guardian.co.uk A 16-year-old Californian girl attempting to sail solo around the world has been found alive and well following a desperate overnight search in a remote part of the Indian Ocean. Rescuers on board a chartered Australian airline made contact with her today.


A daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media. PLUS World Cup Watch, every day.

Phuket Update Phuket police have a blacklist of 15 people they will be targetting as key operators of football gambling during the World Cup, which starts tonight. Phuket police chief Major General Pekad Tantipong advised fans: ''You can enjoy the football without losing money.''

abc.net.au A Qantas Airbus is joining the search for a solo teenage girl sailor who is missing in mountainous seas in the middle of the Indian Ocean. The rescue effort was launched after emergency beacons on 16-year-old Abby Sunderland's boat were triggered when the young American adventurer ran into huge waves hundreds of kilometres from land. Conditions in the search area are poor with 90-kilometre an hour winds and a six-metre swell.

cnn.com A 16-year-old California girl who is attempting to sail solo around the world triggered a distress signal during rough seas in the Indian Ocean. Abby Sunderland's family began scrambling to organise a search-and-rescue effort after they learned her emergency beacon was detected just an hour after they last spoke to her.

telegraph.co.uk Abby was believed to have got into difficulty in heavy seas in her 40ft (12-metre) sail boat Wild Eyes. Her family have contacted the US government to try to organise an air rescue. Family spokesman Christian Pinkston said: ''We've got to get a plane out there quick.'' The nearest land to her position was Reunion Island, east of Madagascar, and the closest ship was 400 miles away. In her last blog entry she said: ''Wild Eyes was rolling around like crazy.''

huffingtonpost.com The world has a new nuclear threat on its hands; the first ever in Southeast Asia. According to a disturbing five-year study released Friday by the Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB), carried on Al Jazeera, and vetted by a nuclear scientist and former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the ruling military junta in Burma (Myanmar) is ''mining uranium, converting it to uranium compounds for reactors and bombs, and is trying to build a reactor and or an enrichment plant that could only be useful for a bomb.''

defensenews.com Scot Marciel, the State Department official in charge of Southeast Asia, said that the US was still assessing the allegations about Myanmar - also known as Burma. ''I think there's two issues. One is whether there is some kind of serious nuclear program in Burma, which certainly would be tremendously destabilizing to the entire region,'' Marciel testified at a congressional hearing. ''There's also the Burmese acquisition of other military equipment - conventional - which also can affect regional stability.''

Asociated Press A senior US official says the Obama administration is hopeful that a fragile Thailand will recover from violent protests as political debate moves from the streets to parliament. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel told lawmakers at a hearing that it will not be easy to predict the consequences of Thailand's worst political violence in a generation.

thailand-business-news.com Thailand is ranked at 124 out of 149 countries in the Global Peace Index conducted by the Institute for Economics and Peace, while New Zealand is ranked top for two consecutive years. Thailand was ranked at 118 in 2009. Within Asean, Thailand is less peaceful than Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia and Cambodia but more peaceful than the Philippines and Myanmar. The least peaceful country is Iraq.

todayonline.com At least a dozen Singapore casino patrons have been charged so far for trying to defraud the two integrated resorts or their customers of money. Kipuyo Lemburis Israel, 34, from Tanzania, is said to have cheated the MBS casino of more than $S126,000 when he placed bets at its roulette tables after the results had been declared, reported The Straits Times on its website.

afp A top US official said he was ''particularly concerned'' about the plight of 140,000 refugees from Burma in camps along the Thai border ahead of the junta's upcoming polls. Eric P. Schwartz, US Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration, raised his worries in Bangkok after meeting Thai officials and activists ahead of a trip to the border camps on Friday.

nytimes.com Eighty-five percent of Swedish fathers take parental leave. Those who don't face questions from family, friends and colleagues. As other countries still tinker with maternity leave and women's rights, Sweden may be a glimpse of the future. In this land of Viking lore, men are at the heart of the gender-equality debate.

vancouversun.com Edmonton police have arrested two men in connection with the death of Apichat Sudsaneh, a 37-year-old welder who attempted to intervene in a random attack. In addition to the arrests, police are searching for five others, two males and three females, whose images were captured by LRT surveillance cameras.

Associated Press Malaysian authorities are trying to trap a female mate for Tam, a rare Borneo Sumatran rhino, in a last-ditch effort to produce an offspring in captivity and save his species from extinction, an official said Thursday. Laurentius Ambu, a top wildlife official, said Tam's current mate is too old to reproduce. Tam was rescued from the jungles of Sabah state on Borneo island two years ago and is one of the handful of Borneo Sumatran rhinos believed to be alive.

cbs4denver.com The Indonesia boy, previously seen smoking it up in viral videos, is now getting help to kick his addiction. The boy has now cut down to about 15 cigarettes a day, thanks to therapy focused on playing, AFP reports.

bangkokpost.com Dusit International still sees opportunities for taking over hotels both at home and abroad after postponing its investment plans for more than two years due to global economic problems and domestic political uncertainties. Dusit Group CEO Chanin Donavanik said: ''For the international markets, we see great potential in China and Europe. Doing business overseas is easier than in Thailand because many places do not have political conflicts.''

novinite.com Bulgaria's Ambassador to Thailand, Kamen Velichkov, will be recalled, the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry, Vesela Cherneva, announced. Media connect Velichkov's name with a scandal, stemming from a sexual harassment complaint against him, logged by Bulgaria's former Consul to Thailand, Krasimira Trifonova.



Media Release As the Phuket International Academy (PIA) moves closer to full operational capacity, the facility has made the key appointment of Chakrit Jatupornpisate to oversee the complex's two hotels and all food and beverage outlets. As Hotel Manager, Mr Chakrit will be responsible for all operations and food and beverage campaigns for the 116 rooms housed in two separate hotels in the PIA Mind Centre and the PIA Sports and Leisure Club. Mr Chakrit joins the PIA after a distinguished career with some of the world's best-known hotel brands such as Anantara and Evason. He was most recently with the JW Marriott Resort & Spa Phuket.



smh.com.au Tonight, at the magnificent Soccer City stadium, designed to resemble the traditional African cooking pot, the calabash, the first black World Cup kicks off just a few kilometres from where apartheid began to unravel, Soweto. South Africa, out and proud - and thanks to the vuvuzelas, very loud - take on Mexico in the first of 64 games that will decide who will become the 19th champion of the world's most popular sport, football.

telegraph.co.uk Former Arsenal and England striker Alan Smith tests out the World Cup ball: No matter how I hit it, the white and gold Jabulani kept doing the oddest of things, both in the air and on the ground. Every single player in this World Cup is going to have to concentrate hard when receiving a pass, even if it is a simple, 10-yard job. As for a raking 40-yard effort, some people are going to end up looking stupid because they cannot control the approaching missile.

afp The Dutch World Cup squad has been banned from using social messaging service Twitter after striker Eljero Elia made a racist slur against one of his own friends. During an internet chat and an online game, the SV Hamburg star described one of his friends as a ''Moroccan cancer,'' prompting the response that he was a ''nigger.'' The exchange, filmed by the player's webcam and posted on the internet, has created a stir in the Netherlands.

cnn.com Important rules to know 1. Offside
The rule most likely to infuriate players, managers and fans alike. A player is deemed to be in an offside position when he is in his opponents' half of the pitch and further forward than the last opposition player at the moment a teammate attempts to play a pass to him. Sounds simple, right?



Lights, camera, and still plenty of action: The Phuket Film Festival marks the Thailand premier of Bitter/Sweet on Friday at 7 pm at the Coliseum Cineplex, Phuket City and the reception which follows at Vijitt Resort. The following Thai "stars" will be in attendance: Viyada Tariyakul, Napakprapha Nakprasitte, Paradorn Srichaphan, Kalorin Supalak and Ploy Jindachot.
Join the World Premiere of Yuthlert Sippak's Friday Killer at the StereoLab on Surin Beach, Sunday, June 13 beginning at 6 pm. Friday Killer will be the closing film of the 2010 Phuket Film Festival. Yuthlert and Ploy Jindachot (and others) will be in attendance.

Until June 13 Nightly warmup DJ dance parties at Indochine in Kalim beach, see Facebook for details.
Until June13 Prison Products Fair, each evening at Saphan Hin park, Phuket City. On-stage entertainment, food stalls, refreshments, furniture for purchase.
June 13 Laguna Phuket International Marathon. Fun runs, too.
June 14 US consular section visits Phuket. Contact US embassy for details.
June 18-20 Phuket International Halal Food Festival, Saphan Hin park, Phuket City
June 25-26 Phuket Music Festival, Full Moon Version, at Karon beach. [Last year it was called the RoyFest. It's no longer the RoyFest.]
June 25 to 27 Second Kathu Culture Road Fair, recalling the region's history
July 21-25 Phuket Six Senses Race Week, Evason, Rawai
July 4 US Phuket Navy League Independence Day free family picnic at the Headstart International Learning Center directly across from Makro (near Central Festival) in Phuket City from 10am-7pm.
October 1-3 Asian Hospitality and Travel Show, Central Festival Phuket Convention and Exhibition Center, Phuket City
December 4-11 Phuket King's Cup Regatta
2011
January 6-9 PIMEX boat show, Royal Phuket Marina
February 9-13 The Bay Regatta - Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi