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.
Stay informed with The ASEAN Post.
Biden, Xi plan virtual meeting before end of year, US says
President Joe Biden plans to meet virtually with Chinese President Xi Jinping before the end of the year, a senior US official said, with tensions escalating between the world's two largest economies.
Plans for the meeting were announced in a conference call with reporters following about six hours of meetings on Wednesday (Oct 6) between White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan and a senior Chinese foreign policy adviser, Yang Jiechi, in Zurich.
The official called the Zurich discussions more meaningful and substantive than previous meetings between Biden administration officials and their Chinese counterparts.
When Sullivan and other US officials sat down with Yang in Anchorage, Alaska, earlier this year the two sides publicly traded barbs over human rights issues.
The details for the meeting between Biden and Xi, including the date, still need to be worked out.
The two men last spoke on Sept 9 and discussed what the White House described as guardrails to ensure that competition between the two countries does not veer into conflict. - Straits Times
105 more deaths from Covid-19; Penang logs highest fatality rate
Malaysia recorded another 105 Covid-19 deaths as of 11.59pm yesterday, taking the national toll to 26,981.
Based on data shared on the Health Ministry's CovidNow site, 26 of yesterday's fatalities were brought-in-dead (BID) cases. BID cumulative cases now stood at 5,424.
For the past two-weeks, 4.6 deaths were recorded per 100,000 people due to Covid-19.
Penang remained the state with the highest number of deaths per 100,000 people in the past 14-days at 10.1 followed by Perlis (9.8) and Johor (6.6). - New Straits Times
Online class 'stressing students out'
A survey carried out by the Department of Mental Health found that almost one-third of students in Thailand are experiencing more anxiety and stress after Covid-19 prompted the switch to online learning.
The Mental Health Check-In survey -- conducted between Sept 19-25 among 2,045 students -- found that over 29% of survey respondents reported more anxiety and stress since their classes were moved online, while around 17% felt they are mentally-exhausted or have "burned out".
The survey noted that young students are three times more likely to experience anxiety than adults.
DMH director-general, Amporn Benjaponpitak, said the pandemic has been hard on children's mental health, with so much of their time spent focusing on online classes.
Most mental health issues can be traced back to constraints on the children's social lives, as schools have been closed since April, which meant their interactions are limited to online classes, she said. - Bangkok Post
US completes delivery of 5.57M Pfizer doses to PH
The United States government has completed the delivery of its donated 5.57 million Pfizer vaccine doses to help boost the Philippines' response against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic.
The US, through the COVAX Facility, delivered in five separate shipments a total of 5,575,050 vaccine doses to Manila, Cebu and Davao between October 1 to 6.
“The United States is very happy to be able to provide safe and effective vaccines not just to Manila, but to the greater Philippines and to the central and southern part of the Philippines as well,” US Embassy Charge d’Affaires, ad interim Heather Variava said Thursday.
These additional donations were part of the 500 million Pfizer doses the US is making available for distribution globally through COVAX, an initiative to support equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines. - Philippine News Agency
Returnees from COVID hotspots receive assistance on the way home
Tens of thousands of migrants have left HCM City and other southern localities to return to their hometowns over the past few days after social distancing was eased.
For many, the journey was long, but they were supported on the way by local police and voluntary groups.
Between October 1 and 5, the Mekong Delta province of Dong Thap saw 23,813 people returning from COVID hotspots in HCM City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai and Long An provinces.
The local authorities mobilised forces to manage traffic flow and assist returnees to complete required procedures.
Most of migrants going home are factory and construction workers as well as private business owners, who were stuck in HCM City and southern localities during the four months of social distancing. - Vietnam News
The Guardian newspaper retracts ‘grossly false and unacceptable’ claims about PM Hun Sen’s ‘dual citizenship’ after Royal Government letter
UK news outlet The Guardian has retracted claims that PM Hun Sen held a passport from Cyprus, after an official complaint from the Royal Government.
The article, entitled ‘Law firm founded by Cypriot president accused of hiding assets of Russian exile‘ had originally stated that ‘In addition to Russian oligarchs and Saudi potentates, the Cambodian leader, Hun Sen, was discovered to have been among the thousands of non-Europeans who received a Cypriot passport.’
Following widespread outrage from The Royal Government of Cambodia, The Guardian amended the article with a correction stating ‘An earlier version incorrectly said that the Cambodian leader, Hun Sen, was among those who had received a Cypriot passport.’
It also amended the text of the main article to say ‘Russian oligarchs and Saudi potentates, as well as some members of the Cambodian leader Hun Sen’s inner circle, were discovered to have been among the thousands of non-Europeans who received a Cypriot passport.’
The retraction of these false claims follows a strongly worded official letter (below) to Katherine Viner, Editor-in-Chief of The Guardian from Secretary of State Spokesperson Koy Kuong addressing The Guardian’s ‘grossly false and unacceptable claim.’ - Khmer Times
Detained American journalist Danny Fenster faces additional charge under colonial-era law
The military council has added an additional charge of violating Section 17(1) of the colonial-era Unlawful Associations Act to the case against detained American journalist Danny Fenster, who has been held in Yangon’s Insein Prison for more than four months.
Fenster, the 37-year-old managing editor of the Yangon-based Frontier Myanmar, was initially charged with violating Section 505a of the Penal Code for incitement, which is accompanied by a three-year prison sentence if convicted.
Than Zaw Aung, Fenster’s lawyer, said the new charge was announced during a hearing at the Insein Prison court on Monday, but no explanation was provided as to why.
It has long been a charge used against activists, journalists and members of ethnic nationalities who are accused of being members of or having an affiliation to an “unlawful association.” It carries a two- to three-year prison term.
“We’re still not being told the reason behind the charge, only which charge [he is accused of violating].’ The reason will definitely be in the case file, so we will only find out about that when we get to see it,” the lawyer said.
He added that Fenster was wearing a PPE suit at Monday’s hearing, suggesting he was not in good health, and prompting his legal team to apply for bail.
“We submitted the bail application yesterday. We will have to testify regarding bail at his court hearing on October 15,” Than Zaw Aung said. - Myanmar NOW
Govt will cut carbon emissions in air transportation
The Indonesian government is committed to encouraging the use of bio aviation turbine (bioavtur) fuels as part of efforts to lower carbon emissions in the air transportation sector. The air transportation sector currently contributes two percent of the global carbon dioxide, emissions which lead to global warming, Transportation Minister Budi
Karya Sumadi said in a written statement released Wednesday.
"We realize that the development of bioavtur fuel is a strategic issue not only at a national level but also at a global level,” he said.
He said Indonesia has successfully conducted a trial test for palm oil-based jet fuel called Bioavtur J2.4 produced by state-owned oil and gas firm Pertamina’s refinery in Cilacap, Central Java. - AntaraNews.Com