President Barack Obama is set to outline a revamped space policy with the ultimate goal of going to Mars.

A cyclone has demolished thousands of mud huts and uprooted trees in several villages in eastern India, killing at least 31 people.

When I got the senior photographer job in Shanghai in late 2005, Reinhard Krause, who was China’s chief photographer, well advised me to drop any preconceptions I might have about the place.

Below is an audio slideshow based on my portfolio of work from China, where I discovered a land of contradictions.

Below is a selection of some of the portfolio images. Click here for a full slideshow.

Models display jewelery of Cartier High Jewellery during a private gala dinner in Shanghai January 26, 2007. REUTERS/Nir Elias

Li Renying (R), 70, and her husband Zhang Kunlin, 74, stand in front of a backdrop during a photography session in a studio that caters especially to the elderly, in Shanghai October 20, 2007. REUTERS/Nir Elias

A Chinese worker rests as he paints a newly built crane in the Long Wu port in Shanghai December 14, 2005. REUTERS/Nir Elias

Xiaoqing (L) and a consultant take part in an interview with Reuters at the Time Plastic surgery clinic in Shanghai February 4, 2010. The 21-year-old, who would only give her name as Xiaoqing, is seeking extensive plastic surgery to look like U.S. actress Jessica Alba, mainly because she hopes to win back her boyfriend who she said always wished she looked more like the Hollywood star. The hospital has agreed to do it for free to showcase their surgery skills. REUTERS/Nir Elias

Tourists take photos of each other near a temple at Nanshan Cultural Centre, about 60km (37 miles) west of Sanya, in south China’s Hainan Island province November 26, 2007. REUTERS/Nir Elias

Shop owner Gong Chui Zhen, 47, fixes trousers at the entrance to her shop in an old quarter of Shanghai August 12, 2009. REUTERS/Nir Elias

A Muslim girl points her toy pistol at boy in a Uighur neighborhood of Urumqi in China’s Xinjiang Autonomous Region July 10, 2009. REUTERS/Nir Elias

A staff member of a tanning salon in Shanghai looks out of a tanning cabinet August 1, 2006. REUTERS/Nir Elias

A series of strong earthquakes have struck western China's Qinghai province killing at least 400 people and injuring more than 10,000.

The father of British man, Jason Read, shot dead by gunmen in Ethiopia says he "lived his life to the full."

America says it is ready to help Kyrgyzstan's new rulers.

A magnitude 6.9 earthquake has killed around 300 people and left more than 8,000 injured in southwest China.

Gay rights activists have reacted angrily over remarks made by a Catholic Cardinal, linking sex scandals to homosexuality.

President Barack Obama is to give details of boosting NASA's budget by $6 billion.