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.



news.com.au A German man has escaped the death penalty after being convicted of trying to smuggle cocaine into Bali. Peter Hans Naumann's sentence of 15 years' jail comes as Indonesian authorities prepare to execute up to 10 foreign drug offenders including Bali Nine Australians Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran.



rferl.org The US has asked Vietnam to stop allowing Russian refueling planes to use a former US base to serve Russian strategic bombers flying over the Pacific. Reuters news agency reported the US State Department said Russian bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons were being refueled by tanker planes using the Cam Ranh Bay airfield.



mynewsla.com Concluding a two-part trial, a Los Angeles man was found guilty of producing child pornography in the Philippines while being required to register as a sex offender due to his prior conviction for raping a 14-year-old girl. Stanley Dan Reczko III faces a mandatory minimum of 25 years.



time.com The US State Department condemned the brutal suppression of a protest by students and monks in the Burmese city of Letpadan. Video by local journalists shows police officers and what appear to be vigilantes using batons, fists and kicks to round up dozens of activists, only hours after student leaders and officials appeared to have reached a deal that would allow the protesters to travel to the country's largest city, Rangoon.



channelnewsasia.com Scores of Myanmar Buddhist activists have staged a protest alongside Rohingya Muslims in the Malaysian capital. The Buddhist activists were calling for an immediate end to the violent crackdown against student protesters in Myanmar. This comes just a day before Myanmar President Thein Sein is scheduled to arrive for a two-day state visit.



ft.com GlaxoSmithKline, the UK-listed drugmaker, has designated Singapore as its Asia headquarters and will shift some of its US and UK staff to the city-state, in an effort to tap growing demand in the region



huffingtonpost.com AirAsia's just rolled out a new pass that allows travelers to fly between Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia, the Philippines, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam as many as 10 times in 30 days for just $160. Yes, you read that right: 10 flights(!) for less than the cost of your ONE roundtripper to Wichita. Not that there's anything wrong with Wichita.



cambodiadaily.com A man wanted by police for shooting 33 times in the air with a handgun after he was given a $3 speeding ticket turned himself into police in Phnom Penh. Choeng Sinath, a car dealer, was stopped by traffic police and fined $3 for driving 95 kilometers per hour in a 40-kph zone. He paid the fine without protest then pulled his Mercedes-Benz SUV away from the police and fired 33 times in the air with his Glock pistol.