reuters The death toll from Typhoon Hagupit rose to 21 on Monday, the Philippine Red Cross said, after the storm tore through the country's central islands flattening homes and toppling trees and power lines.

thetimes.co.uk Friends of a young British man who fell 90m to his death from a Sydney cliff at North Head lookout said that he slipped after climbing a fence to get a better view.

reuters Two Myanmar workers have pleaded not guilty to charges including murder over the killing of two British tourists in Thailand, their lawyer said.

watoday.com.au A passenger on board a Qantas flight from Dubai to Sydney has described how the plane was forced to make an ''emergency descent'' to Perth after a fault with the aircraft's air conditioning system.


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



bangkokpost.com A sweeping transfer of senior police officers is expected at the Crime Suppression Division and Marine Police in the wake of the Pongpat Chayapan corruption scandal. Both have several high-ranking officers who have been implicated in the Pongpat criminal network.

gizmodo.com According to Bloomberg, the source of the huge Sony Pictures leak has been traced to a five-star hotel in Thailand's capital. Leaching off of the St. Regis hotel's high-speed wi-fi, the hackers, currently believed the work of the North Korea-linked group DarkSeoul, carried out their devastating and embarrassing attack, leaking 47,000 SSNs and other sensitive information.

irishtimes.com A woman, a 10-year-old boy and a local al Qaeda leader were among at least 11 people killed alongside two Western hostages when US-led forces fought Islamist militants in a failed rescue mission in Yemen, residents said. At least two more hostages are being held.

theguardian.com The US says it launched the raid in southern Yemen because it believed there was an immediate threat to hostage Luke Somers's life. But a South African charity has claimed that a second killed hostage, Pierre Korkie, was hours away from being released.



bangkokpost.com Phuket residents Phatcharee Boontaley, 35, and her daughter Pitchaya Saekin, 11, are being treated at Bangkok Phuket Hospital, while the girl's father Paiboon Saekin was also hurt when a fan tipped over and brought down ceiling-high shelves containing hundreds of paint tins at 4.20pm in Homeworks' Phuket City store.

nationmultimedia.com Making access to the justice system equal for all and demonstrating its transparency to the public, are the most important issues in reforming the system, legal expert and reformer Seree Suwanphanont says. Seree is chairman of the National Reform Council's panel on the legal and justice system. Seree said the committee would propose setting up a centre to monitor government officials and police to prevent acts of corruption.

news.com.au A tiger handler at Australia Zoo who was mauled by a 120kg cat was found to have deliberately excited the animal to put on a better show, a Workplace Health and Safety investigation has found. According to the Courier Mail, Dave Styles sustained a crushed carotid artery, nicked jugular, paralysis to the left larynx and nerve damage to the left eye after the tiger got ''over excited'' during a public show in the Big Cat arena.

nationmultimedia.com The Swedish Embassy is verifying the identity of Swedish man who hung himself in an |abandoned high-rise in Bangkok. District officials will inspect the 43-storey Sathorn Unique Tower today to determine it is safe and whether its owners need to be instructed to enforce existing safety regulations.

afp An Uber taxi driver allegedly raped a 25-year-old passenger in the Indian capital before threatening to kill her, police said in a blow to the company's safety-conscious image. New Delhi special commissioner Deepak Mishra said police were hunting for the driver, who abandoned the taxi and fled after attacking the woman on Friday night in a secluded part of the city.

nationmultimedia.com Despite public concern about environmental impact, coal-fired power plants have been emerging as a vital force for Thailand's energy security. Egat's plan to set up a coal-fired power plant in Krabi, however, has drawn opposition from locals and environmentalists.

washingtonpost.com Rolling Stone magazine has updated the ''note to readers'' that it posted Friday in light of a Washington Post report casting doubts on its article ''A Rape on Campus'' by Sabrina Rubin Erdely, which told the horrific story of a University of Virginia freshman named Jackie suffering a seven-man gang rape in 2012 at the prestigious Phi Kappa Psi fraternity house.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2014/12/07/updated-apology-digs-bigger-hole-for-rolling-stone/

news.sky.com Aviation experts are warning that it is only a matter of time before a drone causes a major accident with a passenger jet in the skies above Britain. There has been a huge increase in the use of unmanned aerial vehicles in the last few years but you do not need a licence and there is only minimal regulation.

afp The mayor of Paris said she wanted the city's historic centre to become ''semi-pedestrianised'' as she laid out a plan to tackle traffic and pollution in the French capital.



thetimes.co.uk Hundreds of thousands of people emerged from shelters in the Philippines after 100mph winds smashed up their houses and took out electricity supplies in the year's worst typhoon so far.

todayonline.com Heavy rain and gusty winds lashed Singapore, felling trees in several locations and causing brief flooding in a shopping mall.



theguardian.com Sam Allardyce was thrilled to witness a performance from Andy Carroll which he rated among the striker's most accomplished in the colors of West Ham. Carroll scored two towering headers in a 3-1 win over Swansea City to propel his side up to third place in the Premier League table.

thestar.com.my It was a thriller and an anti-climax rolled in one as Thailand overcame Indonesia by only two points to lift Axiata Cup for the first time. Both team were tied at 2-2 for matches won and 4-4 on games won and a countback for point difference was required to determine the winner.

nst.com.my Malaysia will head to Hanoi with an impossible mission after Dollah Salleh's side was edged 2-1 by Vietnam in the AFF Cup semi-final first leg match.

afp An IOC Session will on Monday and Tuesday vote on 40 proposals to curtail the cost of the Olympic Games while adding more sports without increasing athlete numbers.



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