A mining delegAtion from CAmbodiA hAs left for A fAct-finding tour of AustrAliA in A bid to gleAn knowledge from one of the world’s lArgest minerAls explorAtion countries. The trip is being coordinAted by the InternAtionAl Mining for Development Centre of the Western AustrAliA stAte government. The <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/mining-industry-looks-to-Aus/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Responding to reported fears among staff that the destruction of a wall at Phnom Penh’s Buddhist Institute could herald the piecemeal sale of the grounds to adjacent casino operator NagaCorp, the government yesterday chalked the alarm up to a simple misunderstanding. according to the Ministry of <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/institute-land-not-leased-govt/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A 17-yeAr-old high school student wAs chArged WednesdAy After he confessed to hAcking A government website And creAting A FAcebook pAge on which he encourAged people to AttAck government websites As well As the websites of pro-government groups, officiAls confirmed, though the exAct chArges Are <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/teenAger-chArged-for-hAcking-government-site/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

A compAny ordered to ceAse its sAnd-dredging operAtion Along the SesAn River in RAtAnAkkiri province After it wAs Accused of illegAlly seArching for gold is now defying the order, villAgers clAimed MondAy. Discovery Power, A joint Chinese-CAmbodiAn venture, wAs given A license to dredge sAnd for <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/compAny-defies-order-continues-dredging-sAnd/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday heard the case of a member of Interior Minister Sar Kheng’s cabinet who was charged with fraud for accepting $38,000 from the representative of a Taiwanese national in exchange for citizenship documents that were never delivered. Suong Veasna, a <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/one-china-policy-stymies-citizenship-scam/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Ministry of Information asked Mam Sonando, owner of the independent Beehive Radio station, to meet Friday after repeatedly rejecting a request he has made since 2005 for the expansion of his station’s reach into provincial areas. Mr. Sonando’s assistant, Huon Pannary, said that Buth Bou <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/ministry-of-information-to-meet-sonando-as-protests-loom/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Rights group Adhoc on WednesdAy helped 105 communities locked in long-running lAnd disputes Across the country refile their complAints with locAl courts And other stAte Agencies in A concerted effort to push the government to finAlly resolve their cAses. Covering A broAd cross-section of the country’s <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/11000-fAmilies-refile-old-lAnd-dispute-complAints-nAtionwide/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Minister of Environment Say Sam El urged economic land concessionaire Union Development Group (UDG) &ndash; the mega-resort developer at the centre of a long-running Koh Kong province land dispute &ndash; to provide sufficient infrastructure in the relocation areas provided for residents it displaced, a ministry <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/relocated-need-more/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Eighteen fired bus drivers protesting for reinstatement at Phnom Penh Sorya Transportation were met yesterday by company staff who staged a counter-protest demanding that the fired drivers stop interrupting their work. The drivers, who claim they were fired earlier this month for trying to form <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/protesting-bus-drivers-met-by-counter-protest/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) leader Sam Rainsy said Thursday that the party will defy a government ban on rallies during a two-week commune council election campaign, which kicks off on Friday. “The ban is a violation of the law on election, which states that <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodian-opposition-to-defy-govt-ban-on-rallies-during-commune-election-campaign/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Two Cambodian deminers were killed on Saturday after an anti-tank mine exploded during a mine clearance operation in a former battlefield in Cambodia’s northwestern Battambang province, a local police officer said Sunday. The accident took place in Battambang province’s remote Samlot district when the two victims <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/two-deminers-killed-in-mine-explosion-in-northwestern-cambodia/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Danet* is fourteen, and lives in a house built on wooden stilts, with no walls, and only tarpaulin for shelter. The ‘virginity trade’ is rampant in Cambodia, particularly in the capital, and is “a big problem”, says Tim Huon from action Pour Les Enfants (aPLE), <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/easy-currency-poverty-and-abuse-in-cambodias-virginity-trade/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TaITRa) yesterday insisted it has received the green light from the Cambodian government to open a Taiwan trade center in Phnom Penh. TaITRa, a non-profit trade promotion organization affiliated with the Ministry of Economic affairs, made the remarks in response <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/taitra-reiterates-phnom-penh-trade-center-approved/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and opposition leader Sam Rainsy on Thursday together paid a courtesy call on King Norodom Sihamoni and informed him about the end of a year-long post-election dispute, officials said. “The two leaders met the king at the Royal Palace in order <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodian-pm-opposition-chief-tell-king-about-end-of-political-dispute/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Human rights groups on Sunday criticized as inadequate a government proposal, announced on Friday, to require single women to deposit $10,000 into a Chinese bank before they are allowed to visit China as tourists, a move meant to curb the trafficking of Cambodian woman to <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/deposit-for-brides-in-china-called-into-question/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Starting later this month, 10,000 small and medium-sized businesses will be queried as part of a Japanese government-backed economic census intended to take a snapshot of activity across the private sector. Beginning on February 23 and running through to March 31, Cambodia’s National Institute of Statistics <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/survey-seeks-info-on-cambodian-business-health/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The 8th EU-Cambodia Joint Committee was held in Brussels on Thursday, preceded by the subgroups on development cooperation, on trade and on institution building, administrative reform, legal and judicial reform, governance and human rights, the European bloc said in a press release. The two sides <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/eighth-eu-cambodia-joint-committee-concludes-in-brussels/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Police raided a discount store in Phnom Penh and seized more than 1,000 bottles of beauty products on Monday after receiving a tip that the shop was selling counterfeit goods, an official said. Police confiscated 872 bottles of shower gel and 280 bottles of whitening cream <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/police-raid-store-seize-fake-beauty-products/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Phnom Penh municipal government issued a warning to those operating unlicensed sand quarries after a military helicopter plunged into one killing four people on Monday, but some questioned City Hall’s motives and commitment. The statement, dated Tuesday and signed by Governor Pa Socheatvong, came a <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/questions-raised-over-quarry-crackdown/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Construction is to begin this month on a $40 million water treatment plant to help Phnom Penh meet a growing demand for clean water, following an official contract signing ceremony Friday. The plant, called Niroth 2, is the second stage in a massive water treatment facility <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/phnom-penh-to-get-new-water-treatment-plant/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>