Regional

Timor-Leste Moves to Join Cluster Munition Ban at Vientiane Conference

Timor-Leste has taken a formal step toward joining the Convention on Cluster Munitions, signing a declaration of accession in Vientiane on 15 September during the treaty’s Third Review Conference. Foreign Minister Bendito dos Santos Freitas signed the Declaration of Accession, and handed to Lao Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister...

Seven-Year-Old Becomes Laos’ Youngest Internationally Rated Chess Player

Seven-year-old Bounthiengtham “Jayson” Sengphachan has already done something no Lao chess player his age...

Thailand’s HIV Cases Pass 550,000, Laos Reports Rising Infections Among Young People

Thailand has recorded 557,993 cumulative HIV cases, health authorities say, even as new infections...

Laos, Vietnam Set USD 4 Billion Trade Goal as Economic Ties Grow

Laos and Vietnam are pushing to take their economic partnership to the next level,...

Former MRC Chief Anoulak Kittikhoun Named First Lao Head of Mekong Institute

Former Mekong River Commission (MRC) Chief Executive Officer Anoulak Kittikhoun has been appointed Executive...

Thailand Interested in Building Sixth Friendship Bridge to Laos

Thailand has confirmed its intention to build a sixth friendship bridge connecting the country to Laos over the Mekong River. This bridge would link...

Laos, Singapore, Cambodia Unite to Facilitate Cross-Border Electricity Trade

Singapore, Cambodia, and Laos have formed a working group to push cross-border electricity trade, inching closer to the ASEAN Power Grid vision.  On 3 June,...

East, Southeast Asia Had Record Methamphetamine Seizures Last Year. Profits Remain in Billions

BANGKOK (AP) — East and Southeast Asia are awash in record amounts of methamphetamine and other synthetic drugs, the U.N. Office on Drugs and...

Thai Court Sentences Opposition Lawmaker to Two Years in Prison for Defaming Monarchy

BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai court on Monday sentenced a lawmaker from a progressive opposition party to two years in prison after finding her...

Fire in Apartment Building in Hanoi, Vietnam, Kills 14 People, Injures 6

Updated at 2:10 PM, 24 May, 2024 HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — An overnight fire in an apartment building on a narrow alley in Vietnam’s capital...

Constitutional Court of Thailand Agrees to Hear Case That Could Imperil Prime Minister

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand’s Constitutional Court accepted a petition Thursday, 23 May, from members of the country’s outgoing Senate to begin an ethics probe...