Health

ASEAN foreign ministers are expected to discuss the transboundary haze at an upcoming meeting. The episode highlights longstanding regional tensions over the annual haze, which has strained diplomatic relations in previous severe seasons such as 2015.

Earlier assessments have similarly stressed that without accelerated action, high levels of hunger could persist for generations in the most affected regions.

The Commission stresses that these threats are not distant or abstract. Some already impose heavy burdens; others carry low-probability but catastrophic potential.

Health officials have acknowledged that traditional approaches have not fully resolved the stunting puzzle and are exploring new measures.

Patient advocacy groups and state regulators have broadly welcomed the direction of travel, while noting that margin caps alone cannot solve every affordability challenge.

Bhutan’s experience offers a cautionary tale for other countries experimenting with or contemplating strict tobacco controls.

Analyses have flagged the potential for El Niño to push food inflation into double digits in import-dependent economies, compounding pressures on households still recovering from earlier crises.

The human cost is measured not only in the 27 confirmed deaths and four missing, but also in the 1,082 families whose homes or livelihoods have been disrupted at a moment when many were still recovering from August’s far larger trauma.