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.



foxnews.com A magnitude-6.0 earthquake struck near Malaysia's highest mountain, killing two climbers, injuring 11 others, and stranding more than a hundred people on the peak, Malaysian officials said.

bbc.com The bodies of a local guide and a 12-year-old Singaporean girl were recovered from Mount Kinabalu, on the island of Borneo, local media say. The earthquake triggered landslides, trapping 137 climbers on the mountain.



AP Indonesia raised the alert status of Sinabung volcano in the western part of the country to the highest level following a sharp increase in activity.



bangkokpost.com Prime Minister Prayut promises strict law enforcement and cooperation with international agencies to end human trafficking during his government's tenure.



time.com The terrible plight of the thousands of Rohingya ''boat people'' fleeing Myanmar (Burma) in small boats with nowhere to go and almost no country willing to take them has stirred pity around the world. A small Muslim minority in a largely Buddhist country, they are the victims of persecution and extreme violence.



straitstimes.com Asean countries can work together, influence one another, and even encourage others to tackle serious problems, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said. But the group cannot solve all problems, and cannot compel any member to act in a certain way, he said at an interview with 17 visiting journalists from the nine other Asean countries, when asked about the issue of Rohingya refugees.

reuters The 28th Southeast Asian Games opened in a blaze of color and pageantry at Singapore's new national Stadium on Friday, providing the sports world with a brief moment of celebration after a week of soccer-related scandal.



thediplomat.com This week, the US and Vietnam deepened their defense ties during a three-day trip by US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter to the Southeast Asian state.



nytimes.com/ap Four asylum seekers rejected by Australia started a new life in Cambodia on Thursday, becoming the first to be resettled under a deal between the two countries that human rights advocates criticized as misguided and inhumane.



rfa.org Laos is setting up a joint company with China to oversee the construction and financing of a multibillion-dollar, high-speed railway project that will link the two neighboring countries and extend to Thailand, according to a transport ministry official.



telegraph.co.uk The Philippines and Japan are to start talks on allowing Japanese military aircraft and naval vessels to use bases in the Philippines. Use of the bases for refuelling and picking up supplies will enable Japan to extend its patrol range deep into the South China Sea, Philippines president Benigno Aquino said.



reuters Brunei have pulled out of hosting the 2019 Southeast Asian Games after failing to get government backing with Philippines showing interest in stepping in to replace them, local media reported.