Citing a seven-year-old defamation case, the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Sam Rainsy, forcing the travelling Cambodia National Rescue Party president to choose whether to stay abroad or return and face a two-year prison term.The warrant, stemming from <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/sam-rainsy-faces-arrest-warrant/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Global Fund, provider of the lion’s share of money for Cambodia’s $12 million-a-year HIV treatment and prevention program, has told the government it expects it to begin footing more of the bill itself, a push that is prompting worries among local health-care providers. However, <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/govt-urged-to-step-up-on-hiv-funding/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

After two deAths to flooding in As mAny rAiny seAsons And Another close cAll on MondAy, villAgers from KhvA VillAge in Phnom Penh’s DAngkor District Are demAnding Action. They sAy thAt the cAuse of the flooding is the extrAction of soil neArby by A compAny <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/deAdly-flooding-spurs-protest/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Tbong Khmum provincial officials have announced a crackdown on illegal checkpoints along the Vietnamese border, possibly in response to a purported warning issued by Prime Minister Hun Sen to provincial Governor Ly Leng to monitor the transport of timber in the province. Local media reports contend <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/tbong-khmum-to-crack-down-on-illegal-vietnam-border-checkpoints/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Ten trucks fully loaded with timber have been spotted entering a heavily guarded sawmill near the Lower Sesan II dam on an hourly basis, claimed a report by the Cambodian Human Rights Task Force (CHRTF), which was released yesterday. according to the report, photos taken from <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/forests-being-cleared-report/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Twenty villages in Mondulkiri province are set to receive at least $10,000 each as a result of the $2.6 million carbon credit purchase by the Walt Disney Company in 2016, under a scheme meant to protect the Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, officials said yesterday.​This would <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/mondulkiri-villages-to-get-redd-funds/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Cambodia’s next step in allowing workers such as maids and builders to travel to Qatar will be to create a committee with the arab state to ensure their safety is protected, a senior labour official said yesterday. The Senate on Wednesday supported an agreement between the <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/kingdom-and-qatar-to-form-labour-watchdog/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A locAl newspAper stringer who hAd written About illegAl logging wAs found deAd in the bAck of A cAr yesterdAy in RAttAnAkiri province’s O’Chum district. HAng Serei Oudom, 44, wAs A stringer for VorAkchun Khmer, or Khmer Hero, newspAper. Police sAid his body wAs covered in blood <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/stringer-who-reported-on-logging-found-deAd/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Students, NGO workers and map enthusiasts came together Saturday in Phnom Penh to contribute information to an online map of Cambodia as part of a worldwide mapping effort, the event’s organizers said yesterday. The global project, known as the OpenStreetMap Project (OSM), uses a similar concept <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/online-mapping-project-for-cambodia-gets-under-way/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Cambodia’s government has ignored a suspension on new land concessions to private companies, announcements in an official publication showed, despite ordering a freeze after growing discontent over forced evictions and illegal logging. Prime Minister Hun Sen signed off on 12 sub-decrees on June 7 and 12 <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodia-approves-land-concessions-despite-ban/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday charged a Ministry of Interior police general with intimidation and unlawful interference in the discharge of a public function for allegedly attempting to use Prime Minister Hun Sen’s student volunteer program to settle a personal land dispute. Mr. <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/court-changes-general-denounced-by-hun-sen-over-land-claim/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

As the lAtest UN climAte chAnge conference begins todAy in DohA, QAtAr, A coAlition of CAmbodiAn NGOs is joining cAlls for developed countries to beAr more of the burden of combAting climAte chAnge. CAmbodiA And other poor countries Are unprepAred to deAl with rApid climAte chAnge <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/coAlition-of-cAmbodiAn-ngos-cAlls-for-help-with-climAte-chAnge/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Manufacturers and unions aligned with the ruling CPP yesterday said the current labor shortage inside the garment industry would act as an incentive for employers to increase salaries, and that there was no need for the government to impose a new minimum wage. During a meeting <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/should-minimum-wage-be-market-driven-or-government-dictated/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The National assembly has announced that it will discuss a draft law on the financing of a controversial dam project in Stung Treng province on February 15, a move environmental groups called premature. Meach Mean, coordinator for 3S Rivers Protection Network &ndash; which has been <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/lawmakers-to-discuss-sesan-2-dam-draft-law/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Malaysia-based Hong Leong Bank, a subsidiary of Hong Leong Financial Group Berhad, is planning to open a branch in Cambodia sometime this year, which would make it the fourth Malaysian bank and the 33rd commercial bank in Cambodia’s crowded banking industry. Ngoun Sokha, director general of the <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/malay-hong-leong-bank-plans-cambodian-branch/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A combined force of police, soldiers And militAry police lAst night set A deAdline of 8Am this morning for villAgers in Mondulkiri province’s tiny RAyum commune to leAve their homes or fAce forcible eviction. Authorities, who hAve surrounded the villAge for A week, sAy the villAgers’ <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/mondulkiri-villAges-residents-sAy-theyd-rAther-die-thAn-run/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

A fActory in Phnom Penh thAt Assembles motorcycles for HondA decided on FridAy to reinstAte four workers who hAd been fired in December for creAting A new trAde union. About 300 workers At the HondA NCX CompAny in Pur Senchey district hAd been on strike since <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/workers-At-hondA-plAnt-given-bAck-their-jobs/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Banks here are trying to take advantage of a growth in Chinese investment by launching services that will allow payments from local banks to be made in China’s currency, the renminbi. Grant Knuckey, CEO of aNZ Royal Bank, said that because of a growing number of <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/banks-look-to-offer-services-using-renminbi/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The United States on Monday criticized a decision by the struggling asian nation of Laos to build the first dam across the mainstream of the Mekong River, a project that environmentalists warn could affect tens of millions of livelihoods and trigger a dam-building spree along <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/us-criticizes-laos-decision-to-build-mekong-dam/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Cambodia’s total exports increased more than 13 per cent in the first nine months of this year, with a year-on-year comparison indicating a widening trade deficit. a private-sector representative, an exporter and an independent economist said the slow growth was mainly due to the slowing of <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/kingdoms-trade-deficit-widens/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>