Ground was officially broken yesterday on a new facility at Prey Sar prison that will soon enable the upper crust of the Kingdom’s underworld to buy their way out of overcrowded jails and into the relative luxury of a privately run institution. ...

Earlier this month, Makro, a well-known wholesale supermart based in Bangkok, Thailand, began putting up signs on the zinc walls surrounding its sales office in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district, advertising its imminent opening at the end of the year. ...

A European Union election expert mission yesterday met with the government’s Cambodia Human Rights Committee in a closed-door meeting as part of its visit to the Kingdom, at the end of which it will submit recommendations to the Cambodian authorities. ...

At least 2 hectares of flooded mangrove forest in Koh Kong’s Peam Krasaop Wildlife Sanctuary have been filled in with sand from illegal dredging nearby, with local authorities and an NGO yesterday claiming an unidentified “powerful” tycoon was behind the environmental crimes. ...

The Council of Ministers released a no-holds-barred book about its efforts to root out a purported foreign-backed “colour revolution” in Cambodia yesterday, lashing out at superpowers like the United States for supposedly trying to cause “immeasurable catastrophe” in the country.​ ...

Minister for Mines and Energy Suy Sem will appear at the National Assembly on Thursday to answer questions about a more than $700 million discrepancy in data on sand exports to Singapore, according to a letter signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen. ...

The National Defense Ministry’s annual draft report showed that Cambodia’s borders are still at risk of abuse from Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, despite the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) cracking down on nearly 6,000 border crimes over the past year. ...

Two election monitoring groups have conducted an audit of National Election Committe-issued NEC voter lists in 252 communes and found them to be 98 percent accurate, potentially quelling, at least in part, past anxieties over the quality and veracity of these lists.​ ...

Students at schools in Cambodia will learn about the life, achievements and leadership of Prime Minister Hun Sen under a proposal by the Defence Ministry to change the nation’s curriculum and introduce the ruling party’s fiercely contested historical narrative into textbooks. ...

Material apparently aimed at incriminating jailed opposition leader Kem Sokha continued to flow in over the weekend, with pro-government leaker “Seiha” releasing another video of Sokha expressing his gratitude to the US government for its assistance in building democracy in Cambodia. ...

Cambodian pig farmers are facing a mounting crisis as the price of pigs has continued to plummet, with many blaming local officials for allowing Vietnam to illegally import pigs across the border, representatives from a farmers association said at a press conference yesterday. ...

Two activists from the conservation group Mother Nature were tried yesterday in Koh Kong for photographing a vessel at sea, with their lawyer asking the court to dismiss the charges due to a lack of evidence that they had committed any crime. ...

The Ministry of Environment will soon collaborate with some NGOs to host a Bird Photos Fair for the first time at Wat Phnom in Phnom Penh’s Daun Penh district in order to increase public awareness and understanding of Cambodian bird species. ...

A top UN diplomat has encouraged Cambodia to ratify a convention that would protect its migrant workers abroad. James Heenan, from the office of human rights at the UN, said in a forum in Phnom Penh that Cambodian workers abroad often see their rights violated. .. ...

The number of Vietnamese tourists visiting Cambodia and Cambodians visiting Vietnam has increased recently, according to new data released by the Cambodian tourism ministry. Vietnam has the largest number of tourists visiting Cambodia at 600,000, or 21 per cent, of all international visitors. ...

Cambodia’s Deputy Prime Minister yesterday reiterated his commitment to criminalising money laundering and terrorist financing in the Kingdom. Sok An reassured delegates at the Asia-Pacific Group (APG) on Money Laundering of Cambodia’s commitment to implementing comprehensive procedures to stop illegal monetary transactions. ...

Six companies from China’s Guangzhou city and Guangxi province met with Kim Sithan, Cambodia’s secretary of state at the Ministry of Commerce, yesterday to discuss investment in the country Heavy machinery, fertiliser and chemical companies expressed interest in Cambodia’s agricultural sector ...

The Svay Rieng Provincial Court is scheduled to question two witnesses today over the shooting of three workers at a special economic zone (SEZ) on Feb. 20, investigating Judge Pech Chhoeut said yesterday. “We will question two more witnesses on Thursday,” Judge Chhoeut said. ...

Australia announced yesterday that it will increase the amount of aid it provides Cambodia by about US$13 million (A$13.2 million) in the coming year, putting the country’s official development assistance at $96.1 million. ...

Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority is scheduled to hold this week its annual general meeting of shareholders, the second since its shares were listed two years ago. The meeting is due to take place at the authority’s headquarters in Daun Penh district on Thursday morning. ...