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.



nytimes.com Malaysia's handling of the discovery of a wing part that apparently came from the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 has worsened frictions with its partners in the investigation, rekindled frustrations among the families of people who were aboard the plane and further dented the country's battered credibility.

telegraph.co.uk France seemed to row back on Malaysia's statement. Serge Mackowiak, deputy prosecutor for Paris, said only that ''the very strong conjectures are to be confirmed by complementary analysis.''



afp The Indonesian authorities ordered a fresh shutdown of the airport on the resort island of Bali on Thursday, sparking flight cancellations and travel misery for tourists during peak holiday season. The closure was the fourth shutdown of Bali airport in recent weeks due to a volcano.

AP Indonesian police have rescued 45 Burmese fishermen, believed to be trafficking victims, from a hotel in central Jakarta where they were taken after traveling on fake documents, officials and the men said.



rfa.org Cambodia's Ministry of Women's Affairs defended Prime Minister Hun Sen's recent use of derogatory language in criticizing a female protester accused of injuring a security guard, saying he was only referring to her specifically, and not to the nation's women in general.



rt.com Deputy head of the Federation Council's committee for foreign affairs, Senator Andrey Klimov, has said an international court must look into all US wars, in particular the Vietnam campaign that killed thousands of civilians and caused significant damage to many innocent people.



laht.com Heavy flooding in large parts of Burma (Myanmar) raised the death toll to 69, while at least 270,000 people have been affected in the country, reported state press.

reuters The president of Burma has urged people to leave a low-lying southern delta region, with rain water flowing into the area threatening further flooding as rivers reach dangerously high levels.



vientienne times Commercial banks in Laos have lowered their interest rates for both deposits and loans in line with the decision made by the Bank of Laos, which is seeking to reduce loan rates and thereby stimulate economic activity.



nationmultimedia.com The US Senate has approved the appointment of Glyn Davies as the new ambassador to Thailand, giving him a full mandate to lead the US mission in the Kingdom at a time of strained diplomatic ties with Washington.



straitstimes.com Singapore came of age when its much bigger Asian neighbors were also newly independent, but with significantly larger populations and natural resources to draw sustenance from. Faced with impossible odds, Singapore's leaders did what pundits today describe when a tech upstart successfully takes on well-entrenched incumbents - they disrupted the status quo.



rappler.com ''If there's one country that will definitely succeed with meritocracy, pragmatism and honesty, that's the Philippines. I say this because Filipinos are among the most talented people in the world today,'' said Singapore's former Ambassador to the United Nations Kishore Mahbubani.