afp A car bomb exploded outside a hotel in southern Thailand, killing three people and wounding 36 others, police said. Of the wounded, three were in critical condition, AFP was told from Betong in Yala province.

bbc.com At least two Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank during protests against Israel's military campaign in Gaza, officials say. At least 10,000 protesters marched from Ramallah towards East Jerusalem, where they were met by Israeli forces. Around 200 protesters were wounded.

theguardian.com International scrutiny of Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip intensified when more than 15 Palestinians were killed and 200 injured in a strike on a UN school in northern Gaza crowded with hundreds of displaced civilians.

Phuket Update Phuket FC will take on Spanish club UD Almeria in the LFP World Challenge By Chang at 7pm on August 6 at Surakul Stadium in Phuket City. Phuket FC drew 1-1 with bottom team Sriracha FC midweek in a lacklustre showing.

bangkokpost.com Three men suspected of being in a human trafficking gang were arrested for allegedly abducting six illegal Cambodian female workers, raping four and stealing their valuables, police say.


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



chicagotribune.com An Air Algerie flight with 110 passengers on board, nearly half of them French citizens, crashed after the jet disappeared over northern Mali en route from Burkina Faso to Algiers. Mali's President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said that the wreckage of the flight had been spotted in his country's desert north.

bangkokpost.com The new permanent constitution will establish mechanisms to curb populism and ensure politicians found guilty of electoral fraud are banned for life, a legal expert who helped draft the interim charter says.

nationmultimedia.com A new anti-dengue vaccine with anticipated improved efficiency is being developed by Thailand jointly with four other countries and will be available in the next two years, Department of Disease Control director-general Dr Sophon Mekthon said.

bangkokpost.com Thailand plans to resubmit a proposal to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) to ease the protection requirements for freshwater crocodiles in the hope of developing more crocodile export products.



Phuket Update Vendor Somsri Torwong was fined 2000 baht for burying three ice chests in the sand at Patong beach in a vain attempt to meet the requirements of local officials and continue to make money on the Phuket beach, where umbrellas and sundecks are now banned. ''The Army tells us we can sell but not to leave anything on the beaches,'' she told Phuketwan.

andrew-drummond.com A former Thai journalist who became the President of The Federation of Thai and Foreign Spouses told a press conference in Bangkok how she came across a fake lawyer representing clients in the eastern seaboard resort of Pattaya. She added that the problem with Thailand at the moment was that the authorities did not really know about many of the foreigners who were settling in Thailand. Many had dubious pasts and came to Thailand set up illegally structured companies to hold land and to carry on illegal businesses.

afp Turkish authorities arrested scores of senior police officers on suspicion of illegally eavesdropping on top officials, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

reuters Former tabloid reporter Dan Evans who admitted hacking hundreds of phones to find stories for two Sunday newspapers was spared jail for helping secure the conviction of Prime Minister David Cameron's ex-media chief Andy Coulson.

reuters Thailand is set to reclaim its status as the world's top rice exporter as weak monsoon rains curb India's crop, helping the Southeast Asian country's new military government offload bulging stockpiles.

reuters Rohingya in Burma's Northern Rakine State are stalked by sickness and malnourishment and as yet untouched by reforms under a semi-civilian government which took power in 2011. The health crisis could worsen as monsoon rains set in, making sanitation more difficult, and experts warn of the risk of diseases such as malaria and tuberculosis spreading in the absence of reliable medical care.

afp Myanmar invited Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to resume work in Rakhine state, which is gripped by a severe health crisis nearly five months after the medical aid group was ejected from the region.

irrawaddy.org Thai and Burmese authorities will begin talks soon over plans for the repatriation of Burmese refugees, but the UN refugee agency cautions that many obstacles remain to their safe return home, including land mines and the possibility of further conflict.

usatoday.com The death of at least 15 Gazans taking shelter in a UN-run school contributed to a Palestinian death toll that has surpassed 700 - and a debate about whether Israel is violating human rights or contending with an enemy that is using human shields.

afp American, Russian and some European carriers resumed flights to Israel after a two-day freeze amid fears that rocket fire from Gaza was endangering commercial air traffic into Tel Aviv.

AP Pope Francis met privately with a Sudanese woman who refused to recant her Christian faith in the face of a death sentence, blessing the woman as she cradled her infant daughter born just weeks ago in prison.

scmp.com McDonald's Hong Kong suspended sales of its popular chicken nuggets after admitting it had imported chicken and pork from the Shanghai food processing plant at the centre of a ''rotten meat'' scandal.

theguardian.com Rare and threatened species including common skate, the ocean quahog, flameshell beds and the black guillemot are being given extra protection after 30 new marine protected areas off the Scottish coast were announced.

watoday.com.au Ten years ago, there were nearly 5000 store front newsagencies in Australia, now it's a little under 4000. Print is evaporating before out eyes, lotteries are moving online and Officeworks is eating up stationary sales. There ain't a lot of sunshine.



wsj.com Monitors at the crash site of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 said they had detected ''shrapnel-like'' holes on parts of the plane, marking the first official, on-the-ground sighting of evidence suggesting the plane was downed by a missile.

wsj.com As attempts to retrieve the bodies and flight recorders from Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 dragged on, Prime Minister Najib Razak risked a gambit that European leaders wouldn't: sending officials into a war zone to meet with armed rebels whose government almost no one recognises. The mission's success delivered a political victory for Mr. Najib's government.



bbc.com A Singaporean businessman has been jailed for three years for bribing three Lebanese football referees to fix matches. Eric Ding, 32, was found to be part of an ''organised group,'' but there was insufficient evidence to show he was part of an international syndicate.

time.com Now Joko Widodo faces an entirely new challenge: Proving that new democracies in the emerging world can govern effectively. The problem is the same that is dragging down developing nations everywhere: Politicians, mired in factional fighting and lacking the necessary will, have failed to implement the reforms critical to keep growth going.

dailymail.co.uk The side of Bali the five-star resorts don't want you to see: Horrific footage shows mass killing of 'illegal' puppies as smiling female official takes PHOTOS. The footage has been condemned by animal activism group PETA, describing the scene as ''slaughter.''



smh.com.au Australia's Olympic champion 4 x 100m women's freestyle relay team lit up the Tollcross pool in Glasgow to claim Australian swimming's first world record since 2009.

smh.com.au Traditional celluloid ping pong balls are to be replaced by seamless plastic balls from September 1 in official table tennis competitions. [There is no word yet on when or if the new balls will be adopted in Soi Bangla.]

goal.com West Ham striker Andy Carroll is set to undergo surgery on Friday after tearing ankle ligaments and is expected to be out of action for four months.

theguardian.com Glasgow's Commonwealth Games went off with a bang, a beep and plenty of roars, with England and Scotland making their marks on the medals table after success in the triathlon, cycling, judo and swimming.

theguardian.com Sir Bradley Wiggins's Commonwealth career ends as it started, with a silver medal in the team pursuit. He last won one of those 16 years ago, in Kuala Lumpur in 1998.



August 11 Special holiday for Queen's Birthday

August 12 Queen's Birthday

September 24-October 2 Vegetarian Festival, Phuket

October 23 Chulalongkorn Memorial Day

November 6 Loy Kratong

November 14-21 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