news.com.au Kevin Rudd has resigned as Australia's Foreign Minister over attacks from what he called ''faceless men'' and a lack of support from Prime Minister Julia Gillard. The two are expected to go head-to-head in a ferocious battle for the top job.

aap Mr Rudd called an extraordinary media conference in Washington DC just after 1am local time. Mr Rudd says he'll return to Brisbane on Friday and will make a full statement on his future before parliament resumes on Monday after consulting family and colleagues.

theaustralian.com.au Cabinet ministers believe momentum has turned back towards Ms Gillard and a leadership ballot is now inevitable on Tuesday morning in Canberra.

jpost.com Iranians plotting a terror attack in Bangkok last week used portable radios to hide at least five bombs intended for use on Israeli targets, ABC News reported.


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

moodiereport.com Airports of Thailand has reported a +5.78 percent rise in international passengers to about 4.1 million for the month of January 2012.

bloomberg Singapore Airlines' Scoot plans to fly to at least five cities by the end of the year as the group adds long-haul budget services to compete with Jetstar and AirAsia. Scoot intends to announce destinations in China and Japan, has already said it will fly to Sydney and the Gold Coast in Australia.

stuff.co.nz Rioting prisoners have taken over Kerobokan jail in Bali, hurling stones at police and setting fires as authorities struggled overnight to regain control. Prison staff abandoned the overcrowded facility, home to Australian inmates Schapelle Corby and the Bali Nine drug traffickers, leaving the jail under the control of more than 1000 inmates.

abc.net.au Police are massing in front of Bali's Kerobokan jail in preparation for an assault on prisoners who have reportedly seized control after a night of rioting.

Phuket Update Bidding closes at 4pm today for Phuket City's Thavorn Grand Plaza Hotel, with offers of 415 million baht and up expected. The hotel and an adjoining massage parlor were built in the early 1990s and the 17-storey, 154-room Phuket hotel with next-door massage parlor is seen as a renovator's dream. It's the second round of bidding.

nationmultimedia.com Several politicians from the ruling Pheu Thai Party, the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai party and members of the Shinawatra family reportedly visited their boss, Thaksin Shinawatra, in Beijing last week. The fugitive ex-prime minister's guests included Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung, banned ex-Thai Rak Thai politician Sudarat Keyuraphan and Bangkok MP Karun Hosakul, as well as Thaksin's sister Yaowapa Wongsawat and his son Panthongtae.

bbc.co.uk Malaysian officials have ordered book shops to stop selling a sex education book by British author Peter Mayle. 'Where did I come from?' is banned from sale pending a review.

aap A British passenger on the cruise ship Aurora who was wearing a wet suit under his clothes has been arrested in Sydney for allegedly trying to smuggle 30kg of cocaine into Australia.

afp Pierre Casiraghi, grandson of Hollywood legend Grace Kelly, was hospitalised after being injured in a late night fight in a New York nightclub after reportedly being ''completely obnoxious.''

zeenews.india.com Singapore - a country that looks good economically - has been listed as the unhealthiest nation in a new economic and environmental index that includes 152 countries around the world.

thejakartaglobe.com Three members of a family of six reported missing one week ago in Bali have been discovered brutally murdered. The police said they did not yet know who was responsible or the motive.

pattayadailynews.com Pattaya police arrested the killer of a foreman. A construction worker who killed his boss and dumped the body into a septic tank. The killer said that the foreman had criticized him and his parents. The murderer beat the foreman to death with a shovel, threw him in a septic tank and drove off in the victim's car.

vnagency.com.vn Within the next six months, a third golf course - Laguna Lang Co, designed by Sir Nick Faldo - will open north of Da Nang. Tim Haddon, director of golf at Laguna Phuket, says the new course will offer a links-style feel. ''It's a reflection of Nick Faldo's experiences around the world and combined with the other two courses in Golf Coast Vietnam will be an added bonus to golf in the region.''



guardian.co.uk Napoli played with a penetrative edge that should encourage them to think they can score at Stamford Bridge and ensure there is no English side in the quarter-finals for the first time since 1996. Napoli 3-1 Chelsea.

afp Three-time winner Tiger Woods clearly lacks the mystique he once enjoyed at the World Golf Championships Match-Play Championship, which starts on Wednesday with 64 of the world's top players.



February 23-26 10th Thai International Travel Fair, Bangkok

February 24-25 Phuket Blues Festival, Laguna Phuket

March 29-April 1 Phuket International Boat Show, Royal Phuket Marina

April 23-28 Phuket Pride Festival

April Opening of Gardens by the Bay, Singapore, three waterfront gardens that will dwarf Kew in London and provide ''green lungs'' for the city.

May 5 Krabi celebrates the province's 140th anniversary

May 26-June 5 National Youth Games, Phuket



November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket