After just over a week, Thai Premier Prayut Chan-O-Cha revoked at noon Thursday, October 22, the emergency decree which failed to stamp out daily rallies demanding his resignation and reforms of the unassailable monarchy. Read the story here.

Singapore health authorities are contemplating entering by the end of the year phase 3 of its calibrated reopening should community cases of COVID-19 remain low, a report from the Straits Times said.

In phase 3, the size of gatherings outside homes could be increased from 5 to 8 people. As for home visits, 8 visitors would be allowed.

A planeload of 39 Chinese tourists from Shanghai arrived in Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport Tuesday evening, October 20 – the first group of tourists in 7 months to visit Thailand.

They were welcomed by a staff in full protective equipment. Their arrival was part of an experiment aimed at testing if a wider opening is possible as the coronavirus cripples the kingdom’s economy. Read more about it here.

The Vietnam Red Cross Society said Wednesday, October 20, that the floods that struck central Vietnam are “some of the worst we have seen in decades”.

The country’s disaster management authority said at least 111 people have been killed, while nearly 200,000 have been evacuated. Read more here.

A former top fundraiser for President Donald Trump pleaded guilty Tuesday, October 20, to illegally lobbying the US government to drop its probe into the Malaysia 1MDB corruption scandal and to deport an exiled Chinese billionaire.

Elliott Broidy, 63, was charged in early October with one count of conspiracy to act as an unregistered foreign agent after allegedly agreeing to take millions of dollars to lobby the Trump administration.

At the time Broidy was national deputy finance chairman of the Republican National Committee, after having been a major fundraiser for Trump’s successful 2016 presidential campaign.