A biofuel compAny is currently under investigAtion for frAud in the U.K. After millions of dollArs of investors’ money wAs spent on A jAtrophA plAntAtion in BAnteAy MeAnchey province thAt never produced even A single drop of biodiesel. The compAny, London-bAsed SustAinAble Agro Energy PLC, hAd <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/britAins-frAud-office-probes-biofuel-scheme/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

KOH KONG, CAMBODIA &mdAsh; A ThAi force dubbed the “RAmbo Army” couldn’t stop the gAngs, Armed with bAttlefield weAponry, As they scoured the forests. Neither could A brAve Activist, gunned down when he cAme to investigAte. Nor, AppArently, cAn governments Across SoutheAst AsiA. The root of the <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/rAre-hArdwood-spArks-gunfights-corruption-in-AsiA/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The Prey Lang Community Network yesterday delivered a letter to authorities in Kampong Thom province’s Sandan district calling for the postponement of a Vietnamese concessionaire’s forest clearing and notifying authorities of their intention to deliver a lawsuit to the provincial hall tomorrow, network activists said. according <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/forest-activists-firm-facing-off-once-again/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Criticism has mounted against Swedish multinational clothing company H&amp;M in its home country following a documentary released last week that sheds light on wages in its source factories in Cambodia. The episode of Swedish network TV4’s Kalla Fakta, or Cold Facts, focuses mainly on Cambodian garment <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/hm-slammed-over-wages/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Anco WAter Supply, A privAte compAny thAt is supplying SihAnoukville with Access to fresh wAter hAs AlleviAted A wAter shortAge thAt begAn when A stAte-owned reservoir dried up more thAn A week Ago. PreAh SihAnouk provinciAl governor Sbuon SArAth sAid thAt running wAter hAd been restored <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/wAter-supply-begins-to-return-to-sihAnoukville/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Naza Bikes Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Malaysia-based Naza Group of Companies, will enter Cambodia’s crowded motorbike sector, according to the local brand manager. “[Business] will probably be launched on the first of next month,” Hay Chamreoun, the manager, said yesterday, adding that construction for the <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/malaysian-motos-to-enter-market/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

It was not the hero’s welcome that greeted Mam Sonando when more than a thousand boisterous supporters cheered his release from Prey Sar prison Friday and lifted the popular radio station owner onto their shoulders for an impromptu parade. But for the three unheralded farmers caught <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/last-three-kratie-province-secessionists-released-from-prison/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Hennes &amp; Mauritz aB, Europe’s second-biggest clothing retailer, said some H&amp;M garments were produced without its knowledge or approval at a factory in Cambodia where workers were injured in a partial building collapse this week. a supplier of the Stockholm-based company placed two minor orders with <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/hm-says-garments-made-in-cambodian-factory-without-approval/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A mAssive power outAge thAt left lArge AreAs of Phnom Penh without electricity And wAter And plunged southern VietnAm into dArkness on WednesdAy wAs cAused by A crAne operAtor knocking A tree onto A high voltAge power line, VietnAm’s stAte-owned energy provider sAid yesterdAy. “A <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/mAssive-power-outAge-triggered-by-fAlling-tree/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Cambodia’s strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday warned garment workers that protests demanding higher wages could push manufacturers to quit the country. His appeal came after unions last week said hundreds of workers had been fired from a factory making sportswear for US giant Nike <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodia-pm-says-garment-firms-may-quit-over-wage-rows/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday rebuked the opposition for urging foreign donors to refrain from signing any new agreements with the government until after the election and boasted of a new $26 million handed over last week by the European Union (E.U.) E.U. ambassador <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/hun-sen-mocks-opposition-request-for-donors-to-freeze-aid/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Caffe Bene, South Korea’s second-largest coffee chain, on Tuesday announced plans to open in Cambodia, according to a Korean media report. But while its entrance adds one more competitor to the more than half-a-dozen coffee chains already in the country, local franchises said the market is <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/new-cafe-to-enter-growing-cambodian-market/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

In a remote part of Ratanakkiri, Lan Yorn ekes out an existence mining for gems. In his quest to provide for his family, Yorn engages in highly dangerous work illegally digging mines as deep as 12 metres with only the most basic of equipment. Government officials <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/illegal-miners-tread-carefully/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

At 5Am, without Any AlArm clock going off, A dozen CAmbodiAn mAids wAke up with neAr-militAry precision. Over the next hour, the women sweep, wAsh And scrub spotless their two-storey trAining centre in the CAmbodiAn cApitAl Phnom Penh. They All wAnt to be mAids in SingApore, eAger <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/cAmbodiAn-mAids-rAring-to-go/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

During Pchum Ben, a Cambodian religious holiday that came to a close last week, Venerable Keo Somaly got up before dawn. By 5 a.m. each day, the 32-year-old monk was dressed in his saffron robe and chanting prayers. Not long after, with the sun still hanging <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/in-cambodia-monks-get-political-after-unpopular-elections/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Prime Minister Hun Sen is scheduled to pay a three-day visit to Vietnam later this week, a move criticized by opposition officials who say the premier should stay in Cambodia to deal with the country’s ongoing political deadlock. “What is necessary at this time is to <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/premiers-vietnam-visit-draws-opposition-ire/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni has invited Prime Minister Hun Sen and opposition leader Sam Rainsy for talks this aimed at resolving a standoff over recent elections as Sam Rainsy’s party filed a lawsuit accusing the country election body of vote fraud. Both Hun Sen and <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodias-king-invites-hun-sen-sam-rainsy-to-talks/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Cambodia’s opposition said Thursday it is prepared to hold talks with Prime Minister Hun Sen’s party without any preconditions in a fresh bid to end a political deadlock three months after disputed national elections. The move signaled a shift by the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which days earlier had said it <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodian-opposition-lifts-conditions-on-talks-with-ruling-party/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Four representatives of villagers locked in a land dispute with the well-connected KDC company have filed a complaint with the Kompong Chhnang Provincial Court after they received death threats. “The anonymous letter was a threat against our lives,” said Reach Seima, one of the representatives, adding <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/villagers-in-land-row-complain-of-death-threat/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The opposition CNRP has sent a letter to municipal authorities informing them that a mass demonstration planned for Wednesday at Freedom Park to coincide with the anniversary of the 1991 signing of the Paris Peace agreement will now be a three-day affair and include marches <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cnrp-to-hold-second-3-day-mass-protest/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>