Singapore shuts schools, distributes masks for haze

Pollution is causing tensions with neighbor after Indonesian VP calls issue no big deal

Singapore shut schools on Friday and began distributing free antipollution masks to the elderly and other vulnerable people as a thick smoky haze cast covered the island nation with pollution reaching its worst level this year.

The haze - a pall of grayness that resembles wintry fog and virtually obliterates the skyline while even seeping inside homes - is an annual problem for the region, resulting from forests being burned in neighboring Indonesia to clear the land for farming.