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.



voanews.com Indonesian officials confirmed that up to 32 Indonesians had been detained in Turkey or gone missing after being suspected of trying to cross into Syria to join Islamic State (IS) militants.



nytimes.com A botched police raid that killed 44 elite officers and jeopardised a landmark peace deal in the Philippines involved blunders by officials from the field commander all the way up to President Benigno S. Aquino III, according to a report released on Friday.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/14/world/asia/philippines-police-raid-official-report.html?_r=0



theaustralian.com.au Cambodian officials will soon visit Nauru to speak with refugees about permanently resettling in the southeast Asian nation, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton says. Mr Dutton, attending meetings with Cambodian officials in Phnom Penh, said arrangements to resettle an initial cohort of asylum-seekers was expected within weeks.



freemalaysiatoday.com An Indonesian widow Wina Lia, 40, who advertised online to sell her house with the option for the buyer to ask for her hand in marriage is open to offers from Malaysian bachelors. Wina, based in Yogyakarta, is said to have received more than 600 offers, including men from Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong.



reuters Russia rejected US concerns about its use of a former American base in Vietnam for the refueling of Russian bomber flights around US territory in the Pacific, dismissing recent US statements as ''puzzling'' and ''strange''.



dvb.no Australia has pledged US$2.5 million in assistance to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) for the protection of children in Burma from sexual and physical violence, and human trafficking.



telegraph.co.uk According to therichest.com, world's largest home is the Istana Nurul Iman Palace, at 2.15 million sq ft. This is the official residence of the Sultan of Brunei and has 1788 rooms, 257 bathrooms, five swimming pools, a 110-car garage, air-conditioned stable for 200 polo ponies, banquet hall, and a mosque large enough for 1500 worshippers. Its estimated cost was 1.4bn pounds.



rfa.org China and Laos will sign a construction contract for a $7.2 billion high-speed railway project planned by cash-strapped Laos, linking the two neighboring countries and extending to Thailand, the Lao government official is charge of the project said.



channelnewsasia.com Top designers Diane von Furstenberg, Victoria Beckham and Thakoon will be showing their Fall/Winter 2015 collection at the Singapore Fashion Week (SFW) 2015. Von Furstenberg will be the opening designer of the festival, while Beckham will close the week showcasing her designs May 13-17.