Blog

Vientiane, Laos: The Laotian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has expressed sympathy after the deaths of six tourists who had been on a night out in Vang Vieng. Photo: Unsplash/ Alessio Roversi The Laos government said Saturday it was "profoundly saddened" by the deaths of foreign tourists in Vang Vieng, with the toll from a suspected methanol poisoning incident now at six. A statement posted on its Ministry of Foreign Affairs website said it expressed "sincere sympathy and deepest condolences to the families of the deceased", adding an investigation was underway to find the cause of the incident. Six tourists died of suspected methanol poisoning after a night out in the Laos backpacker hotspot of Vang Vieng last week. The two Danish citizens, an American, a Briton and two Australians were a...

By Kate Abnett, Valerie Volcovici and Nailia Bagirova, Reuters Attendees walk past the COP29 logo during the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Baku, Azerbaijan, on 21 November 21, 2024. Photo: AFP Wealthy countries raised their offer of climate finance to US$300 billion (NZ$514b) a year at COP29 on Saturday, raising hopes of a deal with developing nations that had dismissed an earlier proposal as insufficient to address the impacts of global warming. The UN climate summit had been due to finish on Friday but ran into an extra day as negotiators from nearly 200 countries - who must adopt the deal by consensus - tried to reach agreement on the contentious funding plan for the next decade. The two-week conference cut to the heart of the global debate over the financial...

By Neil Jerome Morales, Reuters Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos Jr, in August (file photo). Photo: AFP/ Pool - Lisa Marie David Philippine security agencies stepped up safety protocols on Saturday after Vice President Sara Duterte said she would have President Ferdinand Marcos Jr assassinated if she herself were killed. In a dramatic sign of a widening rift between the two most powerful political families in the Southeast Asian nation, Duterte told an early morning press conference that she had spoken to an assassin and instructed him to kill Marcos, his wife, and the speaker of the Philippine House, if she were to be killed. "I have talked to a person. I said, if I get killed, go kill BBM (Marcos), (first lady) Liza Araneta, and (Speaker) Martin Romualdez. No joke. No joke," ...

By Olena Harmash, Reuters Photo: AFP / Roman Pilipey Ukraine has lost over 40 percent of the territory in Russia's Kursk region that it seized in a surprise incursion in August as Russian forces have mounted waves of counter-assaults, a senior Ukrainian military source said. The source, who is on Ukraine's General Staff, said Russia had deployed 59,000 troops to the Kursk region since Kyiv's forces swept in and advanced swiftly, catching Moscow unprepared two-and-a-half-years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. "At most, we controlled about 1376 square kilometres, now of course this territory is smaller. The enemy is increasing its counterattacks," the source said. "Now we control approximately 800 square kilometres. We will hold this territory for as long as is militarily appr...