MILLIONS are choking on toxic air and struggling to breathe in the world’s most polluted city, with the streets enveloped in thick smog.
Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, is being suffocated by hazardous, cancer-causing air particles sparked by miles of burning rubbish and heavy traffic.
The city’s air is so dire that it has been ranked as the world’s most polluted city, with six times higher pollution levels than London.
Conditions are so bad that Hanoi’s nine million residents are warned to wear masks and limit their time outdoors.
Health officials say that those who frequently breathe the world’s worst-quality air are at risk of strokes, asthma, heart disease and lung cancer.
Resident Nguyen Ninh Huong, 21, said she initially mistook the thick smog enveloping the city’s skyscrapers for fog.
She said: “At first I thought it was foggy … but later I found out that it is actually fine dusts that reduce my vision and make me feel like it is not healthy to breathe.”
The nation, one of Asia’s fastest-growing economies, has battled severe air pollution challenges for many years.
However, residents feel the poor air quality has recently become even more toxic.
Resident Luu Minh Duc, 64, said: “We, the elderly, can feel it very clearly when we suffer from respiratory problems that lead to breathing difficulties,” she said
The densely-populated capitals pollution levels are over 50 times higher than recommended guidelines.
Hazardous small particles known as PM2.5 reached a staggering 266 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m³) in Hanoi on early Friday, according to AirVisual, which provides daily independent global air pollution information through a mobile app.
PM2.5 are cancer-causing microparticles small enough to be absorbed into the bloodstream through the lungs.
Other severe air pollutants include nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which can cause chest pain, bronchitis and asthma.
During a meeting with the transport ministry on Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha emphasised the urgent need to transition to electric vehicles.
Tien Phong newspaper reported Ha stating: “This is the responsibility of the state to the people, and there must be specific and timely actions,”
City authorities aim for at least 50% of buses and 100% of taxis to be electric vehicles by 2030.
Following Hanoi on the list of the most polluted cities are Delhi in India, Sarajevo in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Dhaka in Bangladesh.
Europe’s most polluted city is Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia.
LUKE LITTLER has revealed his main targets for 2025 after clinching World Championship glory.
The 17-year-old became the youngest ever winner of the competition when he smashed Michael van Gerwen 7-3 in last Friday’s final.
Littler’s place in this year’s Premier League was confirmed on Monday and he wants to become the first person to join MVG and Phil Taylor on the list of players to life the trophy twice in a row.
The Nuke told Sky Sports: “If I can go back-to-back, it would mean the world.
“Leading up to it (last year), I thought if I could be in the top four, I’d be happy, but obviously, I finished first because of the way I played.
“But I will just have the same mindset going into it, if you make the play-offs, that is all that matters and just give it your all at the O2.”
Littler hit a nine-darter in last year’s Prem final against Luke Humphries and it would be a dream come true to complete one at Ally Pally.
He said: “I would have loved to hit a nine-darter in the World Championships.
“Obviously that is another record that I can try and break for years and years.
“When you’re playing so good, you can feel the nine coming.”
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Littler also revealed that he wants to win more titles than the ten he managed last year, including the World Cup when he partners Humphries for England in his tournament debut in June.
Becoming world champion helped him close the gap to Cool Hand in the PDC Order of Merit, but the world No1 remains £600,000 ahead.
Littler has aspirations of catching up to Humphries but admitted “it is a hell of a lot of money” to win.
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TALKS are taking place to bring Scotland matches back onto free-to-air television.
The new director of BBC Scotland has insisted she is desperate for the state broadcaster to show the national team on a regular basis once again, amid growing pressure to make games available for free.
Hayley Valentine took on the role from Steve Carson in November 2024 and was giving evidence today about the subject of screening Scotland games at the Scottish Affairs Committee at Westminster.
She conceded that acquiring the rights to show the matches isn’t cheap and that the BBC is constantly having to work against financial constraints.
Ms Valentine told MPs: “I know how important sport is to Scottish audiences. I’m a big football fan, these moments are huge for us, and of course we would love to have the men‘s internationals.
“These things are not cheap and we have to think about value for money in all of our decision-making.
“In order to pay for one thing, there is no extra money, so what are we not doing to fund something else?
“I don’t really want to go much further than that because there are some live discussions going on, but of course I would be delighted if we could bring those to free-to-air audience.”
She also revealed the BBC will cover the Commonwealth Games when they come back to Glasgow in 2026.
She added: “Conversations going on about rights, which I can’t go into…
“The financial position is not easy for us to manage, we have some difficult choices to make.”
Scottish Greens MSP Gillian Mackay said news of talks on Scotland games would “be welcomed by football fans all over Scotland, who want to back our team but are being priced out of it”.
Ms Mackay said: “I hope that these talks succeed and that we are able to get our national team out from behind a paywall.
“Sport should be for everyone, and I want as many young people as possible to be able to grow up watching their heroes in action. That can help us to ensure that our next generation of footballers can feel inspired and dream of playing for their country.
“Many countries already ensure their games are free to view. It would be great if 2025 is the year that Scotland can finally join them.”
Louise Thornton, BBC Scotland’s head of multi-platform commissioning, defended the performance of the BBC Scotland channel amid concerns over declining viewer numbers.
She admitted there has been a decline in “linear” viewing (people watching programmes as they are broadcast) but reiterated that the BBC’s iPlayer platform has meant plenty of content is still being consumed by Scottish audiences – and is even offsetting that decline.
Ms Thornton said: “The prominence of Scottish content on iPlayer has improved massively, and we are getting more programmes on the front of iPlayer than ever.
“Although the linear decline we are seeing is a concern, it is just a reality. For me the growth in iPlayer is offsetting that, particularly for Scottish content.”
Ms Thornton added” iPlayer is absolutely the future of where audiences are going, so we need to keep our eyes on the growth there.”
In the recent run of Uefa Nations League matches, Scotland games ended up being shown on a variety of outlets including subscription packages, terrestrial TV and online.
Viaplay and ITV4 showed fixtures on TV by then ViaPlay decided to show matches on YouTube only.
BBC Scotland showed the Northern Ireland and Finland games for free in the run-up to the Euros.
ViaPlay, which has undergone a re-brand in the UK to Premier Sports, currently has a contract to show Scotland games until 2028.
But there has been a push from SNP ministers to put the games on free-to-air TV, as they were before Sky Sports acquired the rights.
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