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.



wsj.com French investigators were trying to determine the provenance of a piece of airplane debris - said by aviation experts to be consistent with the design of the Malaysia Airlines jet MH370 that went missing more than a year ago - that washed ashore on an island near Madagascar.

usatoday.com Malaysian Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai told reporters at the United Nations that he sent a team to identify the wreckage, the Associated Press reported.



theguardian.com Officials from the Philippines arrived in Indonesia to discuss a case against drug traffickers that they hope can prove that a Filipino former domestic worker was tricked into smuggling heroin and save her from a firing squad. Mary Jane Veloso was given a temporary reprieve by Indonesian president Joko Widodo just hours before she was due to be executed in April. Eight men were killed by firing squad that day.

abs-cbnnews.com A task force was created by the Department Of Justice with the mandate to exhaust all possible legal remedies for Veloso, who has been granted a reprieve by the Indonesian government on the heels of the ''voluntary surrender'' of her alleged illegal recruiters Maria Cristina Sergio and Julius Lacanilao last April 28.



bbc.com Ancient, highly valuable forests are being lost at an ''unprecedented'' rate from protected lands in Cambodia, according to a new report. The analysis, from campaign group Forest Trends, says that large corporations are using legitimate development permits to illegally clear land.

boingboing.net For people contemplating a holiday in Cambodia, take note: starting in January police officers in that country will personally receive a 70 percent commission on traffic fines they issue. This new rule, says the Cambodian government, will reduce corruption. It seems like it legalises corruption, but whatever.



afp More than 20 people are missing after a military helicopter in Laos crashed in bad weather earlier this week, state media have said. The ministry of defence said the accident occurred on Monday as the helicopter travelled towards the north-east provinces of Xiangkhouang and Houaphanh.



reuters Prime Minister David Cameron pushed to step up trade with Vietnam on Wednesday to capitalise on "enormous" opportunities for British firms in an economy Britain would support with 500 million pounds in infrastructure loans.



afp An Indonesian court jailed a Chinese Uighur for six years after he was caught trying to join an Islamic extremist group led by the country's most wanted militant.



asiacruisenews.com The government of Thailand has decided to upgrade the facilities of Phuket Deep Seaport to accommodate bigger cruise ships. The government is also considering developing a new cruise port in Krabi province or Samui Island to strengthen the connection to neighboring countries.



channelnews.asia.com Witnessed by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and and his British counterpart David Cameron, Singapore and Britain signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate in four areas, including cyber security incident response and cyber security talent development.



people.com Angelina Jolie Pitt arrived in Myanmar, kicking off a four-day trip to learn more about the country's situation in her capacity as both the co-founder of the Preventing Sexual Violence Initiative, and as a UN Refugee Agency Special Envoy.



the canadian press Canada, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam are all part of the partnership negotiations. South Korea and Taiwan have signalled interest in joining, along with the Philippines.