KOLKATA: India's main religious festival season is back in full swing with huge noisy crowds thronging markets and fairs for the first time in two years, barely six months after a devastating Covid-19 surge.

There will be no quarantine for fully vaccinated air travellers from five countries from Nov 1, and destinations in more provinces will also be opened to foreign tourists.

Asean foreign ministers will hold an emergency online meeting Friday to discuss military-ruled Myanmar, including the member country's representation at a summit meeting late this month, Asean sources have said.

A woman was arrested in Samut Prakan on Thursday for allegedly luring Thai women into forced prostitution in Bahrain.

Japan's new Prime Minister Fumio Kishida dissolved the House of Representatives on Thursday for a general election at the end of the month as he seeks a public mandate for his government launched just last week.

The Beatles are back this northern autumn with a new book, reworked final album and much-anticipated documentary that sheds new light on their fraught final days.

NAKHON SI THAMMARAT: Eighteen Covid-19 deaths were reported in this southern province in two days, sparking worries among the families of infected people.

Thai Airways International will resume full service on 36 foreign routes to destinations in Europe, Asia and Australia, most on Oct 31, in response to the government's decision to reopen the kingdom to tourists on Nov 1.

Myanmar's ruling military has not blocked a special Southeast Asian envoy from visiting the country but will not allow him to meet detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, because she is charged with crimes, the junta's spokesman said.

SONGKHLA: Police seized 470,000 methamphetamine pills found hidden on a roadside in Hat Yai district on Wednesday night.