Two Phnom Penh economic police officers were charged with misappropriation of public funds Tuesday by the municipal court and placed in pretrial detention at Prey Sar prison, according to court staff. Theng Ramy, a clerk for the court’s prosecution office, identified the charged officers as Sok href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/economic-police-officers-charged-for-taking-payment/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy warned that the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) would stop negotiation with the Cambodian People’s Party if there is no agreement on reform of members of National Election Committee (NEC). The CPP and CNRP failed to issue joint statement in their href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/opposition-warns-to-end-negotiation-stage-protest/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

The latest version of the government’s draft law on NGOs, which was approved by the Council of Ministers in January, is identical to an earlier version made available to civil society in 2011, with several outstanding concerns still intact, the Cambodian Center for Human Rights href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/old-problems-persist-in-new-ngo-draft-law/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

For months now, Daun Penh district security forces, identifiable by their dark blue uniforms, black motorbike helmets and merciless truncheon swinging, have been unleashed on protesters, opposition and otherwise, as the all-too-willing enforcers of government-approved crackdowns. But as district forces have begun targeting more journalists during href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/security-dressed-down/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Small food and beverage makers are at risk of being uncertified when the ASEAN economic community takes shape in 2015, with the vast majority far from achieving international quality and safety standards, a government official says. Him Phanith, the deputy director of National Productivity Center, said href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/standards-must-improve-official/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Cambodia on Friday reported 71 landmine casualties in the first four months of 2014, an increase of 61 percent from 44 casualties for the same period last year. The report by the Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority showed that during the January-April period, 10 href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/landmines-kill-10-cambodians-injure-61-in-4-months/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

With all 11 senators from the opposition boycotting their seats, the Senate on Thursday passed three controversial judiciary laws which critics say will tighten government control of the courts. The ruling CPP’s 44 senators passed the laws without change, said CPP senator and Senate spokesman Mam href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/controversial-judiciary-laws-pass-without-change/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Thailand’s military coup has reoriented Thai-Cambodian relations with surprising effects. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen’s overt enmity and confrontation towards Thailand over the past several years have become conciliatory and accommodating for the time being. Whether this new pattern of bilateral ties is solidified depends href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/coup-reorients-relations-with-cambodia/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

After years of ever-brisker sales, the smartphone market may be plateauing. Cambodians spent more than $300 million on smartphones last year, a 38 per cent increase from 2012’s figure of about $220 million, according to data from Singapore-based research firm GfK. Some 907,000 smartphones were sold in href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/smartphone-sales-slowing/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Four “one-stop” offices to process documentation for Cambodians seeking legal work in Thailand will open on Tuesday after the Ministry of Labor issued a directive last week outlining how the migration process will operate, according to the head of the Ministry of Interior’s passport department. Mao href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/four-offices-to-open-for-thailand-bound-workers/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Authorities in Mondolkiri province prevented hundreds of ethnic minority members from marching through Sen Monorom City to mark International Day of the World’s Indigenous People on Saturday, claiming it would confuse tourists. Marches elsewhere were allowed to go ahead. Doung Pen said Sunday that he was href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/indigenous-people-day-march-blocked-in-mondolkiri/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Phnom Penh security forces on Sunday blocked activists from riding their bicycles around the city to promote their campaign against the pending construction of a hydropower dam in Koh Kong province, claiming the organizers failed to ask City Hall for permission. The NGO Mother Nature has href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/city-hall-blocks-bike-ride-against-hydro-project/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Cambodia has approximately 1.9 million agricultural households with about 8.5 million people, or 57 percent of the country’s 14.96 million people, according to the first-ever agriculture census report released on Wednesday. “The 1.9 million agricultural households were engaged in growing of crops that were undertaken in href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodia-has-1-9-mln-agricultural-households-census/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

NagaCorp Ltd, the operator of the NagaWorld casino resort (pictured) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, says it has commissioned “an independent professional party to review the internal controls of the company and its subsidiarieswith a focus on anti-money laundering”. The firm gives the information in its interim href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/nagacorp-commissions-independent-report-on-aml-risk/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

At least 50 opposition party youth members and supporters are asking for permission to join the US-led fight against Islamic State militants, a leading activist said yesterday. In return, they hope the US will help them fight Vietnamese encroachment in Cambodia and take back the island href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cnrp-youth-well-fight-isis/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Less than a week away from the start of the new school year, the government is short on teachers. Every year, the government struggles to recruit enough instructors to keep pace with enrollment rates and replace those who have retired, left teaching or passed away. The href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/ministry-facing-teacher-shortage/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Despite the Cambodian Stock Exchange (CSX) getting off to a sluggish start over the past three years, local university students are seemingly already on the way to becoming good stock-pickers. The winners, two students from Zaman University who went by the team name of Dark href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodian-students-win-out-on-asean-stock-markets/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Many types of Vietnamese goods have faced strong competition of imported products from nations in the Southeast Asian region, while local businesses have met difficulties in broadening the presence of their products in these markets. For the last ten years, many businesses in Ho Chi Minh href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/presence-of-vietnamese-goods-limited-in-regional-market/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Phnom Penh governor Pa Socheatvong used an inauguration ceremony for new buildings at Wat Sras Chak on Tuesday to call on politicians and civil society groups to stop distracting Buddhist monks with activities unrelated to religion. Speaking to hundreds of people at a ceremony to inaugurate href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/phnom-penh-governor-wants-separation-of-pagodas-politics/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...

Less than a week after Laos declared its “sovereign right” to develop hydropower regardless of neighbouring countries’ objections, the Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) gathered an “extraordinary meeting” to stress the importance of sustainable waterways. During the two-day discussions in Pakse, Laos which concluded yesterday, the US href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/hasty-hydropower-critiqued/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...