{
  "id": 13028025,
  "title": "Haze: No blanket closure order for universities, says ministry",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/09/haze-no-blanket-closure-order-for-universities-says-ministry",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-09T04:43:21.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2026/10/1551209/haze-no-blanket-closure-order-universities-says-ministry"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "The Higher Education Ministry in Malaysia cannot order all universities to close due to the haze, as conditions vary across the country, according to its secretary-general Datuk Dr Aminuddin Hassim. He explained that while some areas have good conditions, readings are higher in others, and thus, the same approach cannot be applied everywhere. Each vice-chancellor has been given the authority to decide whether classes should be suspended, and the ministry hopes that activities outside lecture halls will be assessed according to each institution's needs. The ministry issued a media statement and informed all vice-chancellors to monitor the Air Pollutant Index (API) in their respective areas, with haze conditions continuing to worsen, with the number of areas recording unhealthy API readings rising from 36 to 37.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}