AP An Arizona fire chief says a wildfire that killed 19 members of his crew was moving fast and fueled by hot, dry conditions. Prescott Fire Chief Dan Fraijo said in a news conference that the department is grieving the loss of so many of its members.

wsj.com German Chancellor Angela Merkel's government demanded clarity from the US over allegations that the National Security Agency spied on European Union institutions, saying that if true they would constitute an unacceptable breach of trust between the close partners.

reuters Brazilian striker Neymar was named as the best player of the Confederations Cup after his fourth goal of the tournament helped Brazil seal a 3-0 win over world champions Spain in the final at the Maracana Stadium.


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

Phuket Update The contract for the 700-metre mangrove flyover to link Bangyai Road to Sakdiddet Road, opening access to Phuket City's Saphan Hin park from southern Phuket, will come up for e-auction on July 5. Officials expect an increase in the budget to produce competitive bidding.

nationmultimedia.com More budget hotels are opening, with investors out to cash in on the rising number of middle-class and solo travellers, thanks to the tourism boom and economic prosperity. The cost of building budget hotels is lower, which also means a faster return.

english.ahram.org.eg On a day that organisers have called a make or break moment for President Mohamed Morsi, millions protest across Egypt calling for the ousting of the beleaguered leader.

wsj.com Vendors in Tahrir Square are taking advantage of the revolutionary moment to peddle Guy Fawkes masks - a familiar feature of Egyptian protests over the past year.

bangkokpost.com About 100 white-mask members from the anti-government V For Thailand group were forced to change their planned rally venue at the last minute after more than 500 red shirts occupied the area in Ayutthya.

smh.com.au Washington's efforts to contain fallout from the Snowden espionage debacle unravelled dramatically as the European Union and individual European governments nations were revealed as targets of industrial-scale American snooping into government and private communications around the globe.

nytimes.com Julian Assange, the founder of the antisecrecy organisation WikiLeaks, said that even as Edward J. Snowden remained in diplomatic limbo at a Moscow airport, the disclosures from the classified documents he took as a National Security Agency contractor would continue.

nationmultimedia.com His Majesty the King granted an audience to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and new Cabinet members for a swearing-in ceremony.

guardian.co.uk Thousands of people joined celebrations across Croatia to mark the country's entry into the European Union, 20 years after it won its independence in a bloody civil war that shook the continent. Croatia became the 28th EU member.

AP A year after sectarian violence tore through Burma, the fury of religious pogroms has hardened into an officially sanctioned sectarian divide, a foray into apartheid-style policies that has turned Aung Mingalar into a prison for Sittwe???s Muslims and that threatens this country's fragile transition to democracy.

mcot Thailand will regularly report to the US on the progress of its efforts to solve human trafficking in an attempt to be removed from Tier 2 Watch List, according to a senior foreign ministry official.

independent.co.uk Migrants will be charged to go to a GP under proposals being unveiled by Britain's Government this week. The plans, to be announced by the Health Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, are part of a crack-down on "health tourists" - those who live outside the EU but use the NHS to obtain free healthcare.

bangkokpost.com Small and new developers are facing greater difficulty getting project loans for condo developments as financial institutions become concerned about a possible oversupply in the market. Colliers' market research shows two locations that face a condo oversupply are Sukhumvit Road between Soi 77 (Soi On Nut) and the Bang Na intersection in Bangkok and Jomtien in Pattaya.

afp Southeast Asian nations urged Indonesia quickly to ratify a treaty aimed at preventing fires in its giant rainforests that regularly inflict choking smog on its neighbors.

reuters.com Singapore is seeing a groundswell of support for same-sex rights, reflected in a record 21,000-strong ''Pink Dot'' rally in the city-state, only months after its High Court rejected a petition to repeal a law which criminalises sex between men.

news.com.au The Commonwealth Bank Travel Money Card Report has found on average Australians each spent $235 more than they had set out to while on an overseas holiday - a total of more than $911 million overspent on 3.87 million international holidays.

theage.com.au Consulting group PricewaterhouseCoopers says advertising income will plunge 32 percent for newspapers and 13 percent for consumer magazines by 2017.



goal.com Gianluigi Buffon praised his side's determination after Italy secured third place in the Confederations Cup with a 3-2 penalty shoot-out victory over Uruguay in Salvador.

reuters After all the shocks and spills of the opening week, top seed Serena Williams remained impregnable as she unleashed her full arsenal to move into the last 16 at Wimbledon with a crushing 6-2 6-0 victiroy over Japanese veran Kimiko Date-Krumm.

thecheckeredflag.co.uk Nico Rosberg crossed the line first at Silverstone to claim his second Grand Prix win of the season in a result likely to be overshadowed by a brewing storm over a Pirelli tyre shambles that punctuated much of the running with tyre failures.



July 6-7 Phuket Air Show and Family Picnic, Phuket Air Park

July 17-21 Cape Panwa Hotel Phuket Raceweek

July 22 Arsarnha Bucha Day

August 12 HM The Queen's Birthday

October 5-13 Phuket Vegetarian Festival

October 23 Chulalongkorn Memorial Day

October 29-November 3 Womens' volleyball, Karon beach

November 17 Loy Kratong Day

November 24-December 1 Challenge Laguna Phuket Tri-Fest. Laguna Phuket

December 5 HM The King's birthday



January 9-12 Phuket International Boat Show, Royal Phuket Marina

November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket