China

The Ministry of Education said Chinese President Xi Jinping's "thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era" would be taught from primary school level all the way to university.

The move is aimed at strengthening "resolve to listen to and follow the Party" and new teaching materials must "cultivate patriotic feelings", the guidelines said.

Since coming to power in 2012, the Chinese President has sought to strengthen the ruling Chinese Communist Party's role in all areas of society, including its businesses, schools and cultural institutions.

One of those people travelling from Moscow had the Delta variant of COVID-19. After they left the plane, staff from the Nanjing Lukou airport swooped in to pick up their rubbish.

According to Chinese officials, when those cleaners exited the aircraft they brought the virus along with them to the outside world - sparking what has now become China's widest outbreak since Wuhan.

In the last few weeks, at the height of the summer travel season, Delta has been detected in at least 16 Chinese provinces and municipalities. Most cases are linked to Nanjing.

In a small ceremony at the Port Moresby General Hospital yesterday, the Chinese Ambassador to PNG, Zeng Fanhua, handed over K300,000 worth of medical supplies to Minister for Health, Jelta Wong.

The donation of equipment and consumables was handed over recently after the 11^th China Medical Team was received to work at the Port Moresby General Hospital.

Ambassador Zeng expressed great pleasure in meeting the Minister for Health during the event.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said the fruit would now be called kamalam, Sanskrit for the lotus flower.

The lotus is sacred to Hindus and is India's national flower.

Relations have nosedived in recent months between India and China, whose troops are locked in a tense stand-off along their long Himalayan frontier.

Mainland China posted 118 new cases for 18 January, up from 109 a day earlier, the national health authority said in a statement.

Of those, 106 were local infections, with 43 reported in Jilin, a new daily record for the northeastern province, and 35 in Hebei province, which surrounds Beijing, the National Health Commission said.

The Chinese capital itself reported one new case, while Heilongjiang in the north reported 27 new infections.

Two members had already set out on their journey - one has now turned back and the other is in transit in a third country.

The WHO said the problem was a lack of visa clearances.

The long-awaited probe was agreed upon by Beijing in December after many months of negotiations with the WHO.

The virus was first detected in Wuhan in late 2019, with the initial outbreak linked to a market.

Beijing has been reluctant to agree to an independent inquiry and it has taken many months of negotiations for the WHO to be allowed access to the city.

The virus is thought to have come from a market in the city selling animals.

But the search for the source has led to tensions, notably with the US.

President Donald Trump's administration has accused China of trying to conceal the initial outbreak.

What is the aim of the investigation?

The pictures from China's National Space Administration show the five-starred Red Flag holding still on the windless lunar surface.

They were taken by a camera on the Chang'e-5 space probe before it left the Moon with rock samples on Thursday.

Two previous Chinese lunar missions had flags on the crafts' coatings - so neither could be affixed to the moon.

The US planted the first flag on the Moon during the manned Apollo 11 mission in 1969. Five further US flags were planted on the lunar surface during subsequent missions up until 1972.

There are several vaccines being developed in China, some of which are already being administered.

According to the researchers, the Sinovac Biotech vaccine led to a quick immune response during trials with around 700 people.

The announcement comes after European and US vaccines reported successful data from large late-stage trials.

Three vaccines, developed in the US, Germany and Russia, have all released data suggesting efficiency of more than 90%, after trials with tens of thousands of people.

What do we know about the vaccine?

The vehicle was travelling on a bridge on Tuesday in Anshun, Guizhou province when it crashed through a roadside barrier and fell into the water.

Those on board reportedly included students who were scheduled to take the "gaokao" university entrance exams, state media said.

The cause of the crash is currently under investigation.

The driver, who is among the dead, had wokred on this bus route since 1997, Xinhua said.

It's unclear how many people were on the bus at the time and how many of those were students.