Deadly alcohol poisoning casts shadow over the Laotian backpacker town

VANG VIENG, Laos (AP) — A little town known as a backpacker paradise in northern Laos has come under spotlight for a mass poisoning case that has killed at least six tourists and potentially injured scores of others. News broke earlier this week that two Australian teens became...

Second Australian teen dies in tainted alcohol case in Laos that has killed 6 tourists

VANG VIENG, Laos (AP) — A second Australian teenager who fell critically ill after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos has died in a hospital in Bangkok, her family said Friday, bringing the death toll in the mass poisoning of foreign tourists to six. Holly Bowles, 19, had been in...

6 tourists died in Laos after apparently drinking methanol. What is it and why was it in drinks?

BANGKOK (AP) — Two Australian teenagers and a British woman died from suspected methanol poisoning after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos. An American man and two Danes also died, though their exact causes of death have not been released. A New Zealander also has been sickened. The U.S. State...

Australian media: Second Australian teenager dies after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos

Australian teen and British woman who drank tainted alcohol in Laos have died, bringing toll to 5

VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — An Australian teenager and a British woman have died after drinking tainted alcohol in Laos in what Australia’s prime minister on Thursday said was every parent’s nightmare. An American and two Danish tourists also died, officials said, following reports...

Southeast Asian defense chiefs discuss regional security with US, China and other partner nations

VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — Southeast Asian defense chiefs met Thursday with their counterparts from China, the United States and other nations in Laos for security talks, which come as Beijing’s increasingly assertive stance in its claim to most of the South China Sea is leading to more...

American and Australian tourists die in Laos alcohol poisoning incident, raising death toll to 4

Alcohol poisoning in Laos leaves 2 tourists hospitalized

VANG VIENG, Laos (AP) — Two Australian tourists are being treated in Thailand for suspected severe alcohol poisoning after consuming tainted drinks in neighboring Laos, Australian media reported Tuesday. The two 19-year-old women were on a backpacking vacation in Laos when they...

Japan's new PM dissolves the lower house of parliament to set up a snap election

TOKYO (AP) — New Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba dissolved the lower house of parliament Wednesday to set up an Oct. 27 snap election, asking people to trust the governing party's policies even as critics said the vote comes far too soon. Ishiba took office last week as...

Southeast Asian leaders meet in Laos to discuss Myanmar war and disputed sea

VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — Southeast Asian leaders gathered Wednesday for an annual forum that will focus on the civil war in Myanmar and territorial tensions in the South China Sea, two key challenges that have tested the bloc's credibility. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations...