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.



reuters Indonesia's Supreme Court has ordered the family of ex-president Suharto to pay back millions in embezzled funds to the state, a spokesman said. Suharto, who after 32 years of iron-fisted rule was brought down by widespread protests in 1998, was accused of massive corruption and nepotism benefiting his family and cronies.

afp The court ruled that a foundation must pay back about $325 million of embezzled state funds. Graft watchdog Transparency International has labelled Suharto the most corrupt leader of all time, claiming he looted between $15 billion and $35 billion from the country while in power.



channelnewsasia.com The Singapore dollar weakened to a five-year low against the US dollar, as investors reacted to the surprise change in China's foreign exchange (forex) policy. The central bank devalued the tightly-controlled yuan, causing the Chinese currency to post its biggest one-day loss against the US dollar in 20 years.

channelnewsasia.com More than 230,000 tweets about the National Day Parade were sent, smashing the 100,000-tweet record held by the One Direction concert in Singapore.



themalaymailonline.com The depreciating ringgit is aiding the recovery of Malaysia's tourism industry that is still reeling from the effects of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, the tourism and culture minister said.

cnn.com Authorities investigating last year's downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over eastern Ukraine are examining what could be surface-to-air missile parts that were found in the area, a Dutch-led prosecution team said. The parts possibly come from a Russian-made Buk surface-to-air-missile system - the type of system that the case's lead prosecutor already has said is suspected to have downed the plane.

malaysia-chronicle.com The whole country is united in revulsion and abhorrence of the PM. They want him to leave. He is a menace to this country. Even UMNO members think of him as a liability. But he does not care. He will bring the name of Tun Razak into disrepute.



straitstimes.com Malaysia and Brunei will soon begin joint exploration for oil and gas in the South China Sea along the maritime boundaries shared by Sarawak and the sultanate, The Star reported. Prime Minister Najib Razak met his Brunei counterpart, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, and both agreed to speed up commercial exploitation for oil and gas along the shared boundaries.



irrawaddy.org Forty-five senior military officers have retired from active service to join the ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), with plans to contest Burma's November 8 general election, according to people familiar with the situation. Other senior military leaders' retirements are also expected ahead of this year's vote.



xinhua Cambodia attracted about 2.3 million foreign visitors in the first six months of 2015, an increase of 5.6 percent compared with the same period last year, Tourism Minister Thong Khon said.



thediplomat.com From August 17-28, US Navy ships will be in Vietnam for the annual US-led Pacific Partnership mission, the largest annual multilateral humanitarian assistance and disaster relief preparedness mission conducted in the Indo-Pacific region.



voanews.com A Philippine legislator says he has information that a Chinese surveillance vessel ''dropped anchor'' more than a month ago in the vicinity of a hotly contested shoal in the South China Sea that the Philippines claims. Congressman Francisco Acedillo says his intelligence sources learned that the Chinese coast guard vessel was in waters ''very near'' a WWII ship, which is lodged onto Second Thomas Shoal.