reuters Oil major Royal Dutch Shell said it would curtail spending by $15 billion over the next three years while keeping dividends stable in a bid to calm investors amid plunging oil prices.

wsj.com The lead investigator looking into the fatal crash of AirAsia Flight 8501 said the co-pilot was at the controls before the jet went into a dangerously fast climb.

channelnewsasia.com The Friedrich Ebert Foundation said military officers had ordered them not to hold a briefing at a Bangkok hotel on Friday - part of a series of annual reports looking at the challenges journalists face in different Asian nations.


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



AP Thailand's military government summoned the US charge d'affairs for talks after a top US diplomat roiled the junta during a visit by calling for an end to martial law and saying the impeachment of a former prime minister could be politically motivated.

straitstimes.com The highest-ranking US official to visit Thailand since the army seized power last May has signalled that while the coup d'etat ''challenged'' their 182-year relationship, the broader US-Thai alliance remained intact.

nytimes.com Two Israeli soldiers were killed and seven wounded in a missile attack Wednesday as they drove in a disputed zone along the Lebanese border, Israel said, in the most serious flare-up in the area in years.

traveldailymedia.com Hotels in Thailand are starting to see the green shoots of recovery, following a dismal first half of 2014. According to the full-year data from STR Global, the recovery began late in the third quarter of last year and ''blossomed'' in Q4, as guests started to return to the country following months of political strife.
http://www.traveldailymedia.com/217536/thai-hotel-sector-starts-to-rebound/



theguardian.com Indonesia's search for dozens of victims still unaccounted for from the crash of an AirAsia passenger jet could end within days if no more bodies are found, a senior government official has said.



nationmultimedia.com It's worth preparing for the worst of you are travelling to Bangkok as the Thai capital has the highest number of cases where the British Consulate has stepped in to help out Britons in trouble. In research released by the Foreign Office for 2014, Bangkok emerged as the destination where most Britons found themselves in trouble on holiday, with the need for medical advice and attention the biggest reason.

bangkokpost.com Police apprehended transvestite Uthai Nantakhan, 40, wanted for tricking 40 Japanese tourists out of an estimated 10 million baht over several years. He told police he was still angry at a Japanese man who once took him on holiday to Phi Phi Island and left him there.

bangkokpost.com A Russian tourist has accused a Middle Eastern gang of stealing 55,000 baht from him at a convenience store in Pattaya in the early hours of Wednesday. Rinai Safin, 26, filed a complaint with Pattaya police.

voanews.com Russia, Venezuela, Egypt, Turkey, Thailand, Nigeria, Kenya, Azerbaijan, and Hungary were among the nations noted for declines in freedom of expression and other democratic rights, according to international rights group Freedom House.

nationmultimedia.com Tourism operators in Southeast Asia expect huge arrival numbers, while Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar will play a great role in this. Travel experts predict a bright future for the hospitality industry in the region, with arrivals to surpass 100 million this year, up from 99.5 million in 2013 and compared with an estimated 109 million in 2014.

theguardian.com The postmortem examination carried out on Alexander Litvinenko was ''probably the most dangerous ever conducted in the western world,'' and confirmed that Litvinenko was the victim of acute radiation poisoning, an inquiry into his death heard.

independent.co.uk Tesco has named the 43 stores set to close across the UK as part of the retailer's cost-cutting measures. Most of the closures will be Express convenience shops and up to 2000 jobs are expected to be affected.

bangkokpost.com The Thai-owned Minor International Plc has bought six hotels in Brazil and Portugal for a combined 168 million euros (6.21 billion baht), the company said in a statement. The purchases are part of its plan to expand into South America and Europe.


Try Phuketwan's Asean Today daily:
http://phuketwan.com/tourism/asean-today-time-zone-link-bali-death-puzzle-trade-cats-food-mh370-report-coming-21787/



bangkokpost.com A five-day Songkran holiday in April is hardly enough. The cabinet has added an extra holiday on May 4, to make a second five-day holiday, for tourism.

January 30 US consular outreach, Le Meridien Phuket Beach Resort