Experts claim that the Tonle Bassac sand mining is very significant for the construction sector and a source of revenue for the national budget, but some people are being severely negatively affected by the sand mining in those areas. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/sand-mining-is-threatening-the-lives-of-people-in-phnom-penh-and-kandal-province/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

ApproximAtely 92 evicted fAmilies As the result of lAnd dispute with the sugAr compAny locAted in SAngkAt Kon KreAl, SAmrong City, OddAr MeAnchey province Apply for A sociAl lAnd concession for two hectAres per fAmily As they clAim thAt there is no lAnd for Agriculture. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/neArly-100-fAmilies-in-oddAr-meAnchey-province-hAve-dispute-with-the-sugAr-compAny/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

A group of over 1,000 fAmilies in Phnom Penh effectively AdvocAted for the Prime Minister to speAk out After they sAy the construction compAny Borey Piphup Thmey violAted their contrActs And seized their homes. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/hun-sen-speAks-out-About-phnom-penh-houses-confiscAted-by-construction-compAny/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Prime Minister Hun Sen ordered troops stationed along the border with Vietnam to start “shooting down” unidentified drones flying into Cambodia’s territory, in a Tuesday Facebook Live post. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/prime-minister-orders-armed-forces-to-shoot-down-drones-along-vietnam-border/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Prime Minister Hun Sen announced the government will revoke the license for media outlet VOD in a Facebook post Sunday evening, after he previously demanded an apology for an article he claimed was inaccurate. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/prime-minister-hun-sen-shuts-down-independent-media-vod/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Out of the ruling CPP’s 125 candidates for the national elections, at least 28 people &mdash; 22.4% &mdash; are related to someone else on the ballot, a review of the candidate list reveals. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/nearly-one-quarter-of-ruling-cpps-125-candidates-are-related/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A recent report by EquitAble CAmbodiA hAs exposed the commerciAl gold mining industry’s involvement in deforestAtion, violAtion of rights, encroAchment And lAnd grAb of trAditionAl indigenous forested AreAs. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/humAn-rights-violAtion-deforestAtion-evident-in-cAmbodiAs-gold-mine-operAtions-over-20-yeArs-report/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Five environmental activists, charged with insulting the King and plotting against the government, produced a 30-minute podcast live on Facebook just before their third hearing to prove their innocence. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/mother-nature-activists-produce-live-podcast-before-hearing-urge-court-to-summon-founder-to-trial/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

According to the [inter]nAtionAl MonetAry Fund (IMF), At the end of 2011, the stock of CAmbodiA’s externAl public debt, including ArreArs, stood At Around US 3.8 billion or 30 percent of GDP (24 percent in NPV terms). ChinA remAins the lArgest bilAterAl creditor, contributing to <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/cAmbodiAs-public-debt/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The Constitutional Council of Cambodia on Tuesday upheld the decision by the National Election Committee (NEC) to reject four complaints from the opposition CNRP of election irregularities during the July 28 poll. The Constitutional Council sent four separate letters to CNRP representatives Nou Chamroeun and Ruos <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/constitutional-council-upholds-rejection-of-election-complaints/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Flooding spread over the weekend as storms hit the country meaning Siem Reap, Battambang and Pailin have all been added to the list of provinces affected by high waters. In Siem Reap province, Nuon Krisna, director of the provincial department of water resources and meteorology, said <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/high-floodwaters-spread-to-siem-reap-battambang-and-pailin/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Phnom Penh City Hall’s plans to undertake the largest redrawing of the city’s administrative boundaries in decades, by creating five new districts before May’s district and city-level council elections, is likely an effort to gerrymander voting constituencies, a senior opposition party member said Monday. Municipal government <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/phnom-penhs-5-new-districts-create-fears-of-gerrymandering/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Phnom Penh municipal government will today issue announcements to two property developers ordering them to partially demolish buildings near the Royal Palace in order to reduce their height to comply with the original planning agreements, an official said. The two buildings&mdash;one owned by Vattanac Properties <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/shorten-buildings-or-we-will-city-hall-tells-two-developers/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

US and Cambodian governments have presented a united front calling for the country’s agriculture industry to diversify, modernise and commercialise. US ambassador William E Todd and the Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Council for agricultural and Rural Development Yim Chhay Ly led an <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/farmers-weigh-up-us-technology/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

More than 90% of tourists visiting Cambodia will end up at Siem Reap’s world heritage site angkor Wat, despite efforts to open other areas of the country to tourism. Officials attending the asean Tourism Forum admitted that efforts to convince tour operators to include trips to <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodias-tourism-anchored-to-angkor/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The single-party National assembly sat for the second day of its third plenary session Wednesday, discussing two of eight chapters of the draft law on the Organization and Functioning of the Courts. The CPP-only parliament&mdash;minus 55 boycotting opposition CNRP lawmakers-elect&mdash;convened to discuss the first of three <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cpp-lawmakers-lash-out-at-critics-of-one-party-assembly/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the 2018 bribery convictions of five current and former staffers of human rights group adhoc, concluding the appeal process in a criminal case that critics have said failed to substantiate the charges. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/supreme-court-upholds-2018-adhoc-5-bribery-convictions/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Government official Dy Panha received 30.79 hectares of land in northeastern Mondulkiri province cut from forest cover in a September sub-decree released publicly earlier this year.  <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/prime-ministers-relative-receives-30-hectares-of-mondulkiri-forest-land/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

China has emerged as the world’s biggest importer of Cambodian milled rice, now accounting for more than half the market share &ndash; versus just 3% a decade ago &ndash; and is expected to further strengthen its dominance going forward. Insiders point out that traders who <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/china-emerges-as-biggest-importer-of-cambodias-agri-products/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Child labor and debt bondage continue in Cambodia’s brick factories, according to a report published Monday by the human rights group Licadho. The organization also found garment waste from international brands such as Reebok, Old Navy and adidas fueling kilns in brick factories. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/ngo-licadho-finds-child-labor-debt-bondage-in-cambodias-brick-factories/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>