Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Monday called for the closure of 2.25 million hectares of natural forest in the country’s Central Highlands as well as the shuttering of wood processing facilities across the country, regional news outlets reported. ...

A majority of the more than 2,500 children hospitalized by illnesses in the Kantha Bopha hospital network between Sunday and yesterday were critically poor and could not survive without free treatment, Kantha Bopha hospital founder and head Dr. Beat Richner said. ...

The Vietnamese government yesterday agreed in principle to provide a grant of $2 million to Cambodia to build a model market aimed at boosting cross-border trade between the two countries, officials at Cambodia’s Ministry of Commerce said. ...

The National Gendarmerie announced it will recruit 300 students for its upcoming training class of deputy gendarmerie officers, with entrance exam application forms to be available from May 16 to June 2 at the 25 gendarmerie headquarters nationwide.     ...

Pan-Asian gaming company Entertainment Gaming Asia Inc (EGA) will sell 670 of its electronic gaming machine (EGM) seats placed at NagaWorld casino in Phnom Penh to an unnamed Cambodian firm for $2.5 million, the Nasdaq-listed company announced on Wednesday. ...

Trade between China and Cambodia swelled to $4.8 billion last year, up by about $200 million from the year before, while Beijing has now given the government $4.2 billion in grants and loans, Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Tuesday. ...

Malaysian-owned energy firm Cambodian Energy II Co Ltd (CEL2) will invest a total of $600 million into building its 150-megawatt coal-fired power plant near Sihanoukville, which is set to become the Kingdom’s third coal-fired power station. ...

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. ...

In the past two decades, the government has transferred about $2 billion to lower level administrations in an effort to decentralize.The figure was revealed yesterday during the first day of a two-day conference on decentralization on Koh Pich. ...

Despite initial hopes that the man who tortured her 2-year-old son last year would face trial in Cambodia, the child’s mother said on Tuesday that Vietnamese police have informed her that the abuser would not be extradited from Vietnam. ...

The cabinet will hold a debate on Friday and is expected to approve the 2018 budget of $5.86 billion, an increase of 16.2 percent from last year’s $5.04 billion, according to a government document seen by Khmer Times yesterday. ...

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. ...

Cambodia failed to improve its ranking on the U.S.’ annual “Trafficking in Persons Report” after being demoted last year. Released on Friday, the global report again ranks Cambodia on the Tier 2 Watch List, one tier away from the lowest position, Tier 3. ...

Cambodia on Monday inaugurated the Japan-funded Tsubasa Bridge across the Mekong River. The suspension bridge, built at a cost of ¥119.4 million, allows National Route 1 to cross the Mekong River. At 2,215 meters, it is the longest bridge in Cambodia. ...

About 20 representatives for more than 2,000 striking workers—accused by the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia of damaging the industry’s reputation—marched to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday asking it to revoke an injunction ordering them back to work. ...

Cambodia has moved to formalise its ill-regulated derivatives sector by launching a key regulation earlier this month.On July 2, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Cambodia (SECC) approved the prakas on the “Licensing and Supervision of Derivative Trading”. ...

The number of reported dengue fever cases has risen to 2,688 dengue in the first six months of this year, up 116 percent from the 1,245 cases over the same period last year, a statement from the Health Ministry said. ...

Cambodis’s most crucial forests are disappearing at a rate of more than 2,000 kilometres a year, as agricultural firms continue to harvest timber by illegal means in protected areas and national parks, according to a study from Washington-based Forest Trends. ...

A group of Phnom Penh families from a flood-prone community living along the city’s abandoned railroad tracks managed to secure the last $2,250 they need to build their own drainage system after protesting outside the Russei Keo district governor’s office Wednesday. ...

As Phnom Penh’s population expands in the coming decades—with expectations of 2.6 million people by 2035 and 5 million by 2050—Japan’s development agency on Thursday hosted a conference to review its plan to curb traffic congestion in the capital. ...