reuters A US-led coalition air strike in Syria hit an oil refinery run by the Islamic State militant group near the border with Turkey, killing 30 people, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

bangkokpost.com Singapore Airlines (SIA) has ramped up its already high capacity on the Bangkok-Singapore route in response to surging demand stemming from Thailand's improved travel sentiment.

smh.com.au Former Indonesian president Megawati Sukarnoputri has reportedly told the current president not to grant clemency to those on death row, blaming drugs for the spread of HIV in Indonesia.

bangkokpost.com Nusasiri Plc is investing 880 million baht to develop Nusa Raya, 191 condo units and a resort on a seven-rai site near Phuket's Bang Tao beach: ''Projects can be sustained if there is a hotel and other services.'' Pattaya will get 914 units plus a 780 million baht hotel and an 800 million baht waterpark.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/property/news/491770/nusasiri-to-buy-units-at-state-tower


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



iol.co.za Seven weeks have passed with no news of two Durban men and their 20-year-old Cape Town crew member who are believed to have sailed into a cyclone en route to deliver a catamaran to its owner in Phuket, Thailand. More than 1800 volunteers from around the world have joined the online search for any sign of the missing catamaran via the online satellite program Tomnob, run by DigitalGlobe.
http://www.iol.co.za/news/south-africa/kwazulu-natal/please-help-bring-them-back-to-us-1.1828743#.VPxC2HyUfdk

bangkokpost.com Two men threw an RGD-5 grenade at the Criminal Court but were caught after a Bangkok gunfight, and are helping the military trace back the Soviet-era weapon to a ''political mastermind''.

nationmultimedia.com An investigation has revealed that the latest bomb attack is part of a plot to stage violent acts in Thailand - in a bid to get the United Nations to intervene.



bangkokpost.com Two Thai women who have dedicated their lives to defending human rights have pledged to continue fighting for justice as the world marks International Women's Day. Chutima Sidasathian, 34, a journalist at Phuketwan news website, and Pornpen Kongkachornkiet, 45, director of the Cross Cultural Foundation, both vowed to remain committed to activism.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/491232/persecuted-pair-ramp-up-efforts-for-women-rights

nationmultimedia.com Women's rIghts activists were ''naive'' to believe that working-class women would have a better life if the new constitution contained a clause guaranteeing that women would have an equal representation in local administrations, panelists said during a discussion.

dailystar.com.lb ''Today in every conflict . . . everybody tries just to manipulate the media and tries to use you as a tool,'' former CNN anchor Jim Clancy said. ''They want you to be a propagandist for their side.''

andrew-drummond.com One of Asia's top boiler room kings has reportedly died in Pai in Mae Hong Son Province of Northern Thailand aged 44, just two week after his marriage. Glendon Richard Bullard married his Thai girlfriend Anne from a Bangkok family after she had given birth to a baby boy. His boiler room empire stretched to Manila and included rooms in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur.

bbc.com Australian Reg Spiers, in London and desperate to get back to Australia in time for his daughter's birthday, decided to post himself in a wooden crate.
http://m.bbc.com/news/magazine-31700049

Krabi Update Thai and foreign tourists flocked to Koh Lanta in Krabi at the weekend to join the 12th Lanta Festival, celebrating local culture on the secluded tourist-destination island.

telegraph.co.uk Two men have appeared in court in Moscow charged with the murder of Kremlin critic Boris Nemtsov, after another suspect blew himself up with a grenade as police surrounded him in Chechnya.

bangkokpost.com The average take-up rate of all condominium units in Bangkok launched from 2011 to 2014 was approximately 73 percent; about 47,100 units are still available in the market. It would take more than one year to sell all these units without any new project launches during that time.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/special-reports/491190/bangkok-condo-market-momentum-revives-along-with-confidence

watoday.com.au It's been a common theme in rock and roll for decades - all that time in the tour bus, sitting up at night jamming in smoky band rooms, hiding out in posh hotel rooms from the rabid fans. the two newest members of preschool supergroup The Wiggles - yellow Wiggle Emma and purple Wiggle Lachy - are a couple.

bangkokpost.com The Buddhist Association of Thailand (BAT) has called off the protest planned for Sanam Luang on Thursday triggered by a reform panel's criticism of Phra Dhammakaya temple.



theguardian.com A report published on the first anniversary of the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been condemned by relatives of the missing passengers after failing to shed any light on what happened.

Try Phuketwan's Asean Today daily:
http://phuketwan.com/tourism/asean-today-day-music-fest-crunched-tried-extend-monsoon-season-mh370-report-fails-shed-light-22004/



afp Steven Gerrard's hopes of a Wembley send-off were put on ice after Liverpool were held to a 0-0 draw by Blackburn Rovers in their FA Cup quarter-final.

goal.com Barca took advantage of Real Madrid's defeat to Athletic Bilbao as they routed Rayo Vallecano 6-1 on Saturday, with Messi scoring another hat-trick while Suarez found the net twice.



Until March 15 Heroines Festival

April 11-19 Phuket Bike Week

April 13-15 Songkran Festival

May 4 Additional public holiday scheduled

June 20-21 Baba wedding at Old Phuket Town

July 15-19 Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek