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.



cnn.com Indonesia has executed six people - including five foreign nationals - for drug offenses, setting off a diplomatic storm. Brazil and the Netherlands, whose citizens were among those executed, condemned the killings, and recalled their ambassadors to Indonesia for consultations in response.

smh.com.au Indonesia's Attorney-General hopes there won't be many more firing squad batches of executions in Indonesia this year.

smh.com.au Letter: I am reminded of a comment our tour bus driver made as my son and I toured the World War I battlefields of France and paid our respects at many of the beautiful cemeteries, including one with the final resting place of my great uncle: ''I can't believe you Australians care so much for dead people. What did you ever do for them when they were alive?''



bbc.com Six months on from the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over Ukraine, the families of the nearly 300 passengers and crew who died are still waiting for answers.

malaysiandigest.com The Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry has restricted the entry of Gala and Granny Smith apples from the United States (US) into Malaysia, as the products have been suspected to be tainted with Listeriosis bacteria.



AP A record six million people poured into Manila's rain-soaked streets and its biggest park Sunday as Pope Francis ended his Asian pilgrimage with an appeal for Filipinos to protect their young from sin and vice so they can instead become missionaries of the faith.



nnt Thailand, Laos and South Korea have agreed to join in a project to develop the area of astronomy. The Minister of Science and Technology Dr Pichet Durongkaveroj recently met with senior officers from the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute to discuss the development of Thailand???s radio astronomy.



straitstimes.com North Korean nuclear negotiators met former United States diplomats in Singapore on Sunday for informal talks on the North's nuclear missile programs. This is reportedly a follow-up to a similar meeting in Mongolia last May, and comes shortly after the US rejected North Korea's offer to temporarily suspend its nuclear program in exchange for the US withdrawing its planned military drills with South Korea in March.



AP Actress Jane Fonda issued an apology for her infamous visit to North Vietnam in 1972, a moment that earned her the dubious nickname ''Hanoi Jane.'' Fonda called it a ''huge mistake'' during a speech.

thahnniennews.com Vietnam's transport minister has warned that truckers and companies overloading their vehicles could face criminal punishment as the country looks to tackle one of the major causes of traffic accidents.