10 must-reads for today

United States Vice-President Mike Pence pressed on with campaigning despite a Covid-19 outbreak among his aides, citing his status as an "essential worker" as justification for his travelling despite exposure to the virus.

The political storm that had threatened to derail the Malaysian government receded somewhat last night after the Umno leadership decided to continue extending its support to the Perikatan Nasional administration.

Although Singapore has managed to reduce new infection cases to zero or just a few in the past few weeks, this does not mean that the country has successfully eliminated Covid-19 from the community, experts cautioned. The Republic will not be safe until the world is safe, as the presence of asymptomatic patients could still lead to community spread, they warned.

Japan yesterday pledged to build a carbon-neutral "green society" by 2050, marking a paradigm shift for the world's fifth-largest greenhouse gas emitter. The pledge will bring Japan in line with the European Union's 2050 goal.

There are moves to revive the post of chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. This is one of the changes to the top party structure designed to strengthen President Xi Jinping's power, says global affairs correspondent Benjamin Kang Lim.

The criminal defamation trial of The Online Citizen (TOC) website's chief editor Terry Xu, 38, and TOC contributor Daniel De Costa, 37, began yesterday over an e-mail penned by De Costa that allegedly defamed Cabinet members. De Costa is said to have sent that and other inflammatory material from the e-mail account of his friend, Mr Sim Wee Lee, who took the witness stand yesterday.

Armed pirates stormed three ships in the Singapore Strait in the span of 21/2 hours between Sunday night and yesterday morning. The latest armed robberies bring the tally for this month to six, the highest monthly figure this year.

Singapore's factory output might be a bright spot in the economy, according to data released by the Economic Development Board. Manufacturing output surged 24.2 per cent in September, compared with the same month last year - the biggest year-on-year increase since December 2011.

After weeks of uncertainty, Brunei DPMM finally confirmed yesterday that they will not defend their Singapore Premier League (SPL) football title owing to coronavirus travel curbs. But they hope to be back next season, and the Football Association of Singapore looks forward to their return.

Last Madame, a Mediacorp drama that stars local actress Joanne Peh as a brothel owner, has beaten contenders from South Korea and China to be named Best Asian Drama at a competition in Busan. It won the accolade jointly with South Korean drama When The Camellia Blooms at the Asia Contents Awards.

In this episode of Asian Insider, Chulalongkorn University Associate Professor Viengrat Netipho, US bureau chief Nirmal Ghosh and Indochina bureau chief Tan Hui Yee talk about the protests in Bangkok. str.sg/blurb653

We talk about indie movie Saint Frances, which has won several festival audience awards; and the NUS Baba House, which is worth a visit despite it being a rather overlooked option in the museum scene. str.sg/blurb654