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 Filipina Trixie Maristela was crowned Miss International Queen 2015 at a contest in Thailand billed as the world's largest transgender pageant. The 29-year-old beat 26 other competitors for the coveted crown, with second and third place going to contestants from Brazil and Thailand.



bbc.com Candidates in Myanmar have entered their final day of campaigning ahead of Sunday's general election. The elections will be Myanmar's first openly contested polls in 25 years, following decades of military rule.



Kyodo News Japan's Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Keiichi Ishii has pitched his country's shinkansen bullet train system in his meeting with Malaysian regulators in Kuala Lumpur.



AP One worker died and 18 others fainted at a garment factory in eastern Cambodia that has been closed pending an investigation, authorities said.



thejakartapost.com Indonesia produced 3.2 million tons of plastic waste in 2010, with around 1.29 million tons of that ending up in the ocean, according to a study published in the journal Science. The figure places Indonesia second only to China, with its 8.8 million tons of waste, or 27 percent of global plastic waste.



cnn.com The ''world's most powerful'' person - at least by the standards of Forbes magazine - will be coming to the Philippines two weeks from now, during the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' meeting in Manila. In its annual ''Ranking of the World's Most Powerful People'' Forbes gave the top spot this year to Russian President Vladimir Putin.



xinhua Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Singapore for a state visit to the Southeast Asian nation at the invitation of his Singaporean counterpart Tony Tan Keng Yam.

bloomberg Singapore Airlines Ltd. offered to pay S$453 million ($322 million) for the shares it doesn't own in Tiger Airways Holdings Ltd., the money-losing low-cost unit it listed less than six years ago, saying it wants to enhance operations across the group's network.

bangkokpost.com Eligible Chinese citizens will be able to use the enhanced immigration automated clearance system service at Singapore's checkpoints from November 16, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) announced.



bbc.com China and Vietnam have pledged to be ''good neighbors'' and agreed to maintain peace in the South China Sea. It comes at the end of a state visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, the first of its kind for a decade.



wsj.com Lao Textiles is a must-stop for visitors to Vientiane, the lovely, if somewhat sleepy capital of Laos. It offers everything from gorgeous silk weaved scarves to tablecloths and silk tapestries to frame or hang on the wall, and it employs more than 40 local Lao women, who create the exquisite pieces on weaving looms in a workshop at the back of the shop.