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The United Arab Emirates has launched a historic mission to Mars from an island off the coast of Japan.
The orbiter Amal, or Hope, is expected to reach Mars in February and then analyze the Martian atmosphere.
Mars has loomed large for a number of other countries.
China and the U. S. are set to launch their own missions to the Red Planet soon.
Two districts in Urumqi have been categorized as high-risk regions after 30 confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported over the past couple of days.
Meanwhile, the city in Xinjiang has finished nucleic acid tests for everyone under quarantine and a citywide testing campaign has kicked off.
Rui Baoling with the municipal Disease Control and Prevention Center says efforts have also been made to trace the actual origin of this new cluster.
"At present, all cases are common or mild. We have reported to the National Health Commission to coordinate with the coronavirus gene sequencing analysis of the confirmed cases to further clarify the source and transmission of the virus."
Experts suggest the outbreak may be linked to a group gathering, but the possibility that it is related to imported cases cannot be ruled out at this time.
The Hong Kong government has further tightened control measures against COVID-19 as daily confirmed cases surpassed 100 for the first time in the city.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam says there is no sign that the situation is being brought under control, and that the current wave of transmission is more difficult to tackle.
Mask-wearing is now mandatory in all indoor public places.
The closures of 12 types of entertainment venues and dining restrictions over restaurants will be extended for another week.
A holiday inn and an exhibition venue will also be renovated to provide services for asymptomatic patients, while 2,000 more quarantine units will be built in the Penny's Bay area by the end of the year.
The Chinese capital has decided to lower its emergency response level to COVID-19.
The city has reported no new confirmed domestically transmitted cases for two weeks.
Municipal official Chen Bei says the situation is under control.
"It is concluded that the infection risk in Beijing is low, and community transmission has been effectively controlled. The risk of the virus spreading to other parts from Beijing is relatively low. The epidemic situation is stable and under control. The conditions are in place to lower the response level."
The city confirmed 335 infections during the outbreak that started over a month ago at a market.
So far, over 200 patients have recovered and been discharged from hospital.
Under the level-three emergency response, exhibitions, sports events, performing arts venues and cinemas in Beijing will be gradually reopened with restricted visitor flows.
But certain prevention and control measures will remain in place.
All international flights to the capital will continue to land in other cities in China first, before arriving in Beijing.
All personnel heading to the city from abroad still need medical observation and nucleic acid testing.
The director for the U.S. National Institutes for Health says delays in getting COVID-19 test results have been too long across the country.
Francis Collins says such delays are undercutting the value of the testing that aims to identify virus carriers and quickly get them isolated.
He is calling on the government to invest in new technologies to keep up with testing demand.
The British Prime Minister has ruled out a second national lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Boris Johnson says that they are getting much better at spotting the disease and isolating it locally, and that they also understand far more which group it affects, how it works and how it's transmitted.
He adds that another lockdown is almost the same as a "nuclear deterrent," and that the pandemic has not blown his government off course from the major reform agenda he set out last year.
