nytimes.com A suicide attack on a historic church in northwestern Pakistan killed at least 78 people on Sunday in one of the deadliest attacks on the Christian minority in Pakistan in years.


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

scmp.com Typhoon Usagi swept across Hong Kong and Guangdong, killing three people and injuring at least four others. Air travellers will face another day of chaos today in a backlog of passengers at Chek Lap Kok airport. Flights from Phuket have been cancelled or delayed.

bbc.co.uk Police at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport have seized 1.3 tonnes of pure cocaine on board an Air France flight from Venezuela, French officials say. The drugs worth $270m were found packed inside 30 suitcases.

bloomberg Angela Merkel won an overwhelming endorsement from German voters, putting the country's first female chancellor on course for the biggest election tally since Helmut Kohl's post-reunification victory of 1990. Merkel's Christian Democratic bloc took 42.4 percent of the vote in Sunday's election.

Phuket Update A court to make quick rulings on all conflicts involving tourists will open in Phuket on Tuesday in an attempt to bolster the tourism image of the resort island. The Phuket handles civil and criminal cases lodged by local and foreign tourists.

nationmultimedia.com Haad Rin Beach on Koh Phangan was packed with foreign revellers for a full-moon party on Thursday night. But the island is plagued by problems of spoiled environment, safety, shortage of skilled labor and excessive construction of new hotels.



AP Pop star Rihanna spent a weekend on Phuket in Thailand, leaving behind a trail of racy tweets and incriminating Instagram photographs that led police to arrest two people for allegedly peddling protected primates.

entertainmentwise.com Rihanna sparked controversy after taking to Instagram while on Phuket to post a ''selfie'' of herself with a rare animal perched on her shoulder, leading to two people being arrested for allegedly ''bringing out the primate for photo ops.''

usatoday.com At a stop in Phuket, she posted a photo on Instagram of herself in sunglasses, with a furry primate known as the slow loris perched on her shoulder. ''Look who was talkin dirty to me!'' the pop star tweeted.

nbcbayarea.com "It's like a cat-and-mouse game,'' a Phuket district chief, Veera Kerdsirimongkon, said by telephone to AP. ''But this time it's bigger because a celebrity like Rihanna posted the picture, and there were more than 200,000 'likes' from around the world.''

heraldsun.com.au On the same night, she tweeted a few unprintable comments about what she apparently witnessed at an adult show in one of Phuket's red-light districts.

Phuket Update Associated Press was too coy to report Rihanna's tweet. The tweet should alarm people about the treatment of women: Either I was phuck wasted lastnight, or I saw a Thai woman pull a live bird,2 turtles,razors,shoot darts and ping pong, all out of her pu$$y.

thejakartapost.com Before leaving Phuket on Sunday, she tweeted from the airport: ''Gave the immigration guy my passport and he handed me this in return without a word. Lol.'' It was a picture of the singer that said ''I love Rihanna.''

Phuket Update Before Rihanna's visit, a Thai man was arrested and fined for harassing tourists in Patong on Thursday night with an iguana. Region 8 police volunteers managed to nab the iguana. They report lorises and gibbons are still being being abused by photo touts in Soi Bangla.

bangkokpost.com Thailand's advancement will persist at a snail's pace if this country continues to be a childcare centre babysitting 65 million children. That's why with the coming of the Asean Economic Community, people wonder how we are to compete. If Thailand continues to treat its citizens as children - spoiled, whining and crying children - we won't ever grow up.

nationmultimedia.com Customs officials have found 220 turtles in three luggage bags at the Suvarnabhumi Airport. All the turtles were reported to be still alive when the officials discovered them in abandoned bags.

independent.co.uk A ''final assault'' was under way to lift the siege of Nairobi's Westgate mall, where terrorists belonging to the Somali militant group al-Shabaab have been battling Kenyan security services. As many as 40 people, some being held hostage and others who have managed to hide, were still inside the Kenyan capital's upscale shopping centre.

thehindu.com Sixty-eight people, including three Britons, two Indians and an Australian, have been killed and 175 injured in the hostage crisis.

scmp.com Bo Xilai erupted in anger as he was sentenced to life in prison for corruption. The Jinan Intermediate People's Court in Shandong found him guilty on all three counts of bribery, embezzlement and abuse of power. The fallen former Politburo member yelled out ''Unfair!'' and ''Unjust!'' in an explosive ending to one of China's most politically charged trials in decades.

bangkokpost.com Leading economists argue that the issue of slowing growth today actually pales in contrast to the long-term challenges facing Thailand, including an ageing population, outdated infrastructure and an education system that has failed to adjust to the changing needs of society.

stickmanweekly.com Recently I was given a tour of a brand new gogo bar by a bar manager. He was proud of the bar's design, the quality of the build, the comfortable seating and the size of the bar. Everything he said was true, but there was a problem. A big problem. Every dancer in the bar was a dog.



bbc.co.uk Sebastian Vettel dominated the Singapore Grand Prix to edge ever closer to a fourth consecutive title. The Red Bull driver leads Fernando Alonso of Ferrari, who finished second, by 60 points with only 150 still available in the remaining six races. Lotus's Kimi Raikkonen was third from Mercedes drivers Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

sportinglife.com Manchester City made a big derby-day statement before with the 6-1 demolition of United at Old Trafford in October, 2011 but the characters in the dug-out have now changed and Sunday's 4-1 Etihad Stadium drubbing is what Manuel Pellegrini hopes will become an early symbol of his reign.

independent.co.uk Manchester United have managed only seven points from their opening five games, their worst start since the 2004-05 campaign.



September 23-30 French Wine Week at Sofitel Krabi Phokeethra Golf & Spa Resort, Krabi

September 28 Krabi FC v Phuket FC

September 29 First weekly Sunday walking street, Thalang Road and Soi Romanee, Old Phuket Town, 4pm-10pm

October 5-13 Phuket Vegetarian Festival

October 12 Phuket Soi Dogs Foundation 10th anniversary party, Andara

October 23 Chulalongkorn Memorial Day

October 29-November 3 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour, Karon

October 31 Halloween

November 5 Melbourne Cup Day

November 17 Loy Kratong Day

November 24-December 1 Challenge Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest. Laguna Phuket

December 5 HM The King's birthday

December 26 Commemoration of 2004 Asian Tsunami



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

November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket