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

bangkokpost.com Confrontations between Red Shirt and Yellow Shirt groups are likely to intensify after a clash outside the Crime Suppression Division left scores of people from both sides injured.

guardian.co.uk Clashes between police and protesters erupted after tens of thousands of people took part in protests in Madrid. The demonstrations were called to protest at the country's austerity measures and to call for new elections in Spain.

scmp.com Property developer Cecil Chao Sze-tsung, 76, is offering HK$500 million to any man who can woo the hand of his lesbian daughter, Gigi Chao.

yorkshirepost.co.uk Hundreds of people were facing a night in temporary accommodation after a second day of heavy rain brought flooding and travel chaos to parts of the UK.



Foam swept in as gales hit Scotland
HUGE quantities of foam blown in from the sea covered cars, buildings and a park beside Aberdeen beach at the Footdee area of Scotland.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-19710226/

bangkokpost.com The Krating Daeng heir whose Ferrari crash killed a policeman has paid the victim's family three million baht - but that does not affect criminal charges.

nytimes Succumbing to what appears to have been a disastrous urge to brag about his super-important connections, a BBC correspondent unexpectedly declared in a radio interview on Tuesday that Queen Elizabeth II had once told him she was ''pretty upset'' about the presence of a radical Islamist cleric in North London.

reuters Apple sold over five million iPhone 5 smartphones in the three days since it hit stores, but shares sagged as the company struggled to meet demand.

voanews.com Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is to address a UN General Assembly meeting in New York to propose an international protocol against religious blasphemy. Critics say the proposal is insincere and that the Indonesian president should take care of problems at home first.

nationmultimedia.com Airports of Thailand, with King Power and The Mall Group, announced full readiness in terms of both duty-free and other commercial outlets at Don Muang Airport, which will resume normal operations this Monday.

businessweek.com Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's ruling Pheu Thai party will probably drop plans to completely rewrite the constitution and amend it section-by-section instead to sidestep challenges that caused previous governments to fall, Thaksin said in an interview in Singapore. It will also shelve a bill granting a broad amnesty that would include him until ''the timing is right,'' he said.

asiasociety.org For the most part, Yingluck has been able to float above the fray. Once seen a stopgap tasked only with preparing the ground for her brother's imminent return, an extended term of office for Yingluck Shinawatra now looks increasingly probable.

nationmultimedia.comYingluck is scheduled to meet Burma President Thein Sein in New York today to discuss ways to speed up the project and other economic cooperation.

thejakartaglobe.com For several days, people passing through Gilimanuk Port, Bali's main gateway to Java, have been subject to strict screening by armed police in body armor. Police fear a backlash against them by terrorists.

reuters China sent its first aircraft carrier into formal service amid a tense maritime dispute with Japan in a show of force that could worry its neighbors.

nytimes.com The Japanese Coast Guard used water cannons to disperse fishing boats from Taiwan in waters claimed by Japan in the East China Sea, widening a territorial dispute that has already pitted Japan against China and threatened vital trade relations in the region.



Cure for jet-lag? Meet the 'Ostrich Pillow'
http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/cure-for-jetlag-meet-the-ostrich-pillow-20120925-26ied.html/

reuters Turkish rescue workers retrieved an inflatable sex doll from the Black Sea after police were notified by panicked residents who mistook it for a woman's body floating offshore, Milliyet newspaper reported.

theage.com.au The Australian Women's Weekly and TV Week will transfer to German ownership under Bauer Media as Channel Nine sells its Australian Consolidated Press magazines to stave off bankruptcy.

scmp.com Populist nationalism is rising rapidly in China. Much of the official media has found nationalism a very lucrative commodity.

nationmultimedia.com It's not easy being a journalist today. You are not ''tempted'' to stay at a five-star hotel a political party booked for you to cover its seminar in Phuket, but you are concerned that you will lose professional advantage having to run from a cheap hotel to the conference venue.

thenational.ae ''It can hardly be a coincidence that no language on Earth has ever produced the phrase, 'as pretty as an airport','' Douglas Adams wrote at the start of his novel Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul. But even Adams would have had to admit that Singapore airport gives it a good try.



theage.com.au Australian football maker Sherrin has pulled all manufacturing from its Indian subcontractors after admitting some of its balls were made using child labor.

cnn.com Replacement referees missed a penalty that would have rendered moot a controversy over whether a Seattle Seahawks receiver caught a game-winning touchdown pass a moment later against the Green Bay Packers, the National Football League in the US said. The play has sparked a full-open revolt by fans and players over replacement referees, who are standing in for officials that the NFL has locked out during a labor dispute.

telegraph.co.uk John Terry made what could be his final appearance for some time as he captained Chelsea in their comprehensive 6-0 Capital One Cup victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers.

sportinglife.com Gabriel Agbonlahor scored his first goals since January as Aston Villa twice came from behind to knock Manchester City out of the Capital One Cup with a 4-2 extra-time victory.

reuters Premier League Everton were dumped out of the League Cup in a 2-1 defeat by second tier Leeds United as manager David Moyes paid the price for making six changes to his in-form side.

guardian,co.uk The Capital One Cup may never be valued as one of football's most coveted prizes but a collected Wigan produced a level of distinction that was too much for West Ham. They completed a 4-1 victory.



AUSTCHAM (Australian Thailand Chamber of Commerce) Phuket Sundowners social and business networking soiree at the new Hogs Breath Cafe on the third floor of the Promenade Plaza off Soi Bangla in Patong, on November 30, at 5.30pm. (Opposite the old burnt Tiger Disco). Contact harry@ladypie for details.

DUSIT THANI Laguna Phuket will celebrates it silver jubilee on November 25. To celebrate 25 years in the industry, the resort is offering 25 percent discounts on bookings for its Exclusive Pool Private Villas from now until November. Call 076 362 999 or email dtiprsvn@dusit.com


September 30 Go-Eco divers' undersea cleanup

October 14 Vegetarian Festival

October 21-24 Phuket International Sports Fishing titles

November 25 Laguna Phuket Triathlon

November 28 Loy Kratong Day

November 30 AustCham Phuket sundowners social and business networking

December 1 World AIDs Day

December 1-8 King's Cup Regatta

December 5 HM The King's Birthday

December 10 Constitution Day

December 15-20 Patong Carnival

December 25 Christmas Day



November 14-21 Fourth Asia Beach Games, Phuket