reuters Lights started going off around the world in a show of support for renewable energy, given added poignancy by Japan's nuclear disaster, which raises doubts about nuclear power as a possible solution.


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

telegraph.co.uk Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi are said to be negotiating to surrender to rebel troops in what could be a significant turning point in the conflict.

miamiherald.com Syria's fledgling anti-government movement snowballed into a national protest when thousands of marchers gathered in defiance of President Bashar Assad, whose security forces fired live ammunition, witnesses and human rights groups said.

Phuket Update Phuket Governor Tri Augkaradacha will visit Provincial Hall's Japan Aid donation call centre (076 216333) before noon today when the official money-raising will end. The Japanese Guides Association is holding a collection from 1pm-6pm on Sunday at Phuket City's Central Festival. Vast amounts of goods donated at Bangkok Hospital Phuket are to be shipped on to Japan with help from the Thai Navy. One load left on March 20. The goods have been carefully labelled with signs in Japanese and Thai. A charity concert is to follow on Karon beach on April 2. One performer is singer Tata Young.

cnn.com The number of people confirmed dead in Japan rose past 10,000 - two weeks after one of the strongest earthquakes on record sent a tsunami plowing over the nation's eastern shore. At least 10,035 people were killed and 17,443 are missing, the Japan National Police Agency said.

reuters.com New radioactive leaks and worker injuries at Japan's stricken nuclear power plant show that the worst atomic crisis in 25 years is far from over, with months of hard work still ahead.

ukpa The death toll from a powerful earthquake in north-eastern Burma has passed 70 with fears of a higher total as conditions in more remote areas become known. The quake, measured at magnitude 6.8, was felt hundreds of kilometres away in Bangkok and the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.

smh.com.au Four weeks after Carol Martin, 52, stopped breathing during a dive, Adam Rothery, another experienced scuba diver, died suddenly at the Royal Sheppard wreck off Sydney's South Head. His death was the fourth in as many weeks around Australia, leaving the scuba community asking questions about an unusual spate of deaths and cautiously reviewing safety procedures.

washingtonpost.com As US investigators continued to probe an incident in which the lone air traffic control supervisor at Reagan National Airport slept while two airliners landed, the controllers union said airports where tower staffing is reduced to one are unsafe.

smh.com.au Ocean wind speeds and wave heights around the world have increased significantly over the past quarter of a century, according to Australian research that has given scientists their first global glimpse of the world's rising winds and waves. Published in the journal 'Science,' the research used satellite data collected from 1985 to 2008.

dailymail.co.uk At the centre of Elizabeth Taylor's kingdom was a small good-natured white Maltese dog named Daisy, who slept on a silk cushion next to her mistress and whose needs were paramount. Referring to the dog, Taylor once said: ''Sometimes I think there is a person in there,'' and she wasn't altogether joking.

cnn.com Long lines were reported in Berlin, London, Sydney and other cities as the iPad 2, the newest version of Apple's popular touchscreen tablet, went on sale Friday afternoon in 25 countries.

Human Rights Watch: Spokesperson Phil Robertson: ''I am concerned about police accountability, the use of excessive force and torture while in police custody. Just like with Thailand, Malaysia needs to look into police reform. When the police are not perceived as protectors but as human rights violators, you know there's something terribly wrong with the country and those who govern it.''

ghanaweb.com A map that went online this week rates countries by the average size of the populations' manhoods and highlights some graphic shortcomings between East and West. Africa's Republic of Congo comes first with an average length of just over 7 inches, with Ghana, Colombia and Ecuador close behind. South Korea ranks barely 4 inches.



A MAN who went to a car salesroom on Phuket this week took a test-drive in a Mazda 2 with a saleswoman, then said, ''I am going to buy it. Let's go visit my guarantor's home.'' The man drove to Phuket's north, but the guarantor was not at home. ''Just let me take it into Phang Nga to talk to another friend,'' the man said. ''You can wait here.'' After two hours beside the road at Tachachai, the woman called police. The man and the Mazda 2 were apprehended some time later in Surat Thani. The Mazda 2 is back in the showroom.

channelnews.asia.com From Sydney to Seoul, London to Lima, Dubai to Davis Station in frozen Antarctica, hundreds of millions of people are expected to switch off their lights at 8.30pm tonight to mark Earth Hour. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged people to celebrate the shared quest to "protect the planet and ensure human well-being."

winnipegreepress.com More Canadian municipalities are pledging to power down Saturday for Earth Hour, but an expert says interest in the event may already be fizzling. "Just more of the same gets old fast," Mark Sarner, who specialises in marketing for non-profits said, noting most marketing campaigns will fade after a few years without something new to draw the public's attention.



IBAP with Indochine's Michael Ma as the guest speaker is at Indochine on April 8.

PHUKET Navy League is planning a free Independence Day event on Sunday, July 3 from 10am to 7pm at Headstart International School, across the street from Makro, near Central Festival in Phuket City.

March 26 St Patrick's Day Ball, Movenpick Resort and Spa, Karon. Details 081 3979809 or 086 9469232
March 26 Earth Hour commemoration on Phuket
March 28-31 Four days of traditional longboat races, Koh Panyee, Phang Nga
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 12-17 Phuket International Cricket Sixes
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
July 20-24 Six Senses Phuket Raceweek
October Vegetarian Festival, Phuket
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