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>

Environmentalists and NGOs are threatening to sue developers of a controversial hydropower dam, claiming the project would cause irreversible damage to the Mekong River. The Don Sahong dam, a 260-megawatt project proposed on a site less than two kilometres north of the Cambodian-Lao border, is expected <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/ngos-threaten-to-sue-over-don-sahong-dam/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Many groups, including the ruling party, would benefit from a proposed access to information law &ndash; which would provide transparency when it comes to the government’s development plans and spending &ndash; a Council of Ministers official said yesterday. Tuot Lux, a legal expert who has been <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/official-pushes-for-an-information-access-act/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The National Bank of Cambodia yesterday granted Industrial and Commercial Bank of China a financial business licence, according to a report on aastocks, a Chinese stocks news service <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/kingdom-okays-icbc/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Justice Minister Ang Vong VAthAnA hAs never interfered in A judiciAl decision, he sAid during A speech in front of A hAlf-vAcAnt NAtionAl Assembly yesterdAy. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/minister-hAnds-off-judiciAry/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Election watchdog Comfrel criticised National assembly President Heng Samrin for a lack of commitment to creating a quota for female parliamentarians in a report presented yesterday. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/not-enough-women-in-na-report/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A fArmer in OddAr MeAnchey province discovered A cAche of unexploded bombs on SAturdAy while excAvAting pArt of his lAnd to creAte A pond for irrigAtion. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/fArmer-uneArths-28-bombs/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>