Malaysia wants faster moves toward ASEAN single market

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Tuesday called for speeding up plans to create a single ASEAN market by 2015, five years ahead of the original target date.

Badawi said the accelarated timetable was necessary for ASEAN to attract foreign investors.


Malaysia Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is seen with ASEAN Economic Ministers at the opening of the 38th ASEAN Economic Ministers (AEM) Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2006. AP Photo/Andy Wong via Yahoo News.

"If we do not hasten the creation of that regional single market, ASEAN may run the risk of losing its position as an important investment destination," Badawi said.

ASEAN currently handles more than US$1 trillion in foreign trade and is home to about 600 million people.

Oil from sunken Philippine tanker impacts area

Oil from a sunken oil tanker near Guimaras island in the central Philippines is threatening a second island in the country's worst oil spill.

Officials said taht an international salvage crew, possibly from Singapore, is dus to arrive on the scene within a week.


Marine life off the coast of Guimaras Island, central Philippines on August 20, 2006. Leaking oil has caused severe damage to marine and coastal habitat in the area. REUTERS/Greenpeace/Handout photo via Yahoo News.

The Petron Corp tanker was carrying some 450,000 gallons of oil when it sunk in 3,000 feet of water. A "mousse-like" oil residue has damaged local marine parks, fishing grounds, mangroves and beaches.

Local government has advised villagers to set up improvised boons of bamboo poles and dried grass about a mile from the shoreline.

Maori Queen laid to rest

Maori Queen Te Arikinui Dame Te Atairangikaahu was buried on Mount Taupiri, the resting-place of chiefs, in a traditional ceremony Monday.

The queen died last Tuesday after 40 years on the throne. She was a popular and respected indigenous leader in New Zealand.

A traditional Maori canoe carried the queen's coffin to Taupiri after an elaborate and well-attended ceremony featuring many local and regional leaders.


French Polynesia President Oscar Temaru walks with former New Zealand politician Koro Wetere during the late Maori Queen Dame Te Atairangikaahu's tangihanga (funeral ceremony) at the Tuurangawaewae Marae in Ngaruawahia, New Zealand, August 20, 2006. REUTERS/Peter Drury/Pool via Yahoo News.