介绍:
China's air quality improving: minister
Kim Jong Un orders nuclear strike means to be ready for action
Japan marks 5th anniversary of earthquake & tsunami
Germany says stolen Islamic State files 'probably genuine'
Islamic State chemical weapons chief captured: Pentagon
China should step up application of scientific results: political advisor
Man detained for shooting at noisy dancing grannies
Suspects of major exam question leak arrested: MOE
China's environment minister has lauded the country's efforts in improving air quality over the past year.
Chen Jining says among the 74 cities that applied the new air quality standard last year, the average PM2.5 readings declined by 14 percent.
He also cited progress in controlling pollution from acid rain, saying areas in the whole country affected by such pollution now account for less than 10 percent, compared with around 30 percent in the 1990s.
The minister says the achievements have given them more confidence in tackling the country's pollution problems.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has ordered the country to improve its nuclear attack capability by conducting more tests.
State media says Kim gave the order while watching a ballistic missile launch test.
He says more tests are needed to assess the power of newly developed nuclear warheads and to improve nuclear attack capability.
Kim has also ordered all nuclear strike means to be ready with targets on South Korean combat command centers and U.S. military bases in the Asia Pacific region.
Earlier in the week, the North Korean leader said his country had miniaturized nuclear warheads to mount on ballistic missiles.
Japan is mourning the thousands who lost their lives in a massive earthquake and tsunami five years ago.
The magnitude-nine quake struck on March 11, 2011, sparking a huge tsunami along a vast swathe of coastline and killing nearly 20 thousand people.
It also triggered the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl in 1986, after crippling the Fukushima nuclear plant.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Emperor Akihito attended a ceremony in Tokyo and observed a moment of silence at the time of the quake, 2:46 p.m.
All trains on the vast Tokyo underground network also came to a full stop, to mark the moment the quake struck.
German authorities believe that stolen files detailing hundreds of recruits to the Islamic State militant group can be assumed to be genuine.
Berlin says the information could help with prosecutions of IS fighters, and help prevent future recruitment to the militant group.
Earlier reports said the files, obtained by media in Germany and the UK, contain 22,000 names, addresses, telephone numbers and family contacts of jihadists from around 50 countries.
The files are said to have been stolen by an IS fighter who said he had become disillusioned with the group's leadership.
Counter-terrorism police in Germany are studying the documents.
The Pentagon says the chemical weapons chief of the Islamic State group was captured during an operation in Iraq last month.
Sulayman Dawud al-Bakkar, also known as Abu Dawud, was transferred to Iraqi government custody on Thursday.
The Pentagon says it has learned details about the Islamic State's chemical weapons facilities and production, as well as the people involved, from Dawud.
The information resulted in several air strikes by a U.S.-led coalition against the jihadist group.
A Chinese political advisor is calling for more efforts on the application of scientific research results to help the economy shift into an innovation-driven growth model.
Wang Yongqing with the China Democratic National Construction Association says most scientific achievements are left forgotten in labs, adding that only 10 percent end up as products.
Attending the ongoing political sessions in Beijing, Wang urged the government to provide more incentives to motivate scientists and researchers to apply their achievements.
Meanwhile, he emphasized the protection of intellectual property rights, saying more dedicated courts are needed to handle cases in this area.
A Chinese man has been detained for shooting and injuring a woman in an angry protest against loud public "square dance" music.
The man from Yangshuo County in Guangxi fired three shots with an air rifle in the dispute, hitting a woman in the leg.
He said he was aiming at the stereo speaker.
The man was detained for endangering public safety and may also face charges for owning firearms, which are strictly banned in China.
Group dancing in public spaces is popular among middle-aged and elderly Chinese women.
However, the noise it brings often triggers complaints, and sometimes even violent reactions, from nearby residents.
Chinese authorities have arrested several people implicated in the leak of questions featured on the graduate school entrance exam.
Details of those arrested have not been given.
In late December, the Ministry of Education received a tipoff that questions in the written exam for graduate school were in the public domain.
The arrests were made under an amendment to the Criminal Law, which took effect last November.
Under the law, those found guilty of organizing or facilitating cheating or hiring others to sit exams could be imprisoned for up to seven years.
