American journalist Nate Thayer sits bandaged in a hotel room on Oct. 15, 1989, in Aranyaprathet, Thailand, after he was injured in a land mine explosion. Thayer survived several brushes with death over decades covering conflict in Southeast Asia and was the last Western journalist to interview Pol Pot. He was found dead at his home in Falmouth, Mass., on Tuesday. AP hide caption
Cambodia
In this photo provided by Cambodia's Fresh News, smoke rises as a fire burns Thursday through the Grand Diamond City Casino and Hotel near a Cambodia-Thai international border gate in Poipet, Cambodia. Fresh News via AP hide caption
Lan Phu and young Lisa Phu at Six Flags Great Adventure in 1982 Lisa Phu hide caption
Bou Meng, second from left, former prison survivor, is helped into the courtroom before the hearings against Khieu Samphan, former Khmer Rouge head of state, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Thursday, Sept. 22, 2022. Heng Sinith/AP hide caption
In this photo provided by Wonders of the Mekong taken on June 14, 2022, a man touches a giant freshwater stingray before it was released back into the Mekong River in the northeastern province of Stung Treng, Cambodia. Chhut Chheana/AP hide caption
Local security personnel try to grab a banner from supporters of the Cambodia National Rescue Party in front of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Thursday in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Heng Sinith/AP hide caption
Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi leaves the International Court of Justice after the first day of three days of hearings in The Hague, Netherlands, in December 2019. Peter Dejong/AP file photo hide caption
Mayor Sokhary Chau addresses the assembly during the Lowell City Council swearing-in ceremony on Monday in Lowell, Mass. Julia Malakie/AP hide caption
Sinet An, who was born with a disability, is the star of Cambodia's women's wheelchair basketball team, which celebrated their first win in an international tournament just before the pandemic hit. With Cambodia in lockdown, she hones her skills in virtual practice sessions from her home in Chuuok village in Kandal province. Above: a practice session on June 24. Cindy Liu for NPR hide caption
Dr. Amir Khalil, a veterinarian from the international animal welfare organization Four Paws International, comforts Kaavan during his examination at the zoo in Islamabad, before leaving for Cambodia. Anjum Naveed/AP hide caption
'He Will Be A Happier Elephant': Vet Describes What It Was Like To Rescue Kaavan
Magawa, a rat that has been trained to detect explosives, was awarded the PDSA Gold Medal on Friday for bravery in searching out unexploded land mines in Cambodia. PDSA via AP hide caption
Former Khmer Rouge prison chief Kaing Guek Eav appears in a courtroom of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia in 2007. Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP via Getty Images hide caption
Red peppercorns beginning to mature before harvest at La Plantation. Michael Sullivan/NPR hide caption
A view of Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, from the riverfront of a temple complex outside the city. Michael Sullivan for NPR hide caption
'Houses On The River Will Fall': Cambodia's Sand Mining Threatens Vital Mekong
Fish broker Khout Phany, 39, (under umbrella) sits while fishermen bring their catch to be weighed in Chhnok Tru, a fishing village at the southern tip of the Tonle Sap lake where it meets the river. Michael Sullivan/NPR hide caption
Leaders of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, (from left) Sam Rainsy, Mu Sochua and Kem Sokha, give speeches in Phnom Penh in 2014. Rainsy and Sochua now live in self-imposed exile outside the country, while Sokha has been jailed since 2017. Omar Havana/Getty Images hide caption
A handout photo released by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on November 16, 2018, shows former Khmer Rouge leader Nuon Chea during his war crimes trial last year in Phnom Penh. Mark Peters/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
An April 2018 file photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency shows the Liaoning aircraft carrier accompanied by navy frigates and submarines conducting exercises in the South China Sea. Li Gang/AP hide caption
Nheb Thai, a Cambodian refugee who was deported from the U.S., serves a meal to other deportees in Battambang last year. Cambodia has taken in 566 deportees since inking a 2002 pact with the U.S. that opened the door for hundreds with criminal records to be repatriated. Tang Chhin Sothy/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Cambodian officials discovered 1,026 pieces of ivory hidden among marble in an abandoned container shipped from Mozambique. Cambodia has emerged as an ivory trade hub in recent years. Ban Chork/AFP/Getty Images hide caption
Khieu Samphan, left, former Khmer Rouge head of state, stands at the dock in a court room during a hearing at the U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Friday. Nhet Sok/AP/Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia hide caption
Chinese border patrol gunboats come downriver from the Yunnan province about once a month in a show of force to keep the Mekong River safe, as China's Xinhua News Agency puts it. Michael Sullivan for NPR hide caption