25/03/2026

WEDNESDAY | MAR 25, 2026

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Pakistan ranked most polluted country last year

UN boost for Rohingya refugees DHAKA: The UN food agency is revamping its programme for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh from April to ensure a minimum threshold of food security for each household, a spokesperson said yesterday. Funding pressure on humanitarian groups is growing in the ninth year of a crisis over more than 1 million Rohingya, most of whom live in overcrowded camps. The World Food Programme said its new needs-based, tiered approach aimed to ensure the minimum food needs of all refugees was met while directing greater support to those facing the greatest challenges. Rather than reducing overall aid, the new system will allocate monthly food assistance according to household food insecurity levels assigned through a 2025 survey, a WFP spokesperson in Bangladesh said. “Differentiated ration size is in line with global best practice for a protracted crisis and will ensure an equitable distribution of food assistance,” said Kun Li, the spokesperson. The sole provider of monthly food assistance to Rohingya refugees, the WFP supports nearly 1.2 million people in Bangladesh, including about 150,000 new arrivals since 2024, it said. About 33% of households are considered to be highly vulnerable, with 50% seen as moderately vulnerable, while 17% are vulnerable, said Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, Bangladesh’s top official overseeing the refugee camps. “Our rations keep shrinking because of the global funding crunch,” said Mohammed Jashim, 37, a Rohingya refugee and the father of three children aged between four and 11. “I urge the international community not to forget us. We have no way to return home right now. Please don’t abandon us.” The WFP’s new scheme categorises households as “extremely insecure”, “highly insecure” and “food insecure” in terms of food supply. Monthly sums of US$12 (RM47.35), US$10 and US$7 respectively will go to homes in the three categories in the southern coastal town of Cox’s Bazar, it said. Those on Bhasan Char, an island in the Bay of Bengal home to 31,000 Rohingya, will receive bigger corresponding payments of US$13, US$11 and US$8 to reflect higher commodity prices and logistics costs there. – Reuters Myanmar leader undergoes surgery PHNOM PENH: Myanmar’s top military leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing underwent a two-hour emergency surgery on Friday. The Global New Light of Myanmar reported yesterday that the State Security and Peace Commission Chairman Min Aung Hlaing was diagnosed with lumbar spondylosis accompanied by spinal stenosis caused by nerve compression. “He underwent a two-hour emergency surgical procedure in Nay Pyi Taw. The operation was jointly performed by medical specialists from India and a Tatmadaw (armed forces) medical team. “The surgery was successful and the senior general is reported to be in good health. He continues to carry out his state and military duties,” Myanmar’s National Defence and Security Council said in a press statement. Speculation has emerged that the 69-year old military leader could be elected as Myanmar’s next president after the country’s three-phase national election. Phase 1 of the elections was held on Dec 28, followed by Phase 2 on Jan 11 and the final phase on Jan 25. It was the first election held since the military came to power in 2021. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party won the elections. Myanmar’s parliament announced that the country’s new president and vice-president will be elected on March 30. – Bernama

northwestern Chinese region of Xinjiang at 109.6 micrograms. The world’s top 25 most polluted cities were all in India, Pakistan and China. Only 14% of the world’s cities met the WHO standard last year, down from 17% a year earlier, with Canadian wildfires driving up PM2.5 across the United States. Among the countries that met the standard last year were Australia, Iceland, Estonia and Panama. Laos, Cambodia and Indonesia all reported significant PM2.5 reductions compared with the previous year, thanks mainly to wetter and windier La Nina weather. Mongolia saw average concentrations fall 31% to 17.8 micrograms per cubic metre. In all, 75 countries reported lower PM2.5 levels last year compared with the year earlier, with 54 recording higher average concentrations, IQAir said. – Reuters

Chad, statistically the smoggiest country of 2024, ranked fourth last year, but the decline in PM2.5 concentrations last year is likely to be the result of data gaps. Last March, the United States shut down a global monitoring programme that compiled pollution data collected from its embassy and consulate buildings, citing budget constraints. “The loss of the data in March made it appear there was a significant drop in PM2.5 levels (in Chad), but the fact of the matter is that we don’t know,” said Christi Chester Schroeder, lead author of the IQAir report. The US decision eliminated a primary data source for many smog-prone countries, and Burundi, Turkmenistan and Togo were excluded from the 2025 report because of information gaps. India’s Loni was the world’s most polluted city last year, with average PM2.5 levels of 112.5 micrograms, followed by Hotan in the

SINGAPORE: Pakistan was ranked the world’s smoggiest country last year, with concentrations of hazardous small particles known as PM2.5 up to 13 times higher than the recommended World Health Organisation level, research showed yesterday. Swiss air quality monitoring firm IQAir said in its annual report that 13 countries and territories kept average PM2.5 levels at the WHO standard of less than 5 micrograms per cubic metre last year, up from seven in 2024. In total, 130 out of 143 monitored countries and territories failed to meet the WHO guideline. Bangladesh and Tajikistan were second and third on the most polluted list. o Australia, Iceland, Estonia met WHO standards

Helera (left) meets fellow drivers at a terminal in Manila. – AFPPIC

Manila jeepney drivers struggle MANILA: The sun was not quite up as Eric Helera unlocked the doors of his jeepney, wiped down its two long passenger benches, and checked his brake fluid before another day ferrying Manila commuters. “My children ... need money for school projects and stuff like that, and we don’t have it now,” Helera said. A “full breakfast with rice” was now a luxury to be enjoyed on only top earning days, he said.

pump prices, but as a commuter, as a student with a limited budget, it’s difficult,” she said. Helera said the cost of fuel had forced some fellow drivers to abandon the job entirely. “Some went back to their home provinces, others looked for other lines of work .... I’m also considering that option, because we no longer earn anything.” He worried his own options, however, were limited. “Maybe construction. I only went to high school.” And while a government cash handout expected today, the first for embattled jeepney drivers, would be welcome, “5,000 pesos ... won’t carry you that far”, Helera said. “It’s sad,” he said, as his jeepney slowly filled with evening commuters. “It feels as though you want to give up, but you also know you can’t surrender because you have a family.” Helera noted with a sigh that he had yet to reach the “boundary” after nearly 11 hours on the road. “I’ll need to drive into the night.”– AFP

The makeshift minibus named Princess is part of a smoke-belching, colourfully decorated fleet that forms the backbone of a Philippine transport sector. Like most jeepneys, Princess runs on diesel, the cost of which has hit historic highs since the partial closure of the Strait of Hormuz. Helera, 43, is driving shorter routes but longer days in response, working 18 hours to ensure he has something left over after buying fuel and covering “the boundary”, the amount he owes the jeepney’s owner each day. “The margins are really thin now because of the skyrocketing diesel prices,” he said. “Sometimes, I earn less than 500 pesos (about RM31) a day,” he said. “There’s been a huge adjustment at home,” he said of life in the two-storey Manila house he shares with his wife, seven children, and two other families.

“I need 10 passengers or more for each trip. Below that, and I don’t earn anything,” he said, adding the jeepney ran at its full 16 person capacity only half a dozen times a day. Fuel hikes he called the “most severe” he had ever seen had forced him to drop longer routes where the passenger load could not justify the cost of diesel. Yesterday, the price jumped again by around 16%, with prices up to 134.30 pesos per litre at some pumps,. A fare hike authorised by the country’s transport regulator was quashed by President Ferdinand Marcos a day after it was announced. College freshman Juliana Tonelete said that while she sympathised with the plight of drivers, her own financial situation took priority. “I think their reaction is valid given higher