These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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Israel will require a booster shot to be considered fully vaccinated
Israel on Sunday (Oct 3) introduced new rules for determining coronavirus vaccination status, making a booster shot a requirement for full inoculation and vaccination passports.
After pioneering booster shots for everyone aged 12 and older, Israel is believed to be the first country to condition the validity of vaccination passports on having received a booster.
The country said it would soon cancel the vaccination passports of more than 1 million people, mainly those who are eligible for, but have not yet received, a third vaccination shot.
To be considered fully vaccinated in Israel, people must meet one of the following criteria: be 12 or older and have received a booster shot at least a week ago; be within six months of having received a second vaccination shot; or be within six months of having tested positive for Covid-19.
The booster shots are Pfizer vaccinations, by far the most commonly administered in Israel. - Straits Times
PM: Malaysia won't compromise if there is threat in South China Sea
Malaysia will not compromise with any country if there is a threat in the South China Sea, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He said he had stressed the matter several times in meetings with national representatives as well as at international forums when he was the Defence Minister.
"We said that we will not compromise in terms of our sovereignty," he said in an exclusive interview that was aired on local television stations tonight.
Meanwhile, on the National Security and Defence Industry policy, which is one of the nine areas focused in the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP), he said the issue of security was very important as the country's development would be stunted if there was chaos and insecurity. - New Straits Times
Collection of B500 fee from foreigners starts next year
The Tourism and Sports Ministry is poised to start collecting a 500-baht tourism fee for a "tourism transformation fund" next year, with the budget following a co-payment model.
The Centre for Economic Situation Administration last week approved the creation of the fund, which is expected to subsidise projects that transform the industry, focusing on high-value and sustainable tourism.
Yuthasak Supasorn, Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) governor, said the fee collection of 500 baht per person should start next year, with the aim of collecting 5 billion within the first year, assuming 10 million foreign arrivals in 2022.
The National Tourism Policy Committee already gave the nod to start the fund earlier this year, with a proposed fee of 300 baht per person.
Mr Yuthasak said the additional 200 baht will be earmarked for: projects initiated by the private sector, community enterprises, or social enterprises that would like to transform their business to meet the fund's strategy; helping the country restructure from mass tourism to high-value or a bio-, circular and green economic model; and environmentally concerned tourism. - Bangkok Post
2 DavOcc town villages placed on 6-day lockdown
Some two barangays in Jose Abad Santos (JAS) town in Davao Occidental were placed under lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases in the said town.
In Executive Order No. 21-020 released on Sunday night, acting mayor James John Joyce ordered the lockdown of Barangays Caburan Big and Caburan Small.
The lockdown is from Monday to 11:59 p.m. of October 9.
“There is a need to control the Covid-19 cases in JAS because of the full occupancy of the Covid-19 beds in the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), the Covid referral hospital of Davao Occidental,” Joyce said in the EO.
The municipality is currently experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases, with 78 active infections out of a total of 392 confirmed cases as of September 30. - Philippine News Agency
Is it time for resuming tourism?
The HCM City government said recently it was considering resuming tourism activities in Can Gio, the only coastal district in the city.
Can Gio is one of some districts to have controlled the COVID-19 outbreak, and is preparing to resume economic activities.
The district has for long been famous for fresh seafood, eco-tourism sites and the Can Gio Mangrove Forest, a biological reserve recognised by UNESCO.
The district also has many traditional craft villages.
Despite still being the epicentre of the fourth wave of COVID, which began in April, with more than 298,000 cases and over 12,000 deaths, HCM City has made plans to resume tourism activities that were suspended several months ago due to the pandemic.
This is in line with the Government’s desire to soon reopen the country’s tourism destinations to both domestic and international tourists. - Vietnam News
Cambodia sees COVID-19 daily caseload dropping to lowest since April
After seven days of daily new case figures exceeding 800, Cambodia saw a dramatic drop in new cases for three days running.
The Cambodian Ministry of Health reported 199 new COVID-19 cases Sunday, raising the total caseload to 113,256. It also confirmed 23 new deaths on the day, raising the country’s total number of fatalities to 2,383.
For the first time, new cases had the note ‘Result from PCR’ under the government supplied figures – possibly indicating a new way of measuring new cases.
On September 30, the Cambodian province of Siem Reap ended it’s “Red Zones,” followed by Oddar Meanchey the next day.
However, Siem Reap authorities have threatened to resume lockdowns and red zones if citizens do not observe safety guidelines. - Khmer Times
The train driver who died defying Myanmar's dictators
On an August morning at a wet market in Mandalay’s industrial suburbs, a 50-year-old man was selling noodles and cheerfully greeting fellow vendors and customers alike.
Win Ko Oo was well-known for his friendliness. But not everyone who had grown familiar with his smiling face knew that he had once had a very different life.
When the year began, Win Ko Oo was a train driver with 25 years’ experience. But then the army seized power, and everything changed. As someone who had lived through the aftermath of a similar coup in 1988, he knew he had to resist the return of military rule.
A month after Myanmar’s elected civilian government was overthrown, Win Ko Oo made up his mind to join the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) that was sweeping the country.
“I hesitated at first because I had to think about my family. We had nowhere else to go. But in the end, my hatred for the regime outweighed my concerns about the hardships we would have to face, so I quit,” he told Myanmar Now that August morning. - Myanmar NOW
President Jokowi visits Sota market in Merauke
President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) visited a market in Sota Sub-district, Merauke District, Papua Province, on Sunday after inaugurating the Sota cross-border post (PLBN).
As revealed by a written statement from the Press Bureau of the Presidential Secretariat, at the market which is one of the facilities around the Sota integrated cross-border post, Jokowi had a chance to talk to a female vendor.
The President bought onions and bananas. When buying bananas, the President asked her about the price of a bunch of bananas.
"Five thousand," the vendor said to the President.
"I bought four, so all twenty thousand rupiah," the President said.
However, the President gave her one million Rupiah. - AntaraNews.Com