Recent satellite images from NaSa have captured a high number of fires blazing across Cambodia this season, illustrating what one forestry official called a chronic inability to deal with the Kingdom’s numerous illegally set fires, a problem exacerbated by especially dry El Niño conditions. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/blazes-seen-across-kingdom/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A mAn Arrested over the weekend Allegedly in possession of more thAn 3 kilogrAms of meth And more thAn 100,000 yAmA tAblets hAs been linked to A drug-trAfficking network operAting out of Prey SAr prison, According to A police report mAde public yesterdAy. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/prey-sAr-inmAtes-in-meth-cArtel/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

A group of 10 Armed soldiers stormed A Forestry AdministrAtion office in OddAr MeAnchey province on MondAy And Attempted to seize A militAry truck thAt hAd been confiscAted from them After they used it to trAnsport illegAl timber, leAding to An hourslong stAndoff, officiAls sAid.​ <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/Armed-soldiers-storm-forestry-office-to-retAke-truck/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Garment manufacturer Gran d Twins International (GTI) will pay out a reduced cash dividend for 2015 as a result of net profits dropping by 70 per cent last year compared to 2014, the company said yesterday in a filing to the Cambodian Securities Exchange (CSX). <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/gti-announces-2015-dividend-payout/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A second ship Accused by the NGO Mother NAture of illegAlly exporting dredged oceAn sAnd lAst week is expected to Arrive At A port in ChinA todAy with A cArgo of silicA sAnd, which is exempt from the bAn, the ship’s owner sAid yesterdAy. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/questions-linger-over-second-Accused-ship/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday called for the closure of a Christian anti-trafficking NGO during a heated tirade at a graduation ceremony, condemning them and CNN for broadcasting an “insulting” story about girls who were sold into sexual slavery by their own mothers. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/hun-sen-calls-for-closure-of-anti-trafficking-group-after-cnn-report/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Minister of Interior Sar Kheng held a meeting with other top ministry officials yesterday to discuss introducing a legal amendment banning insults to the King, similar to so-called “l&egrave;se-majest&eacute;” laws in Thailand, which critics have characterised as a cudgel to suppress dissent. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/proposed-law-to-ban-insulting-monarchy-prompts-free-speech-fears/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy has said he believes Prime Minister Hun Sen’s recent push to convert the maps of Cambodia’s border with Vietnam to a scale of 1:50,000 and a UTM-style map projection would not require a constitutional amendment. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/divisions-over-map-proposal/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Agriculture Ministry renewed the license for timber extrAction on A lAnd concession in A protected AreA in September, despite previously concluding thAt the lAnd within the concession hAd been completely cleAred, According to A conservAtion group And documents obtAined by reporters this month. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/no-wood-but-permit-in-protected-AreA-extended/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

A Chinese firm thAt plAns to invest $2 billion into developing the Kingdom’s first speciAl economic zone (SEZ) dedicAted solely to AgriculturAl processing And storAge hAs signed on A new pArtner to help jumpstArt the stAlled project, A top Agriculture officiAl sAid yesterdAy. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/Agro-processing-sez-moves-closer-to-reAlity/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Provinces nationwide &ndash; particularly those along the Cambodia-Thailand border &ndash; are likely to experience more flooding as a result of a low-pressure system that is expected to bring rain across the country, according to a forecast from the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/unrelenting-rains/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Malaysian-owned power infrastructure provider Pestech (Cambodia) Ltd has won a $26 million job to start on a new electricity project in Cambodia that will see Oddar Meanchey province connected to the national power grid, according to a filing on the Malaysian stock exchange.​ ​ <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/malaysia-firm-to-bring-oddar-meanchey-onto-national-power-grid/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Eighteen years ago, long before the roads cutting through the red hills of Ratanakkiri were paved, some 300 indigenous Kreung families living on a hill above a stream in O’Chum district sent a petition to the Ministry of Land Management. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/for-rural-minorities%e2%80%88land-remains-in-limbo/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Workers in the border town of Bavet continued a week-long strike Monday after a meeting to discuss wage increases was delayed for a second time to next week. Sources said all workers left the Tai Seng and Manhattan special economic zones after working for an hour. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/workers-continue-strike-as-wage-talks-delayed-to-next-week/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A Mondulkiri militAry police officer hAs been chArged with intentionAl murder After Allegedly shooting And killing A mAn who ignored An order to stop his cAr while pAssing through A protected forest in the province’s O’RAing district, Mondulkiri provinciAl prosecutor Khout SopheAng sAid yesterdAy. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/police-shooting-chArges-for-intentionAl-murder-set/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The Labor Ministry laid out the ground rules for unions and factories Monday at the first meeting of a new working group charged with getting the two sides to agree on a new minimum wage for garment workers, including a condition that they address each <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/govt-sets-ground-rules-for-ongoing-wage-talks/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwan will lead a military delegation to pay a two-day official visit to Cambodia on Dec. 24 and 25 to further boost bilateral ties and cooperation, said a press statement issued by the Cambodian defense ministry on <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/thai-defense-minister-to-visit-cambodia-to-promote-ties/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Sixteen forestry officials from three provinces were summoned to a meeting in Phnom Penh on Thursday after their names were found on a list of 49 suspected extortionists that police in Kompong Chhnang province seized from a truck that had been transporting illegally logged wood <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/forestry-officials-summoned-for-meeting-over-extortion-case/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A group of 56 rAngers from the Ministry of Environment lAst week completed A one-month trAining course in Phnom Penh run by the RoyAl CAmbodiAn Armed Forces (RCAF) to help sAve CAmbodiA’s protected AreAs from illegAl loggers, A first for the country’s rAngers. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/soldiers-trAin-rAngers-to-fight-illegAl-logging/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The Mondolkiri Provincial Court on Saturday charged a man with having sex with an underage girl, but a rights worker and the girl’s father said Sunday that the allegations were fabricated in retaliation for the man’s involvement in recent protests against a Vietnamese rubber plantation. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/protest-leader-jailed-over-alleged-sex-with-minor/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>