A Vietnamese national was charged yesterday with smuggling elephant tusks and parts into Cambodia in what wildlife advocates have dubbed a landmark case.Ream Chan Mony, a deputy prosecutor at Siem Reap Provincial Court, said 43-year-old Vu Le Thuy was charged with “smuggling illegal wildlife and ...

Workers at a Korean-owned factory in Kampong Speu who lost their wages when their employer fled the country will have to wait until after the New Year’s festivities end to seek reparations from the building owner, with the provincial court delaying the meeting until January ...

The draft Coastal Master Plan is likely to get approval from the Ministry of Tourism and other ministries in the middle of this year, while Otres Beach has been selected by the ministry as the template ensuring bays and beaches are environmentally friendly in order ...

The United States army plans to store disaster relief equipment in Vietnam and Cambodia, a top American general has revealed. General Dennis Via, who heads the US Army Materiel Command, told reporters at an Alabama symposium recently that the stockpiling of such equipment in these two ...

At whAt should be a boom time ahead of the New Year, seafood vendors in Kampot have full baskets but no buyers as the algae bloom around Kep turns the wAter bright green and dead fish wash ashore. The government has issued a warning against swimming ...

A draft construction law has been completed and will soon be submitted to the Council of Ministers and may be enacted by the end of the year, but there needs to be a discussion and more feedback before sending it to the government to be ...

Cambodia’s Minister of Economy and Finance last week made a request to a visiting senior official from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to speed up loan approvals for least development countries (LDCs) in order to spur infrastructure development. Aun Pormoniroth made the request to AIIB ...

As a way to possibly boost funding for environmental protection in the Kingdom, Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday floated the idea of an extra tax on cigarettes and alcohol. Speaking at a forum on the protection and conservation of natural resources in Phnom Penh, the prime ...

Landing at 3:10pm yesterday, the All Nippon Airways (ANA) Boeing 787-8 marked the first direct flight between Tokyo and Phnom Penh in seven years. The daily service will make for a much shorter – and hassle free – journey, and boost business and tourism, officials said ...

The Telecom Regulator of Cambodia (TRC) has urged 34 domestic telecom operators and ISPs to submit their business performance reports by end-November. The watchdog plans to ensure the companies comply with their licensing agreements, Khmer Times reports, citing Im Vutha, director of regulation at TRC. ...

The Vietnamese military has begun training Cambodia police in cryptography and encryption techniques as part of a national plan to protect “state secrets”.Em Sam An, a secretary of state at the Ministry of Interior, signed a new agreement between the ministry’s cryptography department and the ...

Keo Rotha was sitting in his small brick house in a quiet village in Pursat province, surrounded by coconut trees and a bamboo fence, looking at his old phone while waiting for a call to tell him the results of the court case he and ...

Delegations from the five lower Mekong states met with officials from the Asia-Pacific region, the US and Europe yesterday to convene the 9th Lower Mekong Initiative (LMI) and Friends of the Lower Mekong (FLM) Regional Working Group aimed at devising strategies to strengthen infrastructure, connectivity ...

Four Cambodian fishermen released by Somali pirates last month recounted their ordeal at a press conference hosted by NGO Caritas yesterday. Khorn Vanthy, 26, from Kampong Cham; Kin Kemhen, 33, of Kratie; and Em Phoum Many, 33, and Nhem Soksan, 33, both from Kampong Chhnang, spent ...

Minebea, the largest Japanese company in Cambodia, officially opened a third manufacturing plant in the Phnom Penh Special Economic Zone yesterday to coincide with the fifth anniversary of its presence in the country. Yoshihisa Kainuma, president and CEO of Mineba (Cambodia), told reporters at the ...

The Legal Documentation Centre attached to the Khmer Rouge tribunal opened to the public yesterday, thanks to financial aid from the Japanese government. Speaking at the inauguration ceremony in Phnom Penh, Deputy Prime Minister Bin Chhin said the centre will play an important part in preserving ...

The Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction yesterday promised to settle land disputes between villagers and sugar companies granted economic land concessions in Kampong Speu, Koh Kong and Preah Vihear provinces. Minister Chea Sophara made the promise after an inter-ministerial meeting at his office ...

Researchers have found that a little-studied variety of threadworm – strongyloides stercoralis – previously thought to be relatively benign is associated with “significant morbidity” in rural Cambodia. Peter Odermatt, a professor at Basel University in Switzerland who headed the team, said the researchers had been ...

Two men were arrested Friday by Pursat Provincial Military Police for allegedly logging in a protected area, only to be released yesterday at the request of the provincial Military Police commander, officials said yesterday. The men were identified as Oum Ngat Say, 18, and Sou ...

Last month’s purchase by Singapore-listed KrisEnergy of a 42.75 percent working interest in the Block A offshore energy concession made them a majority owner in the project, with an overwhelming control of 95 percent of the stakes. This acquisition is expected to accelerate the development ...