A group of election-monitoring NGOs have expressed alarm at what they say are inexplicable delays in starting to rebuild the national voter list, with concerns that the National Election Committee (NEC) may be leaving things too late for the 2017 commune elections. ...

As the government plans to transfer roughly 60 percent of detainees at the notorious Prey Speu detention center to a “mental illness” center in Kandal province, mental health experts expressed doubts this week over the country’s capacity to provide proper care. ...

Voters in next year’s elections will now have to make their choices under the watchful eye of the army after the government issued a decree yesterday establishing permanent military forces at national and sub-national election sites between 2016 and 2019. ...

The Union Cabinet today approved an agreement signed between India and Cambodia for bilateral cooperation in the tourism sector that aims at enhancing investment and promoting exchange of experience in marketing, destination development and management in this field. ...

Cambodian authorities are refusing to allow doctors from the human rights group Licadho to visit a jailed opposition lawmaker held at Prey Sar prison in the capital Phnom Penh, claiming the facility already provides adequate care, sources said. ...

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev landed at Phnom Penh International Airport on Monday evening and was greeted by a delegation of senior Cambodian government officials and a large security contingent—but few members of the local media, who were largely barred from covering his visit. ...

As expected, opposition leader Sam Rainsy failed to show up at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for a scheduled questioning date on Friday, as he remains abroad after being hit with a slew of criminal charges and an arrest warrant in recent weeks. ...

Four workers were questioned at the Svay Rieng Provincial Court on Sunday for allegedly participating in violent protests that effectively shut down factory operations in two special economic zones (SEZs) in Bavet City last week, according to officials. ...

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy has levelled further criticism at the Vietnamese army’s alleged control of 40,000 hectares of economic land concessions (ELCs) in Ratanakkiri province, claiming that the grants are in violation of the Cambodian constitution. ...

A 60-year-old Mexican national working at a school in Sihanoukville was convicted of sexually abusing two young girls yesterday and sentenced to two years in prison, with one year of the sentence suspended, according to APLE Cambodia, a child rights NGO. ...

The U.N.’s human rights envoy to Cambodia said the political climate had clearly deteriorated in the six months since her first fact-finding mission and that the country remained at a “dangerous tipping point” ahead of commune and national elections. ...

Large numbers of security forces have been deployed at locations in Siem Reap province and Phnom Penh to protect Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who arrived in Cambodia on Sunday with a delegation of Russian officials for a combination of official meetings and sightseeing. ...

Preah Sihanouk authorities are scheduled to hold their annual emergency exercises for the provincial airport this morning.According to a statement released yesterday, fire engines, ambulances and military vehicles – including helicopters – have been prepped at the airport for the exercise. ...

More than 600 villages, home to more than half a million people, have been declared “open-defecation free” as a result of a major program aimed at boosting the number of Cambodians who have access to hygienic toilets, according to Plan International. ...

Some of the country’s top business leaders laid out their main concerns with a controversial draft union law during a meeting with CPP lawmakers on Monday, including a stipulation that would let only 10 people form a union at a workplace. ...

The parent company of U.S. apparel giant Timberland has launched an investigation into claims that security guards at a special economic zone in Kandal province viciously attacked the workers that make the brand’s clothing and footwear, a company representative said Wednesday. ...

Land Management Minister Im Chhun Lim said on Monday his staff were already at work studying land that the government has confiscated from economic land concession (ELC) owners for redistribution to poor families, though details on the location of the sites remained elusive. ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng has been paying traffic officers daily bonuses directly from his own pocket since January 1, information he revealed on Friday at a ministerial meeting on the transparent disbursement of traffic fine revenue, officials said yesterday.   ...

The government has reached an agreement with two foreign oil companies operating in Cambodia on a proposed fuel-price mechanism, ending a two-month deadlock that has prevented it from implementing a price ceiling on gasoline sold at petrol stations across the Kingdom. ...

Acleda Bank Plc., the country’s largest commercial bank by branches, has seen rapid growth in online transactions – now about $500,000 a month – since it launched its e-commerce payment gateway late last year, a senior executive at the bank said yesterday. ...