A group of opposition lAwmAkers hAve written to CAmbodiAn Prime Minister Hun Sen urging Action AgAinst A sugAr fActory owned by A ruling pArty officiAl Accused of exploiting child lAbor And grAbbing lAnd from villAgers. Six SAm RAinsy PArty (SRP) pArliAmentAriAns sent A letter dAted JAn. <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/mps-urge-child-lAbor-Action/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

At 9 A.m. yesterdAy, more thAn 200 soldiers, police And militAry police officers were gAthered outside A lArge mAnsion on Street 55 in Phnom Penh’s DAun Penh district. All were wAiting for their promised “Ang pAo” &ndAsh; red envelopes contAining cAsh usuAlly hAnded out during <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/senAtors-wife-showers-police-militAry-with-new-yeAr-cAsh/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The British chairman of an embattled agricultural investment firm was arrested Saturday by Cambodian authorities over charges of forging documents and using them in an attempt to illegally purchase thousands of hectares of land, a court prosecutor said. Greg Fryett, the main shareholder of Sustainable agro <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/british-businessman-arrested-over-alleged-land-fraud/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

China’s expanding investment portfolio in Cambodia has brought into sharper focus the darker side of the asian giant’s “development projects” in the impoverished Southeast asian nation. and it is in the southwestern corner of Cambodia&mdash;known for its rich biodiversity, forest covered hills and bubbling rivers&mdash;where this <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/chinese-investments-in-cambodia-ignore-environment-queries/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The uncle of a man who died in Thursday’s ceiling collapse at the Wing Star Shoes factory in Kampong Speu province claimed yesterday that the company had threatened to give the family nothing if they did not agree to an on-the-spot payout. It came as a <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/take-it-or-leave-it/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The U.S. has downgraded Cambodia in its latest global Trafficking in Persons Report for showing no discernable improvements in its efforts to combat human trafficking over the past year, the country’s first demotion in five years. The 2013 report cites an increase in the number <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodia-drops-on-us-global-human-trafficking-ranking/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Getting reliable statistical data remains a challenge for Cambodia’s government, as a lack of cooporation among the ministries and corruption still distort what is reality. Industry insiders say this is a problem, especially as reliable data are the base of reference when the association of Southeast <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/scepticism-over-government-statistics/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

When a bridge and kiosk collapsed into a pond at a Phnom Penh garment factory last month, injuring more than 20 workers, the Prime Minister’s Bodyguard Unit and police rushed to scour the murky water for survivors. Some hours later, those forces remained unsure whether any <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/collapses-raise-concerns-over-emergency-training/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

By the time London Fashion Week comes to a close, 58 high-end designers will have shown their collections. Rail-thin models will have walked the runways. Debate will have raged over size zero. In Cambodia, meanwhile, garment workers stitching clothes that supply the UK high street are <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cambodian-textile-workers-who-supply-uk-clothing-stores-starving-and-suffering-mass-faintings/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Customs officers along Cambodia’s border have been instructed to increase their efforts to properly inspect and tax products coming into the country, which has increased the cost of imports and led to a rise in retail prices for a host of goods, government officials, businessmen <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/increase-in-customs-taxes-raises-retail-prices-in-cambodia/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

What happened to Cambodia’s electric car? The short answer is, the wait continues. More than seven months after its owners unveiled the new and improved angkor EV 2013 to great fanfare, they are chronically short of funding and assembly is taking place in piecemeal fashion. Seang Chan <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/electric-car-is-still-on-the-charger/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Forestry AdministrAtion officiAls on FridAy confiscAted 1,000 pieces of luxury wood on lAnd belonging to A VietnAmese rubber compAny thAt hAs been repeAtedly Accused of illegAl logging in RAtAnAkkiri province’s O’YAdAw district, locAl officiAls And humAn rights workers sAid SundAy. RomAsh SvAt, A representAtive of some <A href='https://opendevelopmentcAmbodiA.net/news/Another-hAul-of-illegAl-logs-found-on-vietnAmese-firms-lAnd/ ' clAss='cAmbodiA-color'>...A>

The apartment rental market was flat in the third quarter after strong growth earlier in the year, with oversupply and political tensions among the causes blamed by realty experts. Chrek Soknim, deputy director of VTrust Property Co, Ltd, said that growth has stagnated after the January-March <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/apartment-demand-falters-in-q3/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Environmental campaign group Global Witness on Thursday called on the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Deutsche Bank to divest immediately from a Vietnamese firm whose rubber plantations in Cambodia are accused of rampant illegal logging and forced evictions of indigenous communities. The call came exactly six <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/banks-urged-to-divest-from-ratanakkiri-based-rubber-firm/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday assigned former Finance Minister Keat Chhon as the head of a newly formed committee tasked with researching the government’s capacity to introduce wage increases for civil servants and factory workers. The statement said that Mr. Hun Sen also spoke <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/committees-to-research-minimum-wages-study-killings/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Violent clashes have erupted in Cambodia, leaving a protester dead and several wounded as thousands gathered to challenge strongman premier Hun Sen’s disputed election win. Security forces fired smoke grenades, tear gas and water cannon at rock-throwing opposition supporters in Phnom Penh in an escalation of <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/protest-in-cambodia-leaves-one-dead/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

The Phnom Penh Municipality on Friday said it would only allow 10,000 protesters to attend the opposition party’s planned mass-demonstration next week and that the demonstrators would not be allowed to leave Freedom Park. On Friday, the municipality officially rejected the CNRP request to hold a <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cnrp-denied-permission-to-march-to-un-embassies/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Finance Minister Keat Chhon has signed a deal with China’s ambassador to Cambodia to secure a concessional loan of $121 million to fund irrigation and power projects. In the latest promise of cash from Cambodia’s biggest donor, Chi­na will fund a power transmission line con­necting Phnom <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/china-loans-cash-for-irrigation-power-projects/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

Election observers on Wednesday released a joint statement regarding the fallout from the disputed national election, calling for a recount of votes in Kandal province’s Takhmao City, where a particularly large number of irregularities were reported. The Situation Room, a conglomerate of NGO’s and election monitors <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/election-observers-call-for-recount-of-votes-in-kandal/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>

CNRP vice president Kem Sokha said Sunday that the opposition will not heed an order by Phnom Penh City Hall banning marches in the city, and will push forward with plans to march with thousands of supporters to the offices of the U.N. and at <a href='https://opendevelopmentcambodia.net/news/cnrp-rejects-marching-ban-during-3-day-protest/ ' class='cambodia-color'>...a>