A judge says Chris Brown has been doing well and following his probation rules since his last hearing in August.

The Grammy-winning R&B singer appeared in a Los Angeles court Thursday for a progress report.

Taking inspiration from the fear of Ebola, a Dallas-area man has stacked up barrels marked "biohazard," surrounded his yard with yellow caution tape and crossed his door and windows with white tape marked "quarantine."

"There's negative people everywhere and they are going to give me grief about it but it's all in good fun," James Faulk told reporters Thursday while standing outside his home wearing a face shield and white protective suit with the label "CDC Trainee" and d gripping a clipboard and red plastic bag marked "biohazard infectious waste."

China launched an experimental spacecraft Friday to fly around the moon and back to Earth in preparation for the country's first unmanned return trip to the lunar surface.

The eight-day program is a test run for a 2017 mission that aims to have a Chinese spacecraft land on the moon, retrieve samples and return to Earth. That would make burgeoning space power China only the third country after the United States and Russia to have carried out such a mission.

China and 21 other Asian nations signed on Friday to a new Beijing-backed international bank for Asia that Washington opposes as an unnecessary rival to established institutions such as the World Bank.

Representatives of the 22 nations signed a memorandum of understanding at the Great Hall of the People in the heart of Beijing to establish the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

The governor of Guerrero state announced Thursday that he's stepping aside while an investigation continues nearly a month after 43 students disappeared and six people were killed in an attack that has implicated local police and politicians in the city of Iguala.

Gov. Angel Aguirre Rivero said he is putting his duties on hold and will let the state's lawmakers decide who should lead the southern Mexico state.

Serena Williams hit back from her embarrassing defeat at the WTA Finals by demolishing Eugenie Bouchard 6-1, 6-1 to keep her campaign alive in fearsome fashion on Thursday.

After only winning two games against Simona Halep, a grimly focused Williams only lost two against Bouchard as she swept the glamorous Canadian off court and out of the tournament in 58 minutes.

Paris Saint-Germain players Thiago Silva and Lucas are back in Brazil's squad for friendlies against Turkey and Austria next month.

It's their first callups by Dunga since he became coach after the World Cup. Lucas was not in the World Cup squad.

Renee Zellweger says she looks different because she's "living a different, happy, more fulfilling life."

The 45-year-old Oscar winner issued a statement to People magazine late Tuesday after she became a trending topic on Twitter, with many fans claiming the actress had become "unrecognizable." Her appearance at a Hollywood event earlier this week sparked widespread Internet chatter.

Spacewalking astronauts doubled as trash men Wednesday, heaving an old science experiment and two antennas overboard at the International Space Station.

It was the third spacewalk in as many weeks outside the orbiting lab. This time, it was on the Russian side of the house and went so well that it wrapped up more than two hours early.

Federal forecasters say a brief but strong solar flare Wednesday morning temporarily blacked out a few radio communication systems before weakening.

Space Weather Prediction Center forecaster Christopher Balch said it affected radio that uses part of the upper atmosphere. That includes some radar and plane systems, but not all, and amateur radio.