Thailand’s king Bhumipol Adulyadej, known for being the longest reigning monarch, died on Thursday, 13th October. Though his powers were largely ceremonial, Bhumipol played an outsize role in political life, remaining highly popular in a country that was and still is highly fractious and coup-prone. A year of public mourning has been announced while the question of succession is being mulled. On the news of Bhumipol’s death his son and heir apparent, Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, flew from Berlin to Bangkok, but he is unpopular and has a history of scandals, which may hurt his legitimacy.

A series of escalations have taken place in Yemen this week following Saturday’s strike by Saudi-led coalition on country’s capital of Sana’a which claimed over 140 dead and more than 500 wounded. After failed missile attacks on a US military vessel, the US launched strikes on three radar station controlled by the rebel Houthi movement. Iran in turn responded by deploying two destroyers to Yemen’s coast, while Houthis fired at Saudi air base. Meanwhile, US lawmakers mull halting of arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

Boko Haram, the Islamic extremist group based out of Northeast Nigeria, has released 21 of over 200 schoolgirls from eastern town Chibok. The terrorist organization kidnapped about 300 girls almost two and a half years ago. The repercussion of the kidnapping warranted international condemnation as well as has displaced millions of people. Furthermore, the kidnapping prolonged an already lengthy insurgency in the area. In light of the release, President Muhammadu Buhari's spokesperson issued a statement that the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Swiss Government has helped with mediating talks with Boko Haram.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte will pay a state visit to China next week, putting into question the traditional ties of his country with the United States. Chinese and Philippine officials have made long-awaited announcement on Wednesday that the visit will take place between 18-21 October. Despite the ongoing dispute over territorial claims in the South China Sea, Philippine leader says that he intends to strengthen ties with China in order to obtain financing for development projects and reduce the influence of the United States.

Recent Russian military operations in the Kaliningrad exclave have sparked firm condemning reactions by neighbouring governments. On October 10, Poland’s Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski expressed public concern defining the deployment of ballistic missiles in the garrison as “an absolutely inappropriate response to what the North Atlantic Alliance is doing.” These declarations follow those of his German and Lithuanian counterparts, which depicted the current diplomatic situation between Russia and the West even more dangerous than the Cold War.

In case of a “hard Brexit”, the UK can lose about £66 billion a year in government revenues. According to a leaked Treasury paper that was seen by The Times, such economic losses would be possible if London, after talks with Brussels, loses preferential access to the common EU market. In case of the country's exit from the European single market its GDP could fall by between 5.4% and 9.5% in 15 years.