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.



ft.com Thailand has reported its fifth straight month of deflation, its longest run since the global financial crisis, highlighting a trend gripping emerging economies from Taiwan and Singapore to Poland and Israel.



reuters Indonesian authorities have rescued 65 asylum-seekers trying to reach Australia after their boat ran aground on a reef, Indonesian police said. An Australian opposition politician said the boat had run aground after being towed away by the Australian navy, underscoring the risk to migrants of a tough Australian policy.



smh.com.au Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was brought down by a 'Buk' ground-to-air missile, which exploded near the Boeing's cockpit then peppered the plane with shrapnel, a state-run Russian weapons manufacturer says. The claim confounds previous Kremlin claims that the flight was shot down by a Ukrainian fighter jet.

afp Malaysia's jailed ex-opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was hospitalised for a host of health problems including ''erratic'' blood pressure, his wife said. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail also criticised the prison authorities for allegedly delaying Anwar's request for treatment and tests for his medical problems.



afp Muslim Rohingya women who were held at human-trafficking camps in Thailand and Malaysia were subjected to gang rapes by their captors, assaults that left at least two of them pregnant, a Malaysian media report said. [Phuketwan reported last year that one rape had even been videotaped by perpetrators. We had a copy of the video. There was no official reaction.]



stuff.co.nz Convicted rapist Graham Cleghorn has flown home to Wellington after being freed from prison in Cambodia. In 2004, Cleghorn was convicted of raping five teenage Cambodian girls and keeping an illegal weapon. Then 53, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He and his family have always maintained he was innocent

rfa.org Thirty-nine victims of human trafficking were repatriated to Cambodia from Indonesia, but refused to provide details of their ordeal to the media, prompting concerns from civil society groups that they had been ordered to remain silent on the issue by local authorities.



reuters Coastguard ships from Taiwan and the Philippines confronted each other in rich fishing waters south of Taiwan last week, officials from the two sides said, in an incident that comes as they are working on a pact to resolve maritime disputes.



reuters Vietnam took delivery of two new missile boats made locally and modeled on Russian vessels, the latest move by its military to strengthen maritime defenses as tensions simmer over sovereignty in the South China Sea.



independent.co.uk Asia's growing methamphetamine problem means the drug is cheaper than a meal at Burger King in some countries, a UN study has revealed. The price in Laos is the equivalent of $2.



straitstimes.com Teenage blogger Amos Yee is back in prison for three weeks, after the judge who heard his case called for a reformative training report. The 16-year-old had been found guilty on May 12 of uploading an obscene image and making remarks intending to hurt the feelings of Christians in a video.



straitstimes.com Brunei threatened to cause an upset against Thailand in the SEA Games netball competition, but ran out of steam in the end as Thailand edged them 45-40 at the OCBC Arena.