PM urges Indonesia to tackle fires

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has called on Indonesia to take action against people setting fires that have caused choking smoke to drift across the region, with the sky over southern Thailand the latest to be clouded by the pollution.

Indonesia has come under pressure in the past few weeks to contain the annual haze crisis, which is caused by slash-and-burn agriculture on Sumatra island and its part of Borneo island.

Companies seeking to clear land for palm oil and pulp wood plantations have been accused of encouraging the fires that often smoulder for weeks in underground peat deposits.