The three appointees are Nuth Sokhom, who will be the deputy chief of the NEC, Dim Sovannarom, and Hel Sarat from the Khmer Nationality Party. They were selected among five candidates, according to CPP National Assembly spokesperson Chheang Vun. ...

The government has decided to transfer nearly 100 hectares of land on Koh Sdach island in Koh Kong province’s Kiri Sakor district to local residents, who were concerned they would be forced to relocate by development companies. ...

Fishermen on the Tonle Sap river are smelling success: The season’s first harvest of the fish now being crushed into the famously pungent prahok has hauled in a bounty set to almost double last year’s catch. ...

China Energy Engineering Corp Ltd will be conducting a second feasibility study on producing safe drinking water from the Kamchay hydropower dam in Kampot province after the first study showed that production costs were higher than initially expected. ...

A representative of more than 100 families involved in a land dispute with a rubber company is seeking the help of a local rights group after being ordered to appear before the Oddar Meanchey Provincial Court on Friday. ...

Cambodia exported more than 108,000 tonnes of sand to India in 36 separate shipments between 2013 and 2015, according to Indian customs data obtained yesterday, contradicting Cambodian customs data that show no sand being sent there at all. ...

A lawyer for Eurth Ang, the man accused of murdering political analyst Kem Ley, has asked for his March 1 trial to be delayed because he has not received the case file or spoken to his new client yet. ...

Cambodia lags behind much of the world in terms of innovation, placing last among other countries in Asia despite significant inflows of foreign investment capital that could be used to develop innovative technologies, according to a new report. ...

Representatives of holdout families who are refusing to evacuate two Stung Treng province villages that will be flooded by the Lower Sesan II dam traveled to Phnom Penh to petition the Mines and Energy Ministry for help on Friday. ...

A Ministry of Interior directive requiring provincial approval for work done on commune halls prompted a thinly veiled threat from a ministry spokesman yesterday that a popular opposition commune chief could be arrested if she didn’t comply. ...

The waters of the Koh Rong Archipelago may yet receive an additional layer of administrative protection, the Ministry of Environment announced last week, although how the proposed “marine park” will function remains to be seen, stakeholders said yesterday. ...

Six officials have filed a complaint to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court asking for their Funcinpec membership to be reinstated after they were removed from the party by its leader, Prince Norodom Ranariddh, at the end of last month. ...

A deadline for an earn-in agreement involving Australian-listed Medusa Mining and Sea Resources to explore the Prek Kampi region of Kratie province passed on Thursday with no deal being reached, according to a UK-based news website. ...

The Cambodian Legal Education Center (CLEC), a rights group, is investigating a mother’s claim that her daughter is being abused and held against her will by her employers in Malaysia, Moeun Tola, head of CLEC’s labor program, said yesterday. ...

In the latest chapter of what is proving to be an arduous struggle to protect a government demarcated Community Forest in Battambang province, 36 hectares of the land have reportedly been given over to outsiders including a military official. ...

Respecting labor standards in Cambodian factories will benefit the garment manufacturing industry in the long-run as more international brands will be tempted to source from the country, labor experts said yesterday at a round-table discussion in Phnom Penh. ...

Australia’s Fairfax media has obtained a leaked official report into a troubled and controversial Cambodian rail project being funded by AusAID and the Asian Development Bank. The report outlines poor construction, botched surveys leading to the evictions of families ...

An adviser to Iran’s parliament speaker said Saturday that a four-strong team of Cambodian lawmakers is planned to pay an official visit to Iran tomorrow. The delegation will be led by Cambodian Parliament Vice-Speaker Negonen Nehel, Sheikholeslam added. ...

Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday summonsed three senior leaders of Cambodia’s largest independent garment union for questioning over claims they embezzled money meant to be paid to workers in compensation following an industrial dispute, a court official has said. ...

Cambodian women continue to be poorly represented in government following commune elections in May, the Committee to Promote Women in Politics said yesterday. This reality, the committee said, is endangering the Kingdom’s chances of meeting its UN Millennium Development Goals. ...