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.



cnbc.com A deeply indebted Malaysian investment fund may have sent as much as $850 million to a British Virgin Islands entity set up with a name closely resembling one owned by an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing documents and people familiar with the matter.



AP Six Filipino crewmen were missing after their cargo ship collided with a chemical tanker and sank off western Indonesia, officials said. Six other people were rescued.



bangkokpost.com Deputy Prime Minister Somkid Jatusripitak is optimistic about Thailand's economy next year with government measures and infrastructure investments to be key drivers.



abc.net.au Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen arrives in Thailand on Friday for an official visit that marks a thawing in relations between the two neighbors. Hun Sen will spend two days in Bangkok and is scheduled to meet the leader of Thailand's military government, Prayuth Chan-ocha, for talks on border issues, agriculture, trade and investment, and regional connectivity.



channelnewsasia.com A tropical depression, locally named ''Onyok,'' was heading for the southern island of Mindanao as Melor moved further out to the South China Sea after claiming at least 20 lives, the government weather bureau reported.



huffingtonpost.com Ah Moon - sometimes referred to as ''Southeast Asia's Rihanna'' - is wildly popular: ''She's that perfect mix of old Myanmar and new Myanmar. She's a symbol of a Myanmar in transition.''

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFn-6n2Dwm8



channelnewsasia.com Facing global cyclical headwinds, as well as domestic structural challenges, the Singapore economy is slowing this year to its lowest rate of growth in six years.



rfa.org Washington must withhold trade agreements and assistance from Laos until its government can demonstrate concrete progress on human rights and democratic reform in the one party communist country, the head of an advocacy group has recommended to US lawmakers.



reuters Vietnam's military is steeling itself for conflict with China as it accelerates a decade-long modernisation drive, Hanoi's biggest arms buildup since the height of the Vietnam War. The ruling Communist Party's goal is to deter its giant northern neighbor as tensions rise over the disputed South China Sea, and if that fails, to be able to defend itself on all fronts, senior officers and people close to them told Reuters.