Unusually low levels in Laos' waterways have put a stop to cruise-boat tourism on the Mekong River and dried up several waterfalls, media reports said Tuesday.

The Cabinet today approved the Finance Ministry's financial assistance worth Bt655 million to the Lao government.

Construction of the first private hospital for mothers and children paid for by an overseas Vietnamese family in Laos started last Friday in Vientiane.

Sandbars protrude here and there as the Mekong River courses past Thailand. To the naked eye, it's the driest season in decades, villagers say.

Residents of Chiang Rai plan to rally outside the Chinese embassy in Bangkok next month to protest against Beijing's dam management, which they say has caused severe water shortages this year and heavy floods two years ago along the Mekong River.

A California congressman has joined human rights activists in voicing concern over the treatment of ethnic Hmong deported by Thailand late last year to their native Laos and now being confined in isolated villages inaccessible to international news media and rights groups.

Four two-story buildings set amid lantern-filled gardens create "a natural atmosphere that blends into the area." The location puts guests within walking distance of night markets and the Mekong River.

The current water level on the mainstream of the Mekong River is significantly below average in northern Laos and Thailand, according to the Mekong River Commission .

Residents in Laos are being urged to reduce their water consumption to help ease drought conditions and restore the Mekong River.

There's much to see and do in Laos-whether visit historic and charming Luang Prabang in the north, enjoy eco-tourism in Vang Vieng, marvel at the Plain of Jars, or behold the Khmer beauty of Wat Phou in the south.

Severe drought has dropped the Mekong River to its lowest level in nearly 20 years, halting some cargo traffic and boat tours on the Asian waterway that is the lifeblood for 65 million people in six countries, a draft report said.

Thousands of people living in a fertile wetland on the edge of Vientiane may lose their livelihoods and be relocated as part of the capital's urbanization plans, the Food and Agriculture Organization says.

Lao President Choummaly Sayasone departed Tuesday for a four-day visit to Japan to mark the 55th anniversary of bilateral ties between the two Asian nations.

On the day that the Lao government is finally allowing limited access to some 3,000 Hmong refugees forced back to Laos, concern has been raised by Lao and Hmong human rights organizations and the Center for Public Policy Analysis that hundreds of Lao Hmong refugees have been coerced into signing false "confessions" by authorities in Laos.

Vietnam and Laos will work closer together to implement joint hydro-electric power projects, including the Sekarman I plant, to ensure they are completed on schedule.

Source: MAG Website: http:/ / www.maginternational.org/ laopdr Metalworkers in Ban Naphia, Xieng Khouang province produce about 150,000 spoons a year - made almost entirely from war scrap.

Golf and the great Lao land grab By Beaumont Smith VIENTIANE - It is easy to be seduced by the peaceful rural scenes, punctuated by rice fields, vegetable patches and reed-filled wetlands.

Lao and Hmong-Americans have conducted recent demonstrations in front of the Lao Embassy in Washington, D.C., in opposition to the forced repatriation of Lao Hmong refugees and human rights violations in Laos that hundreds of Lao Hmong refugees and asylum seekers recently forced by the Thai Army back to Laos have been coerced into signing false a ...

Water levels in the northern Mekong River are at record-low levels, posing a threat to water supply, navigation and irrigation along a stretch of water that is home to millions, a regional official said.

The German government has promised US$2.3 million to former opium poppy farmers in Laos to help them switch to other crops while maintaining their living conditions.