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.
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Biden aims for Aug 31 Afghanistan pullout as risk of attacks rises
Afghanistan’s new Taleban rulers said on Tuesday (Aug 24) all foreign evacuations from the country must be completed by Aug 31, and the White House said US President Joe Biden is aiming to stick to the date due to the mounting threat of militant attacks.
But Biden has left open the chance of the deadline being extended, the White House said, and has asked the Pentagon and the US State Department to develop contingency plans should that prove necessary.
Biden spoke on Tuesday with leaders of the Group of Seven (G-7) major industrialised nations – Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan, telling them that completing evacuations by Aug 31 is dependent on continued cooperation with the Taleban, including continued access for evacuees to the airport in Kabul.
Biden also told G-7 counterparts that each day on the ground in Afghanistan brings added risk to US troops from an attack by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants, according to the White House. - Straits Times
41.6pc of M'sian population fully vaccinated against Covid-19
About 41.6 per cent of the country's population or 13,580,934 people have completed both doses of the Covid-19 vaccination as of yesterday, according to the Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Access Guarantee Special Committee (JKJAV).
An infographic shared on the committee's official Twitter also showed 18,631,593 individuals, or 57.1 per cent, have received the first dose, bringing to a total of 32,212,527 doses of the vaccine having been administered under the Covid-19 National Immunisation Programme until yesterday.
It also showed the percentage of the adult population in the country who have completed both doses of the vaccination having increased to 58 per cent yesterday, from 56.9 per cent last Monday.
On the daily vaccination, the number of doses dispensed yesterday increased to 420,164 doses, from 396,576 doses on Monday.
Of the total vaccine doses administered yesterday, 265,160 doses were as second dose, with 155,004 doses to first dose recipients.
NIP was launched last Feb 24 to curb the spread of Covid-19 in the country. - New Straits Times
DMS keeping close tabs on Delta strains
The Department of Medical Science (DMS) is keeping a close watch on the domestically found sub-variants of Delta but has, however, tried to play down public fears over the latest emergence of the mutated virus.
DMS director-general Supakit Sirilak on Tuesday said at a press briefing that the mutation of the virus is a normal phenomenon.
He said currently there is not enough information about the sub-variants to compare with the Delta variant that is dominating the country.
The four Delta sub-variants found in the country have also been discovered in several other countries, especially AY.4, which has been reported in 67% of cases in the United Kingdom, 3% in the United States and Denmark and 2% in Spain and France.
"We don't want the public to think it is a Thai strain. Those mutated sub-variants have not yet even been classified as 'variants of concern'. So we aren't worried about them. We are just monitoring them closely to verify their capability," Dr Supakit said. - Bangkok Post
Duterte won’t order Duque to resign
President Rodrigo Duterte on Tuesday said he would never direct embattled Health Secretary Francisco Duque III to step down from post amid calls for the latter’s resignation due to the Department of Health’s (DOH) supposed deficiencies in the handling of pandemic funds.
In his pre-recorded Talk to the People, Duterte said he has no plan to heed the public’s clamor for Duque’s “outright” dismissal.
“Maski kaming dalawa na lang ni Duque sa (If I and Duque will be left alone in) the rest of the Philippines, I will stand by him. ‘Pag masira ako, wala (I don’t care if I will lose the public’s trust). But I will never abandon the person just like that,” Duterte said.
Duterte reiterated that there is no basis to fire Duque.
“Gusto nila, si Duque, fire him, dismiss him. For what? Noon pa iyan, ilang buwan na iyan, gusto nila alisin si Duque. Sabi ko nga, wala naman akong nakita (It’s been months since they have been calling for Duque’s resignation. I don’t see any reason [for his dismissal]),” he said. “You have to observe fairness. Ako, fair lang talaga ako (I am just being fair).”
Duterte said Duque has come under fire after being “painted black” because of the Commission of Audit’s (COA) audit report on DOH’s spending of funds allotted for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic response efforts in 2020.
While he is not blaming COA, Duterte expressed dismay that its audit report has already tainted Duque’s reputation. - Philippine News Agency
MPI supports digital transformation to improve business efficiency
The Ministry of Planning and Investment is developing a draft programme to support digital transformation in enterprises, cooperatives and business households for 2021-2025, to meet the practical and urgent needs of the fourth industrial revolution and tackling the pandemic.
The purpose of the programme is for digital transformation through transforming awareness, vision and business strategy; supporting the digitisation of business, management processes, technology and production; supporting digital transformation to improve the efficiency of production and business; enhancing capacity and competitive advantage; and creating new values for production and businesses.
The goal is that 100 per cent of production and businesses will be aware of digital transformation by 2025; 500,000 production and businesses receive support from the programme; at least 800 businesses, 100 cooperatives and 4,000 business households supported gain successes in digital transformation. - Vietnam News
Dark allegations: Sinister claims made about ‘The China Project’ in Sihanoukville
Several people have reached out to Khmer Times after the release of four Filipino “victims” who say they were held captive at a complex in Preah Sihanouk province. They claim that dozens and possibly hundreds remain held against their will by an internationally organised crime syndicate.
The names, age and nationalities of former employees have been withheld for their protection. Upon their release, many were allegedly told that their safety would be in danger if they spoke out publicly.
It is not clear what the complex was designed for but employees said they received training as “con artists” and sources suggest it was also an illegal gambling operation paying $600 to $700 per month with illegal drugs as perks. Allegedly, the compound also houses sex workers. All newcomers had their passports taken away.
They said they want to share their story to get people currently working there out of the situation and prevent others falling for similar “scams”.
No one from the complex was available for comment.
News of the complex first reached public knowledge when Filipino victims were released from the 10-building complex in Otres Beach, Sihanoukvile and managed to get in touch with their partners.
The Philippine embassy in Phnom Penh declined to comment. Following the release of the four women, however, the embassy issued a public statement warning its citizens about applying for job adverts that appear to be too good to be true. - Khmer Times
The National Unity Government cannot afford to ignore past injustices if it truly seeks to free Myanmar from military rule
The formation of Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG) by elected members of parliament, ethnic and civil society leaders, and representatives of the Civil Disobedience Movement and General Strike Committees of the Spring Revolution was a historic moment. For the country’s diverse communities, it offered real hope that a genuine federal democracy—one that guarantees and protects their rights— can be established. As a moral as well as a political guide, the NUG must therefore transparently communicate to the people of Myanmar what and who it stands for.
To live up to its historic role, the NUG must now face the lack of justice and accountability that have allowed the Myanmar military to commit grave crimes against ethnic communities, including the Rohingya, for decades. For far too long, the military has acted with total impunity.
The last decade has seen the enactment and maintenance of racist, Islamophobic, and misogynistic legal frameworks that have served to enable the military’s most egregious abuses. The four “Race and Religion Protection Laws” adopted in 2015 built on the 1982 Citizenship Law to enshrine deeply discriminatory attitudes against a segment of the population; together with the empowerment of extremist Buddhist nationalists, they laid the groundwork for the incitement of anti-Muslim violence and the Myanmar military’s “clearance operations” against the Rohingya in 2017.
The genocide of that year went beyond the horrific crimes routinely committed by the military in ethnic areas for decades. More than 800,000 Rohingya were systematically murdered, raped and expelled from their homeland and a system of apartheid was created in which those who remained in Myanmar were confined to internment camps.
When it was in power, the National League for Democracy (NLD) remained silent in the face of the military’s grave crimes, particularly those committed against the Rohingya. Rather than cooperating with international mechanisms to hold the military accountable, the ruling party defended the generals at hearings held by the International Court of Justice. It even intentionally avoided using the term “Rohingya”, in line with state attempts to erase Rohingya identity. The NLD government did not repeal racist laws, despite having the capacity to do so with their parliamentary majority.
The culpability of the previous NLD government needs to be addressed head on. Covering up wrongdoing in the name of unity and as a strategy against the junta will only ensure that past injustices are perpetuated and that military rule will live on indefinitely. - Myanmar NOW
Differently abled people experiencing inequality in employment
People living with disabilities are still experiencing social inequality due to stigma and community stereotypes, especially in the employment sector, director of domestic workforce placement at the Manpower Ministry, Nora Kartika Setyaningrum, has said.
She made the statement during a webinar on 'National Action Plan: Entering the Era of the Expansion of Inclusive Development for Disabled People', originating from here on Tuesday.
Access to information regarding job vacancies, education, and job training has not been provided inclusively for all types of disabilities, she noted. Moreover, public service accessibility for people living with disabilities is also inadequate, she said.
Hence, the government needs to prepare supporting regulations and build collaboration between related stakeholders from central to regional levels, Setyaningrum said. - AntaraNews.Com