Phnom Penh City Hall yesterday washed its hands of the decadelong contentious Boeung Kak lake issue, saying it was closing its conflict resolution process, leaving seven families who had refused to accept the government’s offers in the lurch. ...

More than a tonne of rosewood and the plateless car carrying it were seized in Oddar Meanchey province yesterday after authorities received a report about a Vietnamese woman and her workers trying to set the vehicle on fire. ...

Cambodia has been asked to more than double its yearly contribution toward the fight against HIV/AIDS to at least $3.2 million in each of the next three years, an official from the National AIDS Authority said yesterday. ...

Police officers, gendarmes and Forestry Administration officials yesterday discovered a large cache of valuable, illegally felled wood – which locals say was destined for Vietnam – after raiding a house in Stung Treng province linked to a prominent timber trader. ...

A study published in the Malaria Journal last week suggests that to combat malaria, the outmoded approach of mass anti-malarial drug administration may be effective, but only if local community leaders play a prominent role. ...

The Land Management Ministry hosted a farewell party for residents of Phnom Penh’s iconic but crumbling White Building Saturday, serving up large quantities of noodles and bringing in Buddhist monks to bless the residents before they move. ...

Fearing that heavy rains will cause the Ta Mok reservoir in Oddar Meanchey province’s Anlong Veng district to overflow, or its walls to rupture, Water Resources and Meteorology Department officials are preparing to drain the reservoir with canals. ...

The World Bank will disburse some $540 million from 2018 to 2021 to finance economic development in Cambodia with a focus on supporting the implementation of the government’s Industrial Development Policy as well as other socio-economic projects. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen set the date for next year’s national election as July 29, officially backtracking on a deal his ruling CPP made with the opposition in 2014 to hold the poll during the dry season. ...

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Cambodia will pay her fourth visit to the country from August 8 to 18 to examine children’s rights, among other issues. ...

Cambodia’s foreign affairs minister and his Laotian counterpart will hold a two-day meeting in Phnom Penh this week to draft a letter to France requesting detailed maps to resolve a border dispute that flared up last month. ...

The government spent far less than half of its approved $5 billion budget for expenditures in 2017 during the first six months of the year, according to a new report by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF). ...

The Council of Ministers on Friday approved a national budget for next year that calls for more than $6 billion in spending, the largest increase ever proposed for the Kingdom, with big boosts for education, defence and the arts. ...

Farmers and agricultural NGOs slammed the seventh and final draft of a controversial agricultural law at a workshop in Phnom Penh yesterday, claiming that the law would benefit large corporations at the expense of small farmers if passed. ...

Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said royalist party Funcinpec will not be investigated for requesting funds from China, despite an article in the Law on Political Parties banning parties from receiving financial support from foreign governments and institutions. ...

A new shelter for the indigent elderly – plus hundreds of new community-based associations for older people – is in the works under a national plan on ageing launched by Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Peace Palace yesterday. ...

Representatives of more than 1,000 families from Prek Sleng commune in Kandal province’s Kandal Steung district went to the commune and district hall yesterday to request that authorities resolve their land dispute with the Heng Development Company. ...

The Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC) established a tax desk at their offices that will be staffed by employees from the General Department of Taxation, in hopes of easing the burden of registration for foreign companies. ...

The Ministry of Health’s communicable disease control department has produced a short video in advance of next month’s Khmer New Year warning revellers of the dangers of consuming rice wine, which has been linked to multiple deaths. ...

About 50 people representing 520 villagers from nine districts in Banteay Meanchey province who claim to be disabled soldiers on Monday asked the provincial hall to intervene and request that the government help them get pensions.   ...