CHINA

The government has not blamed anyone for the disaster in the southern city of Shenzhen on Dec. 20.

The group reportedly planned to stay on the island until Monday -- a move that could trigger a strong reaction from China.

Ending a decades-old one-child rule, the country will allow couples to have two children beginning in 2016.

The head of China Telecom Corp. has been detained on suspicion of graft, according to media reports.

Disney's "The Force Awakens" set an outer space-shattering pace for global ticket sales.

China previously did not have a special law covering violence in the family.

The U.S. has raised concerns about the law's potential to be misused by China, which has responded by saying the U.S. has similar laws.

Oversupply, combined with lower demand for its products, has pushed Chinese companies' profits down, especially in the mining sector.

Japan is attempting to revive the coral reef that forms the island of Okinotorishima, which it contends is needed for the country's military.

Eight major energy companies are expected to cut their budgets by a combined $21 billion next year.

One of the three Chinese vessels spotted on Saturday was armed with an autocannon, Kyodo News reported.

The incident occurred in northern Myanmar in the same area where over 100 people were killed in a landslide late November.

Authorities in Beijing raised an air-pollution alert Christmas Day, while canceling more than 200 airline flights from the Chinese capital.

Excluding financial companies, the combined revenue of state-owned enterprises in the first 11 months fell 6.1 percent from last year to this year.

The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, with China, India and Russia as its largest shareholders among its more than 50 members, was formally established in Beijing Friday.

The U.S. State Department has expressed "serious concerns" about the measure, which it argued would do more harm than good in dealing with the threat of terrorism.

India and Russia have enjoyed strong ties in recent years, with New Delhi buying billions of dollars in weapons from Moscow.

"China can significantly help the regional peace and stability by becoming more active in the fight against the Islamic State," an Iranian official says.

As the metal's price rallied Thursday to its highest level since October and the outlook for the next two years brightened, the shares of mining companies followed suit.

The growth indicator is predicted to rise at the same pace as in 2015 as Beijing's efforts to arrest a slowdown in the country's economy have met with mixed results.

Beijing police issued a yellow alert for security, while increasing the visibility of patrols in the embassy district of the Chinese capital.