Rain raises hopes of cooler, clearer air

BEIJING (Reuters) - Rain fell on Beijing on Sunday raising hopes of clearing the fog and cooling oven-like temperatures for the second day of the Olympic Games.

A third of the riders in Saturday's men's cycling road race did not finish and tennis officials said they were considering allowing heat breaks as Beijing's stifling humidity took a punishing toll with temperatures into the high 90s Fahrenheit (above 35 Celsius).

Smog has also been a persistent problem for Beijing, with millions of dollars spent on a clean air plan that took half the city's 3.3 million cars off the road and closed dozens of factories around Beijing.

Showers were also expected in Hong Kong, the host to Olympic equestrian events.

Achim Steiner, who heads the U.N. Environment Program, said many of the 30,000 journalists covering the Games were over-fixated on pollution.

Steiner said athletes were right to be worried about the smog but China deserved praise for reducing pollution over the past decade even as its economy has ballooned.

Chinese officials meanwhile said chemicals that were fired into the sky to blow away rain clouds for Friday's opening ceremony would not threaten Beijing's air.