IN BRIEF (Page 4)

Age lies at heart of problem

China's rapidly aging population is presenting a challenge to curbing an epidemic of Parkinson's disease, health experts warned on World Parkinson's Disease Day, which fell on Tuesday.

Smart spoon helps shaky hands eat in comfort

Something as simple as eating a bowl of soup can be an ordeal for someone with Parkinson's disease, a degenerative illness that causes muscle tremors.

Seizure of ivory, horns biggest in recent years

Customs officers in Heilongjiang province announced on Monday that they had cracked a significant case involving the smuggling of prehistoric mammoth tusks, woolly rhinoceros horns and jade.

Hefty cash rewards for spy tipoffs

Beijing residents could be rewarded with up to 500,000 yuan ($72,460) if they can provide useful information on spies or related activities, according to a government policy that took effect on Monday.

Court sentences caregiver to death

An eldercare worker who admitted killing a 97-year-old man because she wanted to receive her salary quicker has been sentenced to death by a court in Guangzhou, Guangdong province.

What's in a Chinese name? A lot, it turns out

In a one-room shop tucked inside a Beijing alley, a bearded 74-year-old fortuneteller in a crimson tunic offers what Chinese parents have sought for centuries: an auspicious name for their newborn.

Student in Sichuan charged to retrieve lost cellphone

A university in Chengdu, Sichuan province, has been criticized online for charging students fees to claim lost possessions.

IN BRIEF (Page 4)

Air pollution up in N. China

China has seen its air quality worsen a little in the first quarter, particularly in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, the national environmental authority said on Monday.

Xiongan expected to see tourism boom

The planned Xiongan New Area in Hebei province is expected to bring tourism opportunities to a large wetland area and to the province as a whole, according to industry insiders.

Water being diverted into new area wetland

SHIJIAZHUANG - Two large reservoirs in Baoding, Hebei province, have begun to supply water to Baiyangdian, a freshwater wetland in the planned Xiongan New Area, which was announced on April 1.