A three-year-old girl smokes a cigar during the Saint Simon celebrations in San Andres Itzapa, Guatemala, on October 28, 2019. Thousands believe that the saint helps people find work, solves family problems and cures illnesses. (Photo by Orlando Estrada/AFP Photo)

An Indian Sikh devotee takes a dip in the holy sarover (water tank) at the Golden Temple on the eve of “Ghallughara Diwas”, the 29th Anniversary of Operation Bluestar, in Amritsar on June 5, 2013. The 1984 assault on the Golden Temple complex by the Indian army was conducted in an attempt to arrest separatists Sikh leader Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his militant followers who had initiated a movement for a separate Sikh state. (Photo by Narinder Nanu/AFP Photo)

A monkey is led by its trainer Qi Defang during training for a circus in Suzhou, Anhui province, November 29, 2014. Suzhou is known as the hometown of circus troupes in China and has more than 300 circus troupes. (Photo by William Hong/Reuters)

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 truck filled with 500 cats thought to be destined for restaurants was intercepted on Wednesday in Xuzhou, eastern China’s Jiangsu Province. Officer Sun Hai said he and a colleague pulled the vehicle over during a routine traffic check. The officer commented, “The driver said it was a full load of rabbit, but after we instructed him to uncover the load we were shocked to find a full load of living cats.

A CRH train is seen passing through Nanjing South Railway Station, which is part of the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway Line, on March 27, 2011 in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province of China. The High-Speed railway line is 1,318 kilometres long, running between Beijing and Shanghai. The line will open on June 10, 2011. (Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images)

The Angel of The North at Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, UK with a halo drawn in sky using a light on a drone, captured during a 25-second exposure on January 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian Sproat/Picture Exclusive)

A reveler takes part in the 19th Gay Pride Parade at downtown Caracas, Venezuela on June 30, 2019. (Photo by Federico Parra/AFP Photo)