Government spending on social welfare and economic development could both see double-digit growth next year, according to a document summarizing expenditures in next year’s budget that will be discussed at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Hun Sen today. ...

The CNRP yesterday announced its lawmakers will attend Wednesday’s plenary session at the National Assembly, ending the party’s almost two-month boycott that began after the brutal beating of two of its lawmakers outside parliament by pro-government protesters. ...

Cambodia signed an agreement with Vietnam and Laos during a meeting on Thursday to enhance efforts to fight human trafficking—with Vietnam reporting at the meeting that police discovered nearly 90 human trafficking rings along its border with Cambodia last year. ...

The director of the Communicable Disease Control (CDC) Department at the Ministry of Health has urged the public to protect themselves from diseases that are easily spread in the upcoming rainy season, including dengue fever, malaria, acute watery diarrohea and influenza. ...

A Justice Ministry spokesman yesterday lashed out at European Union representatives for a statement condemning the “judicial harassment” of opposition leader Kem Sokha, while the Ministry of Education slammed a teachers union that backed the CNRP acting president.   ...

Kampot’s Ta Reach bridge was severely damaged by a truck overloaded with illegal luxury timber over the weekend, prompting a manhunt for the truck’s driver, who was apparently on his way to Vietnam at the time of the accident. ...

Financial markets in Cambodia have to serve more people, especially the poor, with more products at a lower cost and the key challenge lies in creating a broader interconnected financial ecosystem that reaches populations that cannot access banks, said industry experts. ...

Jimei International Entertainment Group, a Hong Kong-listed casino junket investor that promotes at least seven gaming tables in NagaWorld casino in Phnom Penh, reported a steep decline in profit during the first half of 2016 despite increased turnover. ...

Immigration police rounded up nearly 80 Vietnamese migrant workers along with six European engineers at the construction site of a new Cambodia Beer factory in Phnom Penh on Monday afternoon because they did not possess work permits, according to an immigration official. ...

A teacher accused six months ago of punishing an 11-year-old female student by making her strip at the Hun Sen Wat Thmey Primary School in Svay Rieng province was finally detained and is awaiting trial, authorities said yesterday. ...

More than 300 garment workers at the Shui Yat factory in Kompong Speu province’s Chbar Mon City entered a second day of strikes on Monday over the firing of two leaders of the factory’s chapter of the Free Trade Union (FTU). ...

The Child Rights International Network (CRIN) has released its worldwide rankings of countries’ protection of children’s legal rights, with Cambodia coming in at a lowly 166th place out of 197, just ahead of Libya and just behind Tongo. ...

Phnom Penh’s hell-raising street racers will enjoy a structured outlet for their love of motorbikes at a new amateur racing cup on Koh Pich island this weekend, a competition also meant to promote compliance with the new traffic law. ...

With the National Assembly set to vote on whether to adopt the controversial trade union law on Monday, the majority of Cambodia’s industrial workers remain unaware of the crossroads at which Cambodia’s employers and workers stand.   ...

Slashing unnecessary spending by ministries will allow the government to guarantee a monthly minimum wage of $250 for civil servants in time for the 2018 national election, a secretary of state at the Finance Ministry said on Tuesday.   ...

A public housing project, which aims to provide affordable housing for the lower middle class, low-income earners and state workers, is due to start at the end of the year after the completion of a study to determine its feasibility. ...

Evidence that a deadly pesticide is being used to kill wildlife at watering holes in two provinces has raised fears of widespread poisoning that could jeopardize biodiversity and the health of rural communities, according to a new report.   ...

The government said this week it wanted to increase by at least 30 percent the number of forest rangers working next year in Cambodia’s wildlife sanctuaries, national parks and other protected areas to guard against encroaching logging, poaching and farming. ...

Cambodia’s central bank yesterday launched a weekly issuance of Negotiable Certificate of Deposits (NCD) with selling scheduled for every Wednesday – a move aimed at developing the interbank lending market by promoting a secondary market for the short-term interest-bearing certificates. ...

Phnom Penh Muni-cipal Hall has given notice of an expected 45 days of congestion from mid-September during construction at the intersection of Russian and Mao Tse-Tung boulevards in Tuol Kork district, asking for understanding from those affected. ...