Pakistani cultural capital is now world’s most polluted city

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A thick cloud of smog has enveloped Pakistan’s cultural capital, earning it the ignominious title of the world’s most polluted city, according to a Swiss air quality monitoring company. Platform IQAir says that Lahore now stands at the top of its polluted cities ranking, with an air quality index of 203 on the US AQI scale, versus runner-up Dehli, India, with 183. That standing was at 0949 GMT on Wednesday; the two cities had traded places at least once over the course of the morning. Increasing smog and particle-laden air has sickened thousands of people with respiratory and other illnesses, forcing many to stay at home on particularly dirty days like Wednesday.