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.



cambodiadaily.com Nineteen Cambodian men were repatriated after being rescued by Indonesian authorities from slavery on Thai fishing boats, according to Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong. The Cambodians were among hundreds of mostly Burmese men who had been lured from their homes with promises of jobs, then enslaved on two Thai fishing boats in Indonesian waters, Mr Kuong said.



efe Malaysian authorities said that 17 people, including two recently returned from Syria, have been detained for allegedly planning terror attacks in Kuala Lumpur.



reuters An Indonesian court rejected a last-ditch challenge by two Australian drug convicts facing execution by firing squad, but lawyers for the state and defense were divided over whether legal avenues remained for them to avoid the death penalty.



theguardian.com Tourism leaps on from resort to fresh resort. New infrastructure, a lot of it built by the Chinese, is completed almost every month. Rangoon, under attack from developers of many nationalities, gets more hectic by the day. Burma is becoming more prosperous, more ''modern''. But all this is happening in the absence of a true political settlement.



abc.net.au Seven people have died and 26 have been injured in the mostly Catholic Philippines during the celebration of Easter Week, as former super typhoon Maysak hits the north-east of the country.



bbc.com Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev is in Vietnam, where he is expected to build on the two countries' long-standing trade ties. Increased oil and gas investments and a free trade agreement are on the agenda.



asiaone.com Books about Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's founding Prime Minister, have been flying off the shelves since his death two weeks ago on March 23. All 10 titles on Singapore's list of best-selling non-fiction books for the week ending March 29 were by or about the statesman.

AP Malaysia's police chief said that 17 suspected militants have been detained for allegedly plotting to carry out terrorist acts in the country's largest city, Kuala Lumpur. Inspector General of Police Khalid Abu Bakar said the 17 were detained Sunday. Khalid tweeted that two of them had just returned from Syria.



aap The proposed TPP trade deal involves 12 countries - Australia, US, New Zealand, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. "In terms of our rebalance in the broadest sense, passing Trans Pacific Partnership is as important to me as another aircraft carrier," said US Defense Secretary Ash Carter. He rejected fears China's economic growth would undermine his nation's influence in the region.



phnompenhpost.com A 200kg Irrawaddy dolphin was found dead at the border between Stung Treng province and Laos, bringing the dolphin death toll for 2015 to five, authorities said.