Laos activist assassinated in cafe shooting

Anousa Luangsuphom, a prominent activist and critic of the government in Laos, was shot dead in an attack at a coffee shop in the capital, Vientiane. The 25-year-old ran a Facebook page where people share criticism of the government. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have called for an urgent independent investigation into his killing. Independent civil society and media are severely restricted in Communist Laos, a one-party state in south-east Asia that offers little space for dissenting opinions.