theguardian.com Dozens of Egyptian football fans were killed on Sunday evening after police fired teargas and shotgun pellets on supporters queueing to enter a Cairo stadium.

independent.co.uk HSBC, the UK's biggest bank, helped rich customers to dodge paying tax by allowing them to set up secret accounts in Switzerland, according to a BBC Panorama report.

bbc.com Social media users who spread racial hatred should be banned from sites such as Twitter and Facebook, British MPs say.


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



nationmultimedia.com The Tourism Authority of Thailand has drawn up development plans for the Andaman Coast that aim to improve facilities and management practices to attract quality tourists to the area. Kalin Sarasin, chairman of the board of TAT, said the agency had collected plans from tourism operators and related authorities in Phuket, Krabi, and Phang Nga.
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/TAT-reviews-ways-to-boost-Andaman-tourism-30253641.html

bbc.com Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has survived a party confidence vote on his leadership. Liberal Party MPs voted by 61 to 39 not to open up his position to challengers.



bangkokpost.com Chinese tourists were banned for half a day from entering Wat Rong Khun, the ''White Temple,'' one of the top tourist destinations in Chiang Rai, after complaints of inappropriate toilet usage, according to Chinese media.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/469276/chinese-briefly-banned-at-white-temple

nationmultimedia.com China-based Junfa Real Estate Co Ltd has made its first investment in Thailand by setting up a joint-venture company with Thai firm Charn Issara Plc to develop a three-billion baht mixed-use project in Phang Nga this year. Managing director Songkran Issara added that the company would sign a management contract to run a hotel in Patong in the second half of the year. Over the next few years, the company plans to manage up to five hotels in Thailand and overseas. It would also spend900 million baht to develop a new villa at Sri Panwa, Phuket.

scmp.com In an extraordinary sequence of events, the plane's two Rolls-Royce engines spluttered and failed in the final descent to Hong Kong, leaving the Australian captain and co-pilot with an unprecedented challenge to save the lives of the 322 people on board.
http://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/article/1491534/pilots-reveal-death-defying-ordeal-engines-failed-approach

bangkokpost.com The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) will invite military attaches from all countries posted in Thailand for a briefing at the army headquarters on Wednesday, an army source said. The invitation will be sent to the military attaches by the army's intelligence department. The attaches will be given an explanation of the scope of work of the NCPO.

scmp.com TransAsia Airways representatives met with relatives of the victims of last week's plane crash in Taiwan to discuss compensation after it began distributing money to families of the deceased for funeral costs.

bloomberg After almost a decade as German Chancellor, Angela Merkel faces a moment of truth as a resurgent Russia and fed-up Greeks challenge her blueprint for Europe's future. As bloodshed in eastern Ukraine escalates and the new Greek government rejects austerity championed by Mrs Merkel, her deliberate leadership style might be reaching the limit of its effectiveness.

nationmultimedia.com Newspapers and magazines need to brace for declining revenue as advertisers shift budgets to digital and social media over the next three years. Mobile Internet users growing to about 28 million is a key reason.

bangkokpost.com A team of Thai sculptors won an international snow sculpture contest in Sapporo, Japan with a work of art depicting a tuk-tuk, the famous and ubiquitous public transport vehicle known throughout Thailand.



Try Phuketwan's Asean Today daily:
http://phuketwan.com/tourism/asean-today-common-labor-plan-airasia-flight-turns-back-nude-sisters-leave-21842/



bbc.com Clashes between football fans and security forces in the Egyptian capital Cairo have left at least 22 people dead, prosecutors say. Fans of the Zamalek football club tried to force their way into a match without tickets, sparking the clashes, officials said.



THE SOI DOG Foundation will be holding its fourth mobile event in Phuket on February 21 to offer puppies and kittens for adoption. The event will be held at Macro in Thalang from 11am to 3pm. The kittens and puppets have all been vaccinated and sterilised.

February 26-28 Phuket Old Town festival

March 1-15 Heroines festival

March 4-8 Bay Regatta

April 11-13 Phuket Bike Week

April 17-19 Songkran Festival

May 4 Additional public holiday scheduled