PHUKETWAN recognises the importance of Asean with the Economic Community approaching and marks what's happening around the region with a new column, Asean Today.



smh.com.au Australian aid to Indonesia will be considerably cut by the Abbott government in next week's budget, but is unlikely to be directly linked as retribution to the executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran. The aid budget will face the biggest cut to its programs in Australia's history as it is slashed by $1 billion.



reuters Singapore and Malaysia have decided to push back an initial deadline of 2020 for the completion of a high-speed rail link between the wealthy city state and Kuala Lumpur, their prime ministers said, citing the complexity of the project.



theguardian.com China has accused the Philippines of violating a 13-year-old informal code of conduct in the South China Sea by building on disputed islets, a move that comes after repeated criticism of China's construction work.



tuoittrenews.vnPolice officers killed one of 28 drug traffickers during a shootout and seized 56kg of heroin after detecting an armed drug trafficking group illegally entering Vietnam via the Vietnamese-Lao border.



businessinsider.com Prime Minister Hun Sen, who has been in office for 30 years, is refusing to pay up on a $5,000 bet he made on Manny Pacquiao beating Mayweather, deeming the result of the fight ''unfair.'' However, according to The Financial Times, it's not the Prime Minister's refusal to pay the stake that makes this situation intriguing, but the fact that the PM has previously claimed his only income is his official salary of just over 750 pounds per month.



strategypage.com After three months the Kokang fighting in the tribal north (Shan state) has died down. As usual the rebels lost because the army had more, and bigger, guns (artillery) and aircraft. The rebels were gradually pushed back and the soldiers took at least twenty rebel camps or fighting positions (like fortified hilltops overlooking key roads).



theguardian.com Australia acted with the Vietnamese government to return 46 asylum seekers who were intercepted at sea, the immigration minister, Peter Dutton, has revealed. The Australian government has adopted a policy of returning asylum seeker vessels directly, and has previously done so with Sri Lankans.



channelnewsasia.com There has been a year-on-year upward trend of growing positive perceptions about kindness and graciousness in Singapore since 2013, according to the Singapore Kindness Movement's (SKM) Graciousness Index this year. The Graciousness Index has seen a rise from 55 in 2014 to 61 this year, said the SKM.

forbes.com The Singapore Sling was created by bartender Ngiam Tong Boon in 1915 at the Long Bar in the Raffles hotel in its namesake city. A hundred years later, it is Singapore's national drink, widely available on menus everywhere you turn, and has gained international fame.