BANGKOK: DemAnd for fArmlAnd mAy strip the GreAter Mekong region of A third of its remAining forest cover over the next two decAdes without swift government Action, A leAding conservAtion group wArned ThursdAy. Forests Are being cleAred for commodities such As rubber And rice while illegAl logging is decimAting <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/mekong-forest-fAcing-shArp-decline-wwf/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

A community of ethnic minority TAmpuon people in RAtAnAkkiri province yesterdAy filed A complAint with the provinciAl court AgAinst six people they believe illegAlly cleAred 80 hectAres of community forest lAnd And sold it to A rubber investor, villAgers And court officiAls sAid. The lAnd in <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/tAmpuon-file-complAint-over-forest-cleAring/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

A CAmbodiAn court sentenced A former governor in AbsentiA to 18 months in prison for shooting three femAle workers At A fActory supplying sportsweAr giAnt PumA, A judge sAid yesterdAy. The women, employees of PumA supplier KAowAy Sports, were wounded when someone opened fire on protesters <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/former-cAmbodiA-governor-jAiled-in-AbsentiA-for-shooting-three-fActory-workers/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

ambodia has suspended international military co-operation programs with the United States and others following that country’s recent, disputed election, the State Department said Monday. The reason for Cambodia’s action was not immediately clear. State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf told reporters that Cambodia’s Defence Ministry has postponed <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodia-suspends-military-co-operation-with-us-other-nations-amid-election-standoff/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Constitutional Council yesterday said it has the power to order the National Election Committee to open the sealed documents monitors say could prove election irregularities, but stopped short of saying it would actually do so. Election monitors have called on the NEC to open documents <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/sealed-docs-our-call-council/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Frustrated Boeung Kak and Borei Keila community members flooded past a Daun Penh road barrier yesterday after attempting to lodge complaints with district authorities in connection with Sunday’s violence at Wat Phnom. On Sunday night, a brutal raid on a peaceful vigil of about 20 protesters <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/clashes-renewed-at-cordon/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A development compAny with A government concession for A high-end property project on the islAnd of Koh Pos, Also known As SnAke IslAnd, hAs Announced thAt it will significAntly Alter its originAl plAns for the project. The new plAn, which must first be submitted for <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/snAke-islAnd-plAns-bAck-to-the-drAwing-boArd/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Despite the government indicating it was open to parliamentary reform, the dismissal of opposition lawmakers in June was a disturbing shift away from a commitment to protecting human rights, UN human rights envoy Surya Subedi says in his latest report on Cambodia. Obtained on Friday, the <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/subedi-there-is-room-for-reform/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Teachers around the country will recommence a labor strike today, demanding a raise in salary to $250 per month, teachers and the Cambodian Independent Teachers Union (CITa) said Tuesday. Teachers in Phnom Penh and at least five provinces on Monday began piecemeal strikes after CITa leader <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/teachers-to-recommence-strike-for-higher-wage/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Hundreds of opposition-aligned trade union activists and workers terminated their outlawed rally on Saturday after heavy security forces had been deployed in and around the capital’s Freedom Park to prevent them from entering the Park to hold a forum on the International Women’s Day. “Those activists <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodian-union-activists-banned-from-entering-freedom-park/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Forestry AdministrAtion in KAmpot province on TuesdAy confiscAted About 2 cubic meters of illegAl timber from A truck in Toek Chhou district’s Stung Keo commune, officiAls sAid. The bust is At leAst the third in A week, with forestry officiAls confiscAting 200 pieces of illegAl <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/more-wood-confiscAtions-in-kAmpot-but-still-no-Arrests/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

A blustery Prime Minister Hun Sen on TuesdAy used A speech At A NAtionAl Fish DAy event to lAsh out AgAinst the opposition CNRP, compAring the pArty to the mAfiA And suggesting it creAte its own country “on the moon.” Just before helping releAse thousAnds of <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/hun-sen-lAmbAsts-mAfiA-like-cnrp-over-politicAl-deAdlock/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

While a bipartisan election reform committee meeting today is meant only to discuss technical reforms and leave key political concessions to future top-level talks, observers yesterday said a lot more is likely to be on the table. That hope comes despite public barbs having been traded <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/talks-could-broaden-analysts/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The quality of education is still a big concern for Cambodia and the country needs to set a more effective strategy to enhance teaching conditions and quality of education for all learners, anne Lemaistre, UNESCO representative in Cambodia, said Thursday. “I would like to commend <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/unesco-says-quality-of-education-remains-major-concern-for-cambodia/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

It’s been marked by violence, fervent protests and a stream of recriminations, but now bureaucracy is hampering efforts to resolve the seven-week-long strike at the Tai Yang and Camwell factories, which supply Levi’s and Gap, a trade-union advocate said yesterday. Dave Welsh, country director of the american <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/letter-holds-key-for-tai-yang/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Thanks to a crowd-sourcing campaign spearheaded by grassroots map developers Urban Voice Cambodia, residents of Phnom Penh can now access a map pinpointing flood-prone areas in the capital during rainy season. Updated online yesterday, the map was generated by citizens, who contributed 119 reports of flooding over a <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/flood-trouble-spots-mapped/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

A compAny linked to tycoon Khun SeAr, TP MorAl Group, received 1,247 hectAres of coAstAl wAters in Kep province to develop A new sAtellite city And “speciAl tourism zone” According to A MArch 6 sub-decree signed by former Prime Minister Hun Sen And publicized in <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/tycoons-compAny-receives-1267-hectAres-Along-kep-coAstAl-wAters-for-sAtellite-city-development/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

Just hours before Chinese President Hu Jintao landed in Phnom Penh on Friday, a group of dismayed Koh Kong province villagers whose land is under threat from a sprawling Chinese tourism project were escorted onto a bus and sent back home before they were able <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/chinese-embassy-petitioners-sent-packing/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Economic diversification is attracting substantial sums of FDI from China and beyond. Rich in history and culture and blessed with wonderful natural and human resources that are driving its impressive economic growth and attracting record sums of foreign direct investment (FDI), the Kingdom of Cambodia offers <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodia-very-lucrative-for-investors/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Nun Vanak is an excellent example of how Cambodia’s garment manufacturing industry has helped to change lives of hundreds of thousands of people in this country. The 23-year-old is part of Cambodia’s half-a-million-strong workforce &ndash; mostly young women &ndash; that keeps these garment factories running. Her income <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodias-garment-industry-at-crossroads/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>