Southeast Asia expert  Bridget Welsh analyses Kuala Lumpur's first steps at the helm of the bloc: the leadership will be successful if it puts ‘the interests of those who live in the region above those of its leaders’. ‘Calling for “inclusive elections” in Myanmar contradicts the real situation on the ground’.

Provincial authorities in Bolikhamxay are sounding the alarm as drug trafficking and possession cases rise in the past six months. A methamphetamine tablet costs less than 25 cents US in the region.

Special Envoy Alexandra Xanthaki warned at the end of a ten-day visit to a country where together minority ethnic groups make up 47% of the population. ‘Despite progress on human rights, policies of assimilation of indigenous peoples into the dominant Lao group and forced relocation of villages in the name of development continue'.

At the summit underway in the Laotian capital, Thai Prime Minister Shinawatra proposes an "informal consultation" to find a way out of the conflict. But positions remain distant. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, who will take over the rotating presidency in 2025, calls for political cohesion to give “a clear message to the world” overwhelmed by wars and become the world’s “fourth-largest economy by 2030”.

Today's news: eight Taiwanese soldiers jailed for pro-China espionage; Hundreds of migrants from Asia stranded at São Paulo airport in Brazil; At least 15 dead and 4.5 million affected by floods in Bangladesh; It is less dangerous for airlines to fly over Afghanistan than the Middle East, security and screening concerns remain; Delegation from Laos to Moscow for International Buddhist Forum visits Orthodox Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

A video of three activists denouncing decades-old land concessions triggered a new crackdown on dissent. Capital armored to prevent demonstrations that exiled opposition leaders had called for Aug. 18. Hun Manet: “We will not tolerate protests against the government like those that took place in Bagladesh.”