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.



reuters Indonesia wants to hold regular military exercises with the US near the sparsely populated Natuna archipelago, an area of the South China Sea near China's claims, a navy spokesman said.



pbs.org Small motorcycles are deadly. Over the next decade, they are on course to claim more lives in the developing world than HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis. The most obvious way to cut down on motorcycle fatalities would be to wear a helmet. But the laws are lightly enforced and largely ignored.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/updates/helmet-use-cambodia/



channelnewsasia.com The Interpol Global Complex for Innovation (IGCI) officially opened, as part of Singapore's bid to help the international organisation strengthen its global presence. Singapore's Minister for Home Affairs Teo Chee Hean said the research and development (R&D) facility, which is located at the former Tanglin Police Division Headquarters, would complement the General Secretariat headquarters in Lyon, France.



vogue.co.uk As Hillary Clinton announces her 2016 Presidential bid, look back at investigative journalist and Washington insider Leslie Cockburn's informed and intelligent portrait of Clinton from the June 2014 issue of Vogue.
http://www.vogue.co.uk/news/2015/04/13/hillary-clinton-june-2014-issue-profile-presidential-candidate-announcement



AP The government says the new Prevention of Terrorism Act, which also allows detention without trial, is aimed at curbing Islamic militancy amid fears that the Islamic State group in the Middle East could be spreading its tentacles to Asian countries with Muslim populations like Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, India and Pakistan to find recruits. But critics fear that the new law is a sign that authoritarian politics is returning to Malaysia to crush dissent as public support for the government erodes rapidly.



ibtimes.co.uk Prince Abdul Malik, 31, and his 22-year-old bride-to-be, who worked as a systems data analyst and IT instructor, sat next to each other on gilded thrones in the Throne Chamber of the Istana Nural Iman palace for the ceremony. The bride sported a diamond tiara studded with six teardrop-shaped emeralds. Her bouquet was made of gems, rather than flowers.



bbc.com Family of missing BBC staffer Johanna Powell, 37, say the Foreign Office has told them that the body of a woman has been found in a search of a river in south-east Asia. Her brother-in-law Dean Price said he was told a boat hit rapids, causing it to tip, take on water and capsize.



thediplomat.com In an increasingly complex world, Asean members will need to produce specific plans and act in unity if the Asean Community is to be established by the end of 2015 and the Post-2015 Asean Vision is to be produced with new frameworks and rules.



rappler.com AirAsia Philippines and Indonesia are set to go public, the airline's founder, Tony Fernandes, announced via his Twitter account. Pending board approval, the initial public offering is eyed since business in both Philippines and Indonesia is good. ''Great support from both governments,'' Fernandes tweeted.