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Laos

The latest news, analysis and opinion on Laos. In-depth analysis, industry insights and expert opinion.

Capital

Vientiane

Head of State

President Thongloun Sisoulith

Head of Government

Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone

People queue to buy petrol at a station in Hanoi amid disruptions in supply and price surges due to the Iran war. Photo: Reuters

US, Israel war on Iran

‘Getting worse each day’: why Southeast Asia is vulnerable to the fuel crisis

From Laos to Thailand, long queues are forming at petrol stations while residents are reeling from surging fuel prices.

23 Mar 2026 - 9:02PMvideocam

China’s C919 passenger plane

China fine-tunes C909 jet operations in Laos – a blueprint for Southeast Asia?

18 Mar 2026 - 10:00AMvideocam

United States

Trump administration can resume ‘third-country’ deportations, appeal court rules

17 Mar 2026 - 3:45AM

Asean

Philippines urges Asean to be global investment safe haven amid Middle East war

This year’s Asean chair calls on the bloc to ensure investment ‘certainty’ at the opening of the foreign ministers meeting in Manila.

13 Mar 2026 - 12:28PM

Filipinos test ride electric bikes they explore ways to save on transport costs following oil price spikes on Thursday. Photo: AP

North Korea

US sanctions 2 firms, 6 individuals for funding North Korean weapons

North Korea-linked IT workers raised nearly US$800 million in 2024 by defrauding or stealing data to blackmail American companies.

13 Mar 2026 - 9:35AMvideocam

Scams and swindles

150,000 Meta accounts shut down in Southeast Asian scam centre crackdown

Meta has also launched protective tools such as Facebook and WhatsApp alerts for suspicious friend requests and activities.

12 Mar 2026 - 8:17PMvideocam

Thailand

Thailand’s PTT to freeze pump prices as Iran attacks spur panic buying in region

The energy firm will maintain prices for 15 days, even as Thailand says it will still export oil to Laos.

4 Mar 2026 - 4:09PMvideocam

Rubble from a police station in Tehran, damaged in airstrikes on Tuesday. The US and Israel have continued their joint attack on Iran that began on Saturday. Photo: TNS

China airliners

China’s C909 jet gets international uplift with funding for adoptive airline

Chengdu Airlines, an affiliate of C909 manufacturer Comac, has received a capital injection to help widen the jet’s international coverage.

23 Feb 2026 - 11:00AM

China trade

As high-speed railways saturate China, how far can their global reach extend?

As Chinese giants eye Eurasia for new infrastructure, analysts speculate on what it will take to keep overseas projects from going off the rails in different host nations.

21 Feb 2026 - 4:00PMvideocam

Scams and swindles

Water prisons, torture: UN urges crackdown on brutal Southeast Asia scam centres

The agency’s latest report documents torture, sexual abuse, forced abortions, food deprivation and solitary confinement in the centres.

20 Feb 2026 - 7:29PMvideocam

A Thai soldier keeps guard outside a closed scam centre in O’Smach, Cambodia, on February 2. Photo: AP

Scams and swindles

More Southeast Asian human trafficking gangs use crypto to move illegal funds

The transactions are linked to activities such as forced labour recruited by scammers and international escort services, a report says.

16 Feb 2026 - 4:48PMvideocam

Soldiers raid the KK Park online scam centre in Myawaddy township, Karen state, Myanmar, last year. Photo: AP

Australia

Australia demands answers from Laos over methanol poisoning ‘injustice’

While 10 were convicted of destroying evidence, not a single person has been charged in connection with the deaths of two Melbourne teens.

11 Feb 2026 - 1:20PMvideocam

US immigration

‘Deported but not defeated’: the Southeast Asians cast out of Trump’s US

Born in a Thai refugee camp and raised in Texas, Kham Paneboun is now stateless in Laos, one of thousands punished again for old crimes.

8 Feb 2026 - 8:00AMvideocam

Cambodia

Scripts, bank details and military rules: Cambodian scam compound secrets

Mostly run by Chinese criminal gangs and staffed partly by trafficking victims, these complexes have proliferated across Indochina.

7 Feb 2026 - 3:57PMvideocam

A Thai solider inspects a workstation inside a scam centre in O’Smach, Cambodia, on Monday. Photo: AP

China airliners

New brainer: China’s C929 widebody lands partner to power next-gen flight mind

After Comac secures core flight-system supplier for its widebody jet’s ‘brain’, sourcing the ‘heart’ of the C929 remains a lofty challenge.

4 Feb 2026 - 11:31PM

A model of China’s in-development C929 aircraft is displayed at the Singapore Airshow on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

The Philippines

Filipino’s death fuels concern over coercive recruitment in Ukraine war

Observers say the case of John Patrick reflects human exploitation and the structural pressure on Russia’s manpower resources.

30 Jan 2026 - 8:00AMvideocam

South Korea

73 South Koreans repatriated from Cambodia face online scam probe

Arriving in handcuffs, the suspects allegedly scammed fellow South Koreans out of US$33 million.

23 Jan 2026 - 10:34PMvideocam

Asean

Visa suspension tests US priorities in Southeast Asia

The move reflects an ‘America first’ policy approach and treats certain allies in the region as ‘strategically insignificant’, analysts say.

17 Jan 2026 - 2:00PMvideocam

Cambodia

‘Not the end’: Cambodia keeps up scam crackdown after Chen Zhi sent to China

Phnom Penh signals zero tolerance for scam centres following the deportation of the Prince Group tycoon.

14 Jan 2026 - 7:38PMvideocam

US-Venezuela conflict

The Maduro effect: US raid accelerates Asia’s drift away from Washington

Cambodia, Laos and North Korea are expected to tighten their embrace of Moscow and Beijing amid growing distrust of the US.

7 Jan 2026 - 7:16PMvideocam

Japan

More Japanese favour having an empress as Princess Aiko’s public appeal rises

Japan’s conservative politicians are against changing the centuries-old tradition of a male heir for the throne.

20 Dec 2025 - 11:00AM

Japanese Princess Aiko arrives at the Akasaka Estate in Tokyo to greet former emperor Akihito and former empress Michiko on her 24th birthday on December 1. Photo: Kyodo

US-China relations

Rubio swaps hawk for diplomat in year-end pivot on China

Top US envoy eschews ‘pacing threat’ label, stressing cooperation and Western hemisphere priorities for 2026.

20 Dec 2025 - 6:53AMvideocam

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio during his end-of-year press conference at the State Department on Friday. Photo: Reuters

SCMP Highlights

China’s youth-unemployment rate, Laos joins durian war: SCMP daily highlights

From EU-China trade ties to Laos securing approval to export durians, here’s a round-up from today’s coverage.

18 Dec 2025 - 9:15PM

China trade

Battle for China’s durian market gets even juicier as Laos enters the fray

Laos could present a real challenge to other players in China’s vast durian market due to its low costs and logistical advantages.

18 Dec 2025 - 9:00AMvideocam

Donald Trump

Trump expands US travel ban and restrictions to include another 20 countries

The clampdown affects people seeking to travel to the US as visitors as well as those hoping to emigrate there.

17 Dec 2025 - 4:53PM

People protest at Los Angeles International Airport in June, on the first day of the Trump administration’s full ban against travel from 12 countries and a partial ban on seven others. Photo: AFP

Malaysia

Trump’s tariffs on Southeast Asia put US Christmas gifts at risk

From Hot Wheels to headphones, new levies are squeezing the supply of Americans’ festive favourites.

15 Dec 2025 - 8:02AM

Passers-by look in Christmas-themed shop windows at Macy’s department store in New York earlier this month. Photo: Zuma Press Wire/dpa

Japan

Japan’s English skills crash to record low, behind Laos and Vietnam

Outdated teaching methods and the rise of language translation apps have made most Japanese less inclined to learn English, educators say.

12 Dec 2025 - 8:00AMvideocam

China-Latin America relations

China pledges aid to Latin America, Caribbean with no ‘political conditions’

Third strategy paper of its kind released as Beijing seeks to expand its influence in a region Washington actively courts.

11 Dec 2025 - 12:07AMvideocam

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