PHUKETWAN recognises the importance of Asean with the Economic Community approaching and marks what's happening around the region with a column, Asean Today, that will cease when Phuketwan closes on December 31.



AP The Philippine government has begun appraising the dazzling jewellery seized three decades ago from Imelda Marcos, the former first lady famous for her huge collection of shoes, as it decides what to do with the hoard. A 25-carat Indian pink diamond probably cut in the 18th century and worth at least $5m was discovered to be part of the collection.



voanews.com A court in Myanmar has declined to drop a charge against a young woman accused of poking fun at Myanmar's army chief on Facebook, highlighting the challenges faced by the former dictatorship as it grapples with a social media explosion and other newfound freedoms of expression. Chaw Sandi Tun, who has been charged with violating junta-era defamation and electronic laws, faces up to five years behind bars.



nytimes.com The seafood industry in Thailand suffers from widespread labor and human rights abuses, exposing virtually all American and European companies that buy seafood from there to the ''endemic risk'' of having these problems as part of their supply chain, according to a report by the food giant Nestle.

AP The UN human rights agency called on Thailand to immediately close a military detention center where two high-profile prisoners died in controversial circumstances over the past month.



afp Vietnam passed a landmark law enshrining rights for transgender people in a move advocacy groups say paves the way for gender reassignment surgery in the authoritarian communist nation.



wsj.com Prime Minister Narendra Modi attracted a crowd of more than 18,000 people in Singapore in another one of his signature events aimed at triggering the support and pride of India's great global diaspora.

bloomberg.com Singapore will outpace Hong Kong in growth in the ranks of millionaires over the next five years, with about one in 30 people qualifying as high net worth by 2020, swelled by Indians and Chinese keen to avoid social unrest, according to WealthInsight.



wsj.com China's $2.3 billion deal to buy power assets from a debt-ridden Malaysian government-investment fund could give Beijing greater sway in the Southeast Asia nation and pave the way for Chinese companies to win a string of coveted infrastructure deals.



afp A staunchly Islamic district in Indonesia plans to ban the sale of condoms in convenience stores in a bid to halt premarital sex, an official said. But activists criticised the move as misguided.

channelnewsasia.com The worst of the haze crisis may be over for now thanks to rain, but experts from Indonesia said pre-emptive measures must be taken to prevent such calamities from happening again, such as by declaring a state of emergency for the whole of Indonesia and preparing peat land so that they do not catch fire.



afp Cambodia's increasingly fractious political situation is pushing the country towards a ''dangerous tipping point,'' the UN rights envoy to the kingdom said.

dpa Phnom Penh is to try to cut plastic bag use in the capital, joining other South-East Asian cities like Manila, Ho Chi Minh City and Penang, a media report said. UNESCO and the Ministries of the Environment and Tourism will launch the program Friday aimed at reducing the use of plastic bags and raising awareness about the dangers of littering.



bbc.com Passengers on a river trip in Laos in south-east Asia have told an inquest how their boat sank in seconds, killing a BBC staffer on holiday. A verdict of accidental death was recorded for Johanna Powell, from Cardiff, who was with three friends on the Mekong River near Pak Beng in April.