Chinese diplomat Wang Kejian met Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar, China’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, the first meeting between a Chinese and Hamas official publicly acknowledged by Beijing since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.

The meeting follows visits from Wang to Israel and the occupied West Bank – making him the first known envoy Beijing has sent to either location since Hamas’ deadly October 7 attacks and the ensuing Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

Wang and Haniyeh “exchanged views on the Gaza conflict and other issues” during their meeting Sunday, according to a brief readout from China’s Foreign Ministry Tuesday.

Haniyeh stressed in the meeting “the need to quickly stop the aggression and massacres,” for the Israeli military to withdraw from Gaza, and “achieve the political goals and aspirations of establishing an independent Palestinian state,” according to a press release from the Hamas government media office. Chinese Ambassador to Qatar Cao Xiaolin was also present at the meeting, the statement said.

Haniyeh “praised the role played by China in the Security Council, the United Nations, and the International Court of Justice,” the Hamas statement said, referring to Beijing’s recent diplomacy related to the war.

The militant group also said they had met with Cao late last month in Qatar. China’s Foreign Ministry and its embassy in Qatar did not release any information about that meeting.

Wang’s visit comes as Beijing aims to step up its profile as a peace broker and has become increasingly vocal in its opposition to the Gaza war.

Wang, a former ambassador to Lebanon, has been in the region since at least March 10 when he met with counterparts in Egypt, before traveling to the West Bank, Israel and Qatar as part of a previously unannounced trip in which the war in Gaza has been high on the agenda.

Fighting began on October 7 when Hamas carried out a deadly attack on Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages, according to Israel. Israeli forces have since launched months of ongoing bombardment and ground operations in the Hamas-ruled enclave of Gaza, where the death toll stands higher than 31,000, according to the Ministry of Health in the strip.

Beijing did not name or condemn Hamas in the wake of the October 7 attacks. Since then, it has condemned the war and been a vocal proponent of an immediate ceasefire and the implementation of a “two-state” solution.

During his visit to the West Bank, Wang met with the Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki, where the Chinese envoy said Beijing is “deeply concerned” about the conflict in Gaza.

He also pledged to work with the international community to “swiftly extinguish the flames of war” and achieve a “comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian question based on a two-state solution,” according to a readout from China’s Foreign Ministry.

In a subsequent visit to Israel Thursday, Wang met with Israeli foreign affairs officials, stating that the top priority is a “comprehensive ceasefire, cessation of the war, guarantee of humanitarian aid and protection of civilians,” a separate Chinese readout said.

China dispatched Zhai Jun, a special envoy for the Middle East, to the region in the weeks following the October 7 attack and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held meetings in Egypt at the start of the year, but neither were confirmed to have visited the Palestinian Territories or Israel.

Chinese officials have had other contact with Israeli and Palestinian officials since the start of the war, including when Beijing hosted a delegation from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, the Palestinian National Authority, and Indonesia in November.

Solidarity with Global South

Beijing has also used the war as a platform to showcase its solidarity with the Arab world and Global South, while positioning its views as in opposition to those of the United States.

Speaking to reporters in Beijing earlier this month, Foreign Minister Wang said the failure to end the humanitarian disaster in Gaza was a “disgrace for civilization” and he urged the international community to “act promptly to promote an immediate ceasefire as its overriding priority.”

“China supports Palestine’s full membership in the UN, and urges certain UN Security Council member not to lay obstacles to that end,” Wang said in a veiled swipe at Washington, which has backed Israel’s right to retaliate following Hamas’ terror attack.

China has also called for convening an international peace conference and setting a specific timetable for implementing a two-state solution.

Though it is unclear how much sway China has in the region to play a strong role backing such an effort, an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel is consistent with Beijing’s longstanding foreign policy. It was one of the first countries to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state in the late 1980s and has long advocated for a two-state solution.

Beijing’s growing criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians comes as it too has been accused of rights abuses against minorities, particularly in its western Xinjiang region.

The UN’s highest human rights office said “serious human rights violations” that could amount to “crimes against humanity” have been committed against Uyghur and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, where rights groups and researchers have said more than a million people may have been placed in “re-education” camps. Beijing denies committing rights abuses in Xinjiang.

Chinese diplomat Wang Kejian met Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Qatar, China’s Foreign Ministry said Tuesday, the first meeting between a Chinese and Hamas official publicly acknowledged by Beijing since the outbreak of the war in Gaza.

The meeting follows visits from Wang to Israel and the occupied West Bank – making him the first known envoy Beijing has sent to either location since Hamas’ deadly October 7 attacks and the ensuing Israeli bombardment of Gaza.

Wang and Haniyeh “exchanged views on the Gaza conflict and other issues” during their meeting Sunday, according to a brief readout from China’s Foreign Ministry Tuesday.

Haniyeh stressed in the meeting “the need to quickly stop the aggression and massacres,” for the Israeli military to withdraw from Gaza, and “achieve the political goals and aspirations of establishing an independent Palestinian state,” according to a press release from the Hamas government media office. Chinese Ambassador to Qatar Cao Xiaolin was also present at the meeting, the statement said.

Haniyeh “praised the role played by China in the Security Council, the United Nations, and the International Court of Justice,” the Hamas statement said, referring to Beijing’s recent diplomacy related to the war.

The militant group also said they had met with Cao late last month in Qatar. China’s Foreign Ministry and its embassy in Qatar did not release any information about that meeting.

Wang’s visit comes as Beijing aims to step up its profile as a peace broker and has become increasingly vocal in its opposition to the Gaza war.

Wang, a former ambassador to Lebanon, has been in the region since at least March 10 when he met with counterparts in Egypt, before traveling to the West Bank, Israel and Qatar as part of a previously unannounced trip in which the war in Gaza has been high on the agenda.

Fighting began on October 7 when Hamas carried out a deadly attack on Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking some 250 hostages, according to Israel. Israeli forces have since launched months of ongoing bombardment and ground operations in the Hamas-ruled enclave of Gaza, where the death toll stands higher than 31,000, according to the Ministry of Health in the strip.

Beijing did not name or condemn Hamas in the wake of the October 7 attacks. Since then, it has condemned the war and been a vocal proponent of an immediate ceasefire and the implementation of a “two-state” solution.

During his visit to the West Bank, Wang met with the Palestinian Authority’s foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki, where the Chinese envoy said Beijing is “deeply concerned” about the conflict in Gaza.

He also pledged to work with the international community to “swiftly extinguish the flames of war” and achieve a “comprehensive, just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian question based on a two-state solution,” according to a readout from China’s Foreign Ministry.

In a subsequent visit to Israel Thursday, Wang met with Israeli foreign affairs officials, stating that the top priority is a “comprehensive ceasefire, cessation of the war, guarantee of humanitarian aid and protection of civilians,” a separate Chinese readout said.

China dispatched Zhai Jun, a special envoy for the Middle East, to the region in the weeks following the October 7 attack and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held meetings in Egypt at the start of the year, but neither were confirmed to have visited the Palestinian Territories or Israel.

Chinese officials have had other contact with Israeli and Palestinian officials since the start of the war, including when Beijing hosted a delegation from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, the Palestinian National Authority, and Indonesia in November.

Solidarity with Global South

Beijing has also used the war as a platform to showcase its solidarity with the Arab world and Global South, while positioning its views as in opposition to those of the United States.

Speaking to reporters in Beijing earlier this month, Foreign Minister Wang said the failure to end the humanitarian disaster in Gaza was a “disgrace for civilization” and he urged the international community to “act promptly to promote an immediate ceasefire as its overriding priority.”

“China supports Palestine’s full membership in the UN, and urges certain UN Security Council member not to lay obstacles to that end,” Wang said in a veiled swipe at Washington, which has backed Israel’s right to retaliate following Hamas’ terror attack.

China has also called for convening an international peace conference and setting a specific timetable for implementing a two-state solution.

Though it is unclear how much sway China has in the region to play a strong role backing such an effort, an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel is consistent with Beijing’s longstanding foreign policy. It was one of the first countries to recognize Palestine as a sovereign state in the late 1980s and has long advocated for a two-state solution.

Beijing’s growing criticism of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians comes as it too has been accused of rights abuses against minorities, particularly in its western Xinjiang region.

The UN’s highest human rights office said “serious human rights violations” that could amount to “crimes against humanity” have been committed against Uyghur and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang, where rights groups and researchers have said more than a million people may have been placed in “re-education” camps. Beijing denies committing rights abuses in Xinjiang.

All but one of the 100 cities with the world’s worst air pollution last year were in Asia, according to a new report, with the climate crisis playing a pivotal role in bad air quality that is risking the health of billions of people worldwide.

The vast majority of these cities — 83 — were in India and all exceeded the World Health Organization’s air quality guidelines by more than 10 times, according to the report by IQAir, which tracks air quality worldwide.

The study looked specifically at fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, which is the tiniest pollutant but also the most dangerous. Only 9% of more than 7,800 cities analyzed globally recorded air quality that met WHO’s standard, which says average annual levels of PM2.5 should not exceed 5 micrograms per cubic meter.

“We see that in every part of our lives that air pollution has an impact,” said IQAir Global CEO Frank Hammes. “And it typically, in some of the most polluted countries, is likely shaving off anywhere between three to six years of people’s lives. And then before that will lead to many years of suffering that are entirely preventable if there’s better air quality.”

When inhaled, PM2.5 travels deep into lung tissue where it can enter the bloodstream. It comes from sources like the combustion of fossil fuels, dust storms and wildfires, and has been linked to asthma, heart and lung disease, cancer, and other respiratory illnesses, as well as cognitive impairment in children.

Begusarai, a city of half a million people in northern India’s Bihar state, was the world’s most polluted city last year with an average annual PM2.5 concentration of 118.9 — 23 times the WHO guidelines. It was followed in the IQAir rankings by the Indian cities of Guwahati, Assam; Delhi; and Mullanpur, Punjab.

Across India, 1.3 billion people, or 96% of the population, live with air quality seven times higher than WHO guidelines, according to the report.

Central and South Asia were the worst performing regions globally, home to all four of the most polluted countries last year: Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Tajikistan.

South Asia is of particular concern, with 29 of the 30 most polluted cities in India, Pakistan or Bangladesh. The report ranked the major population centers of Lahore in 5th, New Delhi in 6th and Dhaka in 24th place.

Hammes said no significant improvement in pollution levels in the region is likely without “major changes in terms of the energy infrastructure and agricultural practices.”

“What’s also worrisome in many parts of the world is that the things that are causing outdoor air pollution are also sometimes the things that are causing indoor air pollution,” he added. “So cooking with dirty fuel will create indoor exposures that could be many times what you’re seeing outdoors.”

A global problem

IQAir found that 92.5% of the 7,812 locations in 134 countries, regions, and territories where it analyzed average air quality last year exceeded WHO’s PM2.5 guidelines.

Only 10 countries and territories had “healthy” air quality: Finland, Estonia, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, Bermuda, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius and French Polynesia.

Millions of people die each year from air pollution-related health issues. Air pollution from fossil fuels is killing 5.1 million people worldwide every year, according to a study published in the BMJ in November. Meanwhile, WHO says 6.7 million people die annually from the combined effects of ambient and household air pollution.

The human-caused climate crisis, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, plays a “pivotal” role in influencing air pollution levels, the IQAir report said.

The climate crisis is altering weather patterns, leading to changes in wind and rainfall, which affects the dispersion of pollutants. Climate change will only make pollution worse as extreme heat becomes more severe and frequent, it said.

The climate crisis is also leading to more severe wildfires in many regions and longer and more intense pollen seasons, both of which exacerbate health issues linked to air pollution.

“We have such a strong overlap of what’s causing our climate crisis and what’s causing air pollution,” Hammes said. “Anything that we can do to reduce air pollution will be tremendously impactful in the long term also for improving our climate gas emissions, and vice versa.”

Regional rankings

North America was badly affected by wildfires that raged in Canada from May to October last year. In May, the monthly average of air pollution in Alberta was nine times greater than the same month in 2022, the report found.

And for the first time, Canada surpassed the United States in the regional pollution rankings.

The wildfires also affected US cities such as Minneapolis and Detroit, where annual pollution averages rose by 30% to 50% compared to the previous year. The most polluted major US city in 2023 was Columbus, Ohio for the second year running. But major cities like Portland, Seattle and Los Angeles experienced significant drops in annual average pollution levels, the report said.

In Asia, however, pollution levels rebounded across much of the region.

China reversed a five-year trend of declining levels of pollution, the report found. Chinese cities used to dominate global rankings of the world’s worst air quality but a raft of clean air policies over the past decade has transformed things for the better.

A study last year had found the campaign meant the average Chinese citizen’s lifespan is now 2.2 years longer. But thick smog returned to Beijing last year, where citizens experienced a 14% increase in the annual average PM2.5 concentration, according to the IQAir report. China’s most polluted city, Hotan, was listed at 14 in the IQAir ranking.

In Southeast Asia, only the Philippines saw a drop in annual pollution levels compared to the previous year, the report found.

Indonesia was the most polluted country in the region, with a 20% increase compared to 2022. Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand all had cities that exceeded WHO PM2.5 guidelines by more than 10 times, according to the report.

Last month, Thai authorities ordered government employees to work from home due to unhealthy levels of pollution in the capital Bangkok and surrounding areas, according to Reuters. On Friday, tourism hot spot Chiang Mai was the world’s most polluted city as toxic smog brought by seasonal agricultural burning blanketed the northern city.

Inequality… and one bright spot

The report also highlighted a worrying inequality: the lack of monitoring stations in countries in Africa, South America and the Middle East, which results in a dearth of air quality data in those regions.

Although Africa saw an improvement in the number of countries included in this year’s report compared with previous years the continent largely remains the most underrepresented. According to IQAir, only 24 of 54 African countries had sufficient data available from their monitoring stations.

Seven African countries were among the new locations included in the 2023 rankings, including Burkina Faso, the world’s fifth most polluted country, and Rwanda, in 15th.

Several countries that ranked high on the most polluted list last year were not included for 2023 due to a lack of available data. They include Chad, which was the most polluted country in 2022.

“There is so much hidden air pollution still on the planet,” said Hammes.

One bright spot is increasing pressure and civic engagement from communities, NGOs, companies, and scientists to monitor air quality.

“Ultimately that’s great because it really shows governments that people do care,” Hammes said.

Hong Kong’s legislature unanimously passed sweeping new powers on Tuesday that critics and analysts warned would align the financial hub’s national security laws more closely with those used on the Chinese mainland and deepen an ongoing crackdown on dissent.

The lengthy national security bill – the first draft ran to 212 pages – was rushed through the city’s opposition-less Legislative Council with unusual haste at the request of city leader John Lee and debated over just 11 days.

Coming into effect on Saturday, the law introduces 39 new national security crimes, adding to an already powerful national security law that was directly imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong in 2020 after huge and sometimes violent democracy protests the year before.

That law has already transformed Hong Kong with authorities jailing dozens of political opponents, forcing civil society groups and outspoken media outlets to disband and transforming the once freewheeling city into one that prioritizes patriotism.

Known locally as Article 23, the new national security legislation covers a raft of new crimes including treason, espionage, external interference and unlawful handling of state secrets, with the most serious offenses punishable by up to life imprisonment.

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Lee described it as a “historical moment for Hong Kong.”

“We … have completed a historical mission, lived up to the trust of the country and did not let the Central government down,” he said, referring to China’s Communist Party leadership in Beijing.

China and Hong Kong’s leaders say the new laws are needed to “plug loopholes” as part of their drive to “restore stability” following the huge 2019 protests. They argue their legislation is similar to other national security laws around the world.

Critics counter that what China’s Communist Party views as national security offences are far broader and more sweeping, often ensnaring political criticism, dissent and even business activity that would not be criminalized elsewhere.

The new legislation also comes as Hong Kong’s government is embarking on a high-profile campaign this year to revive the city’s business credentials after the political crackdown – combined with nearly three years of strict coronavirus controls – sparked an exodus of local and international talent.

‘Chilling effect’

“The Hong Kong authorities are eager to further tighten information control in the city as a corollary of stricter security legislation,” said Eric Lai, research fellow at Georgetown Center for Asian Law, and an expert on Hong Kong’s legal system.

Lai expects a “chilling effect” to deepen across society.

“The business community would be particularly affected by the new ‘theft of state secrets’ and ‘espionage’ offenses,” Lai added.

The new legislation has outlawed “unlawful acquisition,” “possession,” and “disclosure of state secrets,” alongside the crime of “espionage.” Offenders can be jailed for up to 20 years in the most serious circumstance.

Observers say the law’s wording has a broad interpretation for what counts as a state secret.

The definition ranges from a secret “concerning the construction of national defense” and “diplomatic or foreign affair activities” of China to any “major policy decision on affairs” and “the economic or social development” of both Beijing and Hong Kong.

Hung Ho-fung, sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University, said that when social and economic affairs are treated as state secrets, “this is to say it can include anything.”

“With these draconian and not clearly defined clauses, even apolitical business persons can get into trouble and will face the risk of their office being raided and themselves being detained, arrested or placed under exit ban as in many cases in mainland China,” he said.

“This will surely increase the doubt, anxiety, and uncertainty of foreign businesses in Hong Kong.”

In mainland China, national security laws have often ensnared both local and foreign businesses in opaque investigations.

China’s state security authorities raided multiple offices of international advisory firm Capvision last year, part of a broader crackdown on the consulting industry as Beijing tightens control over what it considers sensitive information related to national security.

The law also labels the involvement of “external forces” – a byword for foreign governments and organizations – as an aggravating factor that warrants tougher sentencing.

Amnesty International China director Sarah Brooks said the legislation “delivered another crushing blow to human rights in the city.”

“The authorities have enacted this law in the blink of an eye, killing off any remaining shred of hope that public outcry could counter its most destructive elements,” Brooks said in a statement. “This is a devastating moment for the people of Hong Kong.”

Johannes Hack, President of German Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, said while many German businesses remain committed to Hong Kong, they would like to see Hong Kong maintain its unique position that includes free flow of capital and a common law court system.

“[The law] is making it a bit hard to make the case for our German shareholders that this is Hong Kong and this is different from mainland China,” he said.

That is something Emily Lau, a former pro-democracy lawmaker, also worries about, that what made Hong Kong distinct is fast fading.

“But we are different from the rest of China. But the difference is getting less and less, which is very sad.”

All but one of the 100 cities with the world’s worst air pollution last year were in Asia, according to a new report, with the climate crisis playing a pivotal role in bad air quality that is risking the health of billions of people worldwide.

The vast majority of these cities — 83 — were in India and all exceeded the World Health Organization’s air quality guidelines by more than 10 times, according to the report by IQAir, which tracks air quality worldwide.

The study looked specifically at fine particulate matter, or PM2.5, which is the tiniest pollutant but also the most dangerous. Only 9% of more than 7,800 cities analyzed globally recorded air quality that met WHO’s standard, which says average annual levels of PM2.5 should not exceed 5 micrograms per cubic meter.

“We see that in every part of our lives that air pollution has an impact,” said IQAir Global CEO Frank Hammes. “And it typically, in some of the most polluted countries, is likely shaving off anywhere between three to six years of people’s lives. And then before that will lead to many years of suffering that are entirely preventable if there’s better air quality.”

When inhaled, PM2.5 travels deep into lung tissue where it can enter the bloodstream. It comes from sources like the combustion of fossil fuels, dust storms and wildfires, and has been linked to asthma, heart and lung disease, cancer, and other respiratory illnesses, as well as cognitive impairment in children.

Begusarai, a city of half a million people in northern India’s Bihar state, was the world’s most polluted city last year with an average annual PM2.5 concentration of 118.9 — 23 times the WHO guidelines. It was followed in the IQAir rankings by the Indian cities of Guwahati, Assam; Delhi; and Mullanpur, Punjab.

Across India, 1.3 billion people, or 96% of the population, live with air quality seven times higher than WHO guidelines, according to the report.

Central and South Asia were the worst performing regions globally, home to all four of the most polluted countries last year: Bangladesh, Pakistan, India and Tajikistan.

South Asia is of particular concern, with 29 of the 30 most polluted cities in India, Pakistan or Bangladesh. The report ranked the major population centers of Lahore in 5th, New Delhi in 6th and Dhaka in 24th place.

Hammes said no significant improvement in pollution levels in the region is likely without “major changes in terms of the energy infrastructure and agricultural practices.”

“What’s also worrisome in many parts of the world is that the things that are causing outdoor air pollution are also sometimes the things that are causing indoor air pollution,” he added. “So cooking with dirty fuel will create indoor exposures that could be many times what you’re seeing outdoors.”

A global problem

IQAir found that 92.5% of the 7,812 locations in 134 countries, regions, and territories where it analyzed average air quality last year exceeded WHO’s PM2.5 guidelines.

Only 10 countries and territories had “healthy” air quality: Finland, Estonia, Puerto Rico, Australia, New Zealand, Bermuda, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius and French Polynesia.

Millions of people die each year from air pollution-related health issues. Air pollution from fossil fuels is killing 5.1 million people worldwide every year, according to a study published in the BMJ in November. Meanwhile, WHO says 6.7 million people die annually from the combined effects of ambient and household air pollution.

The human-caused climate crisis, driven by the burning of fossil fuels, plays a “pivotal” role in influencing air pollution levels, the IQAir report said.

The climate crisis is altering weather patterns, leading to changes in wind and rainfall, which affects the dispersion of pollutants. Climate change will only make pollution worse as extreme heat becomes more severe and frequent, it said.

The climate crisis is also leading to more severe wildfires in many regions and longer and more intense pollen seasons, both of which exacerbate health issues linked to air pollution.

“We have such a strong overlap of what’s causing our climate crisis and what’s causing air pollution,” Hammes said. “Anything that we can do to reduce air pollution will be tremendously impactful in the long term also for improving our climate gas emissions, and vice versa.”

Regional rankings

North America was badly affected by wildfires that raged in Canada from May to October last year. In May, the monthly average of air pollution in Alberta was nine times greater than the same month in 2022, the report found.

And for the first time, Canada surpassed the United States in the regional pollution rankings.

The wildfires also affected US cities such as Minneapolis and Detroit, where annual pollution averages rose by 30% to 50% compared to the previous year. The most polluted major US city in 2023 was Columbus, Ohio for the second year running. But major cities like Portland, Seattle and Los Angeles experienced significant drops in annual average pollution levels, the report said.

In Asia, however, pollution levels rebounded across much of the region.

China reversed a five-year trend of declining levels of pollution, the report found. Chinese cities used to dominate global rankings of the world’s worst air quality but a raft of clean air policies over the past decade has transformed things for the better.

A study last year had found the campaign meant the average Chinese citizen’s lifespan is now 2.2 years longer. But thick smog returned to Beijing last year, where citizens experienced a 14% increase in the annual average PM2.5 concentration, according to the IQAir report. China’s most polluted city, Hotan, was listed at 14 in the IQAir ranking.

In Southeast Asia, only the Philippines saw a drop in annual pollution levels compared to the previous year, the report found.

Indonesia was the most polluted country in the region, with a 20% increase compared to 2022. Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand all had cities that exceeded WHO PM2.5 guidelines by more than 10 times, according to the report.

Last month, Thai authorities ordered government employees to work from home due to unhealthy levels of pollution in the capital Bangkok and surrounding areas, according to Reuters. On Friday, tourism hot spot Chiang Mai was the world’s most polluted city as toxic smog brought by seasonal agricultural burning blanketed the northern city.

Inequality… and one bright spot

The report also highlighted a worrying inequality: the lack of monitoring stations in countries in Africa, South America and the Middle East, which results in a dearth of air quality data in those regions.

Although Africa saw an improvement in the number of countries included in this year’s report compared with previous years the continent largely remains the most underrepresented. According to IQAir, only 24 of 54 African countries had sufficient data available from their monitoring stations.

Seven African countries were among the new locations included in the 2023 rankings, including Burkina Faso, the world’s fifth most polluted country, and Rwanda, in 15th.

Several countries that ranked high on the most polluted list last year were not included for 2023 due to a lack of available data. They include Chad, which was the most polluted country in 2022.

“There is so much hidden air pollution still on the planet,” said Hammes.

One bright spot is increasing pressure and civic engagement from communities, NGOs, companies, and scientists to monitor air quality.

“Ultimately that’s great because it really shows governments that people do care,” Hammes said.

Bolsonaro’s closest aide, Lieutenant-Colonel Mauro Cid, and 15 others were also indicted for allegedly participating in the same scheme.

Bolsonaro’s lawyer, Fabio Wajngarten, called the indictment “absurd.”

“The whole world knows (Bolsonaro’s) personal opinion on the subject of vaccination,” he wrote on X. “While serving as president, he was completely exempt from presenting any type of certificate on his trips.”

Last May, Brazilian Police carried out a search and seizure in Bolsonaro’s home in Brasilia in connection with the suspected falsified vaccination data.

At the time, Bolsonaro told reporters he had not been vaccinated against Covid-19 and that his vaccination card had not been tampered with.

Brazil’s Prosecutor’s Office will now have to determine if they move forward with the indictment.

Bolsonaro was widely criticized at home and abroad for downplaying the severity of the virus during the pandemic, including discouraging people from getting vaccinated, despite Brazil battling a severe coronavirus outbreak.

In 2021, he publicly flouted a UN requirement that required foreign delegations to be vaccinated before entering its headquarters in New York. Multiple members of his delegation later tested positive for the virus.

The indictment comes as Bolsonaro faces mounting legal challenges, including an investigation into an alleged attempted coup plot to keep him in power after he lost the 2022 presidential election. Several former ministers who served in Bolsonaro’s government are also being investigated and some of his aides have been arrested.

After Bolsonaro lost the election by a narrow margin to leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his supporters rioted and broke into government buildings in Brasilia on January 8, 2023. Bolsonaro has denied inciting the violent attacks in the capital.

Last year, Bolsonaro was barred from running for political office until 2030 by the country’s highest electoral court for abusing his power and misusing public media during the 2022 election campaign.

Hong Kong’s legislature unanimously passed sweeping new powers on Tuesday that critics and analysts warned would align the financial hub’s national security laws more closely with those used on the Chinese mainland and deepen an ongoing crackdown on dissent.

The lengthy national security bill – the first draft ran to 212 pages – was rushed through the city’s opposition-less Legislative Council with unusual haste at the request of city leader John Lee and debated over just 11 days.

Coming into effect on Saturday, the law introduces 39 new national security crimes, adding to an already powerful national security law that was directly imposed by Beijing on Hong Kong in 2020 after huge and sometimes violent democracy protests the year before.

That law has already transformed Hong Kong with authorities jailing dozens of political opponents, forcing civil society groups and outspoken media outlets to disband and transforming the once freewheeling city into one that prioritizes patriotism.

Known locally as Article 23, the new national security legislation covers a raft of new crimes including treason, espionage, external interference and unlawful handling of state secrets, with the most serious offenses punishable by up to life imprisonment.

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Lee described it as a “historical moment for Hong Kong.”

“We … have completed a historical mission, lived up to the trust of the country and did not let the Central government down,” he said, referring to China’s Communist Party leadership in Beijing.

China and Hong Kong’s leaders say the new laws are needed to “plug loopholes” as part of their drive to “restore stability” following the huge 2019 protests. They argue their legislation is similar to other national security laws around the world.

Critics counter that what China’s Communist Party views as national security offences are far broader and more sweeping, often ensnaring political criticism, dissent and even business activity that would not be criminalized elsewhere.

The new legislation also comes as Hong Kong’s government is embarking on a high-profile campaign this year to revive the city’s business credentials after the political crackdown – combined with nearly three years of strict coronavirus controls – sparked an exodus of local and international talent.

‘Chilling effect’

“The Hong Kong authorities are eager to further tighten information control in the city as a corollary of stricter security legislation,” said Eric Lai, research fellow at Georgetown Center for Asian Law, and an expert on Hong Kong’s legal system.

Lai expects a “chilling effect” to deepen across society.

“The business community would be particularly affected by the new ‘theft of state secrets’ and ‘espionage’ offenses,” Lai added.

The new legislation has outlawed “unlawful acquisition,” “possession,” and “disclosure of state secrets,” alongside the crime of “espionage.” Offenders can be jailed for up to 20 years in the most serious circumstance.

Observers say the law’s wording has a broad interpretation for what counts as a state secret.

The definition ranges from a secret “concerning the construction of national defense” and “diplomatic or foreign affair activities” of China to any “major policy decision on affairs” and “the economic or social development” of both Beijing and Hong Kong.

Hung Ho-fung, sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University, said that when social and economic affairs are treated as state secrets, “this is to say it can include anything.”

“With these draconian and not clearly defined clauses, even apolitical business persons can get into trouble and will face the risk of their office being raided and themselves being detained, arrested or placed under exit ban as in many cases in mainland China,” he said.

“This will surely increase the doubt, anxiety, and uncertainty of foreign businesses in Hong Kong.”

In mainland China, national security laws have often ensnared both local and foreign businesses in opaque investigations.

China’s state security authorities raided multiple offices of international advisory firm Capvision last year, part of a broader crackdown on the consulting industry as Beijing tightens control over what it considers sensitive information related to national security.

The law also labels the involvement of “external forces” – a byword for foreign governments and organizations – as an aggravating factor that warrants tougher sentencing.

Amnesty International China director Sarah Brooks said the legislation “delivered another crushing blow to human rights in the city.”

“The authorities have enacted this law in the blink of an eye, killing off any remaining shred of hope that public outcry could counter its most destructive elements,” Brooks said in a statement. “This is a devastating moment for the people of Hong Kong.”

Johannes Hack, President of German Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, said while many German businesses remain committed to Hong Kong, they would like to see Hong Kong maintain its unique position that includes free flow of capital and a common law court system.

“[The law] is making it a bit hard to make the case for our German shareholders that this is Hong Kong and this is different from mainland China,” he said.

That is something Emily Lau, a former pro-democracy lawmaker, also worries about, that what made Hong Kong distinct is fast fading.

“But we are different from the rest of China. But the difference is getting less and less, which is very sad.”

Astronomers are expecting a “new star” to appear in the night sky anytime between now and September, and it promises to be a once-in-a-lifetime celestial sight, according to NASA.

The expected brightening event, known as a nova, will occur in the Milky Way’s Corona Borealis, or Northern Crown constellation, which is located between the Boötes and Hercules constellations.

While a supernova is the explosive death of a massive star, a nova refers to the sudden, brief explosion from a collapsed star known as a white dwarf.

T Coronae Borealis, otherwise known as the “Blaze Star,” is a binary system in the Corona Borealis that includes a dead white dwarf star and an aging red giant star. Red giants form when stars have exhausted their supply of hydrogen for nuclear fusion and begin to die. In about 5 billion or 6 billion years, our sun will become a red giant, puffing up and expanding as it releases layers of material and likely evaporating the solar system’s inner planets, although Earth’s fate remains unclear, according to NASA.

Every 79 years or so, T Coronae Borealis experiences an explosive event.

The stars in the orbiting pair are close enough to each other that they interact violently. The red giant becomes increasingly unstable over time as it heats up, casting off its outer layers that land as matter on the white dwarf star.

The exchange of matter causes the atmosphere of the white dwarf to gradually heat until it experiences a “runaway thermonuclear reaction,” resulting in a nova as seen in the animation below, according to the space agency.

Keeping an eye on the changing sky

T Coronae Borealis last experienced an explosive outburst in 1946, and astronomers are keeping a watchful eye on the star system once more.

“Most novae happen unexpectedly, without warning,” said William J. Cooke, NASA Meteoroid Environments Office lead, in an email. “However, T Coronae Borealis is one of 10 recurring novae in the galaxy. We know from the last eruption back in 1946 that the star will get dimmer for just over a year before rapidly increasing in brightness. T Coronae Borealis began to dim in March of last year, so some researchers are expecting it to go nova between now and September. But the uncertainty as to when this will happen is several months — can’t do better than that with what we know now.”

The star system, located 3,000 light-years from Earth and typically too dim to be seen with the naked eye, is expected to reach a level of brightness similar to that of Polaris, or the North Star.

Once the nova peaks in brightness, it will be as if a new star has appeared — one that’s visible for a few days without any equipment and a little over a week with binoculars before it dims and disappears from sight for another 80 years or so.

The nova will appear in a small arc between the Boötes and Hercules constellations, and will be visible from the Northern Hemisphere.

Astronomers will observe the nova using the Hubble Space Telescope and study the celestial event through X-ray and ultraviolet light using the space-based Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory.

“Studying recurring novae like T Coronae Borealis help us understand the mass transfer between the stars in these systems and provide insights into the thermonuclear runaway that occurs on the surface of the white dwarf when the star goes nova,” Cooke said.

The NASAUniverse account on X, formerly known as Twitter, will provide updates about the outburst and its appearance.

Cooke recalled that the last nova he witnessed — Nova Cygni in 1975 — had a similar brightness to what is expected from T Coronae Borealis. Nova Cygni is not expected to experience another explosion again.

“I was a teenage astronomy geek about to start college and was outside on the night of August 29,” Cooke said. “Glancing at the sky, I noticed that the constellation of Cygnus was messed up; there was a star that shouldn’t be there. After enduring some comments from friends who thought I was crazy, I got them to look and we realized that we were looking at a nova! It was a very memorable experience and reinforced my choice of astronomy as a career. I used to joke that a star had to explode in order to get me to suffer through undergraduate physics.”

Bolsonaro’s closest aide, Lieutenant-Colonel Mauro Cid, and 15 others were also indicted for allegedly participating in the same scheme.

Bolsonaro’s lawyer, Fabio Wajngarten, called the indictment “absurd.”

“The whole world knows (Bolsonaro’s) personal opinion on the subject of vaccination,” he wrote on X. “While serving as president, he was completely exempt from presenting any type of certificate on his trips.”

Last May, Brazilian Police carried out a search and seizure in Bolsonaro’s home in Brasilia in connection with the suspected falsified vaccination data.

At the time, Bolsonaro told reporters he had not been vaccinated against Covid-19 and that his vaccination card had not been tampered with.

Brazil’s Prosecutor’s Office will now have to determine if they move forward with the indictment.

Bolsonaro was widely criticized at home and abroad for downplaying the severity of the virus during the pandemic, including discouraging people from getting vaccinated, despite Brazil battling a severe coronavirus outbreak.

In 2021, he publicly flouted a UN requirement that required foreign delegations to be vaccinated before entering its headquarters in New York. Multiple members of his delegation later tested positive for the virus.

The indictment comes as Bolsonaro faces mounting legal challenges, including an investigation into an alleged attempted coup plot to keep him in power after he lost the 2022 presidential election. Several former ministers who served in Bolsonaro’s government are also being investigated and some of his aides have been arrested.

After Bolsonaro lost the election by a narrow margin to leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, his supporters rioted and broke into government buildings in Brasilia on January 8, 2023. Bolsonaro has denied inciting the violent attacks in the capital.

Last year, Bolsonaro was barred from running for political office until 2030 by the country’s highest electoral court for abusing his power and misusing public media during the 2022 election campaign.