Asia

"SENDAI, Japan -- Seiji Sasa hits the train station in this northern Japanese city before dawn most mornings to prowl for homeless men. He isn't a social worker. He's a recruiter. The men in Sendai Station are potential laborers that Sasa can dispatch to contractors in Japan's nuclear disaster zone for a bounty of $100 a head."

"BEIJING -- More than 8 million acres of China's farmland is too polluted with heavy metals and other chemicals to use for growing food, a Cabinet official said Monday, highlighting a problem that is causing growing public concern."

"The first day's trading in what will be by far the largest carbon market in China kicked off briskly yesterday with pricing in line with expectations, as Beijing continues its drive to slow its rapid growth of heat-trapping emissions."

"Chinese authorities have told pilots who fly to Beijing they must be qualified to land their aircraft in the low visibility bought about by smog -- the latest missive related to the capital's heavy air pollution, which the government this week lauded as a beneficial shield against missile attacks."

"Commentaries by two of China's most influential news outlets suggesting that the country's air pollution crisis was not without a silver lining drew a withering reaction on Tuesday from internet users and other media."

"Hundreds of thousands of children still at risk from dangerous levels of air pollution as poisonous smog fills cities, study says"

"Wastepickers who sort New Delhi garbage in search of recyclables are gaining new opportunities – and recognition – for their environment-benefiting work."

"For many of Japan's oldest nuclear refugees, all they want is to be allowed back to the homes they were forced to abandon. Others are ready to move away, severing ties to the ghost towns that remain in the shadow of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant."

"Just about the only local voice for protecting Baikal is facing possible shutdown at the hands of the Russian government. ...