Virgin Galactic Carries First Pakistani into Space

This May 29, 2018, photo made available by Virgin Galactic
shows the company's VSS Unity on its second supersonic flight. (Virgin
Galactic via AP)
This May 29, 2018, photo made available by Virgin Galactic shows the company's VSS Unity on its second supersonic flight. (Virgin Galactic via AP)
TT
20

Virgin Galactic Carries First Pakistani into Space

This May 29, 2018, photo made available by Virgin Galactic
shows the company's VSS Unity on its second supersonic flight. (Virgin
Galactic via AP)
This May 29, 2018, photo made available by Virgin Galactic shows the company's VSS Unity on its second supersonic flight. (Virgin Galactic via AP)

An adventurer has become the first Pakistani to travel into space, riding aboard Virgin Galactic’s fifth successful flight in five months.

The US company stated that Namira Salim is the “first Pakistani to visit space”, noting that she is a resident of Monaco and the United Arab Emirates.

Salim, who previously traveled to both poles and has also parachuted over Mount Everest, was among the first customers to buy a ticket with billionaire Richard Branson’s space company.

“I love my title ‘first Pakistani astronaut.’ I wanted to visit space since I was a kid,” Salim told AFP back in 2012.

American Ron Rosano and Briton Trevor Beattie were also passengers on the trip.

Unlike traditional rocket launches into space, Virgin Galactic utilized a specialized, massive aircraft that took off from Spaceport in New Mexico to carry the passenger vessel high in the sky.

Once at 13 kilometers high, the mothership released the spaceplane, which in turn engaged its thrusters to soar into space up to 86 kilometers, while its passengers experienced a few minutes of weightlessness. The craft then glided back down, landing just over an hour after takeoff.

Beth Moses, a Virgin Galactic employee, and two pilots were also aboard the trip dubbed “Galactic 04.”



Japan Births in 2024 Fell Below 700,000 for First Time 

People walk along a pedestrian crossing at a shopping street Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP)
People walk along a pedestrian crossing at a shopping street Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP)
TT
20

Japan Births in 2024 Fell Below 700,000 for First Time 

People walk along a pedestrian crossing at a shopping street Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP)
People walk along a pedestrian crossing at a shopping street Wednesday, June 4, 2025, in Tokyo. (AP)

The number of births in Japan last year fell below 700,000 for the first time on record, government data showed Wednesday.

The fast-ageing nation welcomed 686,061 newborns in 2024 -- 41,227 fewer than in 2023, the data showed. It was the lowest figure since records began in 1899.

Japan has the world's second-oldest population after tiny Monaco, according to the World Bank.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has called the situation a "quiet emergency", pledging family-friendly measures like more flexible working hours to try and reverse the trend.

Wednesday's health ministry data showed that Japan's total fertility rate -- the average number of children a woman is expected to have -- also fell to a record low of 1.15.

The ministry said Japan saw 1.6 million deaths in 2024, up 1.9 percent from a year earlier.

Ishiba has called for the revitalization of rural regions, where shrinking elderly villages are becoming increasingly isolated.

In more than 20,000 communities in Japan, the majority of residents are aged 65 and above, according to the internal affairs ministry.

The country of 123 million people is also facing increasingly severe worker shortages as its population ages, not helped by relatively strict immigration rules.

In neighboring South Korea, the fertility rate in 2024 was even lower than Japan's, at 0.75 -- remaining one of the world's lowest but marking a small rise from the previous year on the back of a rise in marriages.