UKPA Aviation safety officials issued warnings about potential problems in Rolls-Royce jet engines less than three months before one malfunctioned in mid-air, forcing a Qantas superjumbo to make an emergency landing. The European Aviation Safety Authority issued an airworthiness directive on August 4 this year concerning "wear beyond engine manual limits" on the powerful Trent 900 engines.

guardian.co.uk The BBC faces a news blackout across its main TV and radio news programs as star presenters including Fiona Bruce and Kirsty Wark join a 48-hour strike over pensions.

torontosun.com An Aero Caribbean plane carrying at least 68 people crashed in central Cuba after issuing an emergency call, state-run media said. There were no initial reports of survivors.


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

xinhuanet.com Thailand's anti-government red- shirt movement said that a major rally will be staged in the next two weeks to mark the passing of six months since a military crackdown on their street protests. The rally will be held on November 19 in Bangkok to mark the crackdown on May 19, said Jatuporn Prompan, a core leader.

UPI Flash floods in southern Thailand have killed 12 people, bringing the total national flood death toll to 122, officials said. Eleven southern provinces have been affected by flooding caused by three days of torrential rains since Monday.

latimes.com Customs inspectors at the Los Angeles International Airport discovered more than 18 pounds of opium hidden inside furniture shipped from Thailand. The opium, valued at $108,690, was found in a shipment containing 22 small rattan stools.

bbc.co.uk An ongoing computer attack has knocked Burma off the internet, just days ahead of its first election in 20 years. It will raise suspicions that Burma's military authorities could be trying to restrict the flow of information over the election period.

wsj.com International investigations have begun into the cause of an engine explosion on a Qantas flight from Singapore as the grounding of the carrier's A380 fleet forced delays to services.

todayonline.com The pilots of the troubled Qantas aircraft spent at least an hour-and-a-half circling and discharging fuel before the emergency landing at Changi Airport but there was no panic or confusion on board, according to passengers.

smh.com.au For many, the most frightening moment was watching the news and seeing the debris from the plane that had landed in Batam, the Indonesian island near Singapore over which the engine failure occurred.

aap Singapore Airlines has put its A380 fleet back into service after all 11 planes were checked and cleared, a Singapore Airlines spokeswoman says.

Dow Jones "Our engine manufacturer Rolls Royce and aircraft manufacturer Airbus advised us to conduct precautionary technical checks on our A380 aircraft," Singapore Airlines said.

msnbc.msn.com Indonesia's Mount Merapi blasted ash and gas into the sky, killing six more people in the latest in a series of eruptions over the past nine days that claimed 44 lives and forced more than 75,000 to flee their homes. Heavy rain also lashed the area, cooling flows of lava.

ANI New research has revealed that volcanic eruptions affect rainfall over the Asian monsoon region, where seasonal storms water crops for nearly half of earth's population. Tree-ring researchers at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory showed that big eruptions tend to dry up much of central Asia, but bring more rain to Southeast Asian countries including Thailand. The growth rings of some tree species can be correlated with rainfall, and the observatory's Tree Ring Lab used rings from some 300 sites across Asia to measure the effects of 54 eruptions going back about 800 years.

phnomphenpost.com About 1000 people attended the opening ceremony for Phnom Penh's controversial ''Freedom Park'' - five times more than will be allowed to gather in the park for a single rally under a new demonstration law. The Law on Peaceful Demonstration, passed last year, calls on all provinces and the capital to set aside an area for public gatherings in order to ''ensure freedom of expression of Khmer citizens through peaceful assembly''.

bloomberg Italian-Thai Development Pcl, Thailand's biggest construction company, signed an $8.6 billion contract with Burma's government to build a deep-sea port and industrial estate, Vice President Anan Amarapala said. The project will be located in Dawei, less than 300 kilometers west of Bangkok, offering another route for exporters to ship goods to Europe and the Middle East. [Italian-Thai is building Phuket's new bridge to the mainland.]

theage.com.au The long-awaited advent of Wi-Fi and mobile phone usage on planes may be scuttled before it begins after last week's bomb scares.Wi-Fi connections give a bomber lots of options for contacting a device on an aircraft, New Scientist was told, including voice-over-internet connections to reach a mobile phone.

bangkokpost.com "Interim figures indicate that world tourism increased in the first six months of 2010, but this is not a comfortable or secure situation," said Taleb Rifai, secretary-general of the World Tourism Organization. "We are only now emerging from the most difficult world trading climate for many decades and, although growth is apparent, it may not be sustained.

wsj.com After two years of construction on Phuket, dama zAmya, which Gary Dublanko and his wife, Dea Zoffman say means ''a peaceful retreat'' in Sanskrit is a contemporary eco-villa with views of the nearby rain forest, rubber plantations and islands that dot Phang Nga Bay. The four-bedroom, six-bathroom house is on sale for 89 million Thai baht (US$3 million). It is listed with Hunter Sothebys International Realty.

smh.com.au TravelSIM (travelsim.net.au) is a prepaid service that provides you with a new SIM card which allows you to make and receive calls at a discount rate from your mobile phone in more than 160 countries.

adoimagazine.com AirAsia X is launching an integrated campaign for its new premium flatbed service. The campaign, created by Publicis Malaysia, is to be aired on CNN cable TV, print and internet sites across 128 countries. AirAsia X flatbeds are now cheaper than a regular airline long-haul economy seat.

smh.com.au Media mogul Rupert Murdoch says he will start a new paper in the US in six weeks, called The Daily and available on tablets only. It will be staffed only by journalists and a few technicians, cost $1 a week.



Until November 7 Phuket womens' beach volleyball, Karon beach
November 5 Phuket Charity Pro Am Golf, Blue Canyon
November 5-6 BIS Phuket seven-a-side football tournament, BIS Phuket
November 6 Charity golf at Tab Lamu, near Khao Lak: Call Sam on 089 875 1995 E: sam@khaolakappeal.com
November 6 Thailand Property Awards, Bangkok
November 12 IBAP meets at Thai Naan restaurant to hear Woody Leonard on what's best for internet access on Phuket.
November 19 AustCham at the new Westin Hotel at Koh Sireh from 3pm. E: harry@ladypie.com Tel: 081 2731740
November 21 Loy Kratong Festival
November 28 Laguna Phuket triathlon
December 4-11 Phuket King's Cup Regatta
December 5 Laguna Ironman title
December 15-20 Patong Carnival
December 30-January 9 Phuket Red Cross fair, Saphan Hin park, Phuket City
2011
January 6-9 PIMEX boat show, Royal Phuket Marina
January 22 QSI International fun run day at Bang Wad Dam, Kathu
January 23 The Great Phuket Rubber Duck Race Day, Laguna Phuket
February 9-13 The Bay Regatta - Phuket, Phang Nga, Krabi