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.



theguardian.com The British gap-year tourist Eleanor Hawkins is being released from custody in Malaysia after pleading guilty to committing obscene acts in public when she and nine others stripped for a dare on Mount Kinabalu. A judge at a court in Kota Kinabalu, the capital of Sabah state, sentenced Hawkins and three others - Canadian siblings Lindsey and Danielle Petersen, and Dutch national Dylan Snel - to three days in jail from the time of arrest, June 9, which means they have already served their time.

themalaysianinsider.com Malaysians rallied around gymnast Farah Ann Abdul Hadi after the SEA Games gold medallist was attacked by Muslims for exposing her ''aurat''. ''Is she really from Malaysia? Don't tell me she can't wear leggings?'' one commenter asked.



straitstimes.com Mount Kinabalu hero guide Mohd Rizuan Kauhinin has been invited to go to Singapore to meet the parents of a 12-year-old pupil he rescued during the June 5 earthquake.



independent.co.uk Protests against 'persecution' of Rohingya Muslims intensify across Muslim world: ''It is horrendous the way religious fanatics in Burma have been killing Rohingya Muslims and the entire world is watching the horror unfold with silence.''



AP An Indonesian official criticised Australia's prime minister Tony Abbott as ''unethical'' for sidestepping allegations the Australian navy paid $30,000 in cash to the crew of a boat carrying 65 migrants to return to Indonesian waters.

cnn.com The San Diego based USS Rushmore spotted and rescued 65 people who were stranded on a makeshift bamboo raft while transiting through the Makassar Strait, a strait located between the islands of Sulawesi and Borneo in Indonesia, according to a US Navy report. The group, forced to sea after a ferry capsize, included 12 children and four pregnant women.



voanews.com On Friday's independence day holiday in the Philippines, hundreds of leftist protesters decried China's claims to most of the South China Sea. But the various groups opposed to China do not agree on whether they should rely on the United States as a deterrent to China's increasing assertiveness.



wsj.com To get an idea of how the mobile Web is catapulting millions of people into the digital age by skipping landline connections, have a look at Vietnam. Internet penetration has grown to 44 percent of the communist state's 90 million people from 12 percent a decade ago. Much of that is driven by smartphones, which are used by more than a third of the population.



itv.com The inquest into the death of 25-year-old Jerseyman Peter Riley opened this morning. Peter was found dead in Cambodia's Shianoukville Province in May. It is thought he died on May 25, however due to the time difference this is yet to be officially determined.



xinhua In an ideal society, a child should have time to study, rest and play but children of many poor families in less-developed countries like Laos are often forced to work at an early age, stunting their growth and making their future uncertain.



asiaone.com Trade value between Brunei and Indonesia increased by 4.10 percent to to $812 million in 2014, a senior Indonesian diplomat said.