Military police have identified the suspected leader of what they believe to be a sex trafficking ring masquerading as a masseuse-training agency as a 40-year-old businesswoman with Cambodian and Thai citizenship who owns karaoke parlors in both countries.   ...

Cambodia’s two largest ports and the country’s biggest transport associations agreed yesterday to cut fees on container shipments in response to newly appointed Transportation Minister Sun Chanthol’s industry-wide call on Monday for solutions to reduce the high cost of logistics and transport. ...

As the government fends off continued accusations of nepotism within its institutions, a royal decree issued in early March revealed the appointment of four official assistants to four-star general and deputy prime minister Tea Banh, two of whom are the general’s own sons. ...

Cambodia’s population of spotted Indochinese leopards will be extinct by 2018 unless action is taken to deal with the “snaring crisis” in Mondolkiri province, where the few remaining leopards live, according to the author of a forthcoming paper on the issue.   ...

Shares in Phnom Penh SEZ debuted on Cambodia’s nascent stock exchange yesterday morning, ending the day at 2,890 riel ($0.71), down slightly more than 3 per cent from its opening price of 2,980 riel after an underwhelming level of trading. ...

The Court of Appeal on Monday denied bail to four rights workers and an election official imprisoned in connection with a sex scandal surrounding deputy opposition leader Kem Sokha, upholding the Phnom Penh Municipal Court’s decision last month.    ...

Police in Ratanakkiri province say they are investigating the origin of a pile of first grade logs stashed along a road built by and leading out of a Vietnamese-owned rubber plantation that has long been the target of illegal logging accusations.   ...

The Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME) yesterday sent the newly-drafted petroleum law to civil society organizations and other partner institutions working in the extractive sector for consultations before submitting it to the Council of Ministers for approval by the end of this year. ...

Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron on Wednesday defended the decision not to expel a senior official from the ministry after he was arrested for sexually assaulting his interpreter during a visit to South Korea in May, saying the crime was not serious—“not rape.” ...

Tourism Minister Thong Khon said on Sunday he did not believe an upcoming hike in the cost of tickets for foreigners visiting Angkor Wat will cause fewer tourists to come to Cambodia, with surveys showing most who visit the country are prepared to pay more. ...

The government sold off more than 10,000 cubic meters of illegally logged wood in direct negotiations with private businessmen over the past two days, according to a Finance Ministry official, after abandoning efforts to auction it off due to a lack of interest. ...

South Korean financial giant Woori Bank, widely seen as the preferred bidder for a 50 per cent stake in Cambodian microlender Prasac, is out of the running as it was not presented to the central bank as an official bidder, local banking officials have said. ...

In the midst of annual minimum wage negotiations, Minister of Labour Ith Samheng used a visit from members of the Southeast Asian Youth Programme to reiterate that the minimum wage for garment workers would reach at least $160 a month by 2018, state media reported. ...

The U.S. is continuing to urge the government to change and clarify key parts of a controversial trade union law that took effect in April, including an amendment to cover civil servants, the U.S.’s international labor affairs representative said on Tuesday. ...

An unlicensed health worker charged in Cambodia with causing a mass HIV infection by treating patients with reused needles said on Tuesday that he had always sterilized needles before using them and has no idea how the infection was spread. ...

An aggressive marketing campaign for a New Zealand brand of breast milk substitute – including giveaways to new parents in a hospital – has been condemned as “appalling” and “completely illegal” by a body that monitors Cambodia’s strict rules on the marketing of formula milk. ...

The cracks in Mam Sonando’s recently revived Beehive Social Democratic Party are widening, with a lawsuit against the party president, alleging he embezzled funds, slated to be filed at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court today on behalf of the party’s own leadership. ...

Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmakers Mao Monivann and Son Chhay visited a disputed area on the border between Ratanakkiri’s O’Yadav district and Vietnam on Monday and urged the government to take action over several ponds allegedly dug by the Vietnamese in Cambodian territory. ...

Nearly four decades after fleeing Cambodia as a child, a tearful Michael Vannak Khem Misie­wicz returned to his home country in De­cember 2010 on the U.S. Navy guid­ed-missile destroyer he commanded; his fall from grace has been equally dramatic. ...

Cambodian casino operator NagaCorp Ltd. posted a net profit of $172.6 million last year, a 27 per cent increase over the previous year, attributing the surge to increased business volume across all gaming segments at its NagaWorld casino complex in Phnom Penh. ...