UPDATING All Day, Every Day
bbc.com A British national was among at least 20 people killed in Monday's bomb attack in Bangkok, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond has confirmed. The female Briton was a Hong Kong resident.
Bangkok Update Police have released several security camera photos of a non-Thai man they want to question about the bombing.
afp Thailand's baht currency slumped to a more than six-year low on Tuesday and shares fell in Bangkok over concerns an unprecedented attack in the capital could hit the vital tourism sector.
Bangkok Latest The death toll from last night's Bangkok bomb has risen to 22, including eight foreigners, according to a television update. A Japanese man, Koto Ando, 31, has been named as being among the wounded.
reuters National police chief Somyot Poompanmuang told reporters the attack was unprecedented in Thailand. He said the blast was caused by a pipe bomb.
xinhua Three Chinese were among the dead, the official Xinhua news agency said. Two Hong Kong residents, two people from Malaysia and one person from the Philippines had also been killed, officials said.
bbc.com Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said Thailand's government was setting up a ''war room'' to co-ordinate its response to a bombing in Bangkok, according to the Nation TV channel.
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bangkokpost.com Two Chinese and a Filipino were among 19 killed by the gunpowder bomb at the Erawan Shrine at Bangkok's Ratchaprasong intersection, with at least 80 injured. No individual or group had claimed responsibility by Tuesday morning.
cnn.com The timing of the bomb - at 7 pm - was crucial, as many people go to the Erawan Shrine in the evening on their way home from work. It's also when sightseers gather to watch traditional Thai dancers. The fact that it's a tourist attraction and in the heart of Bangkok is crucial.
AAP Rock star Jimmy Barnes narrowly escaped the blast. ''We have been able to cross back to our hotel. Bombs diffused. Bodies still covered on road, terrible, so sad,'' wife Jane Barnes tweeted in the aftermath of the attack.
VIDEO Blast Rips Bangkok
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct-jaQd9GPk
kyodo UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon was ''shocked'' to learn about the deadly explosion and expressed hope that ''those responsible will be brought to justice,'' according to a statement from a UN spokesperson.
ft.com While social media crackled with competing theories over who might be responsible, there was no immediate evidence to point in any direction.
Phuket World of People
Phuket Update Phuket has requested extra budget to purchase three more tsunami emergency towers and new tsunami evacuation route signs. The tsunami killed 5400 residents and tourists along the Andaman coast on December 26, 2004. Many of the signs posted one year later have disappeared.
bangkokpost.com Thailand's economy continued its deceleration in the second quarter as increased public spending and tourism failed to offset weak domestic demand and exports.
AP Faced with escalating aggression from Russia and China, the Pentagon is planning to increase its use of drones by about 50 percent over the next several years, using the Army and civilian contractors to put more of the unmanned aircraft in the air.
washingtonpost.com Egypt's president has approved a far-reaching anti-terrorism law that establishes stiffer prison sentences for offenses, heavy fines for journalists who publish ''false news'' and a special judicial circuit for terrorism cases.
AP A Russian court on Monday awarded symbolic damages of one ruble ($0.02) to a former ''Kremlin troll'' who sued her ex-employer and demanded closure of what she describes as a ''factory'' that has been churning out Internet propaganda defending President Vladimir Putin.
hindustantimes.com More than 65 percent of Sri Lanka's 15 million eligible voters on Monday turned up to vote in the general election that could decide former President Mahinda Rajapaksa's political future and help chart the country's political course.
wsj.com A 30-year-old man was charged with murdering actor Morgan Freeman's step-granddaughter on a Manhattan street where he dragged her from their shared apartment and repeatedly stabbed her, authorities said.
cnn.com Airstrikes from Syrian government forces hit the rebel-held town of Douma on Sunday, killing as many as 82 people and wounding hundreds, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and aid groups.
afp Dueling relatives of guitar legend Jimi Hendrix have reached a settlement after going to court over the rights to T-shirts and other merchandise bearing his image. Hendrix, a pioneering player of the electric guitar, died at age 27 in 1970 with no will.
theguardian.com At least 10 people have been fatally gored during bull runs across Spain this summer, including four over the past weekend, in what is shaping up to be an especially deadly fiesta season across the country.
nationmultimedia.com Thailand and Pakistan are seeking to conclude a free-trade agreement by mid-2017 in a bid to reduce over-reliance on the traditional export markets of both nations. The FTA negotiations will begin late next month.
Around the Region
cbsnews.com A 58-year-old American and his Filipino-American wife have been killed and their decomposing bodies were found in a well in the central Philippines in a case suspected to be linked to robbery, police said. The body of Kevin Fleischauer was retrieved on Sunday and that of his 60-year-old wife Lolly Mangilaya Fleischauer the next day in Negros Occidental province.
Phuket World of Sport
bbc.com Athletic Bilbao won a first trophy in 31 years as a 1-1 draw with Barcelona at the Nou Camp secured the Spanish Super Cup with a 5-1 aggregate victory.
Coming Events on Phuket 2015
August 23-30 Por Tor (Hungry Ghost) Festival
September Quicksilver surf carnival at Patong beach
October 15-23 Phuket Vegetarian Festival
November Patong Festival
November 20 Laguna Phuket Triathlon
November 25 Loy Kratong festival
November 29 Challenge Laguna Phuket 2015
November 29 Phuket King's Cup Regatta
December 5 HM The King's Birthday
December 26 Tsunami memorial ceremonies
The Tsunami escape route signs have been taken down along Soi Sansabai in Patong despite being mentioned clearly as a major escape route in several government documents. Any chances they are being erected again, or does it contradict too much with the 4 rows of parked motorcycles cash machine?
Posted by Martin on August 18, 2015 10:37