21.   However, he ruled out the possibility of postponing the Games if the haze was strong at that time.

22.   In Malaysia, authorities were investigating whether haze was a factor in a collision between two ships Friday night in the Strait of Malacca between Sumatra and Malaysia.

23.   Investigators were checking to determine if the thick haze over Southeast Asia was a factor.

24.   Malaysian Deputy Transport Minister Ali Rustam said investigators were trying to determine if the haze was a factor.

25.   Meanwhile, doctors said the haze could also be harmful to humans.

26.   Meteorologists say haze over Southeast Asia is over.

27.   Nevertheless residents in Medan told The Associated Press that the haze was the worst they had seen since the pollution crisis started two months ago.

28.   Now there is a haze due to forest fires and a dust cover which extends from Northern California to Washington state on the Canadian border.

29.   Newly-elected executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, Dr Klaus Topfer, said this was important because the haze was a global problem.

30.   Residents in Medan told The Associated Press that the haze was the worst they had seen since the pollution crisis started two months ago.