World News by Wild Rose

Around 175,000 people in Indonesia have suffered from respiratory illness since August.

Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has called for stricter regulations and sanctions against those who use slash and burn methods to clear land, as the country struggles to contain wildfires that have been raging for weeks. Indonesia is battling its most intense wildfires in 11 years, with “super El Nino” weather parching ‌the country’s forests and fields. The islands of Borneo and Sumatra have been the worst hit, with the hazardous haze causing a spike in respiratory illnesses. Transboundary...

Struggling to breathe through the acrid haze emanating from wildfires on Indonesia’s Borneo Island, residents said on Wednesday they feared for their health but had little to do but wait out the foul-smelling hazard. Indonesia, which shares Borneo with Malaysia and Brunei, is grappling with forest fires that have ravaged swathes of the island, partly caused by the El Nino climate phenomenon that has also affected other countries in Southeast Asia and beyond. In Pontianak, the capital of West...

Forest and peatland fires raging across Indonesia are threatening to become more than an environmental emergency, with analysts warning that the thickening haze could weigh on economic activity, strain public health and test confidence in the nation’s fledgling carbon market. Indonesia is no stranger to forest and peat fires, but this year’s super El Nino has helped make it the country’s most intense wildfire season in 11 years. Toxic haze and smoke have also drifted to neighbouring countries...

Amnesty International is urging Algeria to abandon plans to resume executions. After deadly wildfires swept across the country’s northeast last month, President Tebboune called to impose the death penalty on people who start the fires. He said child abductors and abusers should also be executed.

Rights group warns Algeria could exploit proposed death penalty laws to suppress domestic political opposition.

Singapore was shrouded in haze on Tuesday, with smoke from wildfires in neighbouring Indonesia raising island-wide pollution to levels that pose a health risk. All five regions of the city state recorded unhealthy air quality levels, the first time that has happened since September 2019, according to the National Environment Agency. Singapore’s air currently ranks among the 10 most polluted cities in the world, according to IQAir data, with the capitals of Malaysia and Indonesia also among the...

Irma smells the fire before she sees it: a column of thick, yellow-tinged smoke rising above the tree line near her small wooden home. She pulls on heavy rubber boots, checks her equipment and drives straight into the impenetrable smog emanating from wildfires devouring the peatland and ancient forests of Borneo. “I am terrified that the flames will reach residential areas. It is extremely dangerous,” the 39-year-old mother told This Week in Asia, moments before disappearing into the murk that...

Glutathione, an antioxidant, has been offered as a treatment at some of the largest US wildfires in recent years.

Indonesia’s wildfires are creeping towards Nusantara, the country’s new capital under construction on Borneo island, challenging its promise of becoming an eco-friendly “smart forest city”. The Southeast Asian nation is battling what officials call its most intense wildfire season in 11 years. Nearly 202,000 hectares (499,000 acres) of forest and peatland have been razed nationwide from January to June, according to Sipongi, the Indonesian forest ministry’s monitoring platform. Sipongi data...

Five people, including medical ⁠staff, died after a “flying ⁠doctor” service helicopter crashed in Malaysia on Tuesday, authorities and state news agency reports said, as haze from wildfires complicated search efforts. Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad in a statement ‌said initial information showed a pilot and four ministry staff were aboard the chopper that crashed near Sarawak state’s Long Lellang short take-off and landing airport. Among them were a medical officer, an assistant medical...

Wildfires and heatwaves are threatening global efforts to improve air quality and protect human health, the World Meteorological Organisation said on Monday. The UN agency warned that increasingly severe fires are raising exposure to toxic PM2.5 pollution, even as regulations have reduced industrial and transport emissions in Europe and North America.

Indonesia’s Kalimantan province, sending smoke and toxic haze across Southeast Asia.

Wildfires ripped across northeastern Algeria in late August. Photos and videos showing the mass burial of several dozen people have raised questions about the real death toll of the fires as Algerian authorities haven’t shared new numbers since August 26. A number of Moroccan social media accounts have also been sharing disinformation about the fires.

Wildfires in Indonesia have destroyed part of the natural habitat of hundreds of orangutans, risking the survival of the species.

Volunteers have mobilised to provide essential supplies to families displaced by wildfires in Jijel province, northeastern Algeria.