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.

THREE BIG noble ideas which have been discussed over past decades come to mind - the Asean common currency, the Asean common standards and common time. From the group's practical points of views, both setting common standards are doable, reports nationmultimedia.com .



news.com.au Gruesome details of the new execution process in Indonesia have emerged from sources on the prison island of Nusakambangan, based on how five people were shot after midnight on January 18.
http://www.news.com.au/national/indonesias-new-execution-process-the-condemned-bali-nine-could-take-more-than-six-minutes-to-die/story-fncynjr2-1227243721182



asiaone.com Members of the Instagram page ''Rich Kids of Singapore'' (RKOS) engaged in a war of words with other users on Instagram recently. The argument started when other Instagram users slammed the RKOS members for posts of them flaunting their wealth.



abc.net.au Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers are preparing to travel to the Philippines to help local authorities who have charged Melbourne man Peter Gerard Scully, 51, with homicide, kidnapping and sexually abusing young girls.



AP Australia, Indonesia and Malaysia will lead a trial of an enhanced method of tracking aircraft over remote oceans to allow planes to be more easily found should they vanish like Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, Australia's transport minister said.



inquisitr.com A white elephant was captured near Rangoon, Myanmar, also known as Burma. The elegant creature was first spotted six weeks ago, back in January, in a reserve in Pathein township. On Friday, it was announced the rare elephant was captured in the western Ayeyarwaddy region.



stripes.com In 1964, Keith Connolly was a young Air Force pilot and was among the first Americans to fly sorties in the F-100 Super Sabre fighter bomber targeting the North Vietnamese communist insurgency. Rolling Thunder was an example of America's recurring tendency to overestimate air power. There was no military solution to be had in Vietnam.



cambodiadaily.com Siem Reap provincial police chief Sorth Nady has been named as a conspirator in a complaint to the Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) that accuses the provincial force's personnel chief of soliciting bribes for promotions and embezzling money from salary books.



xinhua Rapid development would be meaningless if the environment is degraded, Brunei's Minister of Industry and Primary Resources YB Pehin Dato Hj Yahya said in an interview with state-run Radio Television Brunei.