A woman wearing a face mask walk through Shinjuku area on January 07, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is set to declare a state of emergency in Tokyo and neighboring three prefectures, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba on Thursday, following the recent surge in COVID-19 cases in the region. Tokyo saw over 2000 new cases per day for the first time on January 7, 2021. (Photo by Yuichi Yamazaki/Getty Images)

View of the visitor walkway at the Iguazu Falls, which was destroyed by the strong current of the river on the triple border between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, on October 30, 2023. The Falls are flowing at over 24 million liters of water per second, according to hydrological monitoring by Companhia Paranaense de Energia (Copel). This is the second highest flow since 1997, when monitoring became automatic and was measured hourly. (Photo by Christian Rizzi/AFP Photo)

People smoke marijuana in front of the Brandenburg Gate during the 'Smoke-In' event in Berlin, Germany, Monday, April 1, 2024. Starting 1 April, Germany has legalised cannabis for personal use. As per the new law, Adults aged 18 and over will be allowed to carry up to 25 grams of cannabis for their own consumption. (Photo by Ebrahim Noroozi/AP Photo)

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 man watches a wave hit a rock pool at Curl Curl beach as large swell hits the East Coast of Australia on June 6, 2016 in Sydney, Australia. Torrential rain over the weekend saw streets and homes flooded while wind gusts up to 120km per hour brought down trees and powerlines. A king tide has also seen beachside homes evacuated on Sydney's northern beaches as large waves erode the coast. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

A worker carries a bag of salt after collecting it from a pond at the Maras mines in Cuzco December 3, 2014. Salt has been obtained in Maras since pre-Incan times by evaporating highly salty local subterranean stream water. The water is intricately channelled through constructions, flowing gradually down onto several hundred ancient terraced ponds. From each pond, a local member of the mine cooperative can produce 150 to 200 kilos per month which can be sold in the markets at $0.34 per kilogram, according to miners. (Photo by Enrique Castro-Mendivil/Reuters)

The three orangutans at Pairi Daiza zoo, Belgium, developed a “special bond” with the otters after their river was run through the ape enclosure on March 2020. The zoo said it enriched both species’ environments. An animal – and this is even more the case of orangutans, with whom humans share 97 per cent of their DNA – must be entertained, occupied, challenged and kept busy mentally, emotionally and physically at all times. (Photo by Pascale Jones/The Sun)

Carolaine Reis and her son Miguel Alves, residents of the Aglomerado da Serra favela, wear a protective mask against the spread of the new Coronavirus (COVID-19) made by the seamstresses of the Remexe Favelinha studio, in the Aglomerado da Serra favela, on April 13, 2020 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Facial masks follow the protocol and guidelines defined by the Ministry of Health. Around 6,000 masks have already been produced. The masks are being distributed to a part of the population and sold throughout the country, in the amount of 5 reais per unit. (Photo by Pedro Vilela/Getty Images)