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.



bbc.com Andrew Chan, a ringleader for Australia's drug-smuggling ''Bali Nine,'' has had his clemency plea rejected, a local court has announced. Chan and Myuran Sukumaran were found to be the leaders of the group and sentenced to death.

reuters Long-haul budget carrier Indonesia AirAsia X has delayed indefinitely the launch of its inaugural flight between Bali and Melbourne after failing to get the approval of Australian regulators, airline and airport officials said.



theguardian.com The US called on Burma to investigate the killings of two ethnic Kachin teachers, amid allegations by activists the women were raped and murdered by government forces. The bloodied corpses were discovered earlier this week in a village in northern Shan state.

irrawaddy.org International medical group Medecins Sans Frontieres has resumed work in an area of west Burma after a nine-month government ban on its presence in Arakan [Rakhine] state over allegations of bias.



time.com In the 1970s, Khmer Rouge guards would drink wine infused with human gallbladders, according to a survivor of Cambodia's infamous Killing Fields giving evidence at a special tribunal created to investigate the atrocities of the Khmer Rouge regime.

cambodiadaily.com Since a nationwide census of foreigners began in August, the Interior Ministry's general department of immigration has found 80,000 foreigners living in Cambodia legally, 10,000 more than the 2002 census determined to be in the country, the head of the department said

theguardian.com Australia's controversial $40m deal to resettle refugees in Cambodia may founder because almost all are refusing to go. All but three of the more than 200 refugees on Nauru refused to meet a delegation from the Cambodian government last week, and it appears uncertain whether even those three will agree to be moved.



nst.com.my Socialite Paris Hilton is in Kuala Lumpur for 'The Party of the Century' event in Empire City, Damansara Perdana tonight. The 34-year-old model, singer and actress arrived last night onboard an Emirates flight from Dubai. [Ms Hilton once promoted a New Year party on a Phuket beach.]



ttrweekly.com Lao PDR's Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism says it hopes to extend tourist length-of-stay in the country to 10 days by 2020. The ministry's department of tourism marketing director general, Saly Phimphinith, told the Vientiane Times that the average length of stay is now eight days, but the long-term objective was to raise it to 10 by 2020 by developing more tourism sites.



reuters Singapore has fined a smoker S$19,800 ($15,000) for throwing cigarette butts out of his flat window, the National Environment Agency said, the highest ever such fine. The man was fined S$600 per cigarette for the first 33 offences, and ordered to do community service for the 34th, all committed within four days, the agency said.

channelnewsasia.com Singapore has again been ranked the most liveable city in Asia and the world according to an index for expatriate living conditions published by human resource consultancy ECA International.



nydailynews.com Originally published by the Daily News on Jan. 24. 1973. This story was written by Jeffrey Antevil.) Washington, Jan. 23 (News Bureau) President Nixon announced tonight that the United States and North Vietnam have concluded an agreement to end the longest war in America's history and bring ''peace with honor'' to Vietnam.



pri.org By age 31, Delovino was the mother of seven children, all born in the span of about a decade. She couldn't afford to raise them all, so she sent her three oldest to live with other relatives. The unmet need for birth control may become a thing of the past as the Philippines begins to roll out free contraception under its new reproductive health law.