The ANN at www.asianews-net.net offers insightful commentaries, news and views as well as handy information like weather, currency exchange and stock markets. The site will also post special features on events that affect Asians.

It has been specially designed to be user-friendly and live up to the modern buzzline one should have all the news he or she need with just a click on the mouse.

"We hope it will become a crucial reference point for those seeking reliable and authoritative news about Asia," said Pana Janviroj, a member of ANN's executive board and editor of The Nation, where the ANN office is based.

He said the website, which was established nearly four years ago, had succeeded in providing a link for members to share its resources.

The 14 members of the news-sharing network, which has a combined readership of 50 million people, are leading newspapers in 12 countries. They are The Daily Star, China Daily (Beijing and Hong Kong editions), The Statesman, The Jakarta Post, Daily Yomiuri and Yomiuri Shimbun, Sin Chew Daily, The Star, The Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Straits Times, The Korea Herald, The Island, The Nation and Vietnam News.

Since the network's inception in 1999, the ANN has attempted to optimise coverage of major news events in the region and promoted accurate reporting of Asia.

The network's idea came out in the aftermath of the Asian financial crisis, which showed a pressing need for events to be reported as seen through the eyes of Asians.