A Swedish diplomat yesterday warned that the potential dissolution of the Cambodia National Rescue Party could lead the Scandinavian country to rethink its relationship with the Kingdom, though she didn’t detail which actions were on the table. ...

Scandals are beginning to brew now that the real estate market is expanding with more affordable housing and cheaper land prices. The situation has been exacerbated by the lack of laws governing the sector and managing stakeholder disputes. ...

A prominent Vietnamese timber trader was arrested and put in pre-trial detention for the second time this year after some two tonnes of rosewood allegedly connected to her were discovered in Oddar Meanchey province, authorities said yesterday. ...

A new shelter for the indigent elderly – plus hundreds of new community-based associations for older people – is in the works under a national plan on ageing launched by Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Peace Palace yesterday. ...

Representatives of more than 1,000 families from Prek Sleng commune in Kandal province’s Kandal Steung district went to the commune and district hall yesterday to request that authorities resolve their land dispute with the Heng Development Company. ...

A mixed group of nearly 40 officials based at the Cambodian-Thai border in Pailin province seized first-class timber on Wednesday, but failed to catch the suspects who illegally entered Thailand to log it, according to police yesterday. ...

Products from neighboring Thailand are still considered the best for many Cambodian consumers, and this is an incentive for Thai companies to set up branches in the country – taking advantage of the positive investment climate prevailing in the kingdom. ...

Cambodia is committed to join hands with other Asean member states to make the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) a success after the cancellation of the US-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), said Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday. ...

A truck full of high-grade timber was seized in Kampong Speu’s Oral district on Monday afternoon by District Military Police forces and the NGO WildAid’s crime interception team, but the driver remains at large. .. ...

This week marked the official kickoff of campaigning for the June 4 commune elections, with Cambodians taking to the streets to show support for their favourite party decked out in T-shirts, hats and stickers emblazoned with party logos. ...

The government body charged with managing the Angkor Archaeological Park on Monday started tearing down the first of more than 500 homes and shophouses illegally built within the park in the weeks before the June 4 commune elections. ...

Two village officials from Oddar Meanchey province filed complaints on Friday against one-star General Duong Sina, accusing him of using violence against them and two other villagers, though Military Police yesterday said the general appeared to have fled. ...

More than 50 business leaders and investors from Dezhou city, Shandong province in China, are seeking investment opportunities and Cambodian partners in the fields of agriculture, construction, machinery, food processing, technology and cars, renewable energy and sports equipment. ...

International condemnation for the government’s continued clampdown on NGOs and independent media organisations continued to flow in over the weekend, with Human Rights Watch (HRW) calling it an “escalating campaign of politically-motivated harassment, intimidation, and legal action”. ...

Move over, Cintri – there’s a new garbage collector in town. For the first time in a dozen years, Sihanoukville has a new waste management company, and it has already started collecting trash ahead of the Pchum Ben holiday. ...

Australian mining firm Emerald Resources announced yesterday that it was making positive progress towards full licensing and funding of its Okvau gold mine project in Mondulkiri province, with the licence expected as early as the next few weeks. ...

Heng Ratana said yesterday that CMAC would also carry out minefield information research and education programmes this year, as well as strengthen volunteer networks in 700 villages and provide job training to people disabled as a result of landmines. ...

The New Year brought a new wave of evictions and development to more than 5 square kilometres on Preah Sihanouk province’s Ochheuteal Beach, though local authorities remain in the dark about what company is behind the development. ...

A project in Stung Treng province is giving women the opportunity to participate in one of the fastest-growing food-production sectors in Cambodia: aquaculture fisheries – a field that has also traditionally been among its most male-dominated. ...

Hundreds of leading Chinese companies will come together with hundreds more local companies today at the first Cambodia-China Business Forum and Financial Development Forum in Phnom Penh, aimed at expanding trade and investment between the two countries. ...