bbc.co.uk Supporters of Burmese pro-democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi have gathered outside her home ahead of her expected release. Reports say the military government has signed an order to release Ms Suu Kyi when her house arrest expires about 6pm on Saturday.

bangkokpost.com A Burmese senior police officer said on Saturday that Aung San Suu Kyi will be released late this afternoon, Krungthep Thurakij Online website reported, citing DPA news agency.


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

bangkokpost.com Phuket has been awarded the right to host the 2014 Asian Beach Games, Thai officials said. General Yutthasak Sasiprabha, president of the Olympic Committee of Thailand, said Phuket won the Asian Beach Games because it was the only candidate. About 500 million baht will be spent for the 15-sport tournament.

stainesnews.co.uuk Anticipation is building that pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi could soon be released after years of house arrest in Burma. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has been detained for 15 of the past 21 years, but her house arrest order ends on Saturday.

cnn.com Party members who had gathered by the hundreds at the National League for Democracy headquarters in Yangon were told to go home, dashing hopes that democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi would be released from house arrest.

abc.net.au North Korea is supplying banned nuclear and ballistic equipment to Iran, Syria and Burma using "surreptitious" means to avoid international sanctions, according to a UN report released Friday. China had blocked publication of the report which has been ready for six months, diplomats said.

bangkokpost.com Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said he has proposed the use of China's yuan currency instead of the US dollar as the standard in Asia to the Asian Development Bank. The PM was due to attend the opening ceremony of the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou and take part in the Apec meeting in Yokohama from November 12-14.

foxnews.com In a special episode of 'America's Most Wanted' this Saturday, host John Walsh will take viewers to the front lines of the international battle against child predators in Cambodia. ''It is our garbage from America, England, the West that goes to the East and preys upon their poverty,'' he said.

smh.com.au Our flight to Bali takes about six-and-a-half hours. It takes a further hour and 25 minutes to travel from one end of the arrivals hall to the other. In this interminably slow queue, in sapping humidity, some time after 11pm, I remind myself that travel has its etymological roots in the word ''travail,'' meaning painful or laborious effort.

aap Australian authorities have raised concerns with Burma about the deportation of two Australian journalists. The pair were working on a documentary about independent media in South-East Asia, including the Myanmar Times newspaper and its Australian editor Ross Dunkley.

nytimes.com Rolls-Royce confirmed on Friday that a ''specific component in the turbine area'' caused an oil fire that forced an Airbus A380 operated by Qantas Airways to make an emergency landing in Singapore. Rolls-Royce's finding came a day after Europe's air safety regulator ordered a new round of inspections on all A380 jetliners using Rolls-Royce engines.

mcot.net The flood-related death toll rose to 206 and 21 provinces remain submerged, the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department reported. The number of deaths was recorded at 146 in the upper part of the country and 60 in southern provinces.

cnn.com Indonesia's Mount Merapi erupted again Friday, spewing volcanic material for more than an hour.The death toll from the volcano's latest round of eruptions, which started October 26, has reached 206.

smh.com.au The average Australian traveller now has an extra $1500 to spend in the US, Britain and other European countries thanks to the rocketing value of the Aussie dollar, according to American Express. A significant number of travellers are buying foreign cash and pre-paid currency cards before travelling to lock in the favorable rates.

todayonline.com Malaysia's top court unanimously dismissed a Hindu mother's bid to raise her two young children in the religion they grew up with. Ms S Shamala's two children were converted to Islam eight years ago by her estranged Hindu-turned-Muslim husband, without her knowledge or consent.

afp Allure of the Seas, the world's largest cruise ship along with its twin Oasis of the Seas, made its US debut yesterday with operator Royal Caribbean showing off innovations including the first Starbucks coffee house at sea.



TWO events have been organised on Phuket by the Navy League for US military personnel visiting Phuket. November 14 Ship Welcome Party and Buffet Dinner, BBQ Hut Smokehouse, Patong. Cost: 200 baht for NL members and 400 baht for non-members. Crew and embarked personnel from the USS Peleliu free, from 6pm, with a no-host bar. November 15 Ship Golf Tournament with officers of the USS Peleliu at the Phunaka Golf Course (located near the road leading to the Big Buddha from Chaofa West). Registration from noon, tee time 1pm. Cost: 2000 baht. Call Jimmy Madigan: 084 2420005

November 13 Phuket International Women's Club ball, Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort, Karon
Until November 14 Krabi-Andaman Festival plus Krabi Food Festival, Krabi Town. Details: 075-623-966, 081-7874074.
November 19 AustCham at the new Westin Hotel at Koh Sireh from 3pm. E: harry@ladypie.com Tel: 081 2731740
November 21 Loy Kratong Festival
November 26-28 Phuket Honda Racing Fest at Saphan Hin, Phuket City
November 28 Laguna Phuket triathlon
December 4-11 Phuket King's Cup Regatta
December 5 Laguna Ironman title
December 3-5 North Phuket Culinary Arts Festival, Mai Khao resorts
December 15-20 Patong Carnival
December 16-18 2010 Asia Superyacht Rendezvous
December 17 US Consular outreach service on Phuket
December 30-January 9 Phuket Red Cross fair, Saphan Hin park, Phuket City
2011
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