usatoday.com Big Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie news: They were married Saturday in France, says a spokesman for the Pitt, 50, and Jolie, 39.

latimes.com Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called a snap meeting of his security council Thursday, declaring that Russian forces had invaded the country.

bangkokpost.com Hold off on filling up your tank: pump prices will drop sharply at midnight Thursday following a decision by the National Energy Policy Council to cut contributions to the state Oil Fund. But there's no relief for diesel.


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 Immigration Bureau has approved a new regulation that allows tourists to extend their stay in Thailand by a further 30 days, effective from August 29. That will mean holidaymakers from 49 countries who enter Thailand under a 30-day visa exemption can stay for 60 days, while those who hold a 60-day tourist visa are eligible for the ''extra temporary stay'' to 90 days.

wsj.com Thailand's trade balance returned to a deficit after exports unexpectedly declined in July, the Commerce Ministry said, underscoring the stubborn challenges the military government faces in reviving the economy.

reuters Thai Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha told European investors that he was not a dictator and that his government was seeking to create a Thailand that would be more attractive for their long-term investments.

chiangmaicitynews.com The junta has warned that it intends to enforce harsh measures regulating the advertising and promotion of alcohol. [Enforcement of the Alcohol Control Act 2008 means the end of happy hours, ''beer girls'' and virtually all promotions carrying brand names, including beer mats and glasses.]



AP A third top doctor has died from Ebola in Sierra Leone, a government official said, as health workers tried to determine how a fourth scientist also contracted the disease before being evacuated to Europe.

cnn.com ''It's even worse than I'd feared,'' Dr Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said of the Ebola outbreak rampaging through West Africa. ''The sooner the world comes together to help Liberia and West Africans, the safer we will all be.''



bbc.co.uk Tributes have been paid to a young British man who died while working on an island in Thailand. Backpacker Jack Davies, 21, who was known as Jay, had been travelling in Thailand for three years when he died on Phi Phi, near Phuket. The cause of his death is still being investigated.

walesonline.co.uk Adventurous Jay had been in the Southeast Asian country for three years. The music lover had a tattoo saying 'Life Ain't Chess', a lyric by The Strokes. A Foreign Office spokesman confirmed he had died on Phi Phi on August 24.

thenorthernecho.co.uk Jason Flannery, 25, a former pupil at Wensleydale School, in Leyburn, was found dead in a sixth floor flat in tourist resort Pattaya at 3am on Saturday. Police said it was believed Mr Flannery collided with a glass door that had shattered and severed an artery.

Phuket Update Backup generators are being installed after heavy rain flooded the under-construction underpass at Phuket's Central Festival intersection. A three-hour power failure in the area left motorists facing deep water along the recently-opened route north along to the island's bypass road.

afp A group of major European firms has joined the growing international outcry against the trial of British activist Andy Hall in Thailand for his investigation into alleged labor abuses in the food industry. Hall is next due in court on September 2 on a defamation charge. So far the Thai Pineapple Industry Association has responded with threats of more lawsuits.

inquirer.net A Filipino and a Swedish national were arrested in Thailand for allegedly stealing about 10 million baht using fraudulent credit and ATM cards, the Bangkok Post reported. Suspects Martin Philip Javellana Magno, 31, and Per Johan Robin Bentley, 29, previously operated in the Philippines and South Korea, the report said.

nnt Airports of Thailand has confirmed that nothing suspicious was discovered on a Phuket-bound flight of Thai Air Asia after a bomb threat was made while a police investigation into the hoax is underway.

telegraph.co.uk Pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine seized a key coastal town, Novoazovsk, in a move which opened a dangerous new front against the Kiev government.

channelnewsasia.com In a case that has shocked Taiwan, police are hunting for a man believed to be behind the kidnap, failed extortion and grisly murder of a high-profile gambling millionaire. Shih Chia-chin's body was found in a ditch, and the main suspect - his chauffeur - has fled to Thailand on a false passport.

afp IMF chief Christine Lagarde, one of the world's most powerful women, announced she had been charged with ''negligence'' over a multi-million-euro graft case relating to her time as French finance minister.

nytimes.com The banks reopened, the markets were crowded, workers began repairing downed electric lines and bulldozers cleared rubble blocking roads in the Gaza Strip as an open-ended cease-fire between Israeland Palestinian militants took hold.

bloomberg The world's top airlines are questioning the need for first-class cabins as flat-bed seats cradle corporate customers in once-unimaginable comfort, making the premium on front-row seats harder to justify. For Gulf carriers, the opulence of first may be as much about projecting an image of their home state as selling seats.

thephuketinsider.com Leading upscale cruise operator P & O is headed to Krabi. According to TTG Asia, the firm's 2015-2016 program includes Krabi, Koh Chang, Sihanoukville in Cambodia and Malaysia's Sabang.



theguardian.com The US has expressed concern over prison terms given to three Vietnamese democracy activists for ''obstructing traffic''. Bui Thi Minh Hang, Nguyen Thi Thuy Quynh and Nguyen Van Minh were sentenced to three years, two years and two-and-a-half years respectively on Tuesday on charges described by human rights groups as ''bogus''.

AP Malaysia is preparing to unveil the latest overhaul of its beleaguered state-owned airline, which is reeling from twin disasters months apart that killed hundreds of passengers.

bloomberg Malaysian police arrested 44 Nepalese workers of manufacturer JCY International after a riot led the company to shut down some of its operations in the southern state of Johor. About 1000 foreign workers were involved in the two-day unrest that began August 25.

ad-hoc-news.de The Rohingya may be the most well-known forgotten people on earth.



espn.go.com Malaysian golfer Mohd Nazri Zain had a rare hole-in-one on a par 4 during the SapuraKencana National Qualifier tournament. He holed out on the water-lined 289-yard 16th on the Kuala Lumpur Golf and Country Club's west course.

afp Neil Warnock has returned to Crystal Palace as manager to fill the vacancy created by the departure of Tony Pulis, the Premier League club announced. Warnock previously managed Palace between 2007 and 2010.

brisbanetimes.com.au Seeking some revenge for Australia's thrilling Test series win earlier this year, star South African batsmen AB de Villiers (136 not out) and Faf du Plessis (106) both scored brilliant hundreds to reel in the second biggest ever target of 328 and secure a comfortable seven-wicket win with 20 balls to spare.

nytimes.com Fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska continued a drab string of performances at the US Open with a 6-3, 6-4 loss to unseeded Peng Shuai of China in a second-round match.



August 31 Thailand vs Burma football 6.30pm

September 3 Thailand vs Qatar football 6.30pm

September 7 Thailand vs Phuket FC 6.30pm

September 12 Amcham at Angsana: the New Phuket

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



February 13-15 Phuket Yacht Show