bbc.com Ukraine has accused pro-Russian rebels of trying to destroy evidence of ''international crimes'' at the crash site of a Malaysia Airlines plane.

independent.co.uk International observers say they have been refused full access to the rebel-controlled Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash site, with one ''visibly intoxicated guard'' firing a warning shot into the air during their visit.

xinhua A Milan court overturned a seven-year prison term against three-time Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi in the sex case that cast shadows on him before his government's collapse in 2011.


PHUKET: The daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media. Beware of inconsistent imitations.



bangkokpost.com Former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra pledged not to flee prosecution in Thailand and lambasted the National Anti-Corruption Commission for unfairly rushing the investigation into her role in the loss-ridden rice-pledging scheme.

nationmultimedia.com The Japan External Trade Organisation and two leading Thai private-sector institutions urged the ruling military junta to focus on reducing corruption and improving transparency to restore investors' confidence.

Phuket Update An Indian woman on a day trip to dive near Phi Phi is still being treated in the Intensive Care Unit at a Phuket hospital after being pulled from the water unconscious on Wednesday. Deetti Tirumalaraju, 28, encountered difficulties at about six meters,

bangkokpost.com Additional one-metre-wide railways will be laid parallel to existing lines on crowded routes, according to Prayuth Chan-ocha, chief of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).



Phuket Update With construction about 90 percent complete, Sea Shepard Global has put out a call to stop a dolphinarium from being built in Phuket. Local environmentalists and divers are also mounting a protest on social media and aiming to ask local authorities to prevent the development opening.

Phuket Update Phuket Land Transport Department authorities are still awaiting Bangkok approval of standard rates in Phuket meter taxis that they hope will be a 50 baht flagfall, 12 baht for the next three to 12 kilometres, followed by 10 baht a kilometre. All taxis on Phuket are being nudged towards becoming meter cabs.

thephuletinsider.com A second proposed bypass road would start near the Heroines Monument and connect though to Kathu near the British International School and on through the Loch Palm area.

nationmultimedia.com The hashtag #findupinandpichat was a big topic. When British siblings Emily and Ben Willgrass posted a message on Facebook in their search for a man and woman who helped them during the devastating 2004 tsunami, less than 24 hours later, their request drew the answer they sought. The siblings will be reunited with Yupin and Pichet when they arrive in Phuket tomorrow.

bloomberg After Rupert Murdoch's attempt to grab Time Warner, online giants Amazon.com and Google may decide to accelerate their expansion into content.



theguardian.com Two of the 28 Australians killed when MH17 was shot down over Ukraine were members of a family who lost two other relatives when Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared in March, it has emerged.

nytimes.com The Kremlin and its military called the downing of a passenger jet over Ukraine the Ukrainians's responsibility and rejected accusations that Russia was involved.

theage.com.au Malaysia Airlines said the usual flight route was earlier declared safe by the International Civil Aviation Organisation. However, other airlines had chosen to avoid that airspace.

scmp.com Russia's state-controlled television wheeled out conspiracy theories to explain the Malaysian air crash, including one holding that it was a bungled attempt to down President Vladimir Putin's presidential jet.

smh.com.au Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has delivered a blunt warning to Russia it will be shunned by the international community unless it accepts some responsibility for the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash and backs a fully transparent international investigation into the tragedy.

AP Hit by two astonishing tragedies in quick succession, the Malaysia Airlines brand may become the airline industry's equivalent of asbestos or News of the World: toxic to the public and, experts say, impossible to redeem.



theguardian.com Singapore has stopped its national library from destroying two children's books with gay themes, after an outcry over literary censorship in the tightly regulated city-state.

dvb.no Two separate parents, apparently persuaded by human traffickers to sell their daughters as brides in China, were arrested and are currently being questioned by Burmese police in Lashio, northern Shan State.

arabnews.com The Rohingya Muslims are still stateless, deprived of their human rights and living under oppression. Major Asean countries, the global Muslim community and the superpowers are still silent.



afp Rory McIlroy clamped a stranglehold on the British Open with a second straight round of 66 which left him four strokes clear of the field going into the weekend.

theage.com.au Young Australian golfer Bryden Macpherson has endured a British Open nightmare, producing the tournament's worst round in 15 years. The 23-year-old carded a horror eighteen-over-par 90 on the first day.

independent.co.uk At the end of a week in which he was photographed without his T-shirt in a nightclub, Gary Ballance stuck out his chest again to score a brilliant 110 that ensured England still have a foothold in the second Test against India.



Until July 20 Phuket Race Week yachting, Cape Panwa

August 11 Special holiday for Queen's Birthday

August 12 Queen's Birthday

September 24-October 2 Vegetarian Festival, Phuket

October 23 Chulalongkorn Memorial Day

November 6 Loy Kratong

November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket

December 5 King's Birthday

December 10 Constitution Day

December 25 Christmas Day

December 26 10th Anniversary, 2004 Tsunami

December 31 New Year's Eve



February 13-15 Phuket Yacht Show