Haze from forest fires covers Jakarta on September 20 (Photo: AFP/VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – The area of land destroyed by forestfires in Indonesia in the first nine months of 2019 has exceeded that duringall of 2018, statistics show.
Raffles Panjaitan, forest fire management actingdirector at the Forestry and Environment Ministry of Indonesia, said on October21 that by the end of September, a total of 857,756ha of land had been burned,higher than the 529,267ha in 2018.
The area burned surged from over 328,000ha thatwas devastated by forest fires between January and August, he said, adding thatthe size of such area is forecast to continue expanding this month, althoughnot as drastic as last month’s.
Fire fighting still continues to preventescalation, the official noted.
Indonesia has spent months to battle forestfires in Sumatra and Borneo that have caused thick haze which drifted overneighbouring Malaysia and Singapore.
Rain has started falling in some areas onSumatra which offered some respite, but the rainy season is not expected tofully arrive until around mid-November.
Forest and peat fires, typically taking place inSumatra and Borneo, are often linked to slash-and-burn practices to clear areasfor palm cultivation./.
The number of Indonesians suffering respiratory problems or ISPA caused by smoke from forest and peatland fires blanketing parts of Borneo and Sumatra in the past few months has reached over 919,000, according to Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Agus Wibowo.
The current international system is such that nothing could be done to compel Indonesia to deal with its forest fires, which is affecting the region, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has said.
The Indonesian Finance Ministry is mulling providing additional funding of 1.6 trillion Rp proposed by the local National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) to handle ongoing forest fires.
Indonesian people risk having their life expectancy shaved off by four years on average due to exposure to dangerous particulate matter caused by the haze from forest fires, according to the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago.
In his article, Oscar Sanchez Serra highlighted President Ho Chi Minh’s founding of the Thanh Nien (Young People) newspaper on June 21, 1925, which marked the birth of Vietnam's revolutionary press rooted in a bold and far-sighted vision.
Several ASEAN meetings are scheduled to take place in Port Dickson this September, including the Senior Officials' Meeting (SOM) for ASEAN Plus Three (APT), the East Asia Summit (EAS), the 15th ASEAN Maritime Forum, and the 13th Expanded ASEAN Maritime Forum.
Thailand's Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has ordered the urgent implementation of a national policy to crack down on all forms of call centre scams, online fraud, and illegal gambling, which are now considered threats to national security.
Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto and EAEU Trade Minister Andrey Slepnev jointly declared the conclusion of FTA talks on the sidelines of the 28th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2025), according to the statement.
The article stressed that throughout his revolutionary career, the founder of modern Vietnam consistently regarded the revolutionary press as a vital part of the Vietnamese Party’s and nation’s revolutionary struggle.
Pichai said the trade talks with the US are important and need to move forward professionally, without regard for any political changes in Thailand, believing that Thailand has clear principles, guidelines and procedures in place.
The tax adjustment supports the Malaysian Government’s strategy to reduce reliance on foreign food supply chains and to assist domestic farmers, a finance official has said.
The proposed venue is located in the Chatuchak area of Bangkok, featuring eight public sites, including Krungthep Aphiwat Central Terminal and several nearby parks.
Connectivity is expected to improve further with the completion of the fifth Laos–Thailand Friendship Bridge by the end of 2025, facilitating logistics and agricultural exports to Vietnam, Thailand, and China.
Two naval gunboats intercepted a fishing vessel carrying 1.5 tonnes of methamphetamine hydrochloride off the coast of the main island of Luzon just before dawn, in a joint operation with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
In the today context of socio-economic development and growth, the professionalism of Vietnam’s revolutionary journalists continues to rise, guided by exemplary mastery of new information technologies and the modernisation of their founding principles to preserve the enduring values of revolutionary journalism.
Thai Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce Vuttikrai Leewiraphan Thailand's formal proposal will be substantial enough for the US to consider further detailed negotiations. He hoped for a tariff rate not exceeding 10% and suggested that the US might extend the negotiation period if an agreement is not reached by the July 8 deadline.
Organised by the Ministry of Culture and the Association of Thai Silk & Culture Promotions, the event honors Her Majesty the Queen on her 47th birthday anniversary and promotes Thai craftsmanship on an international stage.
Prensa Latina's recent article on Vietnam’s assurance of smooth and effective transition to a leaner structure highlighted Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s latest directions on implementing 28 resolutions regarding the decentralisation and delegation of authority.
The lab focuses on four key thematic areas: energy transition and green innovation, sustainable agriculture, circular economy and sustainable cities, and nature-based solutions and biodiversity.
The key content of the document titled "Accelerating Innovative Strategies: Addressing the OOSCY Challenges" will be refined further in a seminar preceding the 47th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur this October.
This follows Telegram’s serious failure to address the content that has been repeatedly reported to them, despite various efforts of negotiation and cooperation made by MCMC, it said.
Haze from forest fires covers Jakarta on September 20 (Photo: AFP/VNA) 
