Ministries and other national bodies

As anticipated, the U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday approved U.K. professor Rhona Smith as the new special rapporteur to Cambodia on human rights, replacing Surya Subedi, whose six-year term ends this month. ...

Approximately 570 Cambodian people, mostly children, in northwestern Cambodia’s Siem Reap province got sick after eating bread filled with meat and vegetables on Saturday afternoon, a provincial health chief confirmed. ...

A Turkish man was sentenced to nine years in jail Friday for purchasing the virginity of two 14-year-old girls in Phnom Penh last year. ...

In the wake of a nightclub fire in Bavet City that killed five people on Monday, the Tourism Ministry has decided to begin more aggressively enforcing a 2014 sub-decree that requires all bars, nightclubs and karaoke parlors to have multiple exits, fire extinguishers and soundproofing, ...

Anti-human trafficking police arrested a woman Wednesday after they discovered she was running an unlicensed training center in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district that promised to send students to work in Japan or South Korea after paying for courses, an official said Thursday. ...

The Interior Ministry on Thursday confirmed for the first time that Cambodian officials are paying a second visit to the South Pacific island nation of Nauru this week to look for refugees interested in resettling in Cambodia, but said the delegation has yet to find ...

At a ceremony to inaugurate a new stupa at Phnom Penh’s Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum on Thursday, German Ambassador Joachim Baron von Marschall urged young Cambodians to be less reluctant to speak openly about the Khmer Rouge era, noting that it was Germany’s youth in ...

A lack of capital is the main obstacle for Cambodia to expedite connectivity development and the Southeast Asian country hopes that the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and the Silk Road Fund will fill the shortage, a spokesman said. ...

Poor governance and uneven distribution of wealth to rural communities are both behind Cambodia’s poor record of girls’ education, an expert says. Despite the country’s high economic growth rate in recent years, few opportunities are available in rural areas, which leads to girls dropping out of ...

A Ukrainian member of parliament sought by Cambodian authorities over allegations of child-rape was removed from Interpol’s most-wanted list on Tuesday night because, according to Cambodia’s Interpol office, “the case involves politics in Ukraine and Russia.” ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen took aim at Michelle Obama yesterday, accusing the US first lady of making false promises, while suggesting her visit last weekend was more about hopeful rhetoric rather than implementing concrete improvements in the country’s education sector. ...

A Ukrainian member of parliament sought by Cambodian authorities over allegations of child-rape was removed from Interpol’s most-wanted list on Tuesday night because, according to Cambodia’s Interpol office, “the case involves politics in Ukraine and Russia.” ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday called on his ruling party to give its staffers a base salary on par with the country’s lowest paid teachers plus 30 percent, roughly matching the raises teachers, nurses, police and soldiers will be seeing this year. ...

Judges at the Phnom Penh Municipal Court said Wednesday they will consider sending the trial of a British businessman and three Cambodians accused of fraud back to Banteay Meanchey province, where the alleged crimes occurred. ...

Refugees on Nauru say Cambodian officials have returned to the tiny South Pacific island nation to once more try to convince some of them to resettle in Cambodia, according to an Australia-based group that advocates for refugee rights. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen took aim at Michelle Obama yesterday, accusing the US first lady of making false promises, while suggesting her visit last weekend was more about hopeful rhetoric rather than implementing concrete improvements in the country’s education sector. ...

The National Assembly’s standing committee will meet on Friday to open nominations for members of the new National Election Committee (NEC) and then vote on its nine members on April 13, a spokesman said Wednesday. ...

Refugees on Nauru say Cambodian officials have returned to the tiny South Pacific island nation to once more try to convince some of them to resettle in Cambodia, according to an Australia-based group that advocates for refugee rights. ...

Four military police officers have been suspended from their duties after an incident last week in which officials shot at, arrested and beat two men driving a rice truck that ran a checkpoint. ...

Rights advocates have called for construction of the Lower Sesan II hydropower dam in Cambodia’s Stung Treng province to be halted until new environmental and social impact assessments can be carried following changes allegedly made to the project’s plans. ...

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court again delayed the trial of a woman whose family is locked in a land dispute with tycoon Khun Sear on Wednesday, this time at the request of her lawyer, who is advising the family to give up their five-year battle ...

Impoverished girls in Siem Reap say they hope for a better education, in the wake of First Lady Michelle Obama’s visit. Girls in Siem Reap province say they are aware of the importance of education, especially higher education, to escape poverty. ...

Cambodia earned tax revenue of over 25 million U.S. dollars from casino industry in 2014, up 12 percent year-on-year, a local Cambodian Television Network (CTN) reported Monday, citing a senior finance official. ...

Cambodia has ordered a temporary halt to all sand dredging operations in the country’s rivers and lakes in order to study the environment and social impact of a practice that has caused deadly river bank collapse incidents. ...