World
Asia
Three more arrests in suspected Laos mass methanol poisoning
The development comes as the mother of British tourist Simone White, one of the six tourists killed, speaks out for the first time.
- by Josefine Ganko
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China relations
Why four Australian judges have become a hot topic spoken about in hushed tones in Hong Kong
Penny Wong has made her strongest comments yet on the decision by the judges to continue working in Hong Kong amid concerns about a crackdown on political dissent.
- by Lisa Visentin
Crypto executive eats banana artwork bought for $9.6 million, says it tasted ‘quite good’
Chinese-born Justin Sun peeled off the duct tape and enjoyed the banana in a press conference held in the ritzy Peninsula Hong Kong hotel.
- by Kanis Leung
Despite all the tea in China, in Shanghai, the coffee is hot
On the streets of China’s financial and cosmopolitan hub, a caffeine-fuelled revolution is taking place.
- by Lisa Visentin
‘We miss our girls’: Families of suspected methanol poisoning victims return home
The parents of Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles travelled from Bangkok to Melbourne on Tuesday, bringing home the bodies of their two teenage daughters.
- by Alex Crowe
Eight detained by police over Laos backpacker deaths: local media
Those detained include management and staff at Nana Backpackers Hostel, where two Australian teenagers stayed before dying from suspected methanol poisoning.
- by Zach Hope and Nick Ralston
‘Don’t worry’: Claims Laos hostel staff brushed off dying backpacker
A grieving backpacker has taken it upon himself to try to uncover the truth about the suspected mass methanol poisoning in Vang Vieng that killed at least six people.
- by Zach Hope
Opinion
China relations
He said, Xi said: Why Beijing may seek to exploit Philippine political divorce
The president and vice president of the Philippines are at each other’s throats. But the row is a potential proxy for a much more significant conflict.
- by Peter Hartcher
Six tourists died in this village. No one here seems in a hurry to find out why
Zach Hope reports from Vang Vieng, where cheap alcohol is plentiful but answers about what killed six people, including two Australians, are harder to find.
- by Zach Hope
The Philippines VP publicly threatens to have the president assassinated
Sara Duterte says she hired an assassin in case she herself is killed, in a brazen public statement she warned was not a joke.
- by Jim Gomez
Opinion
Australians abroad
In Vang Vieng, tragically, tourist deaths are nothing new
Laotian authorities have been working to rid the town of its deadly reputation. Clearly, they haven’t worked hard enough.
- by Jimmy Thomson