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.



chnannelnewsasia.com Singapore began temperature screening at air checkpoints for passengers arriving from South Korea from 7pm Tuesday, as an additional precaution against the MERS virus. Travellers flying to Singapore from South Korea will also receive health advisories.



themalaymailonline.com Two Canadians who are among the group of 10 tourists in trouble for stripping and posing for photographs in the nude on Mount Kinabalu have sought help from their country's Department of Foreign Affairs.

edmontonsun.com Outrage intensifies in Malaysia as Canadians detained for alleged nudity on sacred mountain

channelnewsasia.com Malaysia will lodge a diplomatic protest against an alleged incursion by a Chinese Coast Guard ship into its waters off Borneo island in the disputed South China Sea, a top naval official said amid a continuing stand-off with the vessel.

todayonline.com A Singapore-registered fishing vessel and its four crew members have been detained in Malaysia for alleged illegal fishing in its waters.



AP The Indian army has attacked insurgent groups along its border with Burma days after the rebels killed 18 Indian soldiers in an ambush in the insurgency-wracked remote north-east, a top army officer said. Major General Ranbir Singh, the officer, said the army was in communication with Burmese authorities on its operation and inflicted ''significant casualties on the rebels''.



abc.net.au The capital of Indonesia's Aceh province has banned women from working or attending entertainment venues late at night, legally requiring them to be home by 11pm, Banda Aceh's mayor says. Internet cafes, tourist sites, sports facilities and entertainment venues have been instructed to refuse service to women after 11pm unless they are accompanied by a husband or male family member.



abs-cbnnews.com A gender row hit the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games after the Philippines demanded that organisers carry out tests on a women's volleyball player from Indonesia. A team official confirmed reports that the Philippines had asked for a gender test on Aprilia Santini Manganang of Indonesia, 23, ahead of their game on Wednesday.



politico.com The prospect of Vietnamese participation in a completed TPP, which passage of Trade Promotion Authority will advance, offers the best hope of giving the Vietnamese people - whether it is those workers in Ho Chi Minh City, independent bloggers in Hanoi or Christian activists in the country's northwest highlands - the space to pursue their rights.



rfa.org A recent push by impoverished Laos to crack down on government corruption is limited in scope and has failed to target high-level bureaucrats, according to a state official, who urged authorities to better implement the country's anti-graft legislation.



ch-aviation.com The south-western Cambodian port town of Sihanoukville welcomed its first international operations on Saturday, June 6 with the launch of direct flights from Singapore. According to operator SilkAir, it is plying the route on a charter basis to test the market.