Check It Out (Israel National News) (IsraelNN.com) A special tax-break discount incentive for buying a hybrid car is part of the Finance Ministry’s plans for environmentally conscious regulations on car purchases, according to Reuters . The new changes are aimed at helping to alleviate the increasing air pollution caused by cars and to save energy costs. [News Source]

Asian nations reconfirm cooperation on sandstorm, air pollution problems (The Japan Times) BEIJING (Kyodo) The environment ministers of China, Japan and South Korea agreed Sunday to continue joint research and cooperation to tackle the region's sandstorms and air pollution, a Japanese government official said. The agreement was part of a series of issues discussed in two days of talks in Beijing among China's Zhou Shengxian, Japan's Tetsuo Saito and South Korea's Lee Maa Nee at the ... [News Source]

Iowa air pollutants push federal limits. The air across Iowa is so polluted that the state is perilously close to violating new federal limits aimed at protecting human health. Yet Iowans have no way of knowing what chemicals they are breathing because of a limited - and often inaccurate - system of monitoring pollution statewide, a Des Moines Register investigation found. [News Source]

Macau launches late bid to cure its Pearl River Delta blues. For Macau, a gambling haven known more for unbridled development than for ecological awareness, the creation of an Environmental Protection Bureau this year is a milestone on an uncertain road to sustainability. [News Source]

Activists gird for fight over coal plant. Dozens of square black signs have cropped up along the main highway leading to this rural town in Surry County with the same message: No Coal Plant. The placards refer to a proposed coal-fired power plant that would be the second-largest in Virginia. [News Source]

Charlotte has an ozone problem. Charlotte's surging population – and the cars they drive – have put the region in jeopardy of not meeting federal clear-air standards. [News Source]

Air pollution can impair sports performance. Athletes are at risk from inhaling air pollutants, especially carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, particles, nitrates, benzene, and ozone. Air ventilation increases with exercise, increasing the amount of pollutants inhaled. [News Source]

Ministers focus low-carbon, green growth. The environment ministers of Korea, China and Japan agreed on the need to make joint efforts to cope with climate change at their 11th regular meeting in Beijing Sunday. [News Source]

Ministers ‘misled’ MPs over Heathrow. Conservative MPs accused the government of misleading MPs to cover up lobbying by Heathrow Airport operator BAA for a third runway. Newly released figures show that illnesses around Heathrow caused by air pollution rose by 72% from 2003 to 2008, nearly twice the national average. [News Source]

Malaysia to aid Indonesia ahead of haze season. Malaysia has offered to help Indonesia curb forest fires blamed for the choking haze that shrouds the region each year, media reports said, as air quality fell in the country. [News Source]

Pollution, heat push up ozone level. According to the Centre for Science and Environment's latest findings, ozone levels have been unusually high this year, very often much above the standards proposed by the environment ministry. [News Source]