Laos has “mortgaged” future at expense of people, UN expert says
Bangkok, ThailandThomson Reuters Foundation The Laos government has prioritised big infrastructure projects including dams, railways lines and mines that have benefited few people and uprooted the poor from their land, said the top independent expert on poverty at the United Nations. While the South-East Asian nation has seen “remarkable” economic growth over the last two […]
Seven Lao Christians released after international concern
BosNewsLife Seven Christian men who were detained by security forces in southern Laos for holding an “illegal” church service are free, a day after BosNewsLife news agency published about their plight. A government official in the Phin district of the southern province of Savannakhet confirmed to Radio Free Asia that they were all released Wednesday, […]
Seven Christians reportedly detained in Laos for “illegal” Christmas service
BosNewsLife Minority Christians in southern Laos faced a grim New Year after seven believers, including church leaders, were detained by the Communist government’s security forces during violent church raids, a well-informed advocacy official told BosNewsLife. Sirikoon Prasertsee, who leads the advocacy group Human Rights Watcher for Lao Religious Freedom, said the detentions occurred late on Saturday, […]
ARMAMENTS: TURNING BOMBS INTO BRACELETS AS LAOS VILLAGERS WAIT FOR SAFE LAND
RINA CHANDRAN, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports…
Landmine risk for thousands displaced by floods in Laos
Phnom Penh, LaosThomson Reuters Foundation Thousands of people in Laos, whose homes were swept away when a dam burst, are sheltering in areas contaminated by landmines, humanitarians said, as floods and mud hamper aid delivery. The United Nations said on Monday that 34 people were reported dead, 97 were missing and 6,000 had been evacuated […]
Laos dam collapse hits communities who already lost homes, livelihoods
Thomson Reuters Foundation Activists called for renewed scrutiny of hydropower projects in Laos after a dam that was under construction broke, killing at least 19 people as it swept away homes in flash flooding. More than 3,000 people need to be rescued in a remote part of the country’s south, where at least seven villages […]
Lao Government agrees to religious freedom education
World Watch Monitor The government in the South-East Asian nation of Laos has agreed to sponsor religious-freedom education in the country. The US-based Institute for Global Engagement (IGE) will roll out a series of seminars focusing on “religious freedom as a human right, Lao government policy on religious activity and encouraging dialogue between religious and […]
STRANGESIGHTS: OF ‘ME TIME’, ‘MANSPLAINING’ AND ‘SNOWFLAKES’; MAIL NOT DELIVERED; AND, AN ELEPHANT’S BORDER CROSSING…
DAVID ADAMS writes about the odder side of life…
SNAPSHOT: LAOS
See IOANA FARCAS’ image…
More than 80 countries ‘favour’ one religion over others, says Pew report
World Watch Monitor More than 80 countries favour a specific religion, either officially as a state religion or tacitly through special treatment, according to a new report by the US-based Pew Research Center. Islam is the most common state religion – 27 countries have it as their official religion, including 16 of the 20 countries in the […]