thedailybeast.com Gunmen have reportedly stormed the Radisson Blu Hotel in Mali's capital city Bamako, security sources told AFP. The BBC reports the hotel is frequented by expats.

theguardian.com Gunmen are holding 170 hostages. Hostages able to recite verses of the Qur'an were released. A security source told AFP that the gunmen were ''jihadis'' and entered the hotel compound in a car that had diplomatic plates.

foxnews.com An 18-year-old American man from the Boston area was among those shot and killed by a Palestinian terrorist Thursday in the West Bank, Israeli officials told FoxNews.

AP The US has expressed deep frustration over the lack of democratic progress in Thailand after last year's military coup, saying a new constitution there won't pass the ''smell test'' unless civil society helps to draft it.

aww.com.au In a bid to ''inspire young African female students to believe in their dreams,'' Ethiopian Airlines this week operated its first all-female crew flight from Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, to Bangkok, Thailand.


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 The Transport Ministry has agreed to build a 60-kilometre north-south tram line at a cost of 23.5 billion baht on Phuket island over the next six years with Chinese, European and Korean operators expressing interest: ''The project will solve heavy traffic jams in Phuket.'' [Ed: Oh sure.]

nationmultimedia.com Phuket's residential property market is showing signs of recovery following two years of decline, according to research by real-estate agencies for developer Sansiri. Meanwhile, the limited number of new luxury villas in Phuket has doubled the price of resale units. Demand is relatively strong in this niche market, said Aliwassa Pathnadabutr, managing director of CBRE Thailand.

bangkokpost.com Prime Minister Prayut and the junta have 10 ''suggestions'' for the new charter. No.1: The military wants special influence in Thai politics forever.



reuters The United Nations General Assembly's human rights committee criticised Myanmar for its treatment of the nation's Muslim minority and urged the Southeast Asian country to change its citizenship rules to make Rohingya full citizens.

nationmultimedia.com Youth leaders at the One Young World Summit pressed the government, business and civic sectors to show more kindness towards refugees and respect their basic rights.



nationmultimedia.com After firearms and arson were allegedly used to drive out landless farmers from a palm-oil plantation in Krabi's Muang district on Wednesday, a Krabi Land Reform official called on Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha to evoke absolute power under Article 44 and clear the plantation from both sides.

bangkokpost.com Hotel operators and local people on Koh Phangan, popular for full moon parties, have agreed to use their own tourism zoning to control existing activities and screen new developments.

Phuket Update More than 80 Phuket police and volunteers closed off streets through Baan Don and the Karn Keha public housing estate in Srisoonthorn for door-to-door checks and emerged three hours later with a Burmese illegal migrant and a man who had been in possession of illegal kratom juice.

bangkokpost.com A 27-year-old Russian man using a Spanish passport earlier reported lost was arrested at a border checkpoint in Aranyaprathet district as he tried to cross into Cambodia.

nationmultimedia.com An Army-commissioned probe into alleged irregularities in the construction of Rajabhakti Park in Hua Hin district of Prachuab Kiri Khan province has found some evidence of corrupt practices, according to sources close to the investigation.

telegraph.co.uk EU interior ministers will on Friday move to tighten the continent's borders to ensure that every single migrant is checked against a terrorism watchlist.

bangkokpost.com Leaders of Thailand's five major religious groups gathered at the French Embassy to convey respect and condemn all violence in resolving disputes.

reuters Suspected Islamist militants flushed out of a Paris suburb by police in a shootout were planning to attack the French capital's La Defense business district, three sources told Reuters.

nytimes.com Remember what a Syrian immigrant looks like - the father of Steve Jobs. Helping Syrian refugees today doesn't solve the Middle East mess any more than helping Jewish refugees in 1939 would have toppled Hitler. But it's the right thing to do.

bloomberg Subway Restaurants' former spokesman Jared Fogle was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in prison, three years more than the maximum sought by the government, after pleading guilty to child-pornography charges in a deal that imposes lifetime supervision on the fallen sandwich pitchman.

telegraph.co.uk Bilingual people are twice as likely to recover from a stroke as those who speak only one language, a study has found. Although the ability to converse in a second tongue may seem far removed from physical health, it appears to protect the brain against severe damage.



kyodo news The chief of Malaysian police said late Thursday that they have yet to confirm information about the presence of alleged Islamic State suicide bombers in Kuala Lumpur, where leaders from 18 countries including the US, Japan, China and Thailand gather this weekend for a series of meetings.



Phuket Update Dubai Petanque is back on Phuket to take on three Thailand-based teams in a four-way tournament this weekend.



November 22 Laguna Phuket Triathlon

November 25 Loy Kratong festival

November 29 Challenge Laguna Phuket 2015

November 29 Phuket King's Cup Regatta

December 5 HM The King's Birthday

December 26 Tsunami memorial ceremonies



January 7-10 Phuket International Boat Show