A Montagnard asylum seeker was found dead on Wednesday morning in a Phnom Penh residence provided by the U.N.’s refugee agency, having committed suicide in his room, according to police. ...

“The Microfinance Sector in Cambodia: Opportunities and Risks” is an attempt to get a wider view and deeper insight from various researchers on fostering a robust, stable and sustainable microfinance sector, the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC) said in a statement yesterday.   ...

Foreign diplomatic missions in Phnom Penh say they are closely watching the handling of the cases of human rights monitors and a national election official charged and jailed on Monday in connection with a sex scandal being prosecuted against an opposition leader.    ...

The first quarter earnings of the publicly listed Phnom Penh Autonomous Port (PPAP) were up by more than 10 percent in comparison to the same period last year thanks to the Kingdom’s steady economic growth and the company’s efforts in streamlining its expansion. ...

The Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) has started the process of drafting two laws aimed at protecting witnesses and whistleblowers in an effort to increase their efficiency in fighting corruption. The ACU plans for drafts of the two laws to be finished later this year. ...

A visiting U.S. human rights envoy on Tuesday urged the government to release and drop charges against five current and former rights workers arrested in April amid what he called a deteriorating political situation in which the courts have disproportionately targeted state critics. ...

The number of new HIV infections in Cambodia nearly doubled over the past decade—the greatest increase in Asia—while less than a third of Cambodians living with the virus are receiving medication to slow its development, according to a report released this week. ...

Despite some appearances to the contrary, things in Cambodia are looking pretty rosy at least according to the World Bank. In its latest revision of world economies the Bank raised Cambodia’s status from a low-income economy to a lower-middle income country. ...

Chinese budget carrier Spring Airlines is in discussions with the government to open an airline pilot training school in Cambodia, as well as expand its flights to the Kingdom, and even start a tour company, according to an official from the national aviation authority. ...

More than 2,000 ducks have died from the H5N1 bird flu in Siem Reap and Battambang provinces since Thursday in the first outbreak of the virus since March 2014, according to officials and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) on Tuesday. ...

Young people in Cambodia are often taken advantage of by factories because of their inexperience and lack of understanding about labor rights, but the Youth Resource Development Program (YRDP) is trying to change that by educating young people on unions and dispute management in the ...

The Interior Ministry’s anti-human trafficking department on Monday questioned an administrator at a maritime school over complaints lodged in September by seven former students who claim they were forced to flee a pair of Chinese-owned cargo ships after working in slave-like conditions. ...

Two government-run emergency food assistance projects will be extended after evaluations found that they had significant impacts on reducing poverty in 200 communes in eight provinces, although the projects – which received financial support from developmental partners – have been completed, an official said yesterday. ...

Women’s Affairs Minister Dr. Ung Kanthaphavy addressed multiple points regarding the achievement of gender equality and empowerment of women and girls in the Kingdom during a two-day meeting reviewing the ministry’s work in 2015 and planning its goals for 2016 yesterday.​ ...

A vending machine dispensing driver’s licenses will be installed at Aeon Mall, according to the Public Works and Transport Ministry’s website, as part of newly appointed Minister Sun Chanthol’s plan to bring in serious reform within his first 100 days in office. ...

Some 34 families in Kampong Chhnang’s Lorpeang village yesterday filed a new petition at the provincial hall urging authorities to intervene in a nine-year land dispute with KDC International, which villagers say has reached a bottleneck and is affecting their daily lives. ...

The owner of a luxury timber shop in Phnom Penh was fined 64.189 million riel (about $16,047) in absentia yesterday after being convicted of transporting, trading and stocking timber without authorization from the Forest Administration, according to court officials.     ...

With rain finally starting to fall across the country, Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday declared an end to the relief campaign he launched last month to counter the worst drought in decades, calling the devastating dry spell an opportunity for “lessons” in governance. ...

Concerns are mounting among the human rights community, particularly in the wake of political analyst Kem Ley’s murder, that UN Special Rapporteur to Cambodia Rhona Smith is failing to fulfil her mandate in a time of what one observer termed “fear and confusion”. ...

Australian mining firm Emerald Resources is preparing to commence first-pass test drilling on its O’Rman prospect in northeastern Cambodia, where soil assays from augur samples have indicated the presence of gold mineralisation, the company said in its latest quarterly report.   ...