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.



khmertimeskh.com Cambodia's Immigration Police arrested 45 Nigerian nationals in a raid on rented apartments housing the Christian Evangelical International Ministry Church, in the Porsen Chey district of Phnom Penh. Only 16 were initially able to present valid passports.

cambodiadaily.com Police in Banteay Meanchey province are seeking to arrest a group of men who set upon two students as they emerged from a nightclub in Serei Saophoan City in the early hours, hacking one of the victims' arms off.



thestar.com.my Malaysia has emerged as the leading destination in Asia, beating out nine other countries including Singapore, Korea, Macau, Sri Lanka and Thailand. The announcement was made at the 22nd Annual World Travel Awards gala ceremony in Hong Kong.

freemalaysiatoday.com Leading Airline was awarded to Singapore Airlines, Leading Hotel in Asia was won by Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel based in Shanghai, China. Shanghai's airport also came out on top, and China's Fuchun Resort was named Leading Resort.



xinhua Chinese President Xi Jinping's upcoming state visit to Vietnam will guide the future development of China-Vietnam relations in the new era, Chinese Ambassador Hong Xiaoyong said. ''President Xi is expected to draw up a blueprint together with Vietnamese leaders for the development of China-Vietnam ties in the new era from a strategic and long-term perspective,'' Ambassador Hong told Xinhua.



philstar.com At least 15 people, including six children, were charred to death after they were trapped in a deadly fire that spared a mosque pre-dawn Saturday inside a section of the old public market in Zamboanga City.



jakartapost.com In her first year of leadership, Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Susi Pudjiastuti has ordered the sinking of 106 foreign boats that were fishing illegally in Indonesian waters. Ms Susi said that the sinking of the illegal boats is proof that the government is serious about eradicating illegal fishing and boosting the country's sea security.



themalaysianinsider.com Malaysia's brand of Islam has a negative impact on its neighbor across the causeway, a Singaporean academic said. Dr Nawab Osman, from Nanyang Technology University, said a puritanical mindset and intolerance has begun to seep into Singapore and Malaysia was one of the contributing factors.



voan ews.com Profits from jade mining and trading collected by the military funds the war against the rebels. Global Witness spokesperson Juman Kubba says little money ends up in the government's hands. Jade is also a main source of income for the rebels



theweek.com China was visibly irate with a US naval ''incursion'' into what it claimed were its territorial waters in the South China Sea. The Chinese Foreign Ministry called the incursion ''illegal'' and a ''deliberate provocation.'' China was responding to a ''Freedom of Navigation'' patrol by a US Navy destroyer.



newsweek.com Unfortunately, deforestation is a huge problem in southeast Asia, and for its diverse populations of bats and many other organisms. Between 2001 and 2014, the rate of tree loss in Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar increased by more than five times the rate of the rest of the tropics, according to a forest monitoring program called Global Forest Watch.