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.



AP The United States has joined international criticism of its ally Thailand for deporting to China two refugees identified by human rights groups as pro-democracy activists. State Department spokesman John Kirby expressed ''grave disappointment'' with the Thai decision.



thestar.com Malaysia's Prime Minister, Najib Razak, said he was ''shocked and sickened'' by the murder of Malaysian engineer Bernard Then, who was beheaded by the Abu Sayyaf Islamic militant group in the southern Philippines. ''We condemn it in its strongest terms,'' Najib said in a statement posted on Facebook. Then's murder follows the Islamic State's claims of responsibility for the carnage in Paris that killed at least 129 people.



bbc.com A woman was released last week after negotiations between the abductors and authorities. Negotiations had been continuing for Mr Then's release. The militant group, Abu Sayyaf, has been blamed for some of the worst bomb attacks, kidnappings and beheadings in the Philippines.



abc.net.au/afp Indonesia's health ministry has apologised after a printing error led to posters being put up claiming that HIV can be transmitted through mosquito bites, swimming and sneezing. Social media was flooded with angry comments after the ministry's attempt to launch a campaign to debunk myths about HIV backfired badly.



washingtonpost.com The victory of Aung San Suu Kyi's movement in Burma after years of military rule and repression is already starting to unnerve autocrats nearby. Last week, Sam Rainsy, an opposition leader in Cambodia, declared that the democrats' ''resounding'' victory ''has created panic among the last surviving dictators in our part of the world. But the wind of freedom that is blowing through throughout the world will also reach Cambodia in the very near future.'' The Phnom Penh Municipal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sam Rainsy on a long-dormant conviction for defamation.

cambodiadaily.com Authorities have bolstered security across Cambodia in response to last week's coordinated terror attacks in Paris that left 129 people dead, according to a statement posted to the National Police's website.



straitstimes.com Successful transitions to democracy often require some form of a pact or compromise among the main political protagonists. Democratic consolidations rarely occur with revolutionary overthrows - as can be seen from the lack of successes in the Middle East and North Africa following the 2011 Arab Spring.



ft.com Brunei has narrowly escaped a second recession in two years but its recovery will be slow and erratic. The oil-dependent sultanate - one of the few countries in the world with an absolute ruler - is struggling to diversify its economy. Its neighbor Malaysia- itself badly hurt by collapsing oil prices - is unlikely to be much help.



straitstimes.com A Whatsapp message spreading rumors that a national security lockdown will be conducted in Singapore is false, said the Singapore Police Force (SPF).



sbs.com.au An iconic Vietnam War protest song has been added to Australia's National Film and Sound Archive. 'I Was Only 19' is now considered a Sound of Australia, along with nine other recordings. It is a song credited with bringing Australia's Vietnam War veterans home, and the man who wrote it says it still rings true for many members of the Australian Defence Force today.



bangkokpost.com The Lao and Chinese governments have signed an agreement to officially launch the construction of a new 418 kilometre railway next month. The agreement to begin the long-delayed project was signed on Friday in Beijing, the Vientiane Times online reported.