 Healthcare Affordability

China

The Chinese Government has pledged to establish a national basic medical and healthcare system by 2015. To address high medical costs, the newly released highlights of the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) for healthcare development says that annual medical insurance subsidies for non-working urban residents and rural residents will be raised from about 240 yuan ($38) to 360 yuan ($58) by 2015. China has a three-tier health insurance scheme, including insurance for urban workers, non-working urbanites and rural residents.

GAME OVER: Botswana will no longer issue hunting licenses

 Stop Hunting

Botswana

Botswanian President Ian Khama said recently the government will no longer issue licenses for hunting wild animals in a move aimed at protecting the fauna of the country from extinction. He said starting next year, the government of Botswana will stop issuing hunting licenses to protect the tourism industry. Khama said issuing hunting licenses has fueled poaching in the Southern African state and impeded Botswana's tourism industry from contributing significantly to the country's GDP.

 World's Biggest Family Tree

China

Descendants of ancient Chinese philosopher Confucius have digitized books delineating their family tree, which is believed to be the world's largest, to make it easier to revise. The original paper collection of the family tree containing a record of all 83 generations of Confucius' offspring of over 2 million people is currently 43,000 pages long and takes up 80 books, but it will be able to fit on a thumb drive after being digitized. The digital version has embedded search bars, diagrams and analytical functions that can swiftly sort out demographic and other statistical information, said Kong Deyong, a 77th-generation descendant of Confucius and chief compiler of the great thinker's genealogy books.