November 8, 2021

  Wang Yaping has become the first Chinese woman to conduct a spacewalk as part of a six-month mission to the country’s space station. Wang and fellow astronaut Zhai Zhigang left the station’s main module on Sunday evening, spending more than six hours outside installing equipment and carrying out tests alongside the station’s robotic service arm, according to the China Manned Space agency. The third member of the crew, Ye Guangfu, assisted from inside the station, CMS said on its website. Wang, 41, and Zhai, 55, had both traveled to China’s now-retired experimental space stations, and Zhai conducted China’s first

Medically assisted dying is now legal in New Zealand. The End of Life Choice Act has come into effect one year after almost two-thirds of New Zealanders voted in favor of it. Supporters believe the assisted dying laws will give New Zealanders who are “suffering terribly at the end of their lives” choice, compassion and dignity. To be eligible, a person must have a terminal illness that is likely to end their life within six months. They must also be able to make an informed decision. The legislation came into force Sunday, a year after a binding referendum. Brooke van

Myanmar’s deposed National League for Democracy (NLD) party vowed to “return power to the people” on Monday, as it marked a year since its landslide general election victory that the military overturned in a February coup that has left the country isolated, hungry and wracked with violence. Kyaw Htwe, a former lawmaker representing Zabuthiri township in the capital Naypyidaw and a member of the NLD’s Central Committee, said in a statement that the junta must respect the results of the Nov. 8, 2020, ballot and relinquish control of the country, which it has ruled by violently repressing its opponents. “In

The fiery destruction by Myanmar soldiers of sections of a town of 10,000 people in western Myanmar’s restive Chin state late last month can clearly be seen in satellite photos of the area released at the weekend. In the second known round of burning by troops loyal to the junta that overthrew Myanmar’s elected government on Feb. 1, witnesses said regime soldiers entered Thantlang township on Oct. 29, began looting the property of residents, and then set fires that burned more than 200 homes, as well as some churches. The torching of at least 200 homes in Thantlang, came a