Communities affected by land disputes have used the occasion of International Women’s Day today to urge the government to free activist Tep Vanny. They also called for the release of civil society organization officials and an NEC official who are being held in prison. ...

With the passing of Deputy Prime Minister Sok An on Wednesday, Prime Minister Hun Sen has lost one of his closest right hand men, someone who has been by his side for more than three decades since the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1980. ...

Over a hundred families in Stung Treng province’s Srekor and Kbal Romea communes said yesterday that they have located around 2,000 hectares to relocate to when a scheduled test run for the Lower Sesan II dam this week leaves their villages flooded. ...

The National Election Committee plans to hold a two-day meeting in Preah Sihanouk province to review the June 4 commune elections, with members of the election monitoring coalition the “Situation Room” saying yesterday they plan to table recommendations to improve certain electoral procedures. ...

More than 100 residents living in Por Sen Chey district’s Ka Kab commune yesterday burned tyres while protesting over the construction of a railway that will lead to the Phnom Penh International Airport, claiming that people were not given notice of the construction. ...

Popular media outlets Radio Free Asia and Voice of America have become the latest to draw the attention of the government for allegedly not paying taxes, one week after a letter to the Cambodia Daily demanding more than $6 million in back taxes was leaked. ...

The Ministry of Defence will today hold an emergency meeting on what to do with two tear gas barrel bombs found in Svay Rieng province.​ The bombs are believed to have been dropped by the United States during the Vietnam War. ...

The Environment Ministry is to request the creation of six new protected areas to safeguard biodiversity and boost conservation in the country. Tim Sitha, deputy director of the general department of conservation, said the ministry has been studying the potential to establish the new areas.  ...

With Cambodia’s former opposition leader Kem Sokha languishing in a remote jail for more than three months now, international organisations and parliamentarians have renewed their calls for his immediate release and for the reversal of the controversial dissolution of his Cambodia National Rescue Party. ...

Malaysian-owned power infrastructure provider Pestech (Cambodia) Ltd has won a $26 million job to start on a new electricity project in Cambodia that will see Oddar Meanchey province connected to the national power grid, according to a filing on the Malaysian stock exchange.​ ​ ...

Banteay Meanchey provincial authorities yesterday began issuing a new border pass for residents who wish to cross into Thailand for business. The statement said the new border pass will cost $5 and be valid for two years for multiple entries in and out of Thailand.  ...

Two Mother Nature activists, who were released from prison yesterday, said they had been “robbed” of their freedom for the past five months after being arrested for documenting suspected illegal sand-bearing vessels in Koh Kong without evidence that they had committed a crime.​ ...

News that Laos will move ahead with the proposed 912-megawatt Pak Beng dam, which would be the third mainstream dam in Laos’ Lower Mekong River, has sparked criticism from environmental groups who say downstream countries should decide the fate of potentially harmful development projects. ...

Prospective voters ran into problems yesterday during the first publication of the country’s new voter lists. Citizens will have until January 14 to check their names and information on voter lists to confirm they are correct, either in person, at registration offices or online. ...

Political parties are scrambling to complete their internal processes and register ahead of this year’s commune elections, which are to be held in June. The National Election Committee (NEC) will be accepting registration applications for all parties’ candidates from March 3 to 5. ...

A government task force charged with eliminating illegal fishing on the Tonle Sap lake has destroyed more than 100 km of nets and other equipment seized in Kompong Chhnang and Kompong Thom provinces this month, officials said on Monday.   ...

The “Buy Khmer Products” campaign continues this year, in a bid to promote local products among Cambodian people.​Pan Sorasak, Minister of Commerce, said last Friday that the campaign is “a momentum to inspire and awaken Cambodian citizens to acknowledge the value of local products.” ...

Phnom Penh Autonomous Port (PPAP) will distribute a cash dividend of 1,059,039,488 riel ($261,148), or 256 riel per share, to its private shareholders for its 2016 operations, the port operator said in a filing to the Cambodian Securities Exchange (CSX). ...

Canadian mining firm Angkor Gold has received approval from the Ministry of Mines and Energy to extend its exploration licences for five tenements for an additional three years with the option of extending another four years after, the company said in a press release. ...

Cambodia’s National Election Committee yesterday concluded that its indelible ink – whose indelibility was called into question earlier this month when samples were reportedly washed off – is acceptable for use in the upcoming June 4 commune elections after publicly testing it on 16 people. ...