UPDATING All Day, Every Day
reuters Pro-Russian rebels have shot down two Ukrainian fighter jets, a spokesman for Ukraine's military operations said. The spokesman said the two Sukhoi-25 fighters were downed around 1.30pm local time near Savur Mogila in eastern Ukraine.
jpost.com Former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg flew to Israel on El Al in protest at the Federation Aviation Administration's decision to halt American flights to and from the country.
nnt Several provinces in the South are now covered in haze that has been blown over from Indonesia, causing a drop in overall visibility. Air quality in Suratthani, Phuket, Songkhla, Satun, Narathiwat and Yala ranged from medium to good.
wsj.com More companies are cutting ties to a US-owned Chinese food supplier over worries that they may have served expired meat to their customers.
theage.com.au Australian families affected by the MH17 tragedy will be offered the opportunity to go to the Netherlands to travel home with the bodies of victims, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said.
PhuketWATCH Daily Media Wrap
PHUKET: The daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media. Beware of inconsistent imitations.
Today's Top News Items
nationmultimedia.com Tata Young, 34, a much-loved Thai-American pop star, wed Chatadul ''Mor'' Seenapongpipit in a private ceremony on the beach in Phuket yesterday. Chatadul holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Liverpool and is the co-owner of Iguana Beach Bar in Phuket.
AP Thailand adopted a temporary constitution, taking its first step toward the slow return of electoral democracy after two months of military rule. But the charter's clauses allow the ruling junta to continue to hold substantial power even after an interim Cabinet and legislature take office.
bangkokpost.com Police have arrested Aphichart Puangphet, 42, and Worapon Polmaiwongdee, 44 over grenade attacks against People's Democratic Reform Committee's (PDRC) protesters in January. One person was killed and 39 injured.
afp Major US, European and Canadian airlines cancelled flights to and from Israel after a rocket fired from Gaza struck near its main international airport in Tel Aviv.
scmp.com Twelve Chinese airports, many of them among the busiest, will be hit by widespread delays until the middle of next month because of what are believed to be PLA military exercises.
Phuket World of People
nationmultimedia.com Another child has died in tragic circumstances after being left in a car - in Nakhon Si Thammarat yesterday - by the driver of a school vehicle. Driver Anusorn Juengrungrueng tearfully admitted to a manslaughter charge, saying he left the four-year-old boy, Ronnakorn Narkphan, who had fallen asleep in the car during a morning run to pick him and other schoolchildren up. It was not until noon that he realised his fatal error.
nnt According to Thanongsak Somwong, the chairman of the Koh Samui Tourist Promotion Association, as of July 2014 the number of tourists visiting the famous Samui Island has declined by 20 percent compared to the same period last year.
Travelfish Facebook Phuket's post-coup beach clean up: Over the past few weeks, the Thai junta has served eviction notices to vendors along Phuket's entire coastline, including the island's three most popular beaches: Kata, Karon and Patong.
impactpub.com.au Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort and Spa at Karon Beach has confirmed several appointments including Jens Frank-Mikkelsen as director of business development after a stint as director of business development at Hilton Copenhagen Airport Denmark. He will oversee the sales, events and catering, marketing and communications, reservations and revenue management functions within the hotel.
therakyatpost.com Malindo Air will base ''two or three'' ATR72s at Penang with international flights to Krabi in southern Thailand to commence in September. Phuket and Banda Aceh in Indonesia are also being considered.
bangkokpost.com Early this week, the Education Ministry came up with a new project to help fulfill the junta's mandate. Students will be given ''good deeds passports'' to list their daily activities. These will be signed by school directors and pupils will accrue a score showing how good they have been.
cnn.com An American-owned meat factory operating in China has been accused of selling out-of-date and tainted meat to clients including McDonald's, Starbucks and Yum Brands, which owns the KFC and Pizza Hut chains.
u.tv Briton Matthew Boyle, 37, reported as missing by his family, is safe and well. He moved to Bangkok nearly three years ago to work as a senior business analyst and currently runs a bar.
scmp.com A badly decomposed body found surrounded by liquor bottles in an orchard last month was that of Yoo Byung-eun, the fugitive billionaire businessman blamed for April's South Korean ferry disaster that killed more than 300 people, police confirmed.
The Shooting Down of Flight MH17
theguardian.com International experts have begun the process of identifying the bodies of those who died in Thursday's Malaysia Airlines crash, after a train carrying their remains arrived in the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Ukraine has given the Netherlands the lead role in investigating the cause of the crash.
smh.com.au The worst fears of the MH17 families and friends were realised when Dutch authorities revealed that there were only 200 bodies on the refrigerated train - leaving almost 100 unaccounted for.
AP Senior US intelligence officials said that Russia was responsible for ''creating the conditions'' that led to the shooting down of MH17, but they offered no evidence of direct Russian government involvement.
cbc.ca Two black boxes from the downed jet - actually orange in color - are being sent to the United Kingdom for analysis. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he expects victims' bodies to be flown to the Netherlands on Wednesday.
Around the Asean Region
afp The reform-minded governor of Jakarta, Joko Widodo, has convincingly won Indonesia's closely-fought presidential race against a controversial ex-general with deep roots in the era of strongman Suharto, final results showed. Widodo won 53 percent of the vote.
AP Breakaway Muslim rebels attacked army troops in two towns in the southern Philippines, sparking clashes that left 17 guerrillas and a soldier dead in a region where the government and the main Muslim rebel group were to enforce a new peace deal.
bangkokpost.com With four years of growth in international arrivals, Phnom Penh's hotel market is becoming a ripe opportunity for international developers looking to penetrate a new frontier, a report from Jones Lang LaSalle said.
wsj.com Overseas banks are free to participate fully in the Philippine economy for the first time, after President Benigno Aquino III signed a law removing restrictions on foreign ownership.
Phuket World of Sport
reuters Manchester City cancelled an under-21 game against Croatian side HNK Rijeka after an alleged incident of racist abuse by an opposition player against one of their players in the first half, the club said.
afp Stoke City have signed striker Bojan Krkic from Spanish giants Barcelona for an undisclosed fee, the Premier League side announced.
theage.com.au Australia's Michael Rogers has won stage 16 of the Tour de France with a dramatic descent outpacing second-placed Frenchman Thomas Voeckler and Belarus' Vasili Kiryienka.
stokesentinel.co.uk Port Vale legend Ray King has suddenly died at the age of 89 in his adopted home of Thailand. The man who played in goal when the Valiants famously reached the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 1954, passed away after a short illness.
Coming Events on Phuket 2014
andrew-drummond.com This Thursday, July 24 at 2.30pm, we will be holding a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand in Bangkok. We will be showing the video 'Influential People and Men in Suits' to the Thai press.
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
Coming Events on Phuket 2015
February 13-15 Phuket Yacht Show
