Reuters.com WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been arrested by British police on a European warrant issued by Sweden over allegations of sex crimes including rape, London's Metropolitan Police said.

sail-world.com Evolution Racing tactician Dan Slater expected a win from their first King's Cup race and he was right as they pushed HiFi out to second and Nick Burns's EFG Bank Mandrake into third.


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

mcot.net Thailand's National Disaster Warning Center conducted a ceremony to send off its ship to install two buoys in the Andaman Sea to serve as a natural disaster warning system to monitor tsunami waves. Disaster warning director Captain Somsak Kaosuwan said a deep-water buoy is to be installed about 130 sea miles from the Surin Islands off Phang Nga while a shallow-water float is to be installed 124 sea miles from Phuket.
Captain Somsak said the buoy installation costs 150 million baht. Once installed, the system will be tested by using a satellite signal to be sent to a receiver at the NDWC office on December 14. [Phuket plans a night-time tsunami warning drill on December 14 at Kamala.]

Bangkokpost.com The Tourism Authority of Thailand plans more marketing campaigns in big cities in northern China to draw visitors from Lijiang, Changsha and Hebei, in a bid to draw 1.2 million Chinese arrivals in 2011. Phuket and Samui are popular destinations for Chinese visitors. The government's policy to waive visa fees and to grant visas on arrival also played a vital part.

thestar.com.my A resident pass will soon be made available to highly-skilled expats seeking to continue living and working in Malaysia on a long-term basis, as well as former Malaysian citizens. Unlike an employment pass, the resident pass will not be tied to an employer, can be issued for a longer period of 10 years and be renewable beyond this. Spouses of resident pass holders can also seek employment in Malaysia.

scmp.com The leader of Burma's military junta considered making a $1 billion bid to buy Manchester United soccer club around the time it was facing rising anger from the UN over its "unacceptably slow" response to cyclone Nargis.

guardian.co.uk Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, is expected to appear in a UK court tomorrow after his lawyers said he would meet police to discuss a European extradition warrant from Sweden relating to alleged sexual assaults.

bangkokpost.com Bangkok Airways has put its long-established plan to launch intercontinental flights on the back burner, saying it would be an uphill task to turn the service into a viable business. Puttipong Prasarttong-Osoth, president of the privately owned airline, said it would be extremely difficult to compete with larger players.

thephuketinsider.com Boutique hotel group Aleenta [with a resort just north of Phuket] will be opening a new property in Koh Samui with the signing of the 62 room The Akyra Chura Samui.

bangkokpost.com The Civil Aviation Department plans to upgrade its 28 provincial airports and invite interest from private companies to manage them. The five top sources of income are Krabi airport (100 million baht), Udon Thani (34 million baht), Khon Kaen (25 million baht), Surat Thanit (19.9 million baht) and Ubon Ratchathani (19.5 million baht).

mcot.net Thailand's ousted ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra will visit the US to testify on alleged human rights violations during Bangkok's deadly April-May political demonstrations after having been invited by the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, according to his legal advisor Noppadon Pattama.

dailytelegraph.com.au A Sydney man could face the death penalty in Thailand after being arrested allegedly in possession of 2.2kg of cocaine. The 47-year-old was arrested in Bangkok on November 30, along with a British man, 59, after a police sting. Police allege he was trafficking the drugs.

nationmultimedia.com Most husbands took on minor wives because other women were readily available and they got tired of their first wife "going to pot and nagging them all the time," according to researchers from Ramathibodi Hospital.

afp Caning in Malaysia has "hit epidemic proportions" with thousands of people subjected every year to beatings which leave permanent physical and mental scars, Amnesty International said. The rights group called on Malaysia to immediately end the practice of judicial caning, which is meted out for immigration offences as well as more serious crimes like murder and rape.

asiaone.com Forbes Asia has named AirAsia founder and CEO Tony Fernandes as its 2010 Businessman of the Year. The 46-year-old, a former record company executive, took over Malaysia's then-ailing AirAsia in 2001 and relaunched it as a no-frills airline.

dailytelegraph.co.uk A shark that has acquired a taste for human flesh struck for the fifth time in a week off Egypt's most popular Red Sea resort on Sunday, killing a German woman. The victim, who was 70, was severely mauled as she snorkelled close to the shore in Sharm el-Sheikh, losing a leg and half her right arm in an attack that brought panic to thousands of British holidaymakers and other tourists enjoying the winter sun.

Associated Press A speeding car has careered head-on into a group of cyclists in southern Italy, killing eight of them. The driver had been smoking marijuana, police said.

guardian.co.uk A bleak portrait of racial and social exclusion at Oxford and Cambridge has been shown in official data which shows that more than 20 Oxbridge colleges made no offers to black candidates for undergraduate courses last year and one Oxford college has not admitted a single black student in five years.

afp Continental Airlines has criticised as "absurd" a verdict by a French court which fined the carrier over the 2000 Concorde crash in which 113 people died, and confirmed it would appeal. A titanium strip dropped on the runway of Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport later shredded the tyre of the supersonic jet, which led to a fire in the fuel tank.

PA Two BBC presenters have apologised after making the same embarrassing verbal slip over the name of Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt. The latest on-air stumble sent Jim Naughtie into a coughing fit, and attracted a slew of emails from listeners who were either amused or angry.

ekklesia.co.uk A leading churchman in West Papua has called on President Obama to withdraw US cooperation with Indonesia's elite Kopassus forces, after finding himself on a military ''enemies'' list. Kopassus soldiers murdered a previous ''enemy,'' Papuan leader Theys Eluay, in 2001.

independent.co.uk Facebook unveiled new-look user profile pages that make it "easier for you to tell your story and learn about your friends." The additions of small, tiled photos and "vital stats" at the top of the profile page are the most prominent changes found in the new design, but many users have already started complaining about the larger ads found on the right-hand side of the page.


nationmultimedia.com Three races on the opening day of the 24th Phuket King's Cup Regatta saw Evolution Racing emerge as leader, overtaking reigning champion Hifi skippered by Neil Pryde. A record number of 22 boats took part in the Bareboat Charter, which will help promote tourism in Thailand.

Until December 11 Phuket King's Cup Regatta
December 15-20 Patong Carnival
December 16-18 2010 Asia Superyacht Rendezvous
December 17-19 Phuket Street Show Festival, Old Phuket Town
December 17 US Consular outreach service on Phuket
December 30-January 9 Phuket Red Cross fair, Saphan Hin park, Phuket City


January 6-9 PIMEX boat show, Royal Phuket Marina
January 22 QSI International fun run day at Bang Wad Dam, Kathu
January 23 The Great Phuket Rubber Duck Race Day, Laguna Phuket
February 9-13 The Bay Regatta - Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi