Wearing gold-embroidered silk outfits, faces thick with makeup, a line-up of seven Laotian beauty queens greet a sea of cheering supporters at the annual new year beauty contest in Luang Prabang. But this is no regular pageant: the contestants are stand-ins for the seven blessed daughters of Laos’ legendary heavenly King Kabinlaphom competing for top […]
Laos
Laos dam collapse death toll rises to 31, scores still missing
The death toll from a massive dam collapse in southern Laos has jumped to 31, officials said, with scores still missing weeks after the unprecedented disaster that swept entire villages and farmland away. Information about the number of dead and missing has trickled out of the disaster zone since the July 23 dam collapse in […]