China

China's ambitious and fast-growing space program is targeting a landing on the dark side of the moon by 2018, and reaching Mars before the end of the decade.

The country's space agency held a press conference on Tuesday to mark the release of a policy paper, and outlined the government's goals for exploring deep space.

It is the first time the Liaoning has been deployed to "distant sea waters", state media report.

Snap Inc. says it has opened a technology office in the southern city of Shenzhen to focus on Spectacles, the startup's camera-equipped sunglasses that can send footage to users' Snapchat accounts.

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said evidence provided by industry sources in New Zealand justified an investigation into whether China was subsidising galvanised steel coil.

The practice of 'dumping', or selling surplus goods below cost, is illegal under most trade agreements.

Local companies have claimed steel dumping was happening in New Zealand, and could have a drastic impact on the domestic industry.

She first became a household name in 2005 when she finished as the second runner-up in Super Girl, a Chinese TV singing contest similar to Pop Idol.

She made a lasting impression with her impressive vocal range and was even nicknamed the "Dolphin Princess" - "dolphin notes" is Chinese slang for being able to hit the high notes.

Although she is yet to make an impact internationally, she regularly performs English-language tracks and was once even a guest on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Not your average music video

Trump has signaled a willingness to confront Beijing, and his latest comments in an interview with Fox News suggested that he won't hesitate to anger China until the country comes to the bargaining table on trade and North Korea.

China's response was measured but clear: co-operation with the US "would be out of the question" if Trump doesn't adhere to the 'one China' policy -- a cornerstone of bilateral relations since the establishment of diplomatic ties in the 1970s.

Mr Branstad was seen entering Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday for talks with the president-elect.

He called Chinese President Xi Jinping a "long-time friend" when Mr Xi visited Iowa before becoming Chinese leader.

After Bloomberg first reported the nomination, which requires Senate confirmation, Beijing responded by calling Mr Branstad an "old friend".

"We welcome him to play a greater role in advancing the development of China-US relations," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang.

Russia said the document infringed the council rule allowing countries 24 hours to consider the final wording.

The US dismissed this as a "made-up alibi", saying Russia wanted to preserve recent military gains by Syrian government troops in Aleppo.

The army are reported to have seized more parts of rebel-held east Aleppo.

If confirmed, that would mean the government had recaptured about 70% of the rebel-controlled area in just over a week.

 Multiple flights to and from the Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport in central China were canceled or delayed, while many were forced to land at other airports, China's Xinhua news agency reported, calling it "the worst fog to hit the ... city in years."

Images from China Central Television (CCTV) showed weary passengers asleep in their airport seats and others eating instant pot noodles, while crates of luggage sat on the tarmac next to grounded planes.

That was the limit of her formal sex education. For millions of young Chinese people, it's more than they ever got.

As China marks World AIDS Day Thursday, the effects of that missing knowledge is more evident than ever, with growing numbers of HIV infections and staggeringly high abortion rates.

No protection

In 2015, there were 115,000 new HIV infections in China, according to China's National Center for STD/AIDS Prevention and Control. Of those, 17,000, or 14.7%, were in the 15-24 age group.