Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south, and Thailand to the west. Its population was estimated to be around 6.5 million in 2012. A third (33%) of the country's population lives below the international poverty line which means living on less than U.S. $1.25 per day.

A reveller attends the “Amigos da Onça” street party on the second day of Carnival on February 10, 2024 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Buda Mendes/Getty Images)

A donkey is seen before the start of the procession of the “Virgem da Atalaia” during Holy Week at Alcochete, near Lisbon April 5, 2015. Women ride donkeys during the “Virgem da Atalaia” procession, that has been held annually for about 400 years. In the past, only single women rode the donkeys to ask for help from the Virgin to find a husband. (Photo by Rafael Marchante/Reuters)

Brazil's tallest teen is set marry her beau – despite him being over a foot smaller than her. Elisany da Cruz Silva (18) is a staggering 6ft 8ins (206 cm) tall while her compact fiancee Francinaldo da Silva Carvalho is only 5ft 4ins (162 cm). Despite a massive 1ft 4ins between them, Francinaldo had no problem increasing the distance by dropping to one knee after a romantic stroll along the beach. (Photo by Barcroft Media)

Abbas (1944 – 25 April 2018) was an Iranian photographer known for his photojournalism in Biafra, Vietnam and South Africa in the 1970s, and for his extensive essays on religions in later years. He was a member of Sipa from 1971 to 1973, a member of Gamma from 1974 to 1980, and joined Magnum Photos in 1981. Here: Kuwait, 1991. (Photo by Abbas Attar/Magnum Photos)

North Korean bodyguards run along a limousine transporting Kim Jong Un upon his arrival in Dong Dang, Vietnam, February 26, 2019. The second meeting of the US President and the North Korean leader, running from 27 to 28 February 2019, focuses on furthering steps towards achieving peace and complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

This undated photograph shows one of the 14 new species of so-called dancing frogs discovered by a team headed by University of Delhi professor Sathyabhama Das Biju in the jungle mountains of southern India. The study listing the new species brings the number of known Indian dancing frogs to 24 and attempts the first near-complete taxonomic sampling of the single-genus family found exclusively in southern India's lush mountain range called the Western Ghats, which stretches 1,600 kilometers (990 miles) from the west state of Maharashtra down to the country's southern tip. (Photo by Satyabhama Das Biju/AP Photo)

A reveller performs while attending the block party “Galo da Madrugada” during carnival festivities in Sao Paulo, Brazil on February 25, 2020. (Photo by Rahel Patrasso/Reuters)