Australia is out for 163 and South Africa is 2/230, Amla 99 not out (first innings 225) after the second day of the Third Test to decide cricket's top nation.

telegraph.co.uk Dominique Strauss-Kahn has reportedly agreed to pay a $US6 million settlement to the New York hotel maid whose accusations of sexual assault ruined his career.


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

bbc.co.uk The surviving members of Monty Python are being sued by one of the producers of cult film Monty Python and the Holy Grail over royalty rights to Spamalot. Hit musical Spamalot is described on posters as being ''lovingly ripped off'' from the 1975 film Holy Grail.But Holy Grail producer Mark Forstater claims he has been underpaid royalties since the show's launch in 2005.

bangkokpost.com A former crown prince of Nepal has been ordered to report to police again next month after being bailed to fight charges on possession of marijuana. Phuket court agreed to a request from Chern Talay police to continue bail for Paras Shah instead of keeping him in detention, Thai Rath reports.

pattayamail.com Russian Federation Consul Andrey Dvornikov told police and city officials that, due to increasing crime against tourists, Pattaya is gaining a growing reputation back home for being unsafe. The Russian consul also was critical of Thai officials for the common practice of hotels taking tourists passports.

bbc.co.uk A convicted sex offender has won a High Court order for the removal of a Facebook page set up to monitor paedophiles in Northern Ireland. A judge ruled some content amounted to prima facie harassment of the man and risked infringing his human rights.

cfr.org Thailand has been slipping behind regional competitors like Vietnam in terms of producing workers competent in English and high-tech skills, and with the introduction of Burma into the global economy, a country whose universities had basically been shut for years, Thailand will face even tougher competition in lower-end manufacturing than it already does. Yet the Thai education system continues to prioritise rote learning, offers weak instruction in English, and provides low social status to teachers.

wsj.com Indonesia now has more billionaires than Japan, as Southeast Asia's largest economy's expanding middle class continues to ignore the global economic slowdown and shop, pushing up the value of the companies that sell them new stuff and services.

bbc.co.uk Israel has authorised the construction of 3000 more housing units in occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank, according to Israeli officials. The decision comes a day after a vote at the UN General Assembly upgraded the Palestinians' status at the UN to that of non-member observer state.

thestar.com. Canada's decision to temporarily recall its diplomats from missions in Israel and the West Bank has left former top diplomats baffled and disturbed. Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird pulled two mission heads and special representatives to the UN in the face of the decision to recognise Palestine as a non-member observer state.

bangkokpost.com Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has demanded an apology for monks hurt in a violent police crackdown at a Chinese copper mine protest, after she held talks with the two sides. The standoff saw scores of villagers and monks injured in the toughest clampdown on demonstrators since a new reform-minded government took power last year.

AP A team of Associated Press journalists that travelled recently to the remote island village of Sin Thet Maw, in Burma's volatile west, found government immigration officials in the midst of a painstaking, census-like operation aimed at verifying the citizenship of Muslims living there, one family at a time. Armed with pens, stacks of paper and hand-drawn maps, they worked around low wooden tables that sat in the dirt, collecting information about birth dates and places, parents and grandparents - vital details of life and death spanning three generations.

AP A gay couple filed a constitutional challenge in a Singapore court aimed at repealing a long-standing law that criminalizes gay sex. Gay activists say the government has become more tolerant toward gays and lesbians in recent years, but that under Singapore law, gay sex is deemed ''an act of gross indecency,'' punishable by a maximum of two years in jail.

pattayamail.com Mayor Itthiphol Kunplome has called on retirees, investors, and long-stay visitors to make Pattaya, Thailand's popular beach resort city, their ''second home.'' In a statement issued this week, Thailand's youngest mayor noted that the city of one million ''happy inhabitants'' had undergone a major revamp and was now more than ready to provide the best of recreational, healthcare and infrastructure facilities.



bbc.co.uk Manchester City spent more than any other Premier League side on agents' fees over the past year, with 10.54m pounds going to player's representatives. It is the second 12-month period in a row that City have topped the list.

todayonline.com The Philippines will join Thailand in the AFF Suzuki Cup semi-finals after beating Burma (Myanmar) 2-0 win in their final Group A match. Thailand, which had already qualified, beat 2008 champions Vietnam 3-1.

nationmultimedia.com Timex is to hand out hand out Timex Ironman watches to runners and each athlete who completes the punishing Ironman 70.3 race at Laguna Phuket Resort on Sunday.



December 1 World AIDs Day

December 1-8 King's Cup Regatta

December 2 Laguna Phuket Ironman 70.3

December 5 HM The King's Birthday

December 10 Constitution Day

December 15-20 Patong Carnival

December 16-18 Asia Superyacht Rendezvous, Bang Tao beach

December 25 Christmas Day



October 5-13 Phuket Vegetarian Festival



November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket