independent.co.uk Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's forces pushed into the rebel-held city of Benghazi, defying world demands for an immediate ceasefire and forcing rebels to retreat.


A daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media.

xinhua Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh declared a 30-day nationwide state of emergency as the death toll for clashes in the capital Sanaa on Friday rose to at least 45 and around 617 others injured, state media and the protest's organisers said.

dailymail.co.uk Libya's Colonel Gaddafi was given an ultimatum to surrender power as British jets readied for military action against his murderous regime. In a clear hardening of tone just hours after the UN backed a no-fly zone, the PM said: ''It is almost impossible to envisage a future for Libya that includes him.''

ft.com Bahrain has demolished the Pearl monument and ripped up the grass at the roundabout occupied by opposition protesters for much of the past month that has come to symbolise their hopes for democratic reforms. To howls of derision from tweeting activists the government has dubbed the move a ''facelift'' to improve traffic around the intersection.

cnn.com Japanese paused at the one-week mark following the monster earthquake and ensuing tsunami as the death toll continued its steady climb to 6911. Another 10,692 people are missing. [The Phuket-Andaman coast toll in 2004 was 5400.]

ft.com The chill winds that brought snow and sub-zero temperatures to Japan's devastated north-eastern coast this week were a brutal extra burden on the living but convenient for those dealing with the dead.

guardian.co.uk The devastating impact of the Japanese earthquake on the country's ageing population was exposed as dozens of elderly people were confirmed dead in hospitals and residential homes as heating fuel and medicine ran out.

theglobeandmail.com The governor of Fukushima prefecture complained that not enough aid is reaching the 100,000 evacuees living in shelters just outside the nuclear exclusion zone, and said preparations for an even bigger evacuation from the area need to be made.
Katsunobu Sakurai, mayor of the town of Minamasoma, where residents have been told to stay in their homes just 20 kilometres from the plant, went a big step further. ''The government doesn't tell us anything,'' he said. ''We're isolated. They're leaving us to die.''

voanews.com There are shortages of food, water and fuel. Each day more roads are being reopened for trucks to take supplies to the survivors. But some communities remain cut off.

independent.co.uk Japan's nuclear agency raised the alert level at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, citing "serious damage" to reactors No 2 and No 3 and placing it on a par with the 1979 Three Mile Island incident. Reactor No 4, housing spent fuel rods, is also believed to be leaking radiation.

bloomberg A nuclear meltdown or explosion at Tokyo Electric Power Co.s crippled plant is unlikely to pose a health risk beyond 50 kilometers of the site, doctors and scientists said.

independent.co.uk The moon is going to be closer to Earth on Saturday than at any other time during the past 18 years. The more excitable of astrologers describe such an event as a Super-Moon. The Japan earthquake and the Boxing Day tsunami struck during the lunar apogee, when the moon is furthest from us.

wsj.com Day-time temperatures in Bangkok have struggled to reach 18 degrees Celsius over the past couple days - and many here blame Japan's massive temblor in the latest outbreak of earthquake-related paranoia to grip Asia. ''Maybe the world's coming to an end,'' said 19-year-old student Atapon Sangwangaew.

todayonline.com Repeating the Singapore Government's reassurances the National Environment Agency and water agency PUB held a media briefing with a clear message: There is no cause for alarm in spite of the nuclear crisis in Japan.

eturbonews.com An estimated 150,000 tourists due to visit Japan during the cherry blossom season have canceled their trips, said Yao Ta-kuan, chairman of the Travel Agent Association of Taiwan. Some travel agencies are negotiating with airline companies to put on charter flights to Bangkok, Phuket and Kuala Lumpur.

afp Indonesia issued a red alert Friday after Mount Karangetang on the island of Sulawesi erupted, sending lava and searing gas clouds down its slopes, a volcanologist said.

wired.com Android phones whisk users across the web in two-thirds the time that the iPhone takes, according to a study that compared the two top mobiles' performance when downloading web pages. Android bested the iPhone on site-loading time a whopping 84 percent of the time.

bangkokpost.com The Malaysian food and beverage group Fraser and Neave Limited will enter the functional drinks market in southern Thailand with the introduction of its 100 Plus drink Saturday. 100 Plus is the No. 1 isotonic drink brand in Southeast Asia and is the most popular in Malaysia, with a 90 percent market share.

medicalnewstoday.com Life expectancy in Europe keeps rising, despite the obesity epidemic, with Britons living longer than Americans, according to an editorial published in the International Journal of Epidemiology.



The Phuket News this week leads with a story about the tsunami scare in Patong. It's already eight days old today. The first four pages are Phuket news. The Gazette leads with an ATM skim scam that took place in January. It's up to 48 pages this week, fattest for some time. ''The Gazette now has three sports pages,'' reports the veteran. Meanwhile, Classifieds in the News have grown to 4.5 pages.



ST PATRICK'S DAY BALL. Life Home Project and Ireland's honorary consul Helene Fallon-Wood are hosting the Second St Patrick's Day Ball at the Movenpick Resort and Spa in Karon on March 26 with cocktails from 6.30pm and dinner to follow. Tickets at 4000 baht benefit the Life Home Project. Contact Khun Joojee 081 3979809 or Khun Eee or Nee 086 9469232. Tickets will be available at BAKE Chalong, Cherng Talay and BIS.

Until March 19 Heroine's Monument Festival
March 26 St Patrick's Day Ball, Movenpick Resort and Spa, Karon. Details 081 3979809 or 086 9469232
March 27 Earth Hour commemoration on Phuket
April 1 Turtle release, Banyan Tree seafront, Laguna Phuket
April 2 'To Japan from Phuket With Love' charity concert, Karon Beach
April 8-10 Phuket Bike Week, Patong
April 13-15 Songkran Festival
May New PPAO Hospital to open, Phuket City
June 12 Laguna Phuket International Marathon
June 23-26 Phuket Fun Fly paragliding, Nai Harn
November 27 Laguna Phuket Triathlon
December 4 Ironman 70.3 Asia-Pacific Championship, Laguna


March 18-28 National Youth Games, Phuket

Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket