arstechnica.com Facebook is due to announce the launch of video advertisements in users' news feeds on Tuesday, according to The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources.

independent.co.uk Michael Clarke's Australians regained the Ashes just four months after the last series defeat in England by completing a third comprehensive test victory on home soil.


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

gmanetwork.com Budget carrier Tiger Airways Philippines announced it will temporarily discontinue its Manila to Phuket, Thailand flights for lack of passengers. The airline's last flight to Phuket was on December 15, three months after its launch, as load factor was less than 50 percent, vice president for commercial operations Jose Laurente Jr. told reporters.

inquirer.net ''We saw that people still preferred to go direct to Bangkok and then fly to Phuket,'' said Laurente Jr. ''In the region, we also compete with Philippine beaches like Boracay. So, for some, why go to Phuket if we have nice beaches here also? It was a challenge as well to sell Phuket flights bound for Manila.''

Phuket Update The flights may stand a better chance if, as expected, more Philippines workers speaking good English opt to take up positions at Phuket resorts once the Asean Economic Community is introduced in 2015-16.

skift.com It is still certain to be a record year for tourism in 2013 after a jump in the number of Chinese visitors, but the December-February high season may prove a disappointment. At least 39 countries have issued travel warnings and the tourist authority says prolonged protests would push arrivals down 1.3 percent from an expected 26.1 million in 2013 to 25.8 million.

bangkokpost.com Foreign tourist arrivals through member tour agents of the Association of Thai Travel Agents will grow by eight percent to 4.32 million next year thanks to Thailand's popularity among travellers. President Susdivachr Cheewarattanaporn expects the tourism sector to be strong next year despite political protests affecting business in the current quarter.

nationmultimedia.com The opposition Democrat Party is facing a dilemma in having to decide today whether to field candidates in the general election scheduled for February 2 amid calls from within the party to boycott the poll.

nytimes.com In a world now accustomed to democratic upheavals, including the Arab Spring and the Saffron and Orange revolutions, the weeks of political upheaval in Thailand stand out for one main peculiarity: Protesters massing on the streets here are demanding less democracy, not more.

huffingtonpost.com solving Thailand's problems at the ballot box will be the only reasonable course of action.

nationmultimedia.com At an analysts' meeting, Airports of Thailand showed that the number of passengers at its six international airports nationwide totalled 86.13 million in the 2013 fiscal year, ending October. This was a 20.43 percent increase year on year.

nytimes.com That Thailand is being convulsed by an anti-democracy movement is somewhat surprising. The country was one of the earliest in Asia to adopt democracy, and both women and men were allowed to vote in local elections in 1897, more than two decades before the 19th Amendment in the United States banned voting rights discrimination on the basis of sex.

news.com.au Chilling CCTV footage shows a six-year-old girl being led away by a man who reportedly raped and strangled her. The clip, an eerie reminder of the footage of British toddler James Bulger being led to his death back in 1993, shows the girl, nicknamed Nong Cartoon, holding hands with a stranger through a Bangkok train station about two weeks ago.

bangkokpost.com The alleged murderer of six-year-old Nong Cartoon has confessed the girl was not his first victim, claiming that he raped nine others and killed four.

Phuket Update Tesco Lotus has opened its first Phuket ''No Plastic Bag'' Store on Saiyuan Road in Nai Harn -its pilot outlet along with one recently opened on Samui. Although many tourists already are converts, experiments so far have shown Phuket shoppers are still poorly informed about the benefits of shopping with reusable bags.

wsj.com At least five people have died from dengue fever this month in Malaysia, where authorities are struggling to contain an outbreak. The total number of dengue deaths for the year now stands at 79, more than double the 34 deaths recorded in 2012.

bbc.co.uk A US judge has ruled the National Security Agency's mass collection of telephone data unconstitutional. Federal District Judge Richard Leon said the electronic spy agency's practice was an ''arbitrary invasion''.

abc.net.au The White House has restated its position that Snowden will not be offered amnesty for returning to the US with his documents.

balidiscovery.com Bali Daily reports yet another power outage has occured at Bali's newly renovated Ngurah Rai Airport. The latest in a series of power outages took place on Tuesday, December 10, 2013, lasting almost 30 minutes from 8.47pm.

ap Syrian government aircraft pounded opposition areas near the southern border with Jordan and in the northern city of Aleppo, a day after a series of airstrikes on the contested city killed at least 76 people, activists said.

stickmanweekly.com The dissolution of the government and announcement that new elections will be held on February 2 hasn't been well-received by bar owners. Expect the weekend of the election and the weekend before (which is designated as advance voting day for those who are resident in one province but registered in another, giving them a chance to go home to vote) to be dry. This is yet another hit to the high season which this year started so well but now looks like it's going to be a fizzer.

whatsonxiazmen.com Travel agencies in the city are now gearing up for the traditional Golden Week. Many agencies have launched tour packages to hot destinations at home and abroad, such as Switzerland and Phuket Island.

channel4.com Sixteen people are said to be killed in a clash in China's Xinjiang region, home to the mostly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority, less than two months after a fiery attack in Tiananmen Square.

standard.co.uk Scotland Yard has rejected the possibility that the SAS was involved in the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, it was claimed tonight. A formal statement will not be released until tomorrow.

bangkokpost.com Anti-alcohol activists warn boozing on Thailand's trains is out of hand, prompting a government pledge to deter passengers from letting off steam with a beer.



belfast telegraph.co.uk Tottenham has sacked Andre Villas-Boas after Liverpool defeat. The Premier League club announced the news on their official website, a day after their 5-0 home defeat to Liverpool.

bangkokpost.com Cambodia secured probably their best ever result in football - a scoreless draw against Thailand in their final Group B game in Yangon.

watoday.com.au In the Third Ashes test, George Bailey equalled West Indian great Brian Lara's 28 off one over, bringing about an immediate second-innings declaration from Michael Clarke and a new low for England.

mirror.co.uk David Cameron joined international football stars calling for a ''peace match'' between England and Afghanistan at Wembley to mark the end of the war against the Taliban.



Until December 20 Patong Carnival

December 26 Commemoration of 2004 Asian Tsunami



January 9-12 Phuket International Boat Show, Royal Phuket Marina

March BMW Golf Cup International World Finals 2013 at Blue Canyon Country Club

September 24-October 2 Vegetarian Festival, Phuket

November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket