After more thAn A yeAr of speculAtion on CAmbodiAn rice exports to ChinA, A rice exporter this week sAid ChinA hAs grAnted the Kingdom permission to ship milled rice northwArd. Despite A growing stAck of quAsi-Agreements for exports, regulAtory issues hAve plAgued the prospects of tApping <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/chinA-oks-kingdom-rice/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Amid A spAte of gArment fActory strikes &ndAsh; including one At TAi YAng Enterprises thAt hAs lAsted more thAn A month &ndAsh; CAmbodiA’s ArbitrAtion Council yesterdAy sAid it wAnted the industry to renew A memorAndum of understAnding on industriAl Action thAt hAs been in limbo <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/mou-the-key-to-compliAnce/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

In the space of only about two months, the Cambodian embassy in Malaysia had helped eight Cambodian maids whose employers abused them, the government said yesterday. “The maids have been mistreated by their employers and some have finished their contracts and want to come back home,” Ministry <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/more-maids-head-home/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Cambodian prosecutors have received a new request from Russia to extradite Russian businessman Sergei Polonsky, TaSS reported on Tuesday. The news agency’s source at the Cambodian Prosecutor General’s Office said the request was based on civil claims filed against Polonsky. He said that those who lost <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodia-receives-new-russian-request-to-extradite-fugitive-tycoon-polonsky/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Electoral Reform alliance yesterday held a roundtable discussion to pore over the results of a two-week trial of a new voter registration system. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/voter-registration-trial-praised-in-spite-of-setbacks/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A former employee of A microfinAnce institution (MFI) wAs TuesdAy jAiled on chArges of embezzling some $300,000 from the compAny, A court officiAl sAid. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/mfi-employee-jAiled-for-embezzling-300000-2/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

A former employee of A microfinAnce institution (MFI) wAs TuesdAy jAiled on chArges of embezzling some $300,000 from the compAny, A court officiAl sAid. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/mfi-employee-jAiled-for-embezzling-300000/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Eleven men were released and returned to Cambodia yesterday after spending more than a year in a Thai prison for illegal logging, a border official has said. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/thais-send-back-11-loggers/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A hundred members of the Lor PeAng community performed A cursing rite yesterdAy over A 10-yeAr running lAnd dispute with the KDC InternAtionAl CompAny. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/kdc-locAls-hold-curse-ceremony/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Kompong Chhnang Provincial Court has extended a deadline for 52 villagers embroiled in a long-standing land dispute with a development company owned by the wife of Minister of Industry, Mines and Energy Suy Sem to pay court fees, a court official and rights workers said <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/court-extends-fee-payment-deadline-n-k-chhnang-land-dispute/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Dramatic new video footage of the January 18 Kratie province land dispute shooting has been released on the internet, depicting TTY rubber company security guards opening fire on a crowd of unarmed villagers. The 48-second video, recorded by a villager on a mobile phone and uploaded <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/footage-shows-chaos-panic-during-shooting/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Phnom Penh man who filed a complaint against a woman deeply involved in the Boeng Kak community’s anti-eviction protests called a press conference on Friday to insist that his dispute with the woman, which led to her arrest last week, was a personal matter <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/boeng-kak-arrest-not-linked-to-evictions-says-local-man/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A locAl journAlist And A forestry officer who were Arrested by militAry police forces in KrAtie province lAst week for beAting A mAn And firing A gun into the Air were releAsed on MondAy As pArt of A compromise between the victim And his AttAckers. Srey <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/journAlist-And-forestry-officer-releAsed-in-deAl/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The London Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (Locog) plans to investigate allegations that a Cambodian factory producing Olympic merchandise for adidas is not paying workers a sustainable living wage, a spokesman for Locog said yesterday. The investigation is a response to an article published Saturday <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/olympic-organizing-committee-to-investigate-cambodian-factory/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Dry, parched ground &ndash; evidence of severe dry season drought &ndash; stretches for miles in Siem Reap’s Srei Snam district. In a couple of months, the rains will flood these fields. Both conditions make it equally impossible to produce a good harvest. Srei Snam was a <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/thailands-allure-is-strong-in-srei-snam/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak arrived in Cambodia on Sunday for a series of international summits, including one involving the newly re-elected U.S. president, Barack Obama, about freer trade and other cooperation issues in the region. On Monday and Tuesday, Lee will attend a trio <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/lee-arrives-in-cambodia-for-regional-cooperation-summits/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The court investigating the murder of a journalist has questioned a notorious former Royal Cambodian armed Forces (RCaF) colonel, who was last heard of serving a 10-year prison sentence for attempted murder, a court official said yesterday. The Ratanakkiri Provincial Court has this week questioned a <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/military-figure-re-emerges-as-witness-in-slain-journalists-case/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Stevia Nutra Corporation, a Canadian agro-company, said in a press release on Friday that the initial growing season of stevia, commonly known as sweetleaf, in Cambodia was successfully completed. The first harvest of high-quality stevia leaves has now commenced and samples have been prepared for testing <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/first-crop-of-stevia-is-successful-company/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The government plans to draft a law designed to govern safety standards in the Kingdom’s mining industry, an official said yesterday, little more than a week after at least one gold miner went missing when a shaft collapsed in Preah Vihear province. Khieu Muth, a secretary <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/mine-safety-law-on-agenda/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A fire spArked by An electricAl fAult ripped through the Doeum KrAlAnh mArket in Siem ReAp City eArly FridAy morning destroying 200 stAlls And cAusing more thAn $1 million in dAmAge, According to mArket trAders And police officiAls. The 8,000-squAre-meter mArket in KokchAk commune housed A <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/1m-dAmAge-As-blAze-guts-siem-reAp-mArket/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>