Late last month, Indonesia saw the return of its infamous forest fires that occur each year producing toxic, choking smog in the form of haze as the rainy season trails off. The fires this time have broken out in the four provinces of South Sumatra, Riau, West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan. Twenty-three of the 90 hotspots recorded across the country were in West Kalimantan, where thick smoke blanketed the provincial capital Pontianak and disrupted flights.

The recent hike in coal tax in the Philippines by the Bicameral Conference Committee approving the adjustment of tax on coal from P10 per ton in 1977-2017, to P50 in 2018, P100 in 2019, and P150 in 2020, have sparked debate amongst experts and consumers.

While the Sumatran rhino, Dicerorhinus sumatrensis, once roamed the foothills of the eastern Himalayas in Bhutan and India, through Myanmar, Thailand, possibly to Vietnam and China, and south through the Malay Peninsula, the species in now found in diminutive populations on the island of Sumatra in Indonesia.These scattered populations are mainly confined to Gunung Leuser, Kerinci-Seblat and Bukit Barisan Selatan National Parks.