UPDATING All Day, Every Day
Passengers Rock Train to Rescue Fallen Man
Dozens of passengers have rocked a train carriage back and forth to free a man whose leg was caught in the gap at a Perth station.
http://www.watoday.com.au/wa-news/perth-man-who-didnt-mind-the-gap-freed-20140806-1011qt.html#ixzz39bphL04F
nationmultimedia.com Nine passengers on a southern overnight train believe they were drugged by a thief who got away with 10 mobile phones and 2500 baht in cash, Songkhla's Hat Yai Railway Police said
perthnow.com.au Department for Child Protection and Family Support officers visited the deserted home of surrogate baby Gammy's parents for the second time in an unsuccessful attempt to interview them.
washingtonpost.com The devastating Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 800 people in West Africa has sparked fear in the United States and around the world.
PhuketWATCH Daily Media Wrap
PHUKET: The daily wrap of Thailand news, with a Phuket perspective, plus relevant reports from national and international media. Beware of inconsistent imitations.
Today's Top News Items
reuters A US general was killed and more than a dozen people were wounded, including a German general, in the latest insider attack by a man believed to be an Afghan soldier, US, German and Afghan officials said.
kuna.net.kw The office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights OHCHR expressed its concerns about the methods of arrest and detention of politicians, activists, academics and journalists following the military coup in Thailand in May this year.
straitstimes.com Thailand's current leaders will have to contend with ingrained cynicism about their championing of governing integrity. On top of that, a provisional Constitution now in force confers absolute power on General Prayuth Chan-ocha, the junta head. It encapsulates the distrust common people have of the upper classes.
economist.com A handpicked bunch will draft a similar piece of paper within the next 120 days. It is unclear whether the expected result, which is to be Thailand's 18th constitution, will be put to a referendum.
bangkokpost.com Former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra will return to Thailand to fight charges of dereliction of duty in the rice-pledging scheme, her lawyer repeated as the likelihood of charges moved a step closer.
The Ebola Outbreak
afp Sierra Leone deployed troops to guard quarantined Ebola patients as Saudi Arabia's first suspected case sparked fears of a possible global spread and British Airways cancelled flights to two west African countries.
abcnews.go.com Nancy Writebol, the American nurse who contracted Ebola while volunteering in Liberia, is said to be improving and is settling in at Emory University in Atlanta.
medpagetoday.com The Ebola outbreak has been mainly confined to the three West African nations, although an American who flew from Liberia to Nigeria and then died of the disease might have sparked several other cases in Lagos. Moroccan officials are being quoted as saying that a Liberian citizen has died of Ebola two days after arriving in the North African country.
Phuket World of People
Phuket Update As Phuketwan reported on July 12, the Ministry of Tourism and Sports is to pay the 100,000 baht hospital bill of Italian journalist Antonio Papaleo under a new 20m baht scheme to help tourists. ''We plan to set up a committee in Phuket to help tourists in the future,'' an official added. Mr Papaleo, key witness in a Hong Kong money-laundering trial, had his spleen removed after being stabbed in a gang attack on Phuket. He told Phuketwan this week he aims to return to Hong Kong for the trial's conclusion.
dailymail.co.uk David Farnell obtained a child via a surrogate mother in Thailand despite being a convicted child sex offender because there are no laws to stop him in his home state of Western Australia. Farnell and Wendy Li married in June 2004 after being introduced by matchmaking website Qpid Success.
nationmultimedia.com A clinic in Bangkok was inspected following tips that it may have arranged the service of a surrogate mother last year, who gave birth to a baby boy born with Down's syndrome left with the Thai mother and a twin girl adopted by an Australian couple.
dailymail.co.uk The Vatican official newspaper said the story of baby Gammy, which has caused global outrage, was all too predictable and ''the obvious consequence'' of turning babies into a consumer product: ''We should not be surprised that if parents have ordered a baby renting a woman's womb they will reject a child that is not healthy and perfect.''
news.nationalpost.com A vacationing Canadian professor says he was forced to leave Burma after his leg tattoos caused a stir. Jason Polley says local officials came and photographed his leg at his hotel before putting him and his Hong Kong girlfriend on a 15-hour car ride to the airport.
news24.com There is something that detaches in the mind when one has a high-powered, deadly weapon in your hands. I tested a Glock semi-automatic pistol, similar to the one Oscar shot Reeva with, at a shooting range on Phuket.
AP Gannett is splitting its broadcast and publishing business in two, joining other major media players in allowing fast growing TV and digital operations to operate more freely. The publishing company will house USA Today as well as 81 local US daily publications.
cbsnews.com Twenty-First Century Fox is ending its blockbuster bid to buy Time Warner. The about-face comes three weeks after Time Warner revealed that it had rejected 21st Century Fox's unsolicited $76 billion buyout offer, which would have combined two of the world's biggest media companies.
smh.com.au Union Street Guest House, a boutique New York hotel in Hudson, New York, has threatened to charge guests hundreds of dollars if they post a negative review about their stay. The policy outlines that a couple looking to book a wedding at the hotel will have a fine deducted from their deposit for every negative review the hotel receives from any of their wedding guests.
ttgasia.com P&O Cruises announced it will return to Singapore to offer four roundtrip voyages as part of its 2015/2016 program. The Singapore season will take travellers to destinations in Indonesia, Thailand and Cambodia and see the cruise line's maiden calls to Krabi, Sabang (Palau Weh), Koh Chang, and Sihanoukville.
Around the Asean Region
themalaysianinsider.com There will be no nude beaches in Penang, said a shocked Lim Guan Eng, following a viral video clip featuring 18 naturists engaging in fun and games in Teluk Bahang. The Penang chief minister said the state would not allow any nudist activities to thrive and called on the relevant authorities to investigate the matter.
dvb.no The detention of distinguished Rohingya lawyer and rights activist Kyaw Hla Aung, 74, has been extended by a court in western Burma, prompting renewed calls from rights groups for his immediate amnesty.
washingtonpost.com Editorial: When Secretary of State John F. Kerry travels to Burma later this week, it will be crucial that he not treat the Southeast Asian nation as a democratic success story, which it emphatically is not. Burma, also known as Myanmar, is a dictatorship that may or may not be in transition to a more open society.
straitstimes.com Though he remained in Phnom Penh, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen was on a charm offensive in Thailand last week, extending an olive branch and showing off his country's future leader. He dispatched all his top military brass for a two-day visit. But one man stood out - Lieutenant-General Hun Manet, 37, the deputy army chief and eldest son of Mr Hun Sen.
ft.com Economic growth in Indonesia has fallen to the lowest level for almost five years, underlining the tough challenges president-elect Joko Widodo will face when he takes office in October.
Phuket World of Sport
nbcnews.com Anthony P. Bosch, 50, of Key Biscayne and a Miami man, 52-year-old Yuri Sucart, were among seven people charged with conspiring to sell steroids to professional sports figures and high school athletes as young as 15.
Coming Events on Phuket 2014
August 8 Able Wanamakok, international television host and public relations/marketer, specialises in social media. She's speaking at IBAP.
August 11 Special holiday for Queen's Birthday
August 12 Queen's Birthday
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
Coming Events on Phuket 2015
February 13-15 Phuket Yacht Show
