smh.com.au At least six people, including several foreigners, have been killed and 10 injured when explosions ripped through two luxury hotels in downtown Jakarta on Friday, police say. South Jakarta police Colonel Firman Bundi said some of the bodies had been taken to a hospital. The facade of the Ritz-Carlton was blown off in one blast and another explosion hit the Marriott, police said. The explosions rocked the area about 8am local time.

bbc.com The BBC's Karishma Vaswani, outside the Marriott, said ambulances are present and security is extremely tight. South Jakarta police Col Firman Bundi said four people who died were foreigners, reported AP. ''There were explosions heard from two separate places, one the JW Marriott, the other in the Ritz Carlton,'' he said. ''We are still trying to check because right now we are still helping the victims,'' he said.

voanews.com Thailand plans to call for stepped up cooperation from regional governments to contain the spread of the H1N1 flu. The Thai government will present the issue at an annual gathering of foreign ministers from Southeast Asia and the region's main partners. The Thai government says it wants Asian governments to collectively buy anti-viral medications to ensure lower cost and wider distribution. PM Abhisit Vejjajiva will have the idea put on the table at the Asean regional forum, which will be held next week on Phuket.

Xinhua The flu H1N1 issue, a common concern for Asian countries, is top of the agenda for the Asean meetings, with the theme of 'Acting Together to Cope with Global Challenges.' Economics, politics, society, culture and disasters will be discussed Vitavas Srivihok, Director-General of the Asean Affairs Department of Thai Foreign Ministry, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview. The new flu outbreak issue will be raised for discussion among the foreign ministers from the Asean Plus Three countries (China, Japan and Republic of Korea) and in the other forums, he said.

monstersandcritics.com The Thai government, still smarting from the cancellation of a regional summit because of anti-government protests three months ago, has gone overboard to make sure history doesn't repeat itself at an international forum next week. Protests have been prohibited. About 10,000 military personnel have been stationed on Phuket to assure the conference is carried out peacefully. But the need for such tight security also sends a negative signal. ''The show of force by the army demonstrates that the situation in Thailand remains divided and polarized,'' said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies.

Associated Press China's economic growth accelerated in the second quarter amid a stimulus-fueled investment boom, boosting hopes the world's third-largest economy is emerging from the global downturn. The economy expanded by 7.9 percent in the April-June period from a year earlier, up from 6.1 percent growth in gross domestic product the previous quarter, the National Bureau of Statistics reported. Many analysts expect China to be the first major country to emerge from the worst global slump since the 1930s. That could help pull the rest of the world out of recession as China buys more raw materials, industrial components and consumer goods from struggling economies in the US, Europe and elsewhere.


aljazeera.com Foreign investment in Burma soared to nearly $1 billion during the last fiscal year, the country's military government has said, a six-fold increase, with the bulk of the funds coming from China. According to the Ministry of National Planning and Development, investment jumped from $172.7m in the 2007-2008 fiscal year to $984.9m. The ministry said 87 percent of the total invested in Burma came from China. The surge in investment comes despite wide-ranging sanctions imposed on military-ruled Burma that have virtually cut off any investment from the US and European Union.

Bloomberg Malaysia's economy may shrink more than previously forecast this year as the global recession reduces exports and household spending, the Malaysian Institute of Economic Research said. Southeast Asia's third-largest economy will probably contract 4.2 percent in 2009, the institute says, cutting its forecast from an April prediction for a 2.2 percent decline in gross domestic product. It lowered the 2010 growth forecast to 2.8 percent from 3.3 percent. The country ''takes the hit from the knock-on effects of a flagging global economy,'' the institute says.

The Nation The Electoral Commission has moved to disqualify 13 Democrat Party MPs, including Deputy Premier Suthep Thaugsuban, for contravening the Constitution by holding shares in firms involved with mass media or state contracts. Suthep is one of the most powerful Democrats in government, second only to PM Abhisit Vejjajiva. The Constitution Court will decide whether all 13 should be stripped of their MP status.

The Nation In a move to boost revenues, Thai Airways International has revised its strategy and is focusing more on Europe than on Asia, which is more sensitive to the swine-flu outbreak. One of the tactics is to promote its newly opened route from Bangkok to Oslo, where its load factor is as high as 80 percent. THAI executive chairman Wallop Bhukkanasut said the airline was planning to introduce promotions to other European countries as well. The TAT is confident that it will be able to make a mark in some emerging markets like the Middle East and India as well as China in the second half of the year. It recently launched a marketing strategy that focuses on travellers' interests instead of geographical segmentation.

bbc.com Damaged flight recorders have been recovered from a Caspian Airlines plane that crashed in Iran with the loss of all 168 people on board, say officials. Investigators who scoured scattered body parts and metal fragments for the data recorders hope they will salvage a clue as to the cause of the crash. The wreckage was spread over a large area of farmland in Qazvin province, 120km north-west of Tehran. Witnesses said the 22-year-old Russian-made aircraft, which had 153 passengers and 15 crew, nose-dived from the sky with its tail on fire.

chosun.com Korean Air flight crew consider Hawaii the best holiday destination. The airline asked 2,013 flight attendants to recommend the best holiday destination, and 1052 or 52.2 percent recommended the islands. Fiji was a distant second with 8.7 percent of the votes, and Bali in Indonesia came in third with 6.5 percent. Bangkok and Phuket in Thailand followed with 5.7 and 4.5 percent. Korea's Jeju Island was ranked 10th. Zurich and Rome were the top European destinations.

forbes.com Urging improvements in US health care, Editor in Chief Steve Forbes writes: Special hospital facilities in India, Thailand, Singapore and elsewhere that engage in medical ''tourism'' have infection rates a fraction of those found in most U.S. hospitals. These positive results are driven by the fact that patients write the checks and are thus fully conscious of the costs, as well as by the fact that providers are under pressure to make their offerings more enticing and affordable.

xinhuanet.com Malaysian Tourism Minister NgYen Yen says that Malaysia needs support from China and Asean countries to promote and develop its tourism industry. ''Tourism is a sunrise industry and it plays a major role in developing economics and friendship (among countries),'' she said. Tourism was the second economic income pillar after the manufacturing sector in Malaysia, she said, .Tourist arrivals to Malaysia from January to May this year amounted to 9.2 million, an increase of 2.6 percent compared with 9 million in the same period last year.

nytimes.com Bad passwords can make for big headaches. Just ask the Twitter employees whose use of weak passwords for personal accounts apparently led to a massive and embarrassing security breach for their company. A hacker managed to access the online accounts of several Twitter employees and a Gmail account belonging to the wife of Chief Executive Evan Williams by guessing or cracking their passwords. Having exploited these weak links, he apparently used Web sites' password-retrieval features to get passwords for other accounts, including Google Apps, in a technique known as ''hopping.''


AseanWATCH: What Happens if Hillary Sneezes?
LatestDelegates began descending on Phuket in numbers today with some people wondering whether Hillary Clinton and the other VIPs will appear in surgical masks.
AseanWATCH: What Happens if Hillary Sneezes?

Economy: Phuket Remains a Pear-Shaped Pearl
Economic Analysis Waiting for the tourists to float from the sky seems to be popular with Phuket's cargo cult. Others show more energy and chase the cash flow. Which way is up, and when?
Economy: Phuket Remains a Pear-Shaped Pearl

Teenager's Death Highlights Plight of Rohingya
Latest Still stateless, the fate of a group of Rohingya boat people remains uncertain on the eve of human rights talks on Phuket. One has died, others seek escape.
Teenager's Death Highlights Plight of Rohingya

AseanWATCH: Phuket Tailbacks 'Add Vibrancy'
Asean Update Traffic tailbacks hampered travel on the north of Phuket while the south shrugged and enjoyed the sunshine. Hillary who, they asked, wondering about all the Asean fuss.
AseanWATCH: Phuket Tailbacks 'Add Vibrancy'

Outdoor Phuket Hospital Centre Battles H1N1
Photo Album Phuket has been fighting to stave off the rapid spread of the H1N1 virus and a campaign HQ has now been established at Vachira Phuket Hospital in Phuket City.
Outdoor Phuket Hospital Centre Battles H1N1

AseanWATCH: Big Show Getting Set to Go
News Photo Album What's happening as Hillary Clinton and other international notables arrive on Phuket? Let Phuketwan take you there. Today we launch AseanWATCH.
AseanWATCH: Big Show Getting Set to Go

Bid to Put 373 More Tuk-Tuks on Phuket Roads
Latest There are four times as many unregistered tuk tuks on Phuket as registered vehicles, a meeting hears to consider allowing 373 to register. Cheap public transport is not mentioned.
Bid to Put 373 More Tuk-Tuks on Phuket Roads

Secret Phuket: A Users' Guide for VIP Visitors
Heroines Photo Album We came across this dossier designed to let senior politicians from 26 countries know about the real Phuket. (OK, ok . . . Phuketwan actually wrote it)
Secret Phuket: A Users' Guide for VIP Visitors