Space shuttle Discovery landed at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Centre yesterday in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Discovery, which left on March 15, 2009 to work on the International Space Station, postponed its first attempt at landing yesterday due to high winds but then successfully landed at the space centre after completing a construction mission.
Children's charity on Madonna adoption
Save the Children yesterday stressed that the best place for a child was with their family in their home country, as US pop queen Madonna prepares to adopt another Malawian child.
The British-based charity urged celebrities to ensure that all other options had been exhausted before taking a child out of a foreign orphanage.
Singer Madonna, 50, is filing legal papers with a court in Malawi seeking to adopt a second child from the east African country, her lawyer said on Thursday.
"The best place for a child is in his or her family in their community," Save the Children spokesman Dominic Nutt said in a statement.
"Most children in orphanages have one parent still living, or have an extended family that can care for them in the absence of their parents."
Toddler contracts bird flu
A two-year-old Egyptian girl has contracted bird flu, the 60th reported case since the first outbreak of the disease in the country in 2006, a health ministry spokesman said yesterday. The toddler has been taken to hospital and is in stable condition, said ministry spokesman Abdel Rahman Shahin.
Twenty-three people have died of bird flu in Egypt. Most of the victims have been young girls or women, who are generally in charge of looking after poultry in rural areas.
Shahin said the percentage of fatalities from bird flu in Egypt is less than in other countries that have seen outbreaks of the disease.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) called earlier this month for an investigation into why many of the victims have been young children.
Mobile clinic to help America's poor
Patients at the Mission of Mercy free mobile medical clinic in the state of Maryland usually begin lining up before dawn just to get a shot at seeing the dentist or doctor.
Most haven't seen any kind of medical professional in months, many have run out of vital medicines for chronic conditions, and all have few other options to access any kind of healthcare.
According to a recent study by the non-profit organisation Families USA, one out of three Americans spent a stretch of time last year with no medical coverage. Health insurance is out of reach to many in the US because it is so expensive.
"Because of the troubled economy and people losing their jobs, we have seen a soar in patients," said Gianna Talone-Sullivan, founder of the Catholic group which is funded solely by private donations.
Women seek to oust men from parliament
Ahead of Indonesia's April elections, female candidates are knocking on doors, making Facebook 'friends' and even singing at circumcision ceremonies to break the male stranglehold on parliament.
Jakarta candidate Fitriah Elvie Sukaesih, a singer of dangdut folk-pop songs at weddings and circumcision celebrations, has a unique campaigning style, waiting until her signature tune to make her political pitch.
"I don't say things like 'vote for me' but before I sing my favourite song 'Sekuntum Mawar Merah' (A Stalk of Red Rose) I say I'm running for election and ask people to pray for me," she said.
"I have received quite a lot of support," she adds.
Not all the Indonesian women candidates have Sukaesih's talent for song, but they all share a passion for their country and a desire to change parliament's gender imbalance.
About 360 of the 12,000 people vying for spots in the 560-seat House of Representatives are women, although women only account for 11 of the outgoing MPs.