Social development

Days after a law went into effect requiring all cigarette packages sold in Cambodia to be plastered with graphic images of the health effects of smoking—blackened lungs and an infant on a respirator—there was little evidence of the new packaging in the capital. ...

An annual reporting requirement under the contentious Law on Associations and NGOs, or LANGO, is being intentionally misinterpreted by local police, according to a group of NGOs in Oddar Meanchey province. ...

Australia and Cambodia have agreed to enhance cooperation in the health sector, with Australia pledging $36 million for health improvements in the Kingdom. The commitment was made on Monday at the Health Ministry in a meeting between Minister Mam Bun Heng and newly appointed Australian Ambassador ...

The roar of engines from tourist buses and cars drowns out the nearby sounds of crickets and flowing water as 39-year-old souvenir seller Touy Samoeurn spoke about the situation plaguing her. Ms. Samoeurn has spent more than 10 years calling Kulen Mountain home, residing in ...

Defense Ministry spokesman Chhum Sucheat said on Monday that 10 tanks being transported from the north to the south of Phnom Penh on Sunday night were on the way to be repaired, but would not say where they went. ...

UN Special Rapporteur Rhona Smith has responded to growing concerns among the human rights community that she is not fulfilling her mandate. ...

An international human rights umbrella says the Southeast Asian region faces the threat of growing conflicts over land between investors and local people unless legal and institutional reforms are put in place. ...

The murder of popular political analyst Kem Ley earlier this month, and the fallout from the killing, could push more Cambodians to question the actions of authorities and even to stand up against the ruling party, local observers say. ...

Twelve students of the Classic Orchestra Music School (COMS) wowed Cambodian royalty, making them forces to be reckoned with in the international music scene. ...

Marie Eckstein, of Charlevoix, and her business partner Lin Alessio, of Interlochen, founded the nonprofit Red Dirt Road in 2012 to empower Cambodian women by teaching them business and sewing skills. ...

Cambodia has the highest rate of untreated cleft lip and palate in infants, out of more than 100 low- and middle-income countries, a new global study has found.   ...

The tobacco industry has urged the government to crack down on cigarette smuggling ahead of new laws mandating graphic health warnings, saying failure to do so gave smuggled products a competitive edge. ...

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. ...

Cambodian police say they are investigating the declaration of a coup against the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, but have laughed off any suggestion of the threat being serious.   ...

Four members of a forest patrol were ambushed in Preah Vihear’s Cheam Pen community forest on Tuesday afternoon, according to deputy forest chief Ros Lim. ...

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. ...

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. ...

NGO Forum director Tek Vannara yesterday called on the Ministry of Land Management to speed up collective land titling for indigenous communities. ...

International media advocacy group Reporters Without Borders said in a statement released on Tuesday that it was concerned by what it characterized as a “surge” in threats against journalists and news organizations in Cambodia in recent weeks.   ...

Two measles cases investigated by the government in recent weeks have been confirmed positive, bringing the total number to five this year and causing concern among health officials about a possible outbreak after the World Health Organization declared the country measles-free just last year.   ...

Turkey’s ambassador to Cambodia alleged on Monday that a top international school in Phnom Penh is overseen by the “terrorist organization” behind last week’s thwarted coup in Turkey—prompting a threat of legal action by the school.   ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Saturday wrote on his Facebook page that he was concerned about the 115 Cambodian students studying at different universities in Turkey where an attempted coup to overthrow the government happened on Friday. ...

Justice Ministry spokesman Chin Malin sang the praises of UN Special Rapporteur Rhona Smith on Saturday, following a report in the Post on Friday that she had lost the confidence of many in the human rights community.   ...

Villagers in Mondulkiri province are protesting the construction of a Ministry of Mines vocational training centre on a piece of land they say is sacred with cultural significance to people across the province.   ...