EXPLAINER
‘Bomb back to the Stone Age’: US history of threats and carpet bombing
Analysts say carpet bombing countries is a war crime. But it wouldn’t be new for the US.
![Recovery workers watch as a carriage of a train that crashed when a construction crane collapsed is lifted off the tracks in Thailand's Nakhon Ratchasima province on Jan. 14, 2026. A crane at a China-backed high-speed rail project in Thailand collapsed onto a passenger train on January 14 and caused it to derail, killing at least 28 people and injuring dozens more, authorities said. [Lillian Suwanrumpha/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/image-1768410709.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
![A demonstration against the Contras, the US intervention in Nicaragua, Central America and Honduras [File: Rick Maiman/Sygma via Getty Images]](/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-1039970092-1764842063.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
![US Secretary of State Marco Rubio takes part in a memorandum of understanding signing with Malaysia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamad Hasan during the 58th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in Kuala Lumpur on July 10, 2025. [Mandel Ngan/AFP]](/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/000_66CV4BR-1752133033.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80)
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Trump ramps up trade war with tariff blitz targeting 14 countries
Trump threatens to impose tariffs of 25-40 percent from August 1 unless countries make concessions on trade.
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LONG READ
‘Each person had 10 phones’: Trapped in a cyber-scam centre in Laos
Southeast Asia’s multibillion-dollar cyber-scam centres lure victims from as far away as Africa.
Methamphetamine trafficking surges from ‘Golden Triangle’ region
UN Office on Drugs and Crime says ‘explosive growth’ in synthetic drug trade led to record regional seizures in 2024.
ASEAN kicks off summits with China, Gulf states amid US tariff threat
Southeast Asian regional bloc holds its first-ever three-way summit with China and six Gulf countries.
Laos’ methanol poisoning deaths send chill through backpacker paradise
Backpacker hotspot Vang Vieng is in the spotlight following six deaths blamed on tainted alcohol.
Laos pledges justice after suspected tainted alcohol kills tourists
Australia presses Laotian authorities for a full and transparent probe after the deaths of two 19-year-old backpackers.
US ‘Secret War’ remembered as Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin visits Laos
Al Jazeera looks back at the most devastating period in Laos’s history, when the US waged a years-long ‘Secret War’.
Blinken condemns China’s ‘dangerous and unlawful’ moves in South China Sea
Top US diplomat says Beijing has ‘injured people’ and ‘harmed vessels’ of rival nations in the disputed waters.
UNICEF says six million children in Southeast Asia affected by Typhoon Yagi
UN’s children’s agency says there’s an urgent need for access to clean water, sanitation as Red Cross mobilises relief.
ASEAN top diplomats discuss South China Sea disputes, Myanmar fighting
US Secretary of State Blinken, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang are seeking to expand their countries’ influence in region.
