PHUKETWAN recognises the importance of Asean with the Economic Community approaching and marks what's happening around the region with a column, Asean Today, that will cease when Phuketwan closes on December 31.

cfr.org The three-pronged community, which technically comes into effect on December 31, will not do much to change perceptions that Asean, never a strong organisation, is now weaker than it has been in years. Most of the countries that traditionally lead Asean are preoccupied with domestic politics, and the smaller and/or poorer nations cannot step into the void. The organisation's weakness will even more evident next year, when Laos takes over the chair.



aa.com.tr Malaysia has identified 72 of its nationals - including 14 women - who have fled the country to join Daesh in Iraq and Syria and begun a ''de-radicalisation'' program for those who return, according to an official. Fifteen fighters had died overseas while seven returned home.



smh.com.au An Australian A320 pilot said the AirAsia crash once again highlighted the issue of pilots becoming too dependent on automation, which was degrading manual flying skills. On a commercial flight these days, it is possible a pilot will spend as little as one minute touching the control stick.

afp The captain of an asylum-seeker boat allegedly intercepted by the Australian navy has told a court how he negotiated a hefty payment to take the migrants back to Indonesia to avoid going home ''empty-handed''. The Indonesian captain, Yohanis Humiang, 35, is on trial charged with people-smuggling after Australian officials allegedly stopped his boat in May and paid him and his crew US$32,000 to return to Indonesia.

washingtonpost.com Fifty years ago, the US Embassy in Indonesia sent a cable to the State Department asking for funding to help civilian groups that the US knew were engaged in a violent effort to eliminate communist influence in Indonesia. The ensuing civilian-military campaign resulted in the mass killing of about 500,000 people.



ft.com The frontrunner in the Philippine presidential race has vowed to continue her campaign despite being disqualified, in the latest twist to a hotly contested election. Grace Poe was barred from the contest by the country's election commission, which ruled she met neither citizenship nor residency requirements - a decision she says she will appeal.



channelnewsasia.com History buffs who are interested in the British Museum's collection will no longer have to make the trip there, as more than 200 artefacts from the museum are set to call Singapore home for a few months. 'Treasaures of the World from the British Museum' is set to go on display at a new exhibition at the National Museum of Singapore from Friday.



reuters The chairman and two vice chairmen of Thailand's largest convenience store operator CP All Pcl and a vice chairman of telecommunication firm True Corporation Pcl were fined for buying shares in another company based on information that was not public and potentially market-moving, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said.



theguardian.com Aung San Suu Kyi has held direct talks with Myanmar's top general for the first time as her party prepares to form the government in a country where the military retains considerable influence after decades of rule.

smh.com.au The debate on asylum seekers from Myanmar in Australia is ill-informed and skewed. The Australian government and international community must realise that refugee status is first of all not about ethnicity or identity, but about a well-founded fear of persecution. Australia has accepted significant numbers of refugees from Myanmar in the past, it is time to do so again.



abc.net.au An Australian man suspected of leading the abduction and murder of a former member of the Hells Angels group in Thailand has fled to Cambodia, Thai police say. Another man, a 21-year-old American, has been detained on the Thai-Cambodian border and brought to Pattaya for further questioning.



channelnewsasia.com The EU and Vietnam signed a free trade deal that removes nearly all tariffs between Europe and one of the world's last communist states.



rfa.org President Choummaly Sayasone marked 40 years of communist rule in Laos on Wednesday touting the stability and security of his landlocked Southeast Asian nation, but some Laotians lamented their country's corruption, rising debt and dependence on China and Vietnam.