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.



The Brunei Times All shops and restaurants will not be allowed to operate after midnight effective May 14, a circular issued by the Bandar Seri Begawan Municipal Department said. Asked whether vendors such as nasi katok shops who operate 24 hours a day will also be included in the ruling, Pg Dato Paduka Hj Abd Rahman said yes, and that this applies to all eateries



abc.net.au The Indonesian navy has rescued another 200 asylum seekers from waters off Aceh. Indonesian military spokesman Major General Fuad Basya said fishermen spotted the people swimming off the coast of northern Aceh on Friday morning. A warship was sent to the location and rescued the people, he said.

bbc.com More than 700 migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar have been rescued from a sinking boat off Indonesia's coast. Reports say another boat was turned back by the Indonesian navy. The fate of another vessel of stranded migrants off the coast of Thailand is unclear after it was towed out of Thai waters.



nst.com.my Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has expressed his concern on the plight of the migrants in the region, including those who have already reached the country's shores.

cnn.com ''We cannot welcome them here,'' Malaysian Deputy Home Minister Wan Junaidi Jaafar told CNN by phone. ''If we continue to welcome them, then hundreds of thousands will come from Myanmar and Bangladesh.''



latimes.com So much for that diplomatic friendship that the US extended in 2012 to Burma - including two trips there by President Obama - in an effort to get the country further down the path toward human rights reform. No such thing for the Rohingya. This is, unquestionably, a crisis caused by the Burmese government and its appalling treatment of a segment of its own population whom it treats as intruders.



afp A Russian tycoon accused of embezzling tens of millions of dollars in a real estate scam was re-arrested in Cambodia for over-staying his visa and will be deported, officials said. In August 2013 a Russian court ordered Sergei Polonsky's detention after he was charged in absentia for his alleged role in a 5.7 billion rouble ($174 million) swindle which defrauded more than 80 investors.



reuters Once opposed to the prospect of a major naval base inside the Philippines' picturesque Ulugan Bay, fearing it would mean bars and brothels for visiting sailors, local residents now look forward to the arrival of American and other foreign warships. The reason is China, whose rapid creation of artificial islands in the disputed Spratly chain of the South China Sea is setting off alarm bells across the Philippines, a country with one of the weakest navies in the region.



sg.news.yahoo.com Will Singapore ever escape from the misconception that it is a part of China? Singaporean Muhammad Khalid reported to the police on May 9 in Amsterdam that his phone was stolen. In the report, Khalid's birthplace is stated as ''Singapore in China'' and his nationality as ''Chinese''.

channelnewsasia.com Singapore will not be accepting refugees or people seeking political asylum, said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA): ''As a small country with limited land, Singapore is not in a position to accept any persons seeking political asylum or refugee status, regardless of their ethnicity or place of origin.''



afp Washington is pushing Vietnam to take tangible steps to boost human rights in the coming weeks, including freeing political prisoners, as it eyes joining an emerging Pacific trade pact. The ambitious 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is still under negotiation.