HANOI - ELEPHANTS in Indochina are under increasing threat as ivory prices in Vietnam surge, a survey by wildlife trade monitoring organisation TRAFFIC said on Monday.

BANGKOK - THAILAND'S airports announced a loss of US$48 million (S$72.7 million) in the last quarter of 2008 amid a blockade of its two Bangkok hubs and a poor global economic climate, the airport authority said on Monday.

Airports of Thailand (AOT) issued a statement revealing a loss of 1.68 billion baht between October and December last year compared to a profit of nearly 340 million baht for the same period in 2007.

KUALA LUMPUR - MALAYSIA'S king on Monday appealed for unity in the multi-ethnic nation, and hit out at bloggers whom he said were causing 'confusion' among the population.

'We are sad that despite 50 years of independence, racial issues are still being raised and debated,' Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin said in a speech at the opening of parliament.