theindependent.co.uk The wife of British aid worker Alan Henning, 47, earmarked for beheading by Islamic State militants, has urged his captors to ''see it in their hearts'' to release him.

bangkokpost.com Editorial: The handling of the investigation into the murders of British tourists Hannah Witheridge and David Miller on Koh Tao is an international scandal and should be a source of deep embarrassment. And it would be, except the egregious lack of professionalism displayed in this case is par for the course for the Thai police force.

smh.com.au A Sydney-bound Qantas flight has been diverted because of a drunk passenger who allegedly broke through all four sets of plastic handcuffs on the flight after repeated attempts to steal whisky. Flight QF24 from Bangkok was forced to land in Cairns about 5.45am on Sunday where about seven Australian Federal Police officers escorted the male passenger from the plane.


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 Tests confirm that DNA found in a victim's body in the Koh Tao double murder belonged to two Asian men, helping police narrow down their search for the killers.

nationmultimedia.com Semen found on the body of one of the two British tourists murdered on Koh Tao in Surat Thani province will be examined in a Singapore laboratory, national police chief General Somyot Poompanmoung said.

huffingtonpost.co.uk Amid fears the investigation has stalled, Thai police said they still have not ''come up with the exact number of the suspects'' following the brutal murders of British tourists Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24. Spokesman Colonel Kissana said they ''can't rule out any possibility.''

andrew-drummond.com Police have taken the details of the fishing boats moored off Sairee Beach on the island of Koh Tao, having admitted that both killers were Asian, and are now investigating the possibility that just like in the murder of Katherine Horton, 23, in Koh Samui in January 2006, the two latest victims might have been murdered by fishermen who swam ashore to wait for a foreign victim.
http://www.andrew-drummond.com/2014/09/thai-murders-may-be-copycat.html

reuters Police raided a nightclub on Koh Tao and seized items included narcotics and chemical substances which would compare with chemical residues retrieved from the cigarette butt, the Bangkok Post reported.



reuters A team burying Ebola victims was attacked in Sierra Leone's capital, a member of parliament said, as a small group defied a three-day lockdown aimed at halting the worst outbreak of the disease on record.



Phuket Update Police on Phuket are looking for a robber in a full face motorcycle helmet who held up staff at knife-point in a 7-Eleven store in the Rock Garden housing estate on Pracha-U-Thit Road in Phuket City's Rassada area early on Saturday. He escaped with 1290 baht in cash and 6000 baht in loyalty stamps on a motorcycle ridden by an accomplice.

nationmultimedia.com The tourism police and a German charity have come to the aid of German man Benjamin Holse who has excessively swollen legs. He was found begging near Khao San Road in Bangkok, after his photos were distributed and shared on social media.

bangkokpost.com The navy expresses ''shame'' over the arrest of three members with $7 million in counterfeit US money in Cambodia and suspends them from the force.

pattayapeople.com Police say they have captured three Vietnamese who kidnapped a Pattaya fish vendor and sent a finger to relatives in demanding 1.5 million baht. The man is being treated and two other alleged kidnappers are being sought.

bangkokpost.com With the newly established government taking corruption seriously, more than 70 chairmen of Thailand's leading enterprises say the role of the private sector will gain in prominence over the next year.

thedailybeast.com Another man has been arrested for trying to enter the White House, less than 24 hours after a 42-year-old man jumped the fence and made past the front door before he was apprehended, the Secret Service said. The second would-be intruder first showed up at the White House gates on foot, and then at another gate in his car.

abc.net.au New Zealand prime minister John Key will talk with minor party leaders about forming a new government after the National Party's clear victory in Saturday's election.

scmp.com Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba surpassed Facebook by market capitalisation on its first day as a public company right from the minute it started trading and closed with a valuation of more than US$231 billion.

bbc.com Dozens of Turkish hostages seized by Islamic State (IS) in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul in June have been released and arrived back in Turkey. The hostages were seized from Turkey's consulate after IS militants captured Mosul in a rapid advance in June.

scmp.com Macau's growing taxi problem has given rise to a name-and-shame Facebook page with more than 2000 members sharing their horror stories.

heraldscotland.com Britons looking for long-haul beaches this winter will find the best bargains in Bali followed by Cape Town and Sri Lanka, according to a new survey.

aljazeera.com Celebrities, activists and political leaders are expected to join more than 100,000 people in New York City on Sunday for what organisers say will be the largest climate-change march in history.

nbcnews.com Actress Polly Bergen, who's best known for her role in the original 'Cape Fear' opposite Gregory Peck, died at her home in Connecticut. She was 84.



channelnews.asia.com Gay sex could be punishable by 100 lashes of the cane in Indonesia's staunchly conservative Aceh province if parliament passes a draft law that critics say violates basic human rights.

scmp.com Hundreds of defiant Singaporeans protesting censorship gathered in Malaysia to see a documentary banned by regulators in their home country.

huffingtonpost.com ''I miscarried 17 days ago and I still haven't been to see a doctor,'' said the Rohingya woman in the camp in Burma's Rahnie state. ''We can't afford the car and the bribe money to pay the guards to let us out of the camp so we can get to Sittwe Hospital.''

wsj.com Indonesia's capital Jakarta will host the 18th Asian Games in 2018, the Olympic Council of Asia said.



afp Arsenal stopped Aston Villa going top of the Premier League courtesy of a 3-0 win with the much-criticised Mesut Ozil on target.

skynews.com West Ham United netted twice inside the opening seven minutes en route to a 3-1 victory over Liverpool at Upton Park.

afp A superb free kick two minutes from time by Croatian midfielder Niko Kranjcar gave Queens Park Rangers a 2-2 draw in their Premier League match against Stoke City at Loftus Road.

bbc.com Lewis Hamilton took pole position from team-mate and title rival Nico Rosberg by a tiny fraction in a thrilling qualifying session in Singapore. Hamilton was just 0.007 seconds quicker than Rosberg as Mercedes faced a threat from rivals Red Bull and Ferrari.



September 24-October 2 Vegetarian Festival, Phuket

October 23 Chulalongkorn Memorial Day

November 1-3 Patong Carnival

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