These are the top stories making the front pages of major newspapers from across Southeast Asia today.
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US, China stress importance of dialogue and communication to resolve issues
Chinese Ambassador to the United States Qin Gang met with US Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman on Thursday (Aug 12).
Ms Sherman expressed welcome to Mr Qin for assuming the office and stated that the Department of State will provide convenience and support for the ambassador's performance of duties in the US.
"Today I welcomed the appointed ambassador from the People's Republic of China (PRC), Qin Gang, to Washington, D.C.," Ms Sherman wrote on Twitter.
"I used our meeting to review the issues I raised with PRC officials last month. We remain committed to continuing discussions."
Mr Qin thanked the US for providing support and assistance for him. He pointed out that the China-US relationship is at a new crossroads.
"Both sides agreed that China-US relations are very important, and it is necessary for the two sides to resolve issues through dialogue and communication, properly manage differences and disagreements, and improve the bilateral relations," Mr Qin said, when responding to questions from the media after the meeting. - Straits Times
'Let women 33 weeks into pregnancy get vaccinated'
Health experts are calling on the government to allow pregnant women 33 weeks or more into their pregnancy to be inoculated with the Covid-19 vaccine.
Consultant obstetrician, gynaecologist and maternal medicine specialist at Prince Court Medical Centre Dr Shilpa Nambiar said removing the gestation restriction to allow pregnant mothers to receive the vaccine would reduce the risk of them becoming Category 3, 4 or 5 Covid-19 patients.
"We need to appeal to the government to remove the gestation restriction for pregnant mothers.
"There is no evidence of harm and people, especially pregnant women, should get the vaccine," she told the New Straits Times when contacted.
Dr Shilpa said there were more reasons for expectant mothers to get the vaccine, especially if they experienced a complicated pregnancy, which would require them to see their doctors.
"There are some women who are naturally at high risk of getting severe infections with pre-existing medical conditions, such as hypertension and diabetes.
"So, I usually advise them to get the vaccine because we know that being inoculated will reduce severe complications, should they get infected." - New Straits Times
Record 23,418 new daily Covid cases, 184 fatalities
There were a record 23,418 more Covid-19 cases, and 184 deaths, over the past 24 hours, the Public Health Ministry reported on Friday morning.
There were 23,030 cases in the general population and 388 among prison inmates.
Over the previous 24 hours, 20,083 Covid-19 patients were discharged from hospitals.
Since April 1, around when the third wave of Covid-19 began, there have been 834,326 Covid-19 patients, 616,458 of whom have recovered.
Since the pandemic started early last year, there have been 863,189 Covid-19 cases, 643,884 of whom recovered.
The death toll was at 6,848 in the third wave and 6,942 from the beginning of the pandemic early last year.
The previous high of daily Covid-19 cases was 22,782 reported on Thursday. The record high for daily fatalities is 235 on Tuesday. - Bangkok Post
PH extends travel ban on India, 9 other states until Aug. 31
Travelers from India and nine other countries are still barred from entering the Philippines until the end of August, Malacañang announced Friday.
This, after President Rodrigo Duterte, upon the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), extended the travel restrictions imposed on travelers from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
“President Rodrigo Roa Duterte approved the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force to extend the current travel restrictions in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia from August 16 to August 31, 2021,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a press statement.
The extended travel ban came amid the threat posed by the more infectious Delta coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) variant that was first detected in India. - Philippine News Agency
Vietnam strives to have homegrown vaccines next month
Prime Minister Pham Minh Chính has asked for more efforts, determination and effective coordination among ministries, agencies and individuals to be able to have the first made-in-Vietnam COVID-19 vaccines ready next month.
He spoke at a meeting held with scientists, units and businesses involving in COVID-19 vaccine research and production yesterday to seek solutions and promote vaccine production.
The Government has put special attention on promoting the production of vaccines as soon and as much as possible to vaccinate people amid the global shortage and complicated development of the pandemic.
The Prime Minister has had five meetings to discuss the research, technology transfer and production of homemade vaccines during a short period of time and visited vaccine research and production facilities in Hanoi and HCM City, which demonstrated the Government’s special attention to this task.
In order to have COVID-19 vaccines, it was necessary to comprehensively implement the import of vaccines, transfer of vaccine production technology and research and production of homegrown vaccines, he said. Of which, the research, technology transfer and production of homemade vaccines played an important role.
He asked participants to make clear difficulties in vaccine research and production in order to work together to find solutions.
All sides needed to coordinate closely and proactively implement assigned tasks with full responsibilities, he said. - Vietnam News
WHO Cambodia: ‘COVID-19 Vaccines are a very powerful tool, but not a silver bullet to end the pandemic’
“COVID-19 vaccines are a very powerful tool, but not a silver bullet to end the pandemic,” reiterated the World Health Organisation (WHO) Representative Office for Cambodia in a statement on Aug. 12, warning people of vaccine optimism.
The full statement reads as follows:
“‘Vaccine optimism’ can be dangerous. If you are vaccinated, it doesn’t mean you should stop practicing other preventative measures such as wearing a mask in public places or physical distancing and avoiding gatherings. Vaccinations alone are not a ‘silver bullet’, they are just one of the critical tools in fighting COVID-19 and in reducing severe disease, hospitalisations and deaths.
COVID-19 transmission can only be suppressed, if we continue to strictly and effectively implement targeted non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) in combination with vaccination. Importantly, adoption of these measures will allow businesses and other sectors to reopen and people to safely maintain their livelihoods and restart their lives.
The proactive efforts of the Royal Government of Cambodia, including the Ministry of Health, have ensured consistently increasing vaccine availability, uptake and coverage in Cambodia, especially among vulnerable, high-risk groups and remote populations.
WHO highly commends the Royal Government of Cambodia for achieving the remarkable milestone of vaccinating 8 million people, which is 80% of the target population.
As of 10 August 2021, a total of 8,037,519 and 6,438,770 people aged 18 years old and above were vaccinated with first and second dose, respectively. - Khmer Times
Locals blame junta official's security team for Myingan shooting death of infant
A shooting in the fourth ward of Myingyan, Mandalay Region on Thursday morning killed a one-year-old girl and injured her father and another passerby, according to local sources.
The identity of the perpetrators had not been confirmed at the time of reporting, but eyewitnesses accused the armed guards stationed outside the home of local junta-appointed administrator Tun Tun Oo - three doors down from the victims’ house - of firing the shots.
Locals said that Tun Tun Oo is known to carry a gun and to have three armed guards in front of his house at all times.
A resident of the ward said that two plainclothes men arrived outside the house of 29-year-old Nyein Chan, the infant girl’s father - about whom little was known at the time of reporting - and fired shots in front of the residence.
The eyewitness said he believed the men were members of the administrator’s security team.
“There were guards in front of Tun Tun Oo’s house - I think they were the ones who shot them. They were saying that they had to shoot them because they were ‘acting suspicious,’” he told Myanmar Now, adding that the men fled the scene on a motorbike. - Myanmar NOW
Ministry starts distributing Moderna vaccines for general public
The Health Ministry has started distributing Moderna COVID-19 vaccines that will be administered to the general public in all provinces across Indonesia.
"The Moderna vaccine, which is allocated in the second week of August 2021, is to meet the need of administering two doses (to each recipient)," Health Ministry's spokesperson for COVID-19 vaccination, Siti Nadia Tarmizi, informed here on Thursday.
She said two doses of the Moderna vaccine would be given to recipients at an interval of four weeks.
So far, Indonesia has received over 8 million doses of the Moderna vaccine donated by the US Government through the COVAX Facility, she noted. As many as 3 million doses of the total Moderna vaccines received have been allocated for 1.4 million health workers as boosters, she disclosed. - AntaraNews.Com