Air pollution

Globally, more than 7 million premature deaths are attributed to air pollution, with two-thirds occurring in the Asia-Pacific region.

Responding to the urgency for solutions to this growing environmental challenge common to many countries and cities across the region, the High-Level Forum on Clean Air will take place in Ulaanbaatar this week, bringing together Ministers, senior policymakers and key stakeholders.

In a landmark decision, the court ordered monitoring stations and other measures to improve the capital's air.

The lawsuit was filed by residents in 2019 and the verdict has since been postponed several times.

Air pollution is reducing Jakarta residents' life expectancy by 5.5 years, US researchers say.

Persistent smog in the city of 10 million people is caused by heavy traffic and coal-fired power plants that have not been fitted with filters.

In many areas of Delhi air quality deteriorated into the "hazardous" category on Sunday with the potential to cause respiratory illnesses.

Authorities have urged people to stay inside to protect themselves.

Mr Kejriwal called on the central government to provide relief and tackle the toxic pollution.

Schools have been closed, more than 30 flights diverted and construction work halted as the city sits in a thick blanket of smog.

Almost all of these deaths occurred in low- and middle-income countries, where pollution could account for up to a quarter of deaths. Bangladesh and Somalia were the worst affected.

Air pollution had the biggest impact, accounting for two-thirds of deaths from pollution.

Brunei and Sweden had the lowest numbers of pollution-related deaths.

Most of these deaths were caused by non-infectious diseases linked to pollution, such as heart disease, stroke and lung cancer.

Ministers will also unveil a £255m fund to help councils tackle emissions from diesel vehicles, as part of a £3bn package of spending on air quality.

The government will publish its court-mandated clean air strategy later, days before a High Court deadline.

Campaigners said the measures were promising, but more detail was needed.

The government was ordered by the courts to produce new plans to tackle illegal levels of harmful pollutant nitrogen dioxide.

A Canadian company selling air bottled in a ski resort says it's now seeing huge demand from Chinese customers.

Vitality Air said that the first batch of 500 canisters filled with fresh air from the Rocky Mountain town of Banff went on sale in China last month and sold out within two weeks.

"Now we're taking lots of pre orders for our upcoming shipment. We're getting close to the 1,000 mark," said Harrison Wang, director of China operations.

The air sells for $14 to $20, depending on the size of the canister.

City authorities issued a rare orange alert, the second highest of four danger levels. Schools suspended outdoor activities and polluting factories were required to reduce production.

Physicists at the University of California, Berkeley, calculated that about 1.6 million people in China die each year from heart, lung and stroke problems because of incredibly polluted air, especially small particles of haze.

Earlier studies put the annual Chinese air pollution death toll at 1 to 2 million, but this is the first to use newly released Chinese air monitoring figures.