Air quality in China improves

BEIJING • Air quality in China's largest cities continued to improve during the first six months of this year, the country's environment ministry said yesterday. It said 76.7 per cent of January to June days had clean air, an increase of four percentage points from the same period last year.

In Beijing, levels of PM2.5 - dangerous tiny pollutants - fell 17.9 per cent from a year earlier. The ministry did not provide reasons for the improvement, but it follows increased measures to crack down on polluters and efforts to tackle overcapacity in the heavily polluting steel sector.

REUTERS

Quake hits Tokyo; no damage reported

TOKYO • A 5.0-magnitude earthquake shook Tokyo and large ares of eastern Japan yesterday, the US Geological Survey said, but there were no reports of damage or casualties.

The quake's epicentre was at a relatively shallow depth of 40km in Ibaraki prefecture, north-east of the capital, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Buildings in Tokyo were shaken by the jolt, while bullet train services were suspended temporarily in the region.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE