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 Asean Economic Community is set to be launched by end of 2015. Thailand is seeking to create a common set of labor standards for all workers of the 10 member-countries, InterAksyon.com learned. The plan is to present a draft to the Asean Summit in April.



theindependent.co.uk Cambodia has deported two American sisters who took nude photos of themselves inside the country's historic and revered Angkor Wat temple complex. Lindsey Adams, 22, and her sister Leslie, 20, are the latest tourists to be convicted of public exposure and making pornographic images - sparking public anger.



bbc.com The execution spree appears to be driven by Mr Widodo. He's only been in the job for just over 100 days - but he has decided that a war on drugs is a major priority for his administration. He has surprised many of his supporters and human rights observers with his tough stance.

bangkokpost.com Moderate Muslims across Southeast Asia must work to discredit radical interpretations of Islam, a Bangkok seminar has been told. Ehud Ya'ari, an Israel-based fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Islamic organisations in Indonesia and the rest of the region should help diffuse the spread of terrorism by debating issues around extremism.



AP An AirAsia X flight heading from Malaysia to Saudi Arabia turned back shortly after takeoff Sunday due to a technical problem, circling for hours before landing safely back in Kuala Lumpur, the long-haul budget carrier said. The incident came after an AirAsia plane crashed into the Java Sea on December 28 while flying from Surabaya to Singapore, killing all 162 people on board.



karennews.org A campaign by the Burma Campaign UK is trying to highlight ongoing human rights abuses in Burma. To make its point, Burma Campaign has delivered more than 2000 rose-tinted glasses, and issued photo petitions to the British Foreign Office to put pressure on the British government to ''return to putting human rights as their top priority in Burma,'' the group said.



ewn.co.za Zimbabwean president Robert Mugabe's spokesman has denied rumors that the First Lady Grace Mugabe is in a coma in Singapore. The president's wife is understood to have had an operation on her appendix in the Far East in mid-January but she has still not come back to Zimbabwe.



afp New Indonesian President Joko Widodo arrived on his first state visit to the Philippines as the fate of a Filipino facing execution for drug smuggling in his country hovers over planned talks.



vietnamnet.vn Vietnam's oil consumption growth is the fastest in the region, overtaking China and rising by 7.5 percent annually over the last 20 years, according to ANZ Bank. The bank said in a report that this dynamic has contributed to switching Vietnam to a net oil consumer since 2010 from a net oil producer.



asiaone.com The new arrival baggage claim hall and customs clearance area at Brunei International Airport will be operational starting next week, the Brunei Economic Development Board and Department of Civil Aviation announced.