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Thailand’s health minister on Monday said the government has rescinded its new entry policy that required visitors to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination, Reuters reports. The country had put the policy in place over the weekend in preparation of the arrival of Chinese tourists after China's reopening of its borders.

Anutin Charnvirakul told reporters the reasoning for the change is, “showing proof of vaccination would be cumbersome and inconvenient, and so the group’s decision is that it is unnecessary.”

Travelers from China accounted for about a quarter of Thailand's annual visitors before the pandemic. Thailand now expects between 7 million and 10 million Chinese visitors, up from an earlier estimate of 5 million.

Recent U.S. Department of Labor data shows the number of layoffs in white-collar sectors, such as finance and insurance, nearly doubled from September to November compared to the same period in 2021, the Wall Street Journal reports.

"Layoff rates in these white-collar industries are still historically low, at 1% of total employment in November, according to the Labor Department, compared with 0.9% in February 2020," according to the article. "Their recent rise, however, contrasts with industries where manual labor is more prevalent and pay [is] lower. Manufacturing, leisure and hospitality and retail all laid off fewer workers on average in the three months through November compared with a year earlier."

If demand for goods and services softens, the leisure and hospitality industry might be not be as quick to let go of front-line workers after struggling to to hire and retain them during the recovery from the pandemic, the newspaper reports.

U.S.-based investment firm Gencom has been able to confidently execute deals to buy hotels in times of both economic boom and bust, reports Hotel News Now's Bryan Wroten.

Gencom's latest deal with private real estate investment fund manager Corten enabled it to acquire 50% ownership of the real estate of the eight hotels owned by Provenance Hotels. Pyramid Global Hospitality, which is Gencom's hotel management affiliate, bought the operations of all 12 hotels in Provenance's portfolio.

“There was a real opportunity there for us to step in, put in the right amount of capital to reposition, renovate these assets and structure something creatively with a longer-term view of the world,” Gencom Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer Alessandro Colantonio said.

Flood warnings and evacuation orders went into effect in California overnight as deadly storms pass through and could intensify Monday, the Washington Post reports. The latest storms have killed 12 people and left thousands without electricity.

The National Weather Service warned Sunday that the heavy rain events could lead to "additional considerable flood impacts, including rapid water rises and mudslides over northern and central California and portions of far western Nevada," the newspaper reports.

California's Department of Transportation has strongly urged residents against traveling through Monday.

Government ministers in the United Kingdom met trade union leaders Monday in an effort to end one of Britain's biggest wave of labor strikes in decades, the Associated Press reports. Railway staff, airport baggage handlers, border staff and healthcare workers have sought higher wages, AP News reports.

Sara Gorton of UNISON, which represents some health workers, told the news outlet, "there was definitely a change of tone today."

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