These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
Get up to speed with what’s happening in the fastest growing region in the world.
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Taliban announces hardline government as protests grow
The Taliban announced their government on Tuesday (Sept 7), with a UN-blacklisted veteran of the hardline movement in the top role, weeks after they swept to power and toppled the US-backed president.
But as the Taliban transitions from militant force to governing power of Afghanistan, security officials grappled with a growing number of protests against its rule, with two people shot dead in the western city of Herat.
Mullah Mohammad Hassan Akhund – a senior minister during the Taliban’s brutal and repressive reign in the 1990s – was appointed acting prime minister, a spokesman said at a press conference in Kabul.
The Taliban had promised an inclusive government that would reflect the ethnic makeup of the country, but all the top positions were handed to key leaders from the movement and the Haqqani network – the most violent branch of the Taliban known for devastating attacks.
None of the government appointees were women.
“We will try to take people from other parts of the country,” spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said, adding that it was an interim government. - Straits Times
Experts split over booster shots plan
Health experts are divided over the proposal for the government to speed up preparations to administer Covid-19 booster shots for medical and healthcare workers.
While the proposal for booster shots was regarded as a logical move amid the prevalence of new variants, concerns had been raised over its effectiveness and safety due to lack of scientific evidence.
A more pertinent issue, they said, was for the government to accelerate the vaccination rate to enable the population to build herd immunity against the virus.
Former Malaysian Medical Association president Professor Datuk Dr N.K.S. Tharmaseelan said the proposal for Covid-19 vaccine booster shots was practical and logical.
"These are challenging times. The pandemic is a new challenge to researchers, scientists and doctors, which was unknown to them before.”
"Now, there are many unanswered questions with regards to the progress of the infection and evolution of the virus, as well matters regarding vaccines." - New Straits Times
Hotel operators consider closing amid weak demand
Amid tepid tourist demand, 52% of hotel operators are considering closing temporarily, while 9% want to shut down permanently if the Covid-19 pandemic lasts longer than expected.
A joint survey by the Bank of Thailand and Thai Hotels Association (THA) found that 62% of hotel operators planned to reduce labour costs in order to deal with the financial effects of the pandemic.
Meanwhile, 61% said they planned to cut other expenses.
Between Aug 13-28 the central bank and THA conducted a poll of 234 respondents, of which 14 were alternative state quarantines and five were hospitals.
A total of 38% of Phuket Sandbox respondents said foreign tourist arrivals were lower than their expectations, but 35% said the numbers were as expected.
On average, the occupancy rate was steady at 15%. - Bangkok Post
Man claiming to be my son ‘poll black propaganda’: Roque
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Tuesday night dismissed as “election black propaganda” the claim of a man in a TikTok video that the Palace official is his “biological dad.”
“We expect political trolls to work overtime in their vicious attacks as we enter the campaign season. This is nothing but an election black propaganda,” he said in a press statement.
Roque's statement came after TikTok user @pulpolitika expressed disappointment over his response to Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso’s appeal to prioritize the purchase of Remdesivir and Tocilizumab to help treat coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) patients.
The man in the TikTok video, whose videos usually taunt the current administration, said he was “disappointed” over the reaction of Roque, whom he referred to as his “biological dad,” saying the supposed anti-coronavirus drugs are “meant to save lives.”
He was referring to Roque’s statement on Monday that Domagoso’s call was merely part of posturing ahead of the 2022 national elections. - Philippine News Agency
Health ministry proposes Telehealth to treat COVID-19 patients at home
The Ministry of Health has proposed that provincial level hospitals experiencing a complex pandemic situation set up remote clinics to advise and treat F0 patients at home using the Telehealth system.
Deputy Minister of Health Nguyen Truong Son has signed a document for departments of health in provinces and centrally-run cities and hospitals to allow the setting up of remote clinics for consultation and treatment of F0 cases at home.
According to the Ministry of Health, in the face of a complex pandemic in Ho Chi Minh City and southern provinces, the number of people hospitalised for treatment has increased, causing overload in hospitals. At the same time, the number of patients being treated at home is very large.
In order for hospitals in these localities to be able to set up remote clinics to advise and treat F0 patients at home using Telehealth, the Ministry of Health requested hospitals to develop a plan on personnel organisation, equipment, facilities, and operating regulations of the clinics to submit to the hospital director for approval. - Vietnam News
WHO urges continued vigilance despite high vaccination coverage in Cambodia
The World Health Organization (WHO) office in Cambodia on Tuesday called on people to continue caution although the Southeast Asian nation has seen a success in its vaccination drive.
“Cambodia is in a new phase of the pandemic in which decreasing case numbers, high vaccination coverage, and a more transmissible circulating variant threaten a hidden surge,” said a WHO-Cambodia’s press statement.
The kingdom confirmed 511 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, raising the national total caseload to 96,339, the Ministry of Health (MoH) said, adding that 11 more fatalities were reported, bringing the death toll to 1,981 so far.
Case numbers and fatalities have been gradually declining though there are disputes in the number of cases reported by the Ministry of Health.
“The daily reported numbers of both cases and deaths have been declining for several weeks, and the declines have been reported across most provinces,” the statement said.
As cases have decreased, the vaccination coverage has increased, it said. - Khmer Times
Myanmar's shadow government declares 'resistance war' against military junta
Myanmar’s acting president Duwa Lashi La of the National Unity Government (NUG) announced on Tuesday that the people’s “resistance war” against the junta had started and urged the public across the country to revolt against the military coup regime led by Min Aung Hlaing.
In a seven-minute emergency speech at 8am, the acting president also called on the NUG’s People’s Defence Force (PDF) to target “every pillar of the junta’s ruling mechanism,” as well as to protect the lives of Myanmar’s people, to follow orders and to behave in line with the PDF’s code of conduct.
Duwa Lashi La urged local administrators working under the junta to resign immediately.
People were warned not to undertake unnecessary travel, to stock up on food and medical supplies and to help the PDFs and civilian resistance forces by informing them of the military’s activities.
He urged ethnic armed organisations to attack the coup regime’s forces in every way possible and to maintain control over their territories. He also called on Border Guard Forces, junta-allied militias, and individual soldiers and police to defect from the military council and collaborate with those forces on the side of the people.
“This revolution is a just and fair revolution and is necessary to build a federal union with sustainable peace,” Duwa Lashi La said in the speech.
He explained that he hoped Myanmar’s neighbours, members of ASEAN, and the United Nations would understand that their action against the junta was “based on necessity.” - Myanmar NOW
President aims to realize vaccination goal by year end
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) has said he expects to see 70 percent of the population in each province vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of 2021 to meet the goal of achieving herd immunity.
In a written statement received from the Press Bureau of the Presidential Secretariat here on Tuesday, the President expressed the hope that the target would be achieved by each province, including West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), which is scheduled to host the International World Superbike event in November this year.
"We want (the population in) each province to be vaccinated at least 70 percent by the end of this year. We hope that before the event opens, especially those around the venue, can all be inoculated," Widodo remarked during a vaccination event held by K.H Syamsuddin Islamic boarding school, Ponorogo district, East Java. - AntaraNews.Com