News

The ruling Cambodian People’s Party is pushing for the campaign period of the next national election to be cut to just 14 days, less than half of the 30-day period currently allocated for campaigning.​ ...

Some Siem Reap families are balking at the Apsara Authority’s order for them to leave their homes – which were allegedly constructed illegally – and move to a government-provided settlement by Friday. ...

Eight ethnic minority Jarai villagers in Ratanakkiri province have been told to sign an agreement pledging not to provide aid to Montagnard asylum seekers or face possible arrest, villagers have said. ...

The trial of two Chinese men and three Cambodian women on charges of human trafficking began in the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Monday after they were arrested in May for allegedly brokering marriages between Cambodian women and prospective grooms in China. ...

Seven Cambodian loggers have been released from a Thai prison a year after they were caught crossing the border in search of rosewood. ...

A new private radio station aimed at indigenous communities in the country’s northeast was officially launched in Ratanakkiri province’s Banlung City on Sunday after carrying out a series of trial broadcasts last month. Radio Wild Flower will air daily shows in the ethnic minority Kreung, Tompuon ...

Pilot tests for Cambodia’s new computerised voter registration system are off to a rough start after one commune refused yesterday to participate in the trials. The $17 million system, which uses computers to record voters’ thumbprints and photos, and issues voter card printouts, was slated to ...

Management of an English-owned garment factory yesterday refused a request by union officials to meet to negotiate a possible end of a strike that started on Thursday. ...

Thai soldiers admitted to burning alive two men last week who may have been undocumented Cambodians, Battambang military officials said yesterday. Cambodian officers said their Thai counterparts informed them that on the night of January 7, four Cambodians illegally crossed the border with intentions of evading ...

Despite outcry from medical students, the government is refusing to reduce the latest in a string of proposed fee hikes, this one nearly doubling the charge for the University of Health Science’s exit exam. In a letter sent to the university’s rector on Friday, the ...

Interior Minister Sar Kheng has agreed to answer questions about last year’s fatal crackdown on striking garment workers but has called on opposition and NGO leaders who “incited” the violence to do the same. Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said yesterday that Kheng was willing to ...

Members of a community in Preah Vihear province chased down a group of illegal loggers and briefly detained one of them yesterday, less than a week after the community accused the local wildlife sanctuary director of destroying their patrol station. ...

The European Union will speak to Cambodia’s government on behalf of two communities in Battambang involved in land disputes, according to the rights group Adhoc. ...

Yet another Cambodian woman returned home from China yesterday after allegedly escaping her trafficker and the man she was forced to wed. ...

Prince Norodom Ranariddh on Saturday appealed to deputy opposition leader Kem Sokha to return to the Funcinpec party, before issuing a warning to women not to trust the prince due to the “danger” that he would present to them. Speaking at a special meeting of Funcinpec ...

Authorities in Oddar Meanchey province found a haul of valuable luxury wood inside the luggage compartment of a passenger bus on Friday, but let the driver go although he later admitted to smuggling the wood. Chongkal district military police chief Un Kimseng said the Rith Mony ...

Tokyo is planning to ink bilateral aviation accords with Cambodia and Laos, allowing regular direct flights between Japan and the two countries. ...

Cambodia’s local authorities will receive a pay bump of up to 60 per cent starting this month, the government revealed yesterday. A commune chief will now get 400,000 riel (about $100) per month, up from 300,000 riel ($75); first and second deputy commune chiefs will get ...

Former Cambodian Prime Min­ister Pen Sovann, who was installed by the Vietnamese after they toppled the Khmer Rouge, but was later removed and imprisoned in Vietnam, has announced a plan to file a complaint against Cambodia’s eastern neighbor at the International Criminal Court. ...

Illegal logging and destructive farming practices have archaeologists racing to rescue an ecologically crucial mountain and its hidden temples. Some 80 per cent of the forest on Phnom Kulen – one of Cambodia’s National Parks – has disappeared due to a combination of illegal logging, ...

A temporary structure built on the Buddhist Institute’s land by Na­gaCorp, which added to swirling rumors late last year that the growing casino empire was planning to develop the land and prompted hundreds of monks to march in protest, has been removed. ...

A Chinese-owned company embroiled in a land dispute with villagers in Koh Kong province agreed yesterday to reopen a road that it had blocked on Wednesday, sparking violent clashes. ...

Cambodia’s growing condominium sector shows no signs of slowing down, with construction on two new condominiums set to begin in the first quarter of this year. According to real estate firm CB Richard Ellis’ December market view report, released Wednesday, work will begin on Sky Villa ...

The Association of Banks in Cambodia has called on the Securities and Exchange Commission to ensure that over-the-counter derivatives transacted by banks do not fall under the governance of the new draft prakas governing derivatives trading on Cambodia’s stock exchange. Speaking at a workshop in Phnom ...