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.



theguardian.com Thai police have arrested a main suspect in the bomb attack on the capital last month that killed 20 people, the prime minister has announced. Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters the man was arrested on the Thai crossing with Cambodia. ''It's true. He has been arrested at Sa Kaeo checkpoint,'' the leader of the junta said.



themalaysianinsider.com Transparency International wants Putrajaya to carry out a fully independent investigation into all ''corruption allegations'' in the country. In a resolution made in a meeting by delegates from 100 member countries, ahead of the International Anti-Corruption Conference, TI also demanded that the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) be allowed to operate without political interference.

ibtimes.com A Spanish company, which manufactures wing parts for Boeing 777 jets, cast doubts over a flaperon's link to the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, CNN reported. The news comes as mystery over the flaperon's discovery deepens after French authorities gave no confirmation about its origin even after concluding the first phase of inspections late last month.



telegraph.co.uk Briton Paul Ferber, leader and founder of the group Marine Conservation Cambodia, spends his nights waiting in the darkness of the Gulf of Thailand to catch criminals. They are in pursuit of illegal fishermen, whose destructive trawling has devastated Cambodia's coastal ecosystems almost to a point of no-return.



straitstimes.com There may be a celebratory SG50 mood sweetening the ground, but Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong made clear that the ruling party does not think it is headed into ''an easy election'' on September 11.



worldbank.org The 2018 Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group will take place in Bali Nusa Dua, Indonesia, in October 2018, following a vote by the Boards of Governors of the two institutions.



xinhua Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met with Lao President Choummaly Sayasone in Beijing, pledging to advance ties with the Southeast Asian country.



FT.COM Despite rapid economic growth in the Philippines in recent years, unemployment remains a persistent problem for the sprawling Southeast Asian nation of more than 100m people.



PTI Terming India's plans to conduct oil exploration off Vietnam coast in the South China Sea as ''illegal,'' a state-run Chinese daily said it is an ''unwise move'' that may ''sabotage'' positive momentum in ties.



reuters.com Myanmar's revered and influential monks led many pro-democracy protests during nearly half a century of military rule in the Buddhist-majority nation. But after a quasi-civilian, reformist government took power in 2011, some outspoken monks claimed Islam was eclipsing Buddhism and weakening the country.