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.

thestar.com.my In a world that is awash with strife and uncertainty, Asean remains the world's rising star. Taken together, McKinsey Global Institute estimated that Asean is already the 7th largest economy in the world, and by 2050 it will be the 5th largest.



thejakartapost.com Australian journalist Candace Sutton has been deported from Indonesia for reporting without a proper visa as she covered two Australian drug traffickers on death row, an immigration official said.



bbc.com Fifty years ago Singapore became an independent state, after leaving the short-lived Malaysian Federation. With no natural resources, just how did this tiny country go from swamp to one of the region's leading economies?
http://m.bbc.com/news/magazine-31626174



aljazeera.com A military assault on rebel fighters in the southern Philippines entered its fifth day on Saturday, with the toll rising to 24 fighters and two soldiers dead, officials said.



news.com.au AT 85, Irene Burrows is hoping she lives long enough to find out what happened to MH370. The mother and mother-in-law of Australian passengers Rodney and Mary Burrows, Irene has long accepted she will never see her son and his wife again. But she has not given up hope the Malaysia Airlines' Boeing 777 will be found and an explanation provided for its mysterious disappearance on March 8 last year.



AP Police in Burma have arrested a photojournalist who posted a satirical message on Facebook that mocked a historic battle and the country's leader. Police confirmed Saturday that Aung Nay Myo was detained on a charge of violating the 1950 Emergency Provision Act.



theguardian.com The landing of the first American troops in Vietnam was carefully stage managed. The troops were given a warm welcome by a delegation of smiling children and traditionally dressed Vietnamese women brandishing garlands of flowers. A sign held aloft read: ''Welcome, Gallant Marines.''
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/feb/28/vietnam-war-da-nang-50-year-anniversary-flourishing



cambodiadaily.com The International Organisation for Migration (IOM) acknowledged concerns over its plan to help resettle Australia's refugees currently being held on the South Pacific island nation of Nauru in Cambodia, while Cambodian officials would not say whether the government had agreed to conditions set out by the global migration body.



bangkokpost.com The navy seized 139 kilograms of compressed marijuana in brand-name suitcases abandoned along the Mekong River in Nong Khai.