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.



smh.com.au Refugees who travelled to Australia by boat could be permanently resettled in the Philippines under a deal being negotiated, but senior government sources fear the premature leaking of the deal to the media could see the proposal scuttled. The deal is reported to be worth about $150 million. A senior source told Fairfax Media the talks are still only at an ''in-principle'' level.



ndtv.com Popular Thai holiday islands were engulfed with haze from Indonesian forest fires Thursday, forcing several planes packed with beach-bound tourists to turn back, further stoking regional tensions. The travel disruptions came as Indonesia finally agreed to accept international help to douse the massive fires that have been started deliberately to clear agricultural land.



wsj.com A prominent lawyer was arrested Thursday on charges of sabotage, his attorney said, after earlier planning to travel to the US to help urge authorities there to investigate money transfers into Prime Minister Najib Razak's alleged personal accounts. The lawyer, Matthias Chang, was arrested after visiting a police lockup facility to see Khairuddin Abu Hassan, who was arrested and detained last month on the same charge.



voanews.com Indonesia says Singapore and Malaysia will send fire fighting aircraft on Friday, while China, Japan and Australia have not confirmed when their help will arrive. Officials in Jakarta say Russia is still waiting for a price-quotation from Indonesia.

theecologist.org Thanks to massive forest clearance for palm oil plantations combined with drought conditions in this 'El Nino' year, rainforest and peatland fires across Indonesia are set to emit more carbon than the UK, while covering millions of square kilometres with choking smoke.

csmonitor.com Wildlife is being devastated by the flames and smoke, creating vast amounts of pollution that could cause as many as 110,000 premature human deaths, says Greenpeace.



nytimes.com ''Of course all the fires are coming from Indonesia, but Singapore is enjoying the 'deforestation economy' of Indonesia as a financial center,'' said Bustar Maitar, global leader of the Indonesia Forest Campaign at Greenpeace, ''and there are many Malaysian palm oil companies operating in Indonesia, and Singaporean companies are there as well.''

ibtimes.co.uk Singapore has successfully performed the world's first delivery of mail by drone, conducting a test flight carrying a letter and a parcel with a T-shirt, which crossing from one island to another.



newsweek.com The US is considering sailing warships close to China's artificial islands in the South China Sea to signal it does not recognise Chinese territorial claims over the area, a US defense official said. Brunei is among territory claimants.



bbc.com The most powerful political force in Myanmar's election has no candidates and will win no seats. But when the monks of the Ma Ba Tha speak, politicians listen. During her years as a pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi spoke frequently of ''freedom from fear''. Her party, the NLD, is now running scared of the monks and doing everything they can to counter the suggestion that the they are a ''pro-Muslim'' party.



voanews.com The Cambodian government said that the minimum wage for the country's garment sector - its key export earner and largest industrial employer - will rise to $140 a month. The increase of nearly 10 percent was more than manufacturers wanted but far less than unions were seeking.



latimes.com ''Vietnam has positioned technology at the center of its growth and development goals,'' said Sherry Boger, general manager with Intel Vietnam. ''We see our facility and the broader technology ecosystem in Vietnam steadily rising up the value chain.''



asiaone.com Laos, Thailand and Malaysia may proceed with a planned cross-border power trade minus Singapore, which had some concerns over the initiative, said Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili.