Santi’s reports on hotels providing sex services led to transfers of senior police. Chon Buri police are investigating the gangland-style murder of a journalist and local newspaper owner found shot dead in his BMW yesterday morning in Pattaya.

Two men die with flu-like symptoms

Two men died of bird-flu-like symptoms yesterday, prompting urgent tests for signs of the H5N1 strain of the virus. The results are expected to be announced today, said Dr Thawat Suntharachan, director-general of the Disease Control Department.

Chula among world’s best: poll

Chulalongkorn University (CU) has ranked 121st on a list of the world’s top universities published by The Times Higher Education Supplement.

Boy crushed by ‘speeding’ bus

A 13-year-old schoolboy was seriously injured in Bangkok yesterday morning when a bus knocked him from his father’s motorcycle and crushed his right leg.

Island jail on the cards

The Corrections Department is conducting a survey on a deserted island off the coast of Rayong with a view to building a prison there, director-general Natthee Jitsawang said yesterday.

Carnage in the bus lane

October 24 - An air-conditioned bus No 139 ran a red light and was hit by an oncoming non-aircon bus No 38 at Pratunam intersection at about 7.30am, injuring 21 commuters.

METRO BRIEFS: Lat Phrao overpass

An inbound overpass on the Vibhavadi-Rangsit Road at Lat Phrao intersection will open to traffic at 5am tomorrow.

Santi Asoke meets biotech

Dressed in an indigo-blue shirt with matching pants, a barefoot Kengkla Sudswat was peering at a collection of bottles containing miniaturised plants and flowers mounted on a glass shelf.

NEWSPAPER REPORT: Secret jail report ‘untrue’

Govt dismisses claims that the CIA held al-Qaeda members at Thai detention site

Debt-relief scheme approved

The government yesterday approved a new debt-restructuring scheme long awaited by indebted farmers who gathered in Bangkok last week to push for reducing their debts by half with the remaining half to be repaid without interest.

Senators seek royal review

Several senators are believed to have submitted complaints to the Office of His Majesty the King’s Principal Private Secretary concerning the nominations for the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), even though the nominations have yet to be sent for royal endorsement.

Electricity hikes loom despite PM’s move

Electricity prices look set to rise steeply in the coming months as a government committee yesterday rejected Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s idea to set up a stabilisation fund for electricity fees.

War-on-terror tactics

The policy of seizing individuals and detaining them outside the US to extract information is part of the CIA’s “extraordinary rendition”, a former chief of the intelligence agency said.

Security boost for Eid al-Fitri

Authorities in the restive South are beefing up security as Muslims begin the festival of Eid al-Fitri, which marks the end of Ramadan.

Democrats slam Egat listing

The hasty listing of state-owned Egat Plc on the stock market could very well work against the public and line the pockets of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his family, opposition lawmakers said yesterday.

BURNING ISSUE: selection heightens interference fears

Tuesday’s controversial session has boosted doubts about the Senate and moves to stack ‘independent’ agencies

The nine nominees under the spotlight

Below are brief profiles of the nine newly selected members of the National Counter Corruption Commission.

Sacked BMTA chief ‘in shock’

Former Bangkok Mass Transit Authority (BMTA) head Poksak Setthabutr complained yesterday that he had been sacked unfairly by the new board, before they had even worked together.

PM to quiz Apirak on train plan

Prime Minister Thaksin Shin-awatra will meet with Bangkok Governor Apirak Kosayodhin tomorrow to discuss the city administration’s plan to extend the Skytrain to Thon Buri. “The discussion will focus on legal problems,” Rerngsak Thongsom, an official at the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning, said yesterday.