These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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Singapore inks deal with GSK to purchase Covid-19 drug sotrovimab
Singapore has inked a deal with drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Singapore and clinical-stage immunology firm Vir Biotechnology for the supply of a medication for patients with mild to moderate Covid-19. The advance purchase agreement is for the supply of sotrovimab, an investigational single-dose monoclonal antibody administered through intravenous infusion, GSK Singapore said in a statement on Wednesday (June 29). It is used to treat Covid-19 patients who do not need supplemental oxygen but are at risk of progressing to severe disease. Sotrovimab is currently undergoing regulatory review by the Health Sciences Authority for interim authorisation under the Pandemic Special Access Route (PSAR), GSK Singapore said. The medication was, on May 26, granted emergency-use authorisation by the United States Food and Drug Administration; the European Medicines Agency's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use has also issued a positive scientific opinion. The British drugmaker's PSAR application includes data from an interim analysis of efficacy and safety data from its phase three trial, which it said was stopped early by an independent data-monitoring committee in March due to evidence of "profound clinical efficacy". "Results of the interim analysis, based on data from 583 randomised patients, demonstrated an 85 per cent reduction in hospitalisation or death in those receiving sotrovimab compared to placebo, the primary endpoint of the trial," GSK Singapore said. It noted that the PSAR review will also consider the medicine's quality and safety data, adding that final results from its efficacy trial will be available later this year. Preclinical data has suggested that sotromivab targets a conserved epitope of the Sars-CoV-2 spike protein, which is less likely to mutate over time, GSK said. Dr Phil Pang, chief medical officer of Vir, said the treatment appears to "retain activity against all circulating variants of concern", including the highly transmissible Delta variant which originated from India, based on data from several in vitro studies. Mr Mike Crichton, senior vice-president for speciality and primary-care therapy area at GSK, said vaccines, together with treatments like sotrovimab, have the potential to increase the chance of ending the pandemic, as variants of the coronavirus continue to arise. GSK and Vir are in discussions with other governments to explore similar supply agreements, as countries accelerate their vaccine and therapeutics programmes against Covid-19, the company said. – The Straits Times
Azmin: Don't blame factories for virus clusters
The International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti) has maintained that it is unfair to blame the manufacturing sector as the main contributor of new Covid-19 cases, which continue to hover above the 4,000-mark throughout this month despite the reintroduction of a total lockdown nationwide. Senior International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Azmin Ali said based on data obtained from the National Crisis Preparedness and Response Centre (CPRC), from the 507 coronavirus clusters detected in the country between June 1 and June 23, 195 were linked to the manufacturing sector. Azmin said data compiled by the ministry showed that the manufacturing sector contributed 9.3 per cent, or 12,872 cases from the total 138,649 detected by the Health Ministry throughout the same period. "To me, it is unfair (to single out the sector). I don't blame the critics since they do not have access to the facts (involving the spread of Covid-19 cases in the country)," he said in an interview with the New Straits Times and Berita Harian yesterday. Azmin said he was aware that the sentiments towards him and the ministry were "very negative" when the country on June 24 logged 5,841 new cases and 30 clusters, 20 of which were linked to workplaces. "Based on checks with the CPRC, from the 20 clusters, only 12 were linked to the manufacturing sector. "Clusters emerging from the manufacturing sector contributed 8.85 per cent or 517 cases from the total 5,841 new infections detected that day," he said. Azmin also cited another data from the Health Ministry that showed 75 per cent of new infections detected in the country were sporadic, with the rest related to Covid-19 clusters from various activities and sectors. He said workplace clusters, especially from the manufacturing sector, contributed between five and 10 per cent of the new cases on average. "Unlike the education and social sectors that are completely shut, there is a possibility of Covid-19 clusters emerging from the manufacturing sector when we allow certain activities, especially those involving goods and essential services, to operate throughout the implementation of Movement Control Order (MCO3.0). "Whether the possibility is higher or lower must be made based on facts and this is what the ministry wants to stress on," he said. Azmin feared that the perception would only discourage factories in the manufacturing and private sectors from conducting mass testing, subsequently preventing the authorities from understanding the actual Covid-19 situation on the ground. "We encourage mass testing. Why? Based on science and data, all these new cases are asymptomatic. So, the best solution is mass testing. When mass testing is done, the number of new cases will also rise. This is simple logic. "However, the moment you continue to do this (single out the manufacturing sector), I fear that we will discourage the industries and private sector from conducting mass testing," he said. He acknowledged that the five and 10 per cent of new cases contributed by the manufacturing sector on average was still a cause for concern. To address the issue, the government through Miti had formulated and implemented a number of action plans. This, he said, included the Public-Private Partnership Covid-19 Industry Immunisation Programme (Pikas) to accelerate mass inoculation in the economic sector, subsequently supplementing the implementation of the Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme (NIP). – New Straits Times
Govt told to widen jab hunt
The Royal College of Physicians of Thailand (RCPT) has urged the government to pull out all stops to secure more vaccines as new, highly transmissible variants of Covid-19 now prevalent abroad are diagnosed more frequently domestically. In a statement issued on Tuesday, the RCPT emphasised the need for the government to ensure protection against new coronavirus variants for both those who have already been vaccinated and people who have yet to be given their first dose. "All bureaucratic red tape needs to be cut to accelerate the import of Covid-19 vaccines so they can begin the safety and efficacy certification process mandated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)," said the RCPT. More importantly, the government needs to improve the efficiency and transparency of its Covid-19 vaccine distribution system, while communicating more openly and promptly any time a serious adverse reaction occurs after an appointment, said the RCPT. The Chulabhorn Royal Academy (CRA), meanwhile, has warned groups it has supplied with the Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine against reselling it, which remains illegal for the time being. "Reselling any vaccine supplied by the CRA may lead to both criminal and civil charges," said Prof Dr Nithi Mahanonda, secretary-general of the CRA, upon learning that some parties had violated agreements signed with the CRA. In another development, the cabinet on Tuesday accepted Japan's proposed donation of 1.05 million doses of the AstraZeneca formula, said deputy government spokeswoman Rachada Dhnadirek. Under the agreement, Thailand's Ministry of Public Health will pay the cost of shipment, which may range from 2.9 million baht to 28.7 million baht, she said. "The donated supply is expected to arrive in Thailand early next month," she said. With vaccines at a premium, Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul on Tuesday responded to a call for a special quota for restaurant operators, street food hawkers and all other types of food vendors. There are estimated to be about 200,000 people employed in the eatery sector, he said after a meeting with a representative group on Tuesday. "These people actually are as susceptible to contracting the virus as taxi drivers who have already been given priority in the government's mass vaccination drive," he said. However, Mr Anutin insisted that any stocks diverted to stem discontent among restaurateurs and their staff would not be at the expense of hindering the government's plan to vaccinate Thailand's senior citizens and people with serious underlying health conditions in July and August. Targets have been met for priority groups in June, so next month the government will have the resources to start to focus on other groups too, he said. With about 10 million more doses expected to arrive in July, many of those in most need are likely to receive their first jab a month early, said Dr Opas Karnkawinpong, director-general of the Department of Disease Control. As for those who are aged 75 and over, appointment rules are being relaxed and a new walk-in programme will be trialled from today until July 18 at the Bang Sue Grand Station vaccination centre, said Dr Somsak Akksilp, director-general of Department of Medical Services. – Bangkok Post
Peter Lim’s escape shows ‘two-faced’ drug war, says De Lima
The Duterte government’s admission that suspected drug lord Peter Lim has fled the country only proves its “two-faced, criminal” war on drugs, detained Sen. Leila de Lima said on Tuesday. She said the campaign was bloody and harsh but only on suspects who are poor, ordinary people and those without “connections,” but it was never aimed at holding the real bigtime drug lords accountable. “They were quick to fabricate pieces of evidence against me, while the case against Peter Lim, which is based on substantial proof, was dismissed and he was even allowed to escape. What a shame! What corruption!” De Lima said. De Lima issued the statement from her detention cell at Camp Crame in Quezon City in reaction to an admission by Interior Secretary Eduardo Año that Lim had fled. In a radio interview on Friday, Año said Lim “has gone missing and we believe he has snuck out of the country.” The Department of Justice had charged Lim for conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading. The government offered a P500,000-reward for his arrest in 2018. Lim was charged alongside self-confessed “shabu” (crystal meth) distributor Kerwin Espinosa and two others. He was accused of supplying at least 90 kilos of shabu to the so-called Espinosa drug group in Central and Western Visayas in 2013 and 2015. His other drug deals involving an unspecified amount of shabu supposedly took place in 2014. Espinosa was one of the state witnesses who had testified against De Lima. He said he gave up to P8 million in bribes to the senator, who was then the justice secretary, through her driver-bodyguard Ronnie Dayan. His testimony formed part of the evidence that served as basis for the courts to find probable cause against the senator and the denial of her right to post bail. In 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte warned the fugitive Lim to just commit suicide rather than give himself up to authorities. “Peter Lim, if I were you, I would commit suicide. Never ever surrender to me alive. You commit suicide,” Mr. Duterte said. De Lima had cited the case of Lim as the “real face of this d*mn drug war.” “Where do you find a person who presents himself as seething over illegal drugs, but a drug lord is his co-wedding sponsor and campaign financier? That’s only Duterte!” she said. – INQUIRER.net
Vietnamese economy expands at 5.61 per cent in H1 despite the pandemic
The latest updates from the General Statistics Office (GSO) showed that the Vietnamese economy expanded by 5.64 per cent in the first half of this year, much higher than the growth rate of 1.82 per cent recorded in the same period of last year. Although the economic growth rate in the first half of this year was lower than the rate of 7.05 per cent and 6.77 per cent of the same periods of 2018 and 2019, respectively, before the COVID-19 pandemic, the macro-economy remained stable with recoveries in production and business, GSO’s Director Nguyen Thi Huong said at a press conference on Tuesday in Ha Noi. Huong said the economic achievements in the first half of this year were impressive as the outbreak of the virus in late April posed a lot of challenges to the Government’s goal of preventing the virus and at the same time promoting economic development. The agro-forestry-fishery sector rose by 3.82 per cent, contributing 8.17 per cent, industry and construction rose by 8.36 per cent, contributing 59.05 per cent and the services sector was up by 3.96 per cent, contributing 32.78 per cent to the overall growth, statistics showed. The industrial production increased by nine per cent in January – June, nearly equivalent to the rate of 9.13 per cent recorded in the pre-pandemic 2019’s first half and higher than the rate of 2.91 per cent of the same period last year. GSO said that the manufacturing and processing industry remained the driver for economic growth with an expansion of 11.42 per cent in the period. The accommodation and catering services, passenger transportation and tourism remained in difficulty due to the social distancing in some localities to prevent the virus and the impacts of the pandemic. Statistics showed that tourism revenue dropped by 51.8 per cent in the period to VND4.5 trillion with the number of foreign tourist arrivals tumbling by 91.6 per cent to 88,200 in the first half of this year. In the second quarter alone, the economy expanded at 6.61 per cent, compared to a modest rate of 0.39 per cent of the same period last year but still lower than the rate of 6.73 per cent recorded in the same quarters of 2018 and 2019. The economy expanded quickly in the second quarter on robust exports and industrial production and the implementation of the vaccination campaign although the country was facing the most serious COVID-19 outbreak so far. Viet Nam earned revenue of $317.73 billion in import and export in the January – April period, up by 32.2 per cent. The country ran a trade deficit of $1.47 billion in the period. GSO’s statistics also revealed recoveries in production and business. Demand deposits tended to increase after the State Bank of Viet Nam slashed rates in 2020. Credit growth reached 5.47 per cent as of June 21, compared to 2.45 per cent in the same period last year. The securities market saw strong growth from the beginning of this year, which helped raise VND116.4 trillion for the economy as of the end of May, up by 68 per cent. Huong said that the good economic achievements in the first half of this year demonstrated the Government’s determination and drastic efforts to prevent the spread of the virus as well as to promote socio-economic development. Still, the virus was developing in some provinces and cities, which were posing a number of challenges to the management and administration to develop the economy and ensure social security, she said. The consumer price index rose 0.19 per cent in June against the previous month on increases in prices of some input materials, water and electricity. On average, CPI rose by 1.47 per cent in the first half of this year over a year earlier, the lowest increase since 2016. – Viet Nam News
Man who kept ‘pet lion’ in Phnom Penh villa fined $30,000
A Chinese national, who was at the centre of a sensational raid by authorities on Sunday when they discovered he was keeping an adult lion in his Phnom Penh villa, has been fined $30,000. The fine comes after revelations that the man had raised the lion in China and had imported it to Cambodia – presumably illegally as the keeping of lions in private homes is prohibited by Cambodian law. Mr. Keo Omalis, Director of the Forestry Administration, confirmed the fine saying: “We have a law to raise. We have an application form and permission to raise wildlife. But if the lion is confiscated and fined, we can follow that.” According to the Forest Law, Article 96 stipulates that any person who breeds endangered and endangered species will be fined by the Forestry Administration in the amount of 2-3 times the actual exhibit value of the market. He confirmed that the Chinese man initially raised the lion in China – initially buying it for $10,000 – but then brought it to Cambodia without asking permission from the Forestry Administration. The lion had first been noticed by neighbours of the villa located at No. 22, Street 306, Village 7, Sangkat Boeung Keng Kang I, Khan Boeung Keng Kang – who posted a video and images on social media of what appeared to be a big cat roaming the garden of a Phnom Penh villa. NGO Wildlife Alliance, in conjunction with Phnom Penh authorities, raided the villa on Sunday and removed the lion to Phnom Tamao Wildlife Centre. However, the animal’s Chinese owner has spoken out about the deep love he has for his animal, how he was not aware that it is illegal to keep a lion as a pet in Phnom Penh and how it was better off living with him – rather than in its new home at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Centre. The unnamed man says that he raised the lion ‘like a child’ from infancy, purely out of love and not for any commercial reason. He apologized for causing any alarm to his neighbours in the fashionable district of Boeung Keng Kang, but said that the lion was not ferocious and had a gentle nature. He also added that the person who initially gave him the baby lion told him that it was not illegal to raise a lion in Phnom Penh. He said that as a foreigner living in Cambodia, he was not aware of the laws against lion-keeping. He also contrasted the loving care he received against the lion’s new life in the Wildlife Centre, saying: “When this lion was under ‘Chinese rule’, his life was like that of a rich man who took good care of him day and night. On the contrary, can it be the same for Phnom Tamao?” However, NGO Wildlife Alliance say that ‘The male lion is a young adult raised from a cub. He is now 1.5 y/o & weighs 70+ kg. The conditions at a residential home are inappropriate for a wild animal. In addition, the lion’s canine teeth had been removed, drastically reducing the lion’s quality of life. The lion eats about 6 kg of raw meat a day. He is now safe and being cared for appropriately at Phnom Tamao Wildlife Rescue Centre [a wildlife centre located roughly 25 miles south of Phnom Penh]. As with every animal in their care, Forestry Administration staff at PTWRC will ensure the lion receives everything he needs.’ – Khmer Times
Court admits NLD statements as evidence against Suu Kyi
A junta-controlled court accepted two statements issued by the National League for Democracy (NLD) as evidence against State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and two other members of her ousted government on Tuesday. The statements, released by the party’s central executive committee on February 7 and 13, were submitted by the prosecution last week as part of its incitement case against Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and Naypyitaw mayor Myo Aung. The February 7 statement urged the international community, including the United Nations, foreign governments, and foreign missions in Myanmar, not to recognise the coup regime. A week later, as the newly installed military council was preparing to enact the controversial Cyber Security Law, the NLD released another statement that said all regulations, rules and laws enacted by the junta were illegal. Suu Kyi and the other two senior members of her party were charged with incitement under section 505b of the Penal Code. They have been in military custody since the country’s elected civilian government was overthrown on February 1. Judge Maung Maung Lwin, who presides over a court in Naypyitaw’s Zabuthiri Township specially designated to handle the cases against the three high-profile defendants, ruled out the defence team’s objection to the submitted evidence. The defence lawyers said they were not “not satisfied” with the township judge’s ruling. “We objected to the submitted evidence because no one from the party signed those statements. It just said they were from the central executive committee of the NLD,” said lawyer Min Min Soe, a member of the defence team. The defence team will appeal the decision at a higher, district-level court, she added. The Dekkhina District Court will hear the appeal on July 6, but the defendants are not required to attend the hearing, she said. Thein Oo, who serves as justice minister in the shadow National Unity Government (NUG), said that basing charges against the three leaders on statements issued after their detention was evidence that the regime was “turning a blind eye to the law.” “The military council is committing a crime by arresting those who did not commit any crimes, because they are knowingly prosecuting innocent people,” he said. On Tuesday, lawyers on the defence team met with the defendants for about half an hour, Min Min Soe said. The hearing lasted about three hours. Suu Kyi, who turned 76 this month, faces a total of seven charges. She could be sentenced to up to 40 years in prison if found guilty on all charges. In addition to incitement, she has been charged with violating the Official Secrets Act and the Telecommunications Law, illegally importing walkie-talkies, and breaching Covid-19 protocols during last year’s election campaign. Earlier this month, the regime added corruption to the list of charges against Suu Kyi, accusing her of abusing her position as leader of the ruling party to benefit a private foundation named after her mother, as well as an affiliated project. – Myanmar NOW
Indonesia could be second choice for 2032 Olympic host: Thohir
Indonesia will stand a chance to be chosen as host of the 2023 Olympics if Brisbane, Australia, does not get the necessary votes during the 183rd IOC Session, International Olympic Committee member Erick Thohir said. Thohir, who is also Indonesia’s State-owned Enterprises (SOE) Minister, made the statement in response to the IOC Executive Council proposing Brisbane as the host of the 2032 Olympics at the recommendation of the Future Olympic Host Commission. Thohir emphasized that it was just a proposal since the decision could only be confirmed if Brisbane won the IOC members’ vote in Tokyo on July 21, 2021. Thohir is the only Indonesian representative who will have voting rights in the election. “It is not impossible like in Asian Games, when Vietnam stepped back and it was a possibility. Thus, I have told Mr. Okto (Indonesia’s Olympic Committee chairman) that we have to remain becoming the wing and stay aggressive,” Thohir said. “We have potential. We can be the option to become the next host if we can be the second preferred bidder. So, this is what we have to do,” he added. Currently, Indonesia has stepped up continuous dialogue in pursuit of obtaining the status of the 2032 Olympic host along with Unified Korea, he informed. If it successfully organizes international and championship events that are scheduled to be held here, such as the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup, 2023 FIBA World Cup, and 2023 FIFA World Cup U-20, Indonesia can move from continuous dialogue to targeted dialogue till it is selected as the preferred host during the bidding process, he explained. If Brisbane is not selected during the IOC’s voting session, the Olympic Host Commission would not continue to another candidacy using a similar process, Thohir said. Besides Brisbane and Indonesia, there are at least four other countries in the fray to host the 2032 Olympics — Germany, Hungary, Qatar, and Unified Korea.– AntaraNews.Com