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.

thejakartapost.com The Asean People's Forum (APF) underscored during a press briefing in Jakarta, ahead of its meeting in Kuala Lumpur on April 21-24, that there was still a big gap between ''where we are and need to be''.



nationmultimedia.com Thai police arrested three people after a series of raids in Bangkok over an alleged scam that duped more than 100,000 people involving some 10 billion baht. Police seized 250 million baht worth of assets and said the raids were linked to a company, U-Fun Store. People wanted under the warrants are Malaysians Tay Kim Leng, 40, Lee Kuan Ming, 38, and Wong Sing Hlia. A manager rejected the allegation.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Police-crack-down-over-Bt10-bn-pyramid-scam-30257870.html

economist.com It is time to call Mr Najib out on the widening gulf between spin and substance. Malaysia's friends should be blunter about this where they have been mealy-mouthed. They should condemn Malaysia's corruption, its decaying freedoms and its racial politics. They should call for both the Sedition Act and unlimited detention to go.
http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21647972-thuggish-government-playing-racial-politics-najib-razak-should-be-dressed-down-disconnect



nbcnews.com A former school principal accused of paying for sex with 12,700 women in the Philippines was arrested in Japan, according to police and local media reports. Yuhei Takahashi, 64, was arrested for filming sex acts with minors between the ages of 13 and 14 at a hotel in Manila.

stripes.com Marines and sailors are pretty eager to blow off steam after weeks at sea, particularly when granted liberty in an exotic port with a notorious reputation for easy female company.

navytimes.com More than 6000 marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen participating in a major exercise in the Philippines won't be enjoying the local nightlife. US Pacific Command is strictly limiting liberty for troops participating in the Balikatan exercise alongside 5000 Filipino troops.



AP Forty years later, former ambassador John Gunther Dean recalls one of the most tragic days of his life - April 12, 1975, the day the United States ''abandoned Cambodia and handed it over to the butcher.''
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/u-s-abandoned-cambodia-1975-pullout-ex-ambassador-article-1.2180529



wsj.com The association of South Korean veterans of Vietnam War said this week that Vietnam visitors' tales were defamatory. Protesters have turned out near lecture venues in full combat uniform. ''Would we have survived if we killed civilians? We went there to help a country unrelated to us,'' said Kim Sung-wook, the association's secretary general.



theaustralian.com.au BHP and rival Rio Tinto confirmed to the Senate tax avoidance inquiry they are being audited by the Australian Taxation Office over the use of Singapore marketing hubs to allegedly reduce their tax bills. Rio Tinto's Australian managing director Phil Edmands told the inquiry that the miner's Singapore hub made a $790 million profit and paid a five per cent tax rate in 2014.

straitstimes.com Koalas Paddle (eight-years-old), Pellita (six), Chan (five) and Idalia (two) are on an initial six-month loan from Australia to the Singapore Zoo, which is likely to become permanent once a proper enclosure has been opened. The special gift is to mark 50 years of diplomatic ties between Australia and Singapore, and to celebrate the Republic's 50th birthday this year.



voanews.com Indonesian authorities are stepping up investigations into the fishing industry after authorities found nearly 550 enslaved fishermen on a remote Indonesian island. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) is working with the Indonesian government and embassies to support legal cases against the fishing companies at the center of the charges.

gmanetwork.com The Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines called for prayers for Mary Jane Veloso, the Filipina facing the death penalty in Indonesia over a drug-related case. CBCP Episcopal Commission on Migrants and Itinerant People chairman Balanga Bishop Ruperto Santos said prayers could save Veloso from execution, Church-run Radyo Veritas reported.



thehill.com Last May, Brunei adopted a new criminal code based on Sharia law. The country, by law, now denies religious freedoms to non-Muslims and proscribes harsh punishments. Obama's ''Advancing and Protecting the Rights of LGBT Persons around the World,'' is an assertion that rings hollow.



reuters Aung San Suu Kyi has held rare talks with Burma's military leaders and its president Thein Sein, raising hopes of a possible ceasefire in Myanmar's conflict with ethnic minority rebels.



ancient-origins.net Ancient human fossils found in a cave in northern Laos are revealing to scientists that early modern humans were quite physically diverse, and they reveal an earlier migration timeline in Southeast Asia than previously thought.