Liu Yang

China's First Female Astronaut

China

Liu Yang made history as China's first female astronaut into space. At 6:37 p.m., June 16, China's fourth manned spacecraft lifted up. Shenzhou 9, carrying Liu Yang and her male counterparts Jing Haipeng and Liu Wang, blasted off from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Gansu Province into a blue sky. Liu Yang, born in 1978 in Zhengzhou, capital city of central China's Henan Province, grew up to be China's first woman astronaut with persistence and a clear goal. The spacecraft successfully docked with the Tiangong-1 space lab June 18.

 Newborn Babies Health

Africa

Despite a significant reduction in child deaths around the globe, a new report released by Save the Children shows that the health of newborn babies has been largely overlooked. The report says sub-Saharan Africa has reduced deaths among children in the first month of life by a negligible 1.5 percent from 2000 to 2010, a small improvement on the 0.6-percent reduction between 1990 and 2000. The region has made the least progress worldwide in cutting deaths among newborns. The authors of the report say that unless improvements are accelerated, it will be more than 150 years before African babies have the same chance of survival as those born in the United States and Europe.

 New Tobacco Legislation

Botswana

The Botswanan Government is in the process of drafting a new legislation that will close gaps being used by the tobacco industry as loopholes in their practices, the country's Health Minister John Seakgosing said recently. Seakgosing said some dangerous tobacco products have been finding their way into Botswana through unauthorized border crossings. He warned that new items will keep on finding their way into the country and urged everybody to be vigilant and to report any suspicious tobacco product for immediate action.

 Olympic Hopes Hits Snags

Kenya

Kenya's participation in the FIVB Beach Volleyball World Cup Olympic Qualification will depend on goodwill from the International Volleyball Federation. Kenya Volleyball Federation Chairman Waithaka Kioni said due to unavailability of funds they have requested the FIVB to donate air tickets to the Kenyan team in order to facilitate the trip. Kenya qualified for the World Cup by virtue of finishing the Continental Cup in second place held in Rwanda in May.

 Missing Children

Madagascar

Madagascar recorded 4,339 complaints of missing children in its capital Antananarivo between 2009 and 2012, a social work organization said in a statement recently. The statement showed that 3,241 of the children were found and reunited with their family while 1,098 others are still missing. The study revealed 78 percent of runaway children voluntarily leave their usual framework because of the abuse they suffered.