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.



voanews.com Just days before the US is to release its annual global report on human trafficking, Thai authorities announced 72 trafficking suspects already in custody are to be indicted on related charges while warrants have been issued for the arrests of 45 additional people.



bbc.com The US has blacklisted a Singapore-based shipping firm over allegations it is supporting illicit arms shipments to North Korea. Senat Shipping has denied the allegations.



nytimes.com The Malaysian authorities have ordered two newspapers to suspend publishing for three months over their reporting on a financial scandal that has embroiled Prime Minister Najib Razak and other members of the country's elite, the outlets' parent company said. The Edge Weekly and The Edge Financial Daily will be suspended beginning Monday by order.

wsj.com ''This is nothing more than a move to shut us down in order to shut us up,'' Ho Kay Tat, publisher and chief executive of The Edge Media Group, said in the statement. The company said it intends to challenge the suspension in court.



AP A new report says human rights workers in Burma face threats to their security when working despite moves toward political reform since military rule gave way to an elected government four years ago. The report issued in Bangkok by the independent groups Burma Partnership and the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, depicts a climate of violence, sexual assault, arrests and cyber-threats against aid workers, in some cases believed to be linked to the government.



afr.com Bali could become the next retirement hotspot for cashed-up Australians. That comes as Jakarta relaxes rules allowing foreigners to buy luxury apartments in Indonesia coming into effect later this year. The government wants to steer foreign buyers into apartments in new high-rise projects as part of plans to revive growth in South East Asia's biggest economy.



rfa.org A company operating a copper mine in northern Laos is polluting the local environment and destroying the livelihoods of residents, according to villagers, who have called for officials to investigate the firm. A resident of Sawang village, in Oudomxay's Namo district, told RFA's Lao Service that domestic firm CNP Exploration Mining and Import-Exports Company had been digging for copper in the area, ruining the local water.



ttrweekly.com Cambodia tourism will miss its target of five million arrivals this year due to a poor global economic outlook. Agence Kampuchea Presse quoted Tourism Minister, Thong Khon, saying the negative economic situation worldwide and other negative factors included terrorism and the outbreaks of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), along with Russia's economic crisis could affect the country tourism.



huffingtonpost.com A hundred years ago, an estimated 230,000 orangutans roamed the earth. Today, fewer than 50,000 are left in the wild, living exclusively on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra - islands that happen to be ground zero of one of the world's most controversial and rapidly growing industries: palm oil.



news.com.au Territorial disputes involving China, the Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, Malaysia and Brunei have flared on and off for years, creating fears that the South China Sea could spark Asia's next major armed conflict. Tensions flared again last year when China began massive island-building on at least seven reefs it controls in the Spratlys.



oregonlive.com A ceremony opened public viewing of the The Moving Wall, a half-sized replica of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., now on display at Milwaukie High School, 11300 S.E. 23rd Avenue in Milwaukie.