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.
WHO calls for emergency meeting as new China virus spreads
A World Health Organization (WHO) emergency panel will meet this week to discuss a SARS-like virus that has spread beyond China and that a Beijing government expert said Monday is contagious between humans.
The new coronavirus strain, first discovered in the central city of Wuhan, has caused alarm because of its connection to Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), which killed nearly 650 people across mainland China and Hong Kong in 2002-2003.
The total number of people diagnosed with the new virus has risen to 218.- The New Straits Times
Amnesty urges Thai govt to drop charges against Future Forward members
Amnesty International has called on Thai authorities to “stop instrumentalising the legal process to intimidate and harass the leaders and members of the Future Forward party”, as the Constitutional Court prepared to deliver a judgement on Tuesday, (21 Jan), in a case that could see the party banned and its leaders prosecuted.
In a statement, Amnesty said the spate of prosecutions targeting the party “appear to be in clear retaliation for activities of the party that fall within the exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association”. – The Star
Next target for gov’t evacuation: Animals left behind in danger zone
The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) on Monday gave assurance that pets and livestock left behind by residents fleeing Taal Volcano’s eruption would also be rescued and cared for.
The commitment came as the Department of Agriculture released its latest bulletin stating that animal deaths in Taal’s eruption had reached 55,581 head, an alarming increase from 1,967 head at the start of the volcano’s restiveness last week. - Philippine Daily Inquirer
Malaysia on high alert after coronavirus outbreak
Malaysian response teams at all international entry points and health facilities around the country particularly the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) Health Office have been placed on high alert following the novel coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan, China.
In his Facebook post, Health director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said thermal scanners and health quarantine centres at the KLIA terminal have been on high surveillance mode. – The Borneo Post
Government’s sovereign wealth fund plan questioned
The government’s plan to establish its own sovereign wealth fund has raised questions regarding the source of funding, as well as how the fund is managed to ensure it does not suffer the same fate as Malaysia’s 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB).
The fund’s establishment will be regulated in the anticipated omnibus bill on job creation, which is currently being drafted by the government. – The Jakarta Post