Live Streaming
Program Highlight
Company Profile
International News (6891)
May
Philippines detects Indian variant as daily COVID-19 cases near 8-week low
Written by Nur Yasmin
The Philippines has detected its first two cases of a coronavirus variant first identified in India, its health ministry said on Tuesday, even as confirmed daily COVID-19 infections fell to a near eight-week low.
The World Health Organization has classified the coronavirus variant, known as B.1.617, as a variant of global concern with some preliminary studies showing that it spreads more easily. read more
The variant had been confirmed in two Filipino seafarers who returned in April, Alethea De Guzman, director of the ministry's epidemiology bureau, told a news conference
"We need to continually monitor what other variants we may be able to detect locally, as well as monitor the spread of the variants we have already detected," De Guzman said, adding that the seafarers were isolated on their return and had both recovered.
Separately, the health ministry reported on Tuesday 4,734 new coronavirus infections, the lowest single-day tally since March 17, bringing total cases to more than 1.11 million.
The number of daily infections in the Philippines, which is battling one of the worst outbreaks in Asia, has fallen from a peak of 15,310 on April 2, but has stayed above the daily average of roughly 1,700 cases for 2020.
The drop in cases, if sustained, will buoy hopes that tougher restrictions imposed on March 29 will be relaxed to help the economy, which contracted 4.2% in the first quarter.
In a bid to prevent the entry of variants, the Philippines has temporarily barred travellers coming from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh from entering the country.
Indonesia and Malaysia this month reported the first cases of the B.1.617 coronavirus variant. The Philippines has also previously recorded cases of a variant first detected in Britain and another first discovered in South Africa, as well as a homegrown P.3 variant.
The Philippines has the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases and casualties in Southeast Asia, next to Indonesia. (Reuters)
May
Taiwan denounces China's 'shameless lies' about WHO access
Written by Nur Yasmin
Taiwan's foreign minister criticised what he called China's "shameless lies" on Tuesday in an escalating dispute about Beijing blocking the island from the World Health Organization (WHO), saying China clearly did not care about Taiwan's people.
The United States and the rich-nation Group of Seven (G7) have called for Chinese-claimed but democratically ruled Taiwan to attend the WHO's decision-making body, the World Health Assembly, which meets from May 24.
Taiwan is excluded from most global organisations such as the WHO because of the objections of China, which considers the island one of its provinces not a country.
China's foreign ministry said on Monday that "appropriate arrangements" have been made for Taiwan's participation in global health matters and that nobody cared more for Taiwan's people than the Chinese government. read more
"Shameless lies! Just goes to show the CCP can't tell the truth," Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu said on Twitter, referring to China's ruling Communist Party.
"After what Beijing has done to Xinjiang, Tibet & Hong Kong, no sane person would believe it could take care of Taiwan's health needs or otherwise," Wu added. "Thank God we aren't under China's control! Please help us keep it at a distance."
Wu said China's Communist Party could not claim to speak for Taiwan as it has never ruled it and only the island's democratically elected government can represent its people.
In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the blame lay with Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for refusing to accept the island was part of China.
"The DPP authorities know this well. Taiwan compatriots are our flesh and blood. The Chinese central government takes all necessary measures to ensure the health and well-being of the Taiwan compatriots," she added.
While the WHO cooperates with Taiwan's technical experts on COVID-19, it is up to member states whether to invite Taiwan to observe the WHO meeting, the WHO's principal legal officer Steve Solomon said on Monday.
China can easily corral enough countries to support blocking Taiwan from the World Health Assembly, according to diplomats. (Reuters)
May
Vietnam seeks mRNA tech transfer amid COVID-19 vaccine supply issues
Written by Nur Yasmin
Vietnam is seeking the transfer of mRNA technology to domestically manufacture COVID-19 vaccines, state media reported on Tuesday, as officials warned of supply issues until the end of the year.
MRNA vaccines, like that developed jointly by BionTech (22UAy.DE) and Pfizer (PFE.N), prompt the human body to make a protein that is part of the virus, triggering an immune response.
"Given the currently limited supply to Vietnam, especially as the COVID-19 situation is showing complicated developments, the health ministry has met with a World Health Organization representative to facilitate the negotiations on transferring of mRNA technology," the Vietnam News Agency reported.
Governments are looking to build up local vaccine production after manufacturing setbacks slowed rollouts in some countries.
Vaccine makers have come under growing pressure to free up their patents to aid poor countries. BioNTech and other COVID-19 vaccine makers have said they were already transferring vital production knowledge to other parts of the world.
On Monday, BioNTech announced plans to set up a regional centre and a new vaccine factory in Singapore. read more
Vietnam has been praised for its record in containing COVID-19 outbreaks quickly through targeted mass testing and a strict, centralised quarantine programme.
But a new outbreak emerged late last month and has already reached 25 of its 63 provinces, with a daily record 129 cases reported on Monday, although infections are still relatively low at 501 in the past two weeks.
Vietnam said last week it aims to administer all of its 928,800 AstraZeneca (AZN.L) doses, most of which came via the global COVAX scheme, by May 15.
"The health ministry is trying to obtain more vaccines, and we expect to receive more by the end of 2021, but it won't be enough for community immunity," Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said in a statement on Tuesday.
"At least from now until the end of 2021, Vietnam will have to take anti-COVID-19 measures as if it hasn't received any vaccines." (Reuters)
May
Taiwan tightens restrictions after new domestic COVID cases
Written by Nur Yasmin
Taiwan's government on Tuesday tightened rules on public gatherings after reporting six new domestic COVID-19 cases with no clear source of infection, a rare rise on the island which has kept the pandemic well under control.
Taiwan largely closed its borders early on in the pandemic and has a robust contact tracing and quarantine system, meaning its low case numbers - 1,210 infections to date including 12 deaths - have allowed life to carry on more or less as normal.
Already dealing with an outbreak amongst pilots of Taiwan's largest carrier China Airlines and at a hotel where some of them stayed, Health Minister Chen Shih-chung told reporters they had confirmed six new cases with no clear source of infection.
Five of these are in the northeastern county of Yilan and one in New Taipei, which surrounds the capital Taipei. None have a recent history of overseas travel, Chen added.
"We hope that this does not spread," he said, calling on people to wear masks, wash their hands and ensure social distancing while the government tracks down those who had been in contact with the infected to quarantine and test them.
Effective immediately until June 8, all outdoor activities of more than 500 people and inside activities of 100 or more should be cancelled, Chen said. Food and drink will also be banned on trains.
Similar restrictions have been put in place before, though Taiwan has never gone into a total lockdown. More than 90% of COVID-19 cases have been imported from abroad.
The rise in domestic infections, reported in local media before being officially announced, helped drag down the stock market (.TWII), which ended off 3.8% on Tuesday. (Reuters)
May
Australia's Victoria on alert after first COVID-19 case in two months
Written by Nur Yasmin
Australia's second most populous state reported a locally acquired COVID-19 case for the first time in more than two months on Tuesday, sending authorities scrambling to find the source of the infection amid concern about a new outbreak.
A man in his 30s, who returned from India in mid-April and completed mandatory two-week hotel quarantine in neighbouring South Australia, tested positive for the virus after developing symptoms over the weekend, authorities said.
Health workers had interviewed the man and urged people he had been in contact with to self-isolate and get tested. They also published a list of locations exposed to the virus.
Though Australia has largely eradicated the virus with border closures, Victoria has had most of the coronavirus cases and deaths and spent much of 2020 in lockdown.
"There is definitely a sense of complacency creeping in," Victoria Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton told reporters.
"We haven't had really significant outbreaks for some time and people drop their guard, people go about life as if we haven't been through the 15 months we have all been through. But it is a reminder that we need to be on guard."
Victoria had no immediate plans to elevate social distancing or mask-wearing rules, said Sutton, adding it was possible the man caught the virus in quarantine in Australia and not in India.
There were no other cases reported in Victoria or in New South Wales (NSW), Australia's most populous state, which tightened its virus-protection rules last week when a couple tested positive without a known source. read more
The new Victorian case rekindled calls for the federal government to play a more active role in the hotel quarantine system, which is administered by the states.
"We are going to need a strong border control and a strong quarantine control likely for years," Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley said at the news conference.
"We cannot continue to have a situation where it is the states disproportionately bearing the load."
Australia has reported just over 29,900 novel coronavirus cases and 910 deaths since the pandemic began.
It closed its borders to all but citizens and permanent residents in March last year and international arrivals, except from New Zealand, spend two weeks in hotel quarantine at their own expense. (Reuters)
May
Takeda says it may double imports of Moderna shots to help accelerate Japan vaccination
Written by Nur Yasmin
Takeda Pharmaceutical Co (4502.T) on Tuesday said it may double imports of Moderna Inc's (MRNA.O) COVID-19 vaccine to help Japan speed up COVID-19 inoculation efforts that have trailed most wealthy countries.
Japan's biggest drugmaker is handling the imports, and discussions are underway with the government to double shipments to 100 million, Takeda CEO Christophe Weber said.
"Japan is behind. So our goal now is to really support an acceleration of the vaccination," Weber said in a conference call after the company released full-year earnings results.
The company had reported positive interim results from a domestic trial of the Moderna shot, and Weber said he expected approval to come "very soon".
The COVID-19 pandemic has defined much of Takeda's activities in the past 12 months. This time last year, the company was promoting a plasma treatment for the disease, which ultimately failed in clinical trials.
Takeda is also handling domestic approval and production of 250 million doses of Novavax Inc's (NVAX.O) vaccine candidate. The Japanese government wants to use 150 million, with the remainder being dispatched elsewhere, Weber said.
For the year ended on March 31, Takeda reported a five-fold increase in operating profit versus the previous year, driven by sales of its Entyvio colitis treatment and other mainstay drugs.
Operating profit was 509 billion yen ($4.68 billion), compared with earlier guidance of 434 billion yen and a consensus estimate of 567 billion yen from a Refinitiv poll of 14 analysts.
Takeda also exceeded its goal for asset sales this year to reduce debt following a $59 billion purchase of Shire Plc in 2019. It has off-loaded about $12.9 billion in assets so far, mostly in over-the-counter and consumer goods, as part of a renewed focus on prescription drugs.
Among the biggest divestitures was Takeda's 227.7 billion yen sale of its Japanese consumer healthcare company to funds controlled by the Blackstone Group Inc (BX.N).
Takeda's shares slipped 0.2% ahead of the results versus a 3.1% slide in the market overall. (Reuters)
May
Malaysia sues Deutsche Bank, JP Morgan, Coutts over 1MDB
Written by Nur Yasmin
Malaysia’s now-defunct 1MDB state fund is suing units of Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE), J.P. Morgan (JPM.N) and Coutts & Co to recover billions in alleged losses from a corruption scandal at the fund, court documents seen by Reuters showed.
1MDB is claiming $1.11 billion from Deutsche Bank (Malaysia) Bhd, $800 million from J.P. Morgan (Switzerland) Ltd and $1.03 billion from a Swiss-based Coutts unit, and interest payments from all of them, according to the lawsuit.
The claims are premised on "negligence, breach of contract, conspiracy to defraud/injure, and/or dishonest assistance", 1MDB said in the documents, filed at a Kuala Lumpur court on Friday.
The three companies did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the claims in the lawsuit.
Malaysia's finance ministry said on Monday that 1MDB and a former unit had filed 22 civil suits seeking to recover more than $23 billion in assets from entities and people allegedly involved in defrauding the fund and its ex-subsidiary. It did not identify any of the individuals or entities being sued.
Malaysian business daily The Edge first reported the suits against the banks and others.
JP Morgan and Coutts declined to comment on the report.
A Deutsche Bank spokesperson said: "We have not been served any papers, and we are not aware of any basis for a legitimate claim against Deutsche Bank."
The lawsuit seen by Reuters did not detail the banks' role in 1MDB's affairs.
Malaysian and U.S. investigators say at least $4.5 billion was stolen from 1MDB between 2009 and 2014, in a wide-ranging scandal that has implicated high-level officials, banks and financial institutions around the world.
Malaysian authorities have previously said there were billions of dollars more that were unaccounted for.
The lawsuits come after Malaysia recovered nearly $5 billion in assets following deals over the past three years with U.S. bank Goldman Sachs, which helped 1MDB raise billions of dollars in funds, audit firm Deloitte and others.
In 2017, Switzerland's financial watchdog FINMA said the Swiss subsidiary of JPMorgan had committed serious anti-money laundering breaches over business relationships and transactions linked to 1MDB. JPMorgan said at the time it has since increased training and made improvements in monitoring and surveillance.
Last year, Swiss authorities convicted a former Coutts banker for failing to report suspicious transactions linked to 1MDB.
The Edge also reported those being sued by 1MDB include former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, who founded the fund.
Najib said in a Facebook post on Monday that the claim seemed intended to bankrupt him, and suggested that the lawsuit was politically motivated.
Last year, Najib was found guilty of corruption and money laundering in a 1MDB-linked case. He denies wrongdoing and is appealing the verdict. (Reuters)
May
Singapore warns on COVID-19 vaccine supplies as it expands programme
Written by Nur YasminSingapore still expects to complete its COVID-19 inoculation programme by the end of the year, the health minister said on Tuesday, though the city-state is also looking to secure more sources of vaccines as global supplies become more stretched.
As of Sunday, 1.8 million people in Singapore had received at least one dose of the vaccine, or nearly a third of the population. About 1.2 million people have completed the full two-dose vaccination regimen, Gan Kim Yong told parliament.
Singapore has one of the fastest vaccinations drives in Asia, but it lags some Western countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, according to a Reuters tracker. (https://tmsnrt.rs/3he0NN6)
"Global supplies of vaccines are limited, and not just the quantity but also logistics are challenging, and therefore we need to do what we can to expand and diversify our sources," Gan said.
Singapore has been using the Pfizer-BioNTech (PFE.N), (22UAy.DE) and Moderna (MRNA.O) vaccines, and has taken delivery of 200,000 doses of the vaccine developed by China's Sinovac Biotech, which has yet to be granted approval by Singapore authorities.
Singapore has been looking at alternatives and had "entered into advance purchasing agreements", said Gan, who said he was unable to give details due to confidentiality clauses.
Singapore's health authority has previously said it was holding talks with AstraZeneca. read more
Still, if supplies arrived as scheduled, Singapore would complete its inoculation programme by the end of the year, he said.
Singapore was also making plans for booster shots later this year or early next year, if necessary.
Singapore has been vaccinating those aged 45 years and older, but will invite younger people to receive shots from the second half of May.
The country has seen a rise in infections in recent weeks, along with locally acquired cases of coronavirus variants, prompting tightened curbs on social gatherings and stricter border measures.
Though only a fraction of the cases being reported among Singapore's Southeast Asian neighbours, a jump in infections would be a setback for the Asian business hub, which has successfully contained its earlier outbreaks. (Reuters)
May
Myanmar reporters, activists arrested in Thailand
Written by Nur YasminThree reporters and two activists from Myanmar have been arrested in Thailand for illegal entry and face possible deportation, the reporters' news organisation and local police said on Tuesday.
Broadcaster DVB (Democratic Voice of Burma) said the five were arrested on Sunday in the northern city of Chiang Mai and it appealed to Thai authorities not to deport them to Myanmar, where the news organisation has been banned by the junta.
"Their life will be in serious danger if they were to return," said Aye Chan Naing, DVB's executive director, in a statement, which also appealed to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees for help.
The statement said they had fled the army crackdown in Myanmar since the Feb. 1 coup, during which dozens of journalists have been among thousands of people arrested. DVB and several other independent media organisations had their licences revoked.
Thapanapong Chairangsri, the head of police in the San Sai district outside Chiang Mai, told Reuters that five Myanmar citizens had been arrested for entering the country illegally and would be brought to court on Tuesday.
He said they would be deported in accordance with the law, but added that because of the coronavirus outbreak they would be held in detention for 14 days before being handed to immigration authorities. (Reuters)
May
Japan March household spending posts biggest monthly rise in 18 months
Written by Nur YasminJapan's household spending posted its biggest monthly gain in 18 months in March, data showed on Tuesday, as consumer demand rebounded strongly from the heavy blow it took from the worsening impact of the coronavirus pandemic last year.
But an extension of new state of emergency restrictions and slow vaccine rollouts are clouding the outlook for the world's third-largest economy, and was likely to keep spending under pressure.
Household spending surged 6.2% in March from a year earlier, after a 6.6% decline in February, government data showed, and was stronger than a median market forecast for a 1.5% gain in a Reuters poll.
The jump marked the biggest gain since September 2019, and was the first advance in four months.
The overall spending gain was mainly due to a rebound from last year's contraction, a government official said, when the health crisis wreaked havoc on economic activity.
The month-on-month figures were also positive, posting a 7.2% rise compared with a forecast of a 2.1% gain.
"The number of infections increased rapidly in April, so there will likely be a decline again," said Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute.
That was likely to be followed by a moderate pickup in spending in May and June, he said.
Demand for travel services rebounded strongly compared to a year earlier, but remained at a relatively low level, the data showed, as COVID-19 continued to weigh.
"Department stores were closed in April and people refrained from travelling," Minami added.
The data was unlikely to dispel worries that Japan's economic recovery lags that of other major economies after the government last week expanded emergency curbs to halt the latest rise in COVID-19 infections.
The Japanese government has already deployed huge monetary and fiscal stimulus to help the economy withstand a blow to global trade from the health crisis, and the heavy toll it has taken on consumer sentiment which has hurt services spending. (Reuters)