China

The quip, which likened the behaviour of a comedian's dogs to military conduct, irked authorities.

They said Shanghai Xiaoguo Culture Media Co and comic Li Haoshi had "humiliated the people's army".

BBC reports the company accepted the penalty and terminated Mr Li's contract.

The offending remark was made during a stand-up performance in Beijing on Saturday, when Mr Li alluded to two canines he had adopted which were chasing a squirrel.

Fang is one of several so-called citizen journalists who disappeared after sharing videos of scenes in Wuhan, the epicentre of the pandemic.

After disappearing in February 2020, he was sentenced to three years in jail at a secret trial in Wuhan, sources said.

He was released on Sunday and is in good health, they added.

Fang is now back home in Wuhan. The BBC could not reach his family for comment.

India's population is expected to reach 1,425,775,850 people by the end of April, the new data shows.

A different UN body last week predicted that India would overtake China by the middle of this year.

The Asian nations have accounted for more than a third of the global population for over 70 years.

"China will soon cede its long-held status as the world's most populous country," the UN's Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) said in a statement.

Compared to the same period last year, gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 4.5%, official figures show.

BBC reports the key measure of economic activity was driven up by a boost in household spending and rising factory activity.

Beijing pledged to boost the world's second largest economy when it lifted coronavirus measures in December.

Also on Tuesday, separate data for March showed that retail sales, the main indicator of household consumption, jumped by 10.6%, compared to a year earlier.

But Mr Putin said the plan could be put forward only when they are ready "in the West and Kyiv".

The Russian leader met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday in Moscow to discuss the conflict, and relations between the two countries.

BBC reports China's plan, published last month, does not explicitly call for Russia to leave Ukraine.

Listing 12 points, it calls for peace talks and respect for national sovereignty, without specific proposals.

But Mr Putin said the plan could be put forward only "when they are ready for it in the West and in Kyiv".

The Russian leader met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday in Moscow to discuss the conflict, and relations between the two countries.

China's plan, published last month, does not explicitly call for Russia to leave Ukraine.

Listing 12 points, it calls for peace talks and respect for national sovereignty, without specific proposals.

The video-sharing app, owned by Chinese company ByteDance, is accused of posing a national security risk through data gathered from millions of users.

A request for a change in ownership, first reported in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), was confirmed to BBC News by TikTok.

The company said a forced sale would not change its data flows or access.

The White House has not yet responded to a BBC News request for comment.

For years American officials have raised concerns that data from the popular app could fall into the hands of the Chinese government.

It comes after the US on 4 February shot down a suspected spy balloon over its airspace - which China said was one of its weather balloons gone astray.

Relations between the two countries have since deteriorated. In recent days, the US has also shot down a number of other unidentified objects.

Questioned on Monday, Beijing said the US had made many airspace breaches.

"It's not uncommon as well for the US to illegally enter the airspace of other countries," said foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin at a regular press briefing.

The Department of Defence confirmed its fighter jets brought down the balloon over US territorial waters.

BBC reports China's foreign ministry later expressed "strong dissatisfaction and protest against the US's use of force to attack civilian unmanned aircraft".

Footage on US TV networks showed the balloon falling to the sea after a small explosion.

An F-22 jet fighter engaged the high-altitude balloon with one missile - an AIM-9X Sidewinder - and it went down about six nautical miles off the US coast at 14:39 EST, a defence official told reporters.

We watched the skilled craftsmen as they carved elaborate decorations into the freshly-cut wood. Over recent months, they say, they haven't had time to stop.

One villager, a customer, said that at times the coffins have sold out. Laughing with a dose of the black humour you find in the area, he added that those in the funeral industry had been "earning a small fortune".

BBC reports there has been much debate about the real number of Covid-19 deaths in China, after the virus ripped through its megacities.