President Michael D Higgins begins his visit to Laos today - the final country on his tour of south east Asia.

A Laos air force plane carrying senior government officials has crashed, killing at least five people including the country’s defence minister, Thai officials said.

Rescuers in fishing boats pulled bodies from the muddy Mekong River in Laos after a plane crashed in stormy weather, killing 49 people from 11 countries.

MYSTERY surrounds the cause of death of a 38-year-old Irishman who died suddenly while on holidays in Laos.

Communist Laos opened a modest stock market today, hoping to attract capital to its largest enterprises and boost the economy of one of the world’s poorest nations.

AN Irish hotel manager has died in a rafting accident in Laos while on a delayed honeymoon break.

A PREGNANT British woman jailed for life in Laos for trafficking heroin says she is “enormously relieved and happy to be back on British soil”.

Pregnant Briton Samantha Orobator was found guilty of heroin smuggling and sentenced to life in prison by a court in Laos today.

The Laotian government today insisted the trial of a pregnant British woman who faces possible death by firing squad for allegedly smuggling heroin into the country will be conducted fairly.

A 15-year-old Laos girl has died of bird flu, becoming the south-east Asian country’s first known human victim of the H5N1 virus, the country’s health ministry said today.

SOUTHEAST Asian nations and China signed an accord yesterday to create the world’s biggest free trade area by removing tariffs for their two billion people by decade’s end — a key step in their vision of a trade bloc to rival Europe and North America.

Southeast Asian leaders finalised visionary pacts with China and India at their summit today, hoping for a pan-Asian trade bloc to rival Europe and the US, even as the region grapples with terrorism and epidemics such as bird flu.

Thailand has confirmed its second fatality from bird flu, local television reported on Tuesday.