China

Foreign Minister Wang Yi said if war occurred there could be no winner.

Mr Wang's comments come as the US voices increasing concern at North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and deploys a Navy carrier group off the Korean peninsula.

China, North Korea's only backer, fears conflict could cause the regime to collapse and problems on its border.

Mr Wang said: "One has the feeling that a conflict could break out at any moment.

“I think that all relevant parties should be highly vigilant with regards to this situation."

Tensions are rising amid reports Pyongyang may be preparing another nuclear or missile test.

Its Foreign Minister Han Song-ryol said the US and its President Donald Trump are making trouble in the region by moving an aircraft carrier strike group into Korean waters and participating in joint military exercises with South Korea.

He also said the country will continue developing its nuclear program and conduct its next nuclear test whenever its leaders see fit.

The sites had until Wednesday to remove ads promising high returns and even good feng shui, state media said.

Beijing's surging home prices have made it unaffordable for many, and led to high debt levels.

Authorities have issued new restrictions this year, calling the property market an economic risk.

That's the view of the Forum's trade commissioner to China, David Morris, who was on a Forum trip to China last month.

The Forum delegation was led by secretary general Dame Meg Taylor, who said they wanted to develop a deeper and more dynamic relationship.

Mr Morris said they met with key officials, particularly in Guangzhou which had links with the Pacific going back more than 100 years.

He said better links with China were fundamentally important for the Pacific.

"The unoccupied, which are ours, let's live on it," Mr Duterte told reporters during a visit to a military base in Palawan.

The move is expected to anger China, which claims several contested shoals, islets and reefs in the territory.

China has been constructing artificial islands in the area for years.

While the Philippines occupies nine features in the South China Sea, including a World War Two-era transport ship, Beijing claims almost all of the territory. It is unlikely to welcome an increased military presence from the Philippines.

The general cargo ship Xiang Zhou sank at the Yangtze River estuary off Nantong after a collision.

The Maritime Herald website says the nearby ships saw the accident and succeeded to rescue two seamen.

The accident was reported to local authorities and a large scale-search and rescue operations wa launched for the missing sailors, who are feared to have been trapped.

The ship was on a voyage from South Korea.

Photo: Vessel Tracker.com Kiribati-flagged cargo ship Xiang Zhou 

The gang behind the attacks has compromised technology service firms and plans to use them as a proxy for attacks, security firms have said.

The group, dubbed APT10, is using custom-made malware and spear phishing to gain access to target companies.

The National Cyber Security Centre and cyber units at PwC and BAE Systems collaborated to identify the group.

"Operating alone, none of us would have joined the dots to uncover this new campaign of indirect attacks," said Richard Horne, cyber security partner at PwC.

Known victims

China is intensifying its crackdown against what it deems religious extremism in the far-west province of Xinjiang, which is home to 10 million Muslims.

The latest measures -- outlined in a sweeping new anti-extremism legislation -- take effect Saturday and come on the heels of a series of steps to increase surveillance in the region that include the surrender of passports and mandatory GPS trackers in cars.

The measures include prohibiting "abnormally" long beards, the wearing of veils in public places and refusing to watch state television.

Xinjiang is the homeland of the Uighurs, a traditionally Muslim group who say they face discrimination.

Recent years have seen bloody clashes in the region.

The Chinese government blames the violence on Islamist militants and separatists.

But rights groups say the unrest is more a reaction to repressive policies, and argue that the new measures may end up pushing some Uighurs into extremism.

Tsinghua University, known as the Harvard of the East, has ruled that the nation's top minds must also prove themselves in the pool.

The news made waves on Chinese social media, with some questioning the move in a country struggling with drought.

But the university said swimming was a key survival skill.

President of Tsinghua University, Qiu Yong, said the exercise was made compulsory for all students because it also improved physical fitness.