The government has ordered the beachfront Sokha Hotel in Preah Sihanouk province to open a section of fence that blocks access to a stretch of beach, as well as construct a direct, paved route for pedestrians and cyclists making their way to the waterside. ...

The Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) has started the process of drafting two laws aimed at protecting witnesses and whistleblowers in an effort to increase their efficiency in fighting corruption. The ACU plans for drafts of the two laws to be finished later this year. ...

The number of new HIV infections in Cambodia nearly doubled over the past decade—the greatest increase in Asia—while less than a third of Cambodians living with the virus are receiving medication to slow its development, according to a report released this week. ...

Cambodia’s credit bureau is looking to leverage the resources and experience of US-based Equifax, one of the three biggest American credit report agencies, to expand its credit analysis capabilities and introduce new products to the local market, its chief executive officer said yesterday. ...

The agency tasked with investigating abuse by Malaysia’s security forces said that claims of fatal abuse against foreign maids—including Cambodians—at a detention center were untrue, though it said the center where the abuse allegedly occurred was in urgent need of attention. ...

A new survey of what the country’s 700,000 garment workers earn and spend in a typical month has concluded that the median take-home pay of a garment factory employee is $191, higher than the minimum wage, but lower than what employers have claimed. ...

A group of villagers in Mondolkiri province filed a lawsuit this week against three local border police officers and a forestry official accusing them of allowing Vietnamese loggers to sneak across the nearby border and illegally log the forests they depend on for a living. ...

Ministry of Interior officials will meet to discuss the internationally condemned Law on Associations and Non-governmental Organisations (LANGO) with representatives of the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (CCC), officials said yesterday following a letter sent by the group to Interior Minister Sar Kheng last week. ...

The ‘entertainment resort’ that Hong Kong-listed casino junket investor Jimei International Entertainment Group Ltd wants to develop in Cambodia is likely to be located in the coastal resort town of Sihanoukville (pictured), on the Gulf of Thailand, says Union Gaming Securities Asia Ltd. ...

Outdoor tables and chairs belonging to bars and restaurants on Sihanoukville’s Serendipity Beach were removed by local authorities on Tuesday as part of a campaign to beautify the city’s beaches by ridding them of illegal commercial activity, an official said on Wednesday. ...

The owner of a luxury timber shop in Phnom Penh was fined 64.189 million riel (about $16,047) in absentia yesterday after being convicted of transporting, trading and stocking timber without authorization from the Forest Administration, according to court officials.     ...

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 International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has provided a $13 million loan to support a higher education campus for the Acleda Institute of Business that will help raise education standards, enhance students’ employability and encourage sustainable economic growth. ...

A report published last week by the UN Action for Cooperation Against Trafficking in Persons (UN-ACT) says the main cause of human trafficking from Cambodia to China was a lack of jobs and low wages, forcing many young women to look at opportunities abroad. ...

A Kampong Speu-based NGO has accused a police officer and several rangers working for the provincial Environment Department of seizing more than 100 hectares of Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary, demanding a court order to restore the land and hold the parties to account. ...

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. ...

Leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Sunday signed a declaration establishing a formal economic, political, security and socio-cultural community. The AEC is set to become fully functional December 31. ...

Two nightclub security guards have been hospitalized with bullet wounds after a drunken reveler shot them with an AR-15 rifle in front of the Manhattan Cafe club in central Phnom Penh in the early hours of on Monday morning, military police officials said. ...

As Phnom Penh sees a sprouting of organic grocery stores across the city, the newest entrant in the market says it will go a step further and sell chemical-free pesticides to farmers to encourage the growing trend of organic products and farming techniques. ...