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.



AP Burma has declared a 90-day state of emergency and granted its military unprecedented powers to deal with fighting between ethnic minority rebels and government troops in the Kokang region, after week-long clashes left dozens of soldiers dead and sent tens of thousands of refugees fleeing to neighboring China.



thediplomat.com Cambodian authorities issued a directive banning drones from the airspace of the nation's capital city without prior approval, citing privacy and security concerns. The move comes just days after a German national flew a camera-equipped drone over the country's royal palace and reportedly alarmed the queen who was in the courtyard.



bbc.com The US has paid $1.97m to the Philippines in compensation for damage caused to a protected reef. The USS Guardian minesweeper ran aground on the Tubbataha Reef, a Unesco World Heritage Site, in January 2013.



theguardian.com Four US warships designed to fight in coastal areas similar to south-east Asian waters will operate out of Singapore by 2018, a senior US Navy official said, further underscoring Washington's military tilt to Asia.



freemalaysiatoday.com Member of Parliament Ramkarpal Singh called upon the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar to initiate fresh investigations into the gruesome murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu as a matter of public interest in the light of recent revelations by accused killer Sirul Azhar Umar.

skynews.com.au Chinese relatives of MH370 passengers have gathered outside the Malaysian prime minister's office to demand his government rescind its declaration that all on board the plane were presumed dead. ''We want an explanation from (Prime Minister Najib Razak). And we want him to cancel the declaration that the incident was an accident,'' said Kelly Wen, a Chinese national whose husband was on the Malaysia Airlines flight.



reuters Indonesia owes it to Australia not to execute two Australian drug offenders on death row, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said, ratcheting up a diplomatic war of words that is threatening to sour relations between the neighbors.



bangkokpost.com The Lao government will sign an agreement with Lao and Chinese firms to launch a feasibility study into a new airport site for Vientiane, a Lao official said.



rawstory.com The state of Michigan has ordered Consumers Energy to issue a report after a 69-year-old Vietnam war veteran died of hypothermia when his gas was shutoff during one of the coldest months of the year.