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 Vietnamese authorities have buried thousands of seized cats - many believed to have been alive at the time - that were smuggled from China to feed the illegal cat meat trade. A truck carrying three tons of live cats crammed into bamboo crates was impounded in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi, on Tuesday.



theguardian.com Australian Ali Ali, 42, has been arrested in the Philippines over the killing of a Filipina teenager he met on the internet after her body was found in a motel room. The badly beaten body of 17-year-old Alona Alvarez was found by employees at a motel in the southern city of Dipolog, in the Central Visayas region, on January 30.



kyodo news Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen announced that his country earned US$3 billion last year from the booming tourism sector. Hun Sen said in 2014, Cambodia received 4.5 million inbound tourists, an increase of 5.9 percent compared to 2013, and $3 billion in revenue.

business-standard.com The Cambodian Supreme Court upheld a lower court's verdict sentencing three Al Qaeda members - two Bangladeshis and one Nepalese - to eight years in prison for hatching a terrorist plot against the American, Australian and British embassies.



watoday.com.au Condemned Bali Nine pair Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan have lost their final legal recourse before being executed. The Denpasar District Court has announced it will not allow a second judicial review into their case.



freemalaysiatoday.com Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar who is wanted back in Malaysia to face the death sentence for the murder of Altantatuya Shaariibuu, has engaged Australian lawyers to fight any attempts at his extradition.

cnbc.com The inability of state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) to repay its debts may trigger a downgrade in Malaysia's sovereign ratings, dealing yet another blow to a country already hit by falling oil prices.



dvb.no The ancient Buddhist kingdom of Bagan in central Burma has been named the second greatest city in the world by the readers of Wanderlust Travel Magazine. The famous complex of 2000 temples and pagodas lost out narrowly to the Laotian World Heritage Site of Luang Prabang.



channelnewsasia.com Singapore businesses have been urged to tap opportunities in the Philippines, which was the second-fastest growing economy in Asia last year.

news.asiaone.com Singapore can remain successful for the next 50 years, but only if it does not take its achievements for granted, said Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang.



bernama Thai and Bruneian diplomats and officials visiting one another's countries will be exempted from visa requirements for a period of no more than 30 days, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.