Indonesia evacuates tourists after lombok quake kills 91

Nguyen Thi Thu Hien, 34 and her friends had their tickets from Singapore to Jeju Island canceled on August 9 because they did not have visas. The island, however, has a visa exemption policy for tourists. Hien, from Hanoi, said she'd already visited Jeju back in 2018 under the visa exemption policy and wasn't aware that it had changed when she booked the tickets for her and her friends to fly there from Singapore. "When we got to the Changi Airport for check-in procedures, an employee told us to discuss the issue with the airline. A representative of Scoot Airlines said Vietnamese, Thai, Mongolians and people from certain other countries would no longer be able to enter Jeju Island under the visa exemption policy. The airline said it would refund our tickets," Hien said. Vu Quoc Hung, 31, who had booked tickets with 11 other Vietnamese to fly from Ho Chi Minh City to Jeju on August 11 via Singapore, had the same experience. Hung's group reached the Changi Airport and did some … [Read more...] about Airline cancels Vietnamese tourists’ tickets to South Korea’s Jeju Island

Under a planned new regulation, the Health Ministry of Indonesia is looking to control the promotion and packaging of e-cigarettes, which have remained unregulated since their legalisation in 2018. The ministry is also seeking to increase the size of graphic health warnings on tobacco packaging from 40% to 90%, ban the advertising, sponsorship and promotion of tobacco products, and prohibit the sale of single cigarettes. The number of underage smokers continues to increase each year, especially since the legalisation of e-cigarettes, Imran Agus Nurali, the ministry’s director of health promotion and community empowerment, told a webinar on August 11. He stressed the need for stronger measures to reduce tobacco consumption to protect future generations from the impact of smoking. Banning the advertising, sponsorship and promotion of tobacco products is also crucial as according to the 2019 Global Youth Tobacco Survey, around 65% of Indonesia’s children are exposed to tobacco ads … [Read more...] about Indonesia plans to tighten rules to curb underage smoking

Read what is in the news today: Health -- The Ministry of Health confirmed an additional 1,428 COVID-19 cases on Sunday, raising Vietnam’s COVID-19 patient tally to 11,365,784. Society -- Rain is in the forecast for the entirety of Vietnam on Monday. -- Da Nang authorities announced on Sunday that the Han River Bridge will be closed to all types of vehicles between 11:00 pm and 5:00 am every day for 15 days, except Fridays through Sundays, for maintenance. -- Police in northern Ha Nam Province announced on Sunday the arrest of a 25-year-old man after he attempted to kill a three-year-old boy, put the child in a cardboard box and locked him in a freezer. Doctors have promptly saved the kid. -- The People’s Committee of southern Binh Phuoc Province announced on Sunday a fine of over VND150 million (US$6,411) against a mining company for changing the use purpose of protective forest land to non-agricultural land in some rural areas without permission from … [Read more...] about Breakfast @ Tuoi Tre News — August 15

Kuala Lumpur capital of Malaysia (Illustrative photo: themalaysianreserve) Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia recorded 836.2 billion RM (over 188.1 billion USD) in foreign direct investment (FDI) at the end of the second quarter, up 24.1 billion RM from Q1, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia. The manufacturing sector remained the largest recipient with a value of 360 billion RM or 43.1%, followed by financial activities 189.8 billion RM (22.7%) and wholesale and retail trade 53 billion RM (6.3%). Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the FDI sources were largely from Asia, which amounted to 431.1 billion RM or 51.6%, mainly from Singapore and Hong Kong (China), followed by Europe and the Americas. Singapore was still the biggest source of FDI, with an accumulated 174.1 billion RM (20.8%), followed by Hong Kong with 91.1 billion RM (10.9%), the United States 90 billion RM (10.8%) and Japan 84.2 billion RM (10.3%). Meanwhile, … [Read more...] about FDI flows into Malaysia top 188 billion USD in Q2