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.
Moms may pass coronavirus to fetuses, expert suggests
A medical expert suggested possible mother-to-fetus transmission of the novel coronavirus pneumonia on Wednesday after two newborns were diagnosed with the infection in Wuhan, Hubei province.
Both the infants’ mothers are confirmed cases, and one of the babies was confirmed only 30 hours after its birth, the youngest confirmed case so far.
Early Sunday morning, the baby boy’s mother, who was identified as Chen, was sent to the fever clinic of the Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science and Technology in Wuhan, the centre of the epidemic, after her fever persisted for eight hours. – Khmer Times
Trump acquitted of all impeachment charges
US President Donald Trump drew on staunch Republican support to defeat the gravest threat yet to his three-year-old presidency on Wednesday, winning acquittal in the Senate on impeachment charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Only the third US leader ever placed on trial, Trump readily defeated the Democratic-led effort to expel him from office for having illicitly sought help from Ukraine to bolster his 2020 re-election effort. – The New Straits Times
China new virus deaths rise to 563; 2 cruise ships isolated
China on Thursday reported 73 more deaths from a new virus, raising its total to 563, as the World Health Organization appealed for more funds to help countries battle the spread of the disease that led health officials in Asia to quarantine two cruise ships with some 5,400 people on board.
The ships in Japan and Hong Kong are caught up in a global health emergency that seems to worsen by the day. – Philippine Daily Inquirer
Coronavirus: Singapore confirms 4 new cases, including 6-month-old child of infected couple
Four more cases of the coronavirus infection were confirmed by the Ministry of Health (MOH) on Wednesday (Feb 5), including the youngest patient confirmed so far, a six-month-old baby who is the child of an infected couple.
Of the new cases, three are linked to the cluster of local transmissions announced on Tuesday, and one is an imported case involving a Chinese tourist from China's Wuhan city. – The Straits Times
PM requests regional, national collaboration against coronavirus
Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc on Tuesday discussed regional collaboration to fight coronavirus with his Indonesia counterpart Joko Widodo over the phone and asked Vietnamese ministries to minimise the impact of the virus on the economy.
In a phone call with Indonesian Prime Minister Joko Widodo to discuss collaboration among ASEAN countries to fight the acute respiratory illness caused by the virus, PM Phúc applauded Indonesia’s prompt implementation of preventive measures as no case of coronavirus infection has been found in the country. – Viet Nam News