India

BEIJING: Days before the opening ceremony, the Beijing Olympics seemed beset with problems, none potentially more worrisome than air quality. Pollution levels remained high, despite government edicts that had removed two million vehicles from the city's streets and had closed down factories.

But as of Sunday, halfway through the Olympics, the Games were operating smoothly and pollution levels have remained low, with previous days seeing either bright sunshine or clouds with sporadic showers.

BEIJING: A powerful earthquake struck a mountainous region of western China on Monday, reportedly killing more than 7,600 people, including as many as 5,000 people in a single county. The quake also trapped more than 900 students beneath a collapsed high school as tremors shook buildings throughout China and were felt as far away as Thailand and Vietnam, according to interviews and reports in China's state media.

China's unsolved riddle is how to reconcile fast economic growth with environmental protection. But