World

Laos Steps Up Anti-Corruption Reforms, Deepens Cooperation With Vietnam

Laos is ramping up efforts to strengthen transparency and public accountability, rolling out a new Party resolution alongside deeper cooperation with Vietnam on inspection and anti-corruption work. At high-level talks in Hanoi on 25 August, Lao and Vietnamese officials agreed to strengthen ties between their inspection and anti-corruption agencies, exchanging...

US Court Strikes Down 75-Country Visa Pause, but Ruling Does Not Lift Laos Travel Ban

A US federal judge has struck down a Trump administration policy that paused immigrant...

Japanese Arrivals to Laos Jump 36 Percent Amid Renewed Tokyo Tourism Push

Laos welcomed 23,133 Japanese tourists in the first six months of 2026, a 36...

Prime Minister Calls for Tighter Oversight of Boten SEZ Amid Development Challenges

Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone has called for stronger management of the Boten Special Economic...

Laos-China Railway Trade Surges as Cross-Border Freight Hits New Highs

Trade along the Laos-China Railway continued to grow sharply in the first half of...

Russia Proposes Local Currency Initiative to Entice Trade with ASEAN Nations

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov proposed the use of local currencies while urging the revitalization of trade between Russia and Southeast Asian nations during...

Southeast Asian Nations Renew Alarm Over Myanmar Violence. But Diplomats Can’t Settle on Solution

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Southeast Asian foreign ministers renewed their alarm over — and condemnation of — air strikes, artillery shelling, and other acts of...

Cambodian Opposition Party Officials Arrested for Allegedly Encouraging Casting of Spoiled Ballots

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Two senior members of the only major functioning opposition party in Cambodia have been arrested for allegedly teaching voters...

Reformist Thai Party, Thwarted From Forming New Government, Seeks Law Change to Limit Senate’s Power

BANGKOK (AP) — The political party that captured first place in Thailand’s general election two months ago — only to see the country’s unelected...

ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting Seeks to Reinstate Peace and Stability in Region

The 56th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting was held on July 11-12, in Jakarta, Indonesia, during which, leaders from the US, Russia, China, Australia, New...

High Times in Thailand: New Weed Laws Draw Tourists From Across Asia

BANGKOK (AP) — A Japanese tourist reaches into a baggie of cannabis he’s just bought in a central Bangkok weed shop, pulling out a...