Minister in Charge of Border Affairs Var Kimhong yesterday moved to quash the latest outbreak of rumours that National Assembly President Heng Samrin’s native village of Thlok Trach would be given to Vietnam in a land swap. ...

Cambodia will support the Don Sahong hydroelectric dam planned to be built in south Laos less than two kilometers from the Cambodian border, while civil society groups continue to appeal to regional authorities to halt construction on environmental grounds. ...

A senior member of the Electoral Reform Alliance yesterday appealed for the National Election Committee to be given special jurisdictional powers over certain areas around the country during election campaigns so that it can ensure freedom of assembly. ...

Japan inked the $16 million deal through the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in February 2016. However Chou Kimtry, deputy director of the municipal department of transport, said yesterday the traffic lights will not be operational until February 2018. ...

Beijing has agreed to increase the numBer of Cambodian rice exporters allowed to sell to the Chinese mainland. The Ministry of Agriculture has Been advised that eight more companies will Be granted licenses, taking the total to 34. ...

More than 400 pieces of luxury thnong wood suspected to be felled by a local community were seized by authorities in Pursat province’s Phnom Samkos Wildlife Sanctuary on Thursday following a tip-off from a local reporter. ...

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. ...

Stung Treng provincial authorities have vowed to demolish the Sre Pok Bridge ahead of the testing of the Lower Sesan II dam – which will submerge a number of villages – and warned that police will be deployed should villagers protest. ...

Controversial amendments to the Law on Political Parties have steamrolled through the legislative process and are likely to be signed into law this week, kicking up a chorus of concerns from the opposition, civil society and international rights groups. ...

A Kampong Thom provincial military police officer is being forced to issue a public apology to Kampong Thom High School teachers after he cursed at them for instructing his daughter to change her clothes to match the school uniform. ...

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. ...

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. ...

A set of controversial laws and constitutional amendments was quietly signed by Senate President Say Chhum in place of the King last week, going into effect immediately despite the Justice Ministry previously claiming there would be a promulgation period. ...

Government officials today shot down rumours that Cambodia would be issuing its own national cryptocurrency, despite international media coverage and a high-profile government official’s plan to attend an event organized by the company responsible for the claims. ...

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.   ...

As part of ongoing education reforms, a new curriculum set to be implemented in 2018 will address the lack of career counselling in high schools across Cambodia, a Ministry of Education official told attendees of an education forum yesterday. ...

A five-year pilot program is being created to integrate arts and culture into public schools throughout the country, and may help Cambodians develop a better understanding of their roots and the creative ability to take on global challenges. ...

A Koh Kong environmental official yesterday said a company with a sand-washing facility in an area where the Ministry of Mines and Energy last month banned sand dredging would be allowed to keep and operate its facility. ...

Cambodia and China are close to inking an agreement that would bring the Kingdom another step closer to developing its own nuclear technology, officials said yesterday, although it would not be used initially to bolster its electricity production. ...

The Constitutional Council yesterday approved four sets of controversial amendments to Cambodia’s election laws, greenlighting changes that will pave the way for the main opposition party’s parliamentary seats to be redistributed in the event of its dissolution. ...