. The WB's projection was 0.3 percentage points lower than what the Asian Development Bank forecast.

 Domain Name

Africa

African government ministers attending the recent Innovation Africa Digital Summit in Ethiopia pledged their support for the ZA Central Registry's (ZACR) bid to become the dotAfrica Registry Operator. The ZACR is a non-profit company based in South Africa, and is the administrator of the popular .co.za domain name space. "The drive towards Africa's very own top level domain continues to gather momentum and we need the support of all African governments and the broader community as that momentum gathers further steam," said Koffi Fabrice Djossou, who presented the ZACR's case for dotAfrica at the summit.

 First Use of Fire

South Africa

Microscopic traces of wood ash, alongside animal bones and stone tools, were found in a layer dated to 1 million years ago at the Wonderwerk Cave in South Africa. The analysis pushes the timing for the human use of fire back by 300,000 years, suggesting that human ancestors as early as homo erectus may have begun using fire, according to co-director of the project, anthropologist Michael Chazan from University of Toronto.