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.



nationmultimedia.com Prediction, goes the old joke, is dangerous, especially if it's about the future. In Thailand, talking about tomorrow is an especially risky business as nobody is quite sure about today, since lessons from yesterday are still unclear and undefined.



bbc.com The body of a missing Malaysian deputy public prosecutor has been found in an oil drum filled with concrete near Kuala Lumpur. Anthony Kevin Morais went missing on September 4 after leaving his house. Police said they had arrested seven suspects in the case, one of whom led them to the body.



abc.net.au The Indonesian government has welcomed the leadership change in Australia, saying it hopes diplomatic relations can improve under Malcolm Turnbull's leadership.

straitstimes.com Indonesian police nabbed seven corporate executives in connection with illegal forest fires across Sumatra and Kalimantan, as part of a wide-ranging effort to arrest the haze crisis.



asiaone.com The 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) at 3pm was between 97 and 117, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said in its latest update. The unhealthy range is 101-200.

bbc.com Authorities have advised that children and the elderly stay indoors. This weekend's Formula One Singapore Grand Prix could now be in jeopardy, as Charlotte Glennie reports.

straitstimes.com A Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight that left Tokyo for Los Angeles had to turn back because of engine trouble. In a statement, the airline said that about 2 hours and 40 minutes after takeoff, vibrations were encountered in one of the Airbus 380's four engines.

independent.co.uk Switzerland and Singapore pave the way for having the best higher education institutions outside America and the UK, knocking Canada out of the top five on last year.



cambodiadaily.com Forest loss in Cambodia between 2001 and 2014 accelerated at a faster rate than in any other country in the world, according to new global figures based on US satellite data.



chicagomonitor.com The extremists that share programming space on the same satellite provider as Voice of America are not AlQaeda or ISIS but rather an ultra-nationalist, violent Buddhist organisation known as Ma Ba Tha (Association for the Protection of Race and Religion). The Ma Ba Tha grew out of the 969 movement and have been behind acts of terrorism targeting Burmese Muslims, specifically the stateless Rohingya, considered one of the most ''persecuted peoples'' in the world.



foodbev.com The first-ever Coca-Cola bottling plant in Laos has officially opened for business.



aljazeera.com Tropical Storm Vamco may have been short-lived but it has made its presence felt across Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand. It is the third tropical storm to hit Vietnam this year.



reuters.com First-term Philippine senator Grace Poe announced plans to run for president next year, seeking a post that eluded her adoptive father, an action movie hero, more than a decade ago. Poe, 47, is the only woman in the contest, but the third candidate to declare the aim to succeed President Benigno Aquino.