A placard featuring an image of Russian President Vladimir Putin and reading “We are with him for the sovereignty of Russia! And you?” is seen left in front of the Russian State Duma building in central Moscow on February 24, 2022. (Photo by Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP Photo)

China has sent its first woman into space on a mission to dock with an orbiting station, the latest step in an ambitious programme to go to the moon and on to Mars.

Photo: China's first female astronaut Liu Yang, waves during a sending off ceremony before she departs for the Shenzhou 9 spacecraft rocket launch pad at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in Jiuquan, China, Saturday, June 16, 2012. China will send its first woman and two other astronauts into space Saturday to work on a temporary space station for about a week, in a key step toward becoming only the third nation to set up a permanent base in orbit. (Photo by Ng Han Guan/AP Photo)

American rapper Megan Thee Stallion accepts the best female hip hop artist award at the BET Awards on Sunday, June 27, 2021, at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/AP Photo)

A boy holds a toy rifle as Hamas militants parade at a rally just over a week after a cease-fire was reached in an 11-day war between Hamas and Israel, Sunday, May 30, 2021, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip. (Photo by Felipe Dana/AP Photo)

Steph Wood of the Lightning shoots as Remi Kamo of the Firebirds attempts to block her shot during the round 14 Super Netball match between Sunshine Coast Lightning and Queensland Firebirds at University of Sunshine Coast Stadium, on June 18, 2023, in Sunshine Coast, Australia. (Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

Mary Earps, the English goalkeeper, with her wax lookalike at Madame Tussauds in London in the second decade of November 2024. (Photo by The Times)

Paris Saint-Germain's Italian goalkeeper #01 Gianluigi Donnarumma and Salzburg's Serbian forward #21 Petar Ratkov vie for the ball during the UEFA Champions League football match between FC RB Salzburg and Paris Saint-Germain in Salzburg, Austria on December 10, 2024. (Photo by Franck Fife/AFP Photo)

Rosive Silgado Atencio of Columbia lies on the ground after being unable to complete a lift during the women's weightlifting 59kg competition on Day 2 of the Lima 2019 Pan American Games at Mariscal Cáceres Coliseum of Chorrillos Military School on July 28, 2019 in Lima, Peru. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)