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.



stuff.co.nz The date of the transfer of Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan will be decided today, Indonesian officials have revealed, as its government maintains there is no need to wait for legal appeals to be heard before executing the Bali nine duo.



bbc.com Singapore has retained its position as the world's most expensive city, according to research by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU). The top five remain unchanged from a year earlier and include Paris, Oslo, Zurich and Sydney.



abc.net.au Authorities in the Philippines say Australian Peter Scully, arrested and charged for sexually abusing young Filipino girls, has been working with foreign accomplices in his child pornography operation.



hrw.org Australia should use its upcoming human rights dialogue with Laos to raise human rights concerns and set concrete benchmarks for reform, Human Rights Watch said. The dialogue, scheduled to be held in Canberra on March 5, 2015, is a crucial opportunity to push the government of Laos to take real action on rights ahead of Laos chairing Asean in 2016.



ft.com Malaysia Airlines will cut its global seat capacity by 10 percent this year as the disaster-hit carrier refocuses on expanding its regional business in Asia.

smh.com.au The mother of a Malaysian police commando sentenced to hang in Kuala Lumpur has arrived in Sydney to plead with the Australian government to give him full protection and political asylum, describing his murder conviction in Kuala Lumpur as ''utter nonsense.''



AP A photojournalist who was arrested for mocking Burma's leaders on Facebook has been freed. Aung Nay Myo expressed relief after walking out of Monywa prison Monday, saying the charges against him were dropped and police returned his seized computer and phones.



advocate.com Ted Osius seems to be the right man in the right place at a very opportune time. Recently appointed the first gay US ambassador to Vietnam, Osius now serves in a culture he and his family adore, in a country experiencing a burgeoning quest for LGBT rights.



afp Cambodia has deported 36 Vietnamese Montagnards after they were arrested while trying to seek asylum, in the latest expulsion of a hill tribe group fleeing persecution, activists said.