Heavy smog shuts down schools in India’s capital

People venturing outside have reported difficulty breathing, nausea and stinging in the eyes. [Forward to a friend]( | [Subscribe]( | [View in your browser]( [Top of The World]( --------------------------------------------------------------- What The World is following Heavy smog shuts down schools in India’s capital [Commuters drive amidst morning haze and toxic smog as schools and some coal-based power plants close down in New Delhi, India, Nov. 17, 2021.] Credit: Manish Swarup/AP India Schools and colleges [have shut down indefinitely]( in the Indian capital, New Delhi, and several neighboring provinces due to high levels of air pollution that have continued to worsen. Some coal power plants and construction sites have also been closed as the levels of the fine particulate matter PM2.5 are far higher than those considered safe by the WHO. People venturing outside have reported difficulty breathing, nausea and stinging in the eyes, and doctors have seen a sharp increase in hospital admissions due to respiratory problems. Officials are [mulling over whether to impose a lockdown](, similar to those used to control the spread of the coronavirus. If it goes into effect, the lockdown could be the first of its kind to curb pollution. High levels of air pollution are common there, especially during the winter months, making New Delhi one of the most polluted capital cities in the world. Canada Thousands of homes in the Canadian province of British Columbia have been evacuated after what officials are calling the “[worst weather storm in a century](.” It’s also affected areas of the US Pacific Northwest. The flood waters have severely damaged roads and train routes around the city of Vancouver and [have cut access to Canada’s largest port](. Canada’s Minister of Public Safety Mike Farnworth said he had no doubt that the storm was linked to climate change. Moisture that originates in tropical regions and is moved across the atmosphere by an "atmospheric river" [has dumped]( an amount of water equivalent to the region’s monthly precipitation average in just 24 hours. Kenya US Secretary of State [Anthony Blinken is in Kenya](, a key US partner in East Africa. In a private meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta and top country officials, Blinken focused on regional security issues, such as Kenya’s role in easing the conflict in Ethiopia, democracy in Sudan and combating the threat of terrorism in the region. --------------------------------------------------------------- Go behind the scenes with one of our correspondents. Shirin Jaafari, a correspondent with The World since 2015, traveled to Afghanistan in July 2021 to report on the quickly evolving situation as the US withdrawal process was underway. Take a [behind-the-scenes look]( at her reporting from Herat days before the Taliban overtook the city. Putting together stories in hostile environments is time- and resource-intensive. [Make a gift]( today to support the work of Shirin and others here at The World. Thank you! --------------------------------------------------------------- From The World [Migrants restricted from entering the US due to Title 42 see double standard]( [Psychologist Sebastián Farías speaks with asylum-seekers inside a migrant encampment on Nov. 6, 2021.]( Credit: Max Rivlin-Nadler/The World The US has reopened its land borders to vaccinated travelers, but not to many asylum-seekers, even if they are vaccinated. This reality is leaving migrants in Tijuana, Mexico, [increasingly desperate]( for their chance to seek asylum in the US. 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