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Thai Tourist Hotspot Chiang Mai Tops World's Most Polluted Cities

Thai tourist hotspot Chiang Mai was blanketed by hazy smog Friday, as residents and visitors to the usually picturesque northern city were left wheezing in the toxic air. Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP
Thai tourist hotspot Chiang Mai was blanketed by hazy smog Friday, as residents and visitors to the usually picturesque northern city were left wheezing in the toxic air. Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP
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Thai Tourist Hotspot Chiang Mai Tops World's Most Polluted Cities

Thai tourist hotspot Chiang Mai was blanketed by hazy smog Friday, as residents and visitors to the usually picturesque northern city were left wheezing in the toxic air. Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP
Thai tourist hotspot Chiang Mai was blanketed by hazy smog Friday, as residents and visitors to the usually picturesque northern city were left wheezing in the toxic air. Lillian SUWANRUMPHA / AFP

Thai tourist hotspot Chiang Mai was blanketed by hazy smog Friday, as residents and visitors to the usually picturesque northern city were left wheezing in the toxic air.
The city topped air monitoring website IQAir's table of the world's most polluted cities early Friday.
Levels of PM2.5 pollutants -- cancer-causing microparticles small enough to enter the bloodstream through the lungs -- were classified as "very unhealthy" and hit more than 35 times the World Health Organization's annual guideline.
"It's very high. All I have is this mask which is the same one I used for Covid," orange seller Kamol, 62, told AFP at the city's Warorot Market.
Thailand's former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was recently freed early from a jail sentence for graft and abuse of power following 15 years in self-exile, visited the market on Friday, donning a face mask while he posed for photos with well-wishers.
High levels of pollution frequently hit Thaksin's hometown of Chiang Mai during the early months of the year when farmers often burn crops to clear land, and forest fires and exhaust fumes also add to the problem.
Rising awareness of the health implications has prompted some action from the government, with Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin's cabinet approving a Clean Air Act to tackle the issue in January.
The premier is also due to visit later Friday and is expected to meet with organizations tackling forest fires on Saturday.
But Chiang Mai residents -- like orange seller Kamol, who sighed and shook his head when asked -- said they had received no help.
"I need to get my health checked every year, especially for respiratory diseases," he said.
A government agency warned this month that more official action was needed, saying at least 10 million people required treatment for pollution-related health problems last year.
"The pollution is always high, especially this time of year," said 50-year-old Sariya while shopping for groceries in Chiang Mai.
"There is nothing we can do about it since it's always high."
Sariya, who gave only one name, also said the city's location -- nestled between hills, trapping the toxic smog -- made the situation worse.
But he was "more worried" about people living there with underlying health issues, adding: "We need to help ourselves."
'I'm not afraid'
Last year, sky-rocketing levels of pollution saw international tourists discouraged from visiting, with vendors despairing for business, as the Thai Hotel Association Northern Chapter also warned domestic visitors were canceling bookings.
But in Chiang Mai on Friday, the streets were filled with ambling tourists who seemed unperturbed by the smog.
"I'm not afraid of the pollution," said 32-year-old Chinese tourist Andy, visiting from Chengdu, who said his country also suffered from poor air pollution.
"I just enjoy the city because it's very nice."
French programmer Guillaume Tieufri, 44, said the pollution had not spoilt his four-day trip.
"You just have to go on and live your day."

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Heavy Snow in Poland Leaves Drivers Stranded in Tailbacks of up to 20 Km

Cars drive on a road during heavy snowfall in central Warsaw, Poland, 30 December 2025. (EPA)
Cars drive on a road during heavy snowfall in central Warsaw, Poland, 30 December 2025. (EPA)
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Heavy Snow in Poland Leaves Drivers Stranded in Tailbacks of up to 20 Km

Cars drive on a road during heavy snowfall in central Warsaw, Poland, 30 December 2025. (EPA)
Cars drive on a road during heavy snowfall in central Warsaw, Poland, 30 December 2025. (EPA)

Heavy snowfall in Poland caused tailbacks stretching as far as 20 km (12.43 miles) on a motorway between ​the capital Warsaw and the Baltic port city of Gdansk during the night, police said on Wednesday.

While the situation left hundreds of people trapped in their cars in freezing conditions, by the early hours of ‌Wednesday morning traffic ‌was moving again, ‌according ⁠to ​police.

"The ‌difficult situation began yesterday after 4 p.m., when the first trucks on the S7 route... began having trouble approaching the slopes," said Tomasz Markowski, a spokesperson for police in the northern city of ⁠Olsztyn.

"This led to a traffic jam stretching approximately ‌20 kilometers overnight." Deputy Infrastructure Minister ‍Stanislaw Bukowiec ‍told a press conference that nobody had ‍been hurt as a result of the difficult situation on the roads.

Anna Karczewska, a spokesperson for police in Ostroda, said officers had ​tried to help drivers who found themselves stuck. Ostroda lies on ⁠the highway about 40 km west of Olsztyn.

"We helped as much as we could, and we had coffee and hot tea for the drivers, which the Ostroda City Hall had prepared for us," she said.

State news agency PAP reported that there had also been some disruption to railways and airports, ‌but that services were returning to normal.

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Infant Screen Exposure Shapes Long-Term Brain Changes and Teen Anxiety, Study Finds  

The study concluded that children exposed to high levels of screen time before age two are exposed to endure adolescent mental health. (The University of Queensland)
The study concluded that children exposed to high levels of screen time before age two are exposed to endure adolescent mental health. (The University of Queensland)
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Infant Screen Exposure Shapes Long-Term Brain Changes and Teen Anxiety, Study Finds  

The study concluded that children exposed to high levels of screen time before age two are exposed to endure adolescent mental health. (The University of Queensland)
The study concluded that children exposed to high levels of screen time before age two are exposed to endure adolescent mental health. (The University of Queensland)

Children exposed to high levels of screen time before age two showed changes in brain development that were linked to slower decision-making and increased anxiety by their teenage years, according to new study released by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research in Singapore.

Prepared in collaboration with the National University of Singapore (NUS) Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, the study focuses on infancy, a period when brain development is most rapid and especially sensitive to environmental influences.

The amount and type of screen exposure in infancy are largely determined by parental and caregiver awareness and parenting practices, highlighting a critical window for early guidance and intervention, showed the study, published in eBioMedicine on Tuesday.

It said the researchers followed 168 children before age two and conducted brain scans at three time points (ages 4.5, 6, and 7.5), which allowed them to track how brain networks developed over time rather than relying on a single snapshot.

Children with higher infant screen time showed an accelerated maturation of brain networks responsible for visual processing and cognitive control.

The researchers suggest this may result from the intense sensory stimulation that screens provide. Notably, screen time measured at ages three and four did not show the same effects, underscoring why infancy is a particularly sensitive period.

The study showed that children with high screen exposure, the networks controlling vision and cognition specialized faster, before they had developed the efficient connections needed for complex thinking. This can limit flexibility and resilience, leaving the child less able to adapt later in life.

It said this premature specialization came at a cost: children with these altered brain networks took longer to make decisions during a cognitive task at age 8.5, suggesting reduced cognitive efficiency or flexibility.

Those with slower decision-making, in turn, reported higher anxiety symptoms at age 13. These findings suggest that screen exposure in infancy may have effects that extend well beyond early childhood, shaping brain development and behavior years later.

In a related study, the same team found that infant screen time is also associated with alterations in brain networks that govern emotional regulation — but that parent-child reading could counteract some of these brain changes.

Researchers found that their results give a biological explanation for why limiting screen time in the first two years is crucial.

“But it also highlights the importance of parental engagement, showing that parent-child activities, like reading together, can make a real difference,” said Asst Prof Tan Ai Peng, Clinician-Scientist at NUS, and the study's senior author.

The study concluded that children exposed to high levels of screen time before age two are exposed to endure adolescent mental health, particularly on cognitive performance and anxiety levels.

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Indonesia Raises Alert for Mount Bur Ni Telong Volcano after Spike of Activity

Explosive activity concentrates at the north-east crater of the Mount Etna, as an eruption started on Dec. 24 continues, in Sicily, Italy, Monday Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)
Explosive activity concentrates at the north-east crater of the Mount Etna, as an eruption started on Dec. 24 continues, in Sicily, Italy, Monday Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)
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Indonesia Raises Alert for Mount Bur Ni Telong Volcano after Spike of Activity

Explosive activity concentrates at the north-east crater of the Mount Etna, as an eruption started on Dec. 24 continues, in Sicily, Italy, Monday Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)
Explosive activity concentrates at the north-east crater of the Mount Etna, as an eruption started on Dec. 24 continues, in Sicily, Italy, Monday Dec. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Salvatore Allegra)

Indonesian authorities have raised the alert level for the Mount Bur Ni Telong volcano in the country’s westernmost province of Aceh to its second highest following a series of increased activity and volcanic earthquakes, official said Wednesday.

The 2,624-meter (8,600-foot) stratovolcano in Aceh's Bener Meriah regency recorded at least seven earthquakes on Tuesday evening that were felt about five kilometers (three miles) away, while seismographs also detected seven shallow volcanic earthquakes along with 14 deep quakes and two tectonic quakes, said Lana Saria, the acting head of the Geological Agency at Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.

She said based on the results of visual and instrumental monitoring which show the occurrence of increased volcanic activity for Mount Bur Ni Telong, scientists raised the alert level from the third to the second highest level Tuesday evening.

“Aftershocks following local tectonic events indicate magma activity is easily triggered by tectonic disturbances,” Saria said, adding that the increase in seismic activity has been ongoing since July and became more intense and shallow in the past two months.

According to The Associated Press, the agency's visual monitoring showed the volcano clearly visible with no crater smoke. However, she warned of possible eruption, including phreatic blasts and hazardous volcanic gases near areas with fumaroles and solfataras, openings in the Earth’s crust that emit steam and gases.

Authorities urged residents and visitors to stay at least 4 kilometers (2.4 miles) from the crater and avoid fumarole and solfatara zones during cloudy or rainy weather because gas concentrations can be life-threatening.

The heightened alert came as the Bener Meriah area is still recovering from catastrophic floods and landslides earlier this month that struck 52 cities and regencies on Sumatra island, leaving 1,141 people dead with 163 residents still missing and more than 7,000 injured, the National Disaster Management Agency said. In Bener Meriah alone, 31 people died and 14 are still missing after the floods and landslides hit the regency, disrupting access to remote villages and displacing more than 2,100 residents.

Local media said people living in three villages within a 2-kilometer (1.2-mile) radius from the crater are being evacuated as officials fear that heavy rains combined with volcanic activity could worsen conditions and complicate evacuation efforts.

Indonesia, an archipelago of more than 280 million people, has over 120 active volcanoes. It is prone to volcanic activity because it sits along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.