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.

THE WORLD'S most pressing public health crisis isn't AIDS or Ebola or malaria - it's a soaring number of motorcycle fatalities. And it's costing developing countries billions, reports foreignpolicy.com.
http://foreignpolicy.com/2015/02/02/death-rides-a-moto-cambodia-helmets-road-fatalities-motorcycles/



straitstimes.com In another move by the Indonesian government to crack down on social ills, Trade Minister Rachmat Gobel signed a regulation that bans the sale of all alcohol at minimarts nationwide from April.

afp Two Australians on death row in Bali will be among the next group of prisoners to be executed in Indonesia, an official said, as Jakarta takes an increasingly hard line against drug traffickers.



themlaysianinsider.com Malaysia, which had two air disasters last year after one jet disappeared and another was shot down over Ukraine, said today that real-time aircraft tracking must become a priority for the industry. While real-time tracking of commercial planes would have a financial impact, it is too vital to ignore, Malaysia said in a paper to the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organisation safety conference.



reuters Cambodia's ruling party named three sons of long-time Prime Minister Hun Sen to its upper ranks as part of a bid to rejuvenate its leadership and claw back support lost at the last general election.

afp Cambodia's UN-backed court heard a former prisoner say he helped dig up more than 12,000 skulls in mass graves outside Phnom Penh, as the genocide trial of two Khmer Rouge leaders continued.



elevenmyanmar.com With a score of 46.9 in the Heritage Foundation's Index of Economic Freedom 2015, Myanmar needs to improve many areas of its economy to keep up with countries in the region and the world. Myanmar's score is well below the regional average of 58.8 and the world average of 60.4, ranking it the 161st freest economy in the world.



channelnewsasia.com Scoot's first 787 Dreamliner touched down inSingapore on Monday at 9.33am, the budget carrier announced in a media release.



valuewalk.com Amid a sweeping cleanup of its financial sector, Vietnam has sentenced three bankers to death in the past six months. One duo now on death row embezzled roughly $25 million from the state-owned Vietnam Agribank. Their co-conspirators caught decade-plus prison sentences.



reuters The Philippines may surpass China to be Asia's fastest growing economy this year, but its bigger challenge is working out how to sustain and share the gains of the past five years to secure longer-term prosperity.