Malaysian astronaut blasts into space

Malaysians watched with pride yesterday as their country's first astronaut blasted off aboard a Russian rocket bound for the International Space Station - vowing as a Muslim to keep praying and fasting in space.

Television networks showed a live broadcast of Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor lifting off in a Soyuz-FG rocket, adorned with a Malaysian flag, from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

"This is a truly historic moment for all Malaysians," King Mizan Zainal Abidin said, adding that Sheikh Muszaphar's voyage would help the country "attain further progress in science, technology and innovation."