heraldscotland.com Marine biologists are reporting an unusual cluster of dead leatherback turtles off the coast of Scotland. Four have been found in the last fortnight.

bangkokpost.com Yingluck Shinawatra, her son and older brother are acting like ordinary tourists at the moment, clearly enjoying their trip to the Great Wall of China.

AP Poland will move thousands of troops towards its eastern borders in a historic realignment of a military structure built in the Cold War, the country's defence minister said. Tomasz Siemoniak said the troops were needed in the east because of the conflict in neighboring Ukraine.


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 A Prince of Songkla University seismology expert urged the Thai public not to panic over yesterday's 5.3-magnitude earthquake, with its epicentre was in the sea off northern Sumatra. Its slight tremors could be felt in Phang Nga and Phuket provinces. Paiboon Nuannin said this 7.02am quake wasn't in the same area that caused the major quake that led to the December 26, 2004 tsunami.

bangkokpost.com The activist transport minister has ordered a study of whether there are too many taxis on Bangkok streets - and there could be a curb on new licences.



bangkokpost.com Thailand has gone on a charm offensive to defend its prawn industry, hoping to convince Europeans that it is responding to allegations of slavery and torture in its fisheries sector. ''We don't deny there is a problem,'' said Foreign Ministry official Sarun Charoensuwan at a special seminar on the subject. ''A lot of concrete measures are on their way.''

afp A climate of fear in Myanmar's Rakhine state is pushing stateless Rohingya Muslims to flee in ''unprecedented'' numbers, with almost 10,000 people taking to boats in the region in just two weeks.



nationmultimedia.com Police officers failed to show up before the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to answer questions related to the alleged torture of two Myanmar suspects, who are charged with murdering two Britons on Koh Tao last month.



smhg.com.au An online US retailer is making no apologies for marketing Ebola-themed costumes for grown-ups looking to add some shock value to their Halloween party get-ups. The outfits are outselling children's marijuana leaf costumes, pregnant nun costumes, even ''priest-holding-boys-around-the-genitals costumes''.

scmp.com One of the scientists who discovered Ebola has warned that China is under threat from the deadly virus because of the huge number of Chinese workers in Africa.



bangkokpost.com A shrine in Krabi province has been cleared of its phallic offerings, including a number of sex toys, in a bid to clean up its image, a report said. The cave shrine to a local sea goddess had become associated with fertility in recent years, as locals hoping to boost virility or conceive left carved phalluses as offerings, and later sex toys.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/439907/sex-toys-cleared-from-krabi-shrine

news.sky.com Thai authorities have banned beach parties on some holiday islands following the murder two British tourists last month. Surat Thani governor Chatpong Chatputhi, whose province includes Koh Tao, said no beach parties would be allowed apart from the Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan.

nationmultimedia.com The Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc)'s branch in the south is on a hunt for Indian fugitive terrorist Jaktar Singh Tara, who is believed to be traveling through Thailand.

bbc.com The last UK combat troops have left Afghanistan as polls suggest more than half of UK and US respondents do not think the operation was ''worthwhile''.

travelmole.com Thailand's Pattaya aims to lift the resort's image by developing world class sports facilities. Tourism minister Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul said Pattaya already has extensive sports and recreational facilities but can do more.

theguardian.com French police are on high alert after fake clowns caused panic across France in a spreading phenomenon that has led to violence and a response by vigilantes. Fourteen teenagers dressed as clowns and carrying pistols, knives and baseball bats were arrested outside a school in Agde, southern France.

cnn.com South Korean prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for the captain of the capsized Sewol ferry and life in prison for three other crew members involved in the deadly disaster earlier this year.

independent.co.uk Police are looking for a man who stole a red double decker bus and went on a seven mile joyride around the streets of Croydon.

beaufortobserver.net The former managing editor of the Washington Post has let the cat out of the bag. Advertisers are wasting their money advertising in print media. He points out that Americans spend less than five percent of the time they devote to media to reading newspapers.



news.com.au Angry would-be travellers have taken to social media to vent their frustration after Jetstar's phones and computer systems went into meltdown late. The system crash followed Jetstar's offer of $88 fares to Bali in response to Air Asia???s $99 ''introductory'' fares on flights from Melbourne to Bali.
afp ''Kidney trafficking is not like other crimes. If the victims don't speak up, we will never know,'' said Phnom Penh's deputy police chief Prum Sonthor. In July his force charged Yem Azisah, 29 - believed to be a cousin of sibling donors - and her step-father, known as Phalla, 40, with human trafficking.

reuters A Malaysian court is due to decide this week on an appeal by opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim against a sodomy conviction and five-year prison term, with a ruling against him likely to all but end his political career and inflame tension.



theguardian.com How Queens Park Rangers needed this result. Harry Redknapp has cut a disconsolate figure for the most part of this season but two goals from Charlie Austin lifted them off the foot of the Premier League, securing only their second victory of the campaign and extending Villa's terrible winless run.

nationmultimedia.com A host of former football stars led by Italy's World Cup-winning captain Fabio Cannavaro will grace Bangkok in December when the inaugural Global Legends Series (GLS) match kicks off in Thai capital.



November 1-3 Patong Carnival

November 6 Loy Kratong

November 14-23 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



February 13-15 Phuket Yacht Show