A daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective. Reports from national and international media, with translations into English from Thai.

Xinhua The US has no plan to meet with officials from North Korea at Asean meetings on Phuket next week, a senior US official says. Ruling out the possibility of a US-North Korea meeting, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Scot Marciel also told reporters that there will probably not be a meeting of the five nations pushing North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons programs on the sidelines of the Phuket meeting. The five countries are the US, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia.

thepeninsulaqatar.com Unfazed by the G8 ban on enrichment and re-processing technologies, India is set to take its civil nuclear trade with the US forward by offering American companies two nuclear parks during Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's five-day visit to the country, starting tomorrow. Clinton's long-awaited trip is expected to see the first concrete move in re-starting nuclear trade since the two countries signed the landmark bilateral agreement last year, with India readying to provide two sites for nuclear reactors to be set up by US companies.

forbes.com Asian shares gained around two to three percent on Tuesday as Singapore's more than 20 percent economic growth in the second quarter raised hopes that Asia may leap out of recession and even lead a global recovery in the later half of this year. The Straits Times Index extended its gain to 1.9 percent at 2,309.17 before the closing bell. Singapore has revealed that the rise in construction and pharmaceutical output helped its economy grow at 20.4 percent in the quarter ended June, the fastest expansion in nearly six years, beating market expectations.

Southland Times The east coast of Australia was put on tsunami alert last night after a powerful undersea earthquake struck off the coast of New Zealand. Meteorology experts issued a tsunami warning saying that Tasmania, Victoria and NSW could be hit by waves following the earthquake but ''it's quite rare that this would happen''. The alert was later cancelled.

Reuters Satellites can spot the leading edge of a tsunami, US government researchers say in a study that might lead to better ways of detecting the giant waves and get people out of their way. They went back and looked at satellite images in the Indian Ocean as the December 2004 tsunami raced across to destroy coastlines in Thailand, Sri Lanka and elsewhere. They found clear patterns in the water, detectable signs of ''tsunami propagation''. A giant earthquake in Indonesia triggered the 2004 tsunami, which killed more than 228,000 people.

bbc.com Police in Malaysia have said they will release nine Christians mistakenly accused of trying to convert Muslim university students to Christianity. A university security guard wrongly thought they were handing Christian pamphlets to Muslims, police said. Trying to convert Muslims to another religion is forbidden in Malaysia, though Muslims may proselytise. Members of religious minorities have complained that their rights are being ignored in Muslim-majority Malaysia.

Aviation Week has released the results of its Top-Performing Companies study of the global airline industry, which identifies Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa and Malaysia Airlines as the top three mainline carriers for 2009. Air Arabia tops the low-cost/niche carrier category. ''The recession has grabbed hold of the airline industry, and survival is still the name of the game,'' said Aviation Week & Space Technology Editor-in-Chief Anthony L. Velocci, Jr. ''We are seeing sharp drops in scores across the board, in all regions, but with the TPC rankings, we can identify those airlines that are doing things right.''

The Nation Thai Airways International has suffered a drop in passenger numbers, particularly from East Asia, with Chinese, Japanese and South Korean flyers down 15-20 percent, says executive chairman Wallop Bhukkanasut. ''The outbreak of H1N1 influenza is threatening international travel and affecting THAI's business directly.'' Other airlines have also seen passenger numbers decline. In the first 15 days of this month, Bangkok Airways' passenger numbers were down 18.5 percent year on year, lowering the average load factor to 70 percent. Foreign tourists, who make up 80-85 percent of Bangkok Airways passengers, contributed to the drop.

Dow Jones Thailand's privately-owned Bangkok Airways has cut its passenger traffic projection for 2009 to 2.6 million from 2.8 million due to a series of negative factors ranging from weak economic conditions, political turmoil, to the swine flu outbreak. Despite an anticipated marginal rise in traffic volume, compared with 2.5 million passengers recorded last year, the company expects revenue this year to be merely on par with the 7.5 billion baht in 2008 due to aggressive promotion campaigns amid a slowing market environment, Vice President Nandhika Varavarn said.

AFP Los Angeles police say they are investigating pop icon Michael Jackson's death, but will not confirm it is being treated as a murder investigation as reported by entertainment website TMZ.com. ''It's a death investigation, still an investigation, ongoing as death investigation, that's the only thing that we can say,'' LAPD spokesperson Amanda Betat said. TMZ.com reported the focus is on Doctor Conrad Murray. The pop icon's family has spoken of ''unanswered questions'' concerning Murray's role in the final hours of Jackson's life. Murray's lawyers insist he has been cleared.

bbc.com Kenyan authorities have seized 300kg of illegal ivory hidden in coffins on a plane bound for Thailand and Laos. The haul included 16 elephant tusks and black rhinoceros horns. Officials said the blood on the ivory suggested the animals had been killed very recently. The flight originated in Mozambique. The international ivory trade has been banned since 1989. However, some countries have done little to enforce the ban.