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)

Undated handout photo issued by Guinness World Records of Fabio Reggiani from Italy who has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for constructing the worlds largest rideable motorcycle measuring 5.10 meters (16ft 8.78 in) from the ground to the top of the handlebars. Six times larger than a normal motorcycle, it's 10.03 m long, 2.5 m wide, and weighs approximately 5,000 kg (5 tonnes). (Photo by Guinness World Records/PA Wire)

Fans attend the World Premiere Of Marvel Studios' “Captain America: Brave New World” at TCL Chinese Theatre on February 11, 2025 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/WireImage)

Team Spain performs during the finalsduring the Singapore 2025 World Aquatics Championships at World Aquatics Championships Arena on July 20, 2025 in Singapore. (Photo by Hollie Adams/Reuters)

Heimana Reynolds of USA in action during a training session prior to the World Skate Park World Championships at the Parque Candido Portin​ari in Sao Paulo, Brazil, 11 September 2019. (Photo by Sebastião Moreira/EPA/EFE)

Italy's Valentina Greggio during the Women's Speed Skiing at the World Speed Skiing Championship and World Record Attempt in Vars, France, on March 27, 2025. (Photo by Manon Cruz/Reuters)

“The Zulu are the largest South African ethnic group, with an estimated 10–11 million people living mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Small numbers also live in Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Mozambique. Their language, Zulu, is a Bantu language; more specifically, part of the Nguni subgroup. The Zulu Kingdom played a major role in South African history during the 19th and 20th centuries. Under apartheid, Zulu people were classed as third-class citizens and suffered from state-sanctioned discrimination. They remain today the most numerous ethnic group in South Africa, and now have equal rights along with all other citizens”. – Wikipedia.

Photo: A Zulu woman playing the piano while a group of others sit and listen (to put it briefly, Englishmen scoff over Zulu). South Africa, circa 1925. (Photo by General Photographic Agency)