The Phnom Penh Post
Mixed results in Cambodia’s drug war: officials
Senior government figures yesterday noted major flaws in an ongoing drug crackdown, among them a lack of rehabilitation for incarcerated users, during a day-long review of the campaign yesterday. The government also proposed establishing five ill-defined “white villages” – or drug-free locations – on the ...
Niem Chheng and Erin Handley
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/mixed-results-cambodias-drug-war-officials
Lèse majesté law for Cambodia advances
The National Assembly’s Permanent Committee met to discuss a proposed lèse majesté law yesterday, as criticism of the law and draft constitutional amendments continued to mount. National Assembly President Heng Samrin presided over the meeting, where it was decided to forward the draft law banning ...
Andrew Nachemson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/lese-majeste-law-cambodia-advances
Indonesia-Cambodia trade grows to $492M
Bilateral trade between Cambodia and Indonesia amounted to $492.7 million in the first 11 months of last year, a 23 percent increase compared to the same period in 2016, according to a report from an Indonesian state-run news agency. ...
Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/indonesia-cambodia-trade-grows-492m
Mines Ministry alleges slander
The Ministry of Mines and Energy has accused a Kandal province businessman of defamation and operating an illegal digging site, a few weeks after he allegedly shot into the ground to scare off officials trying to inspect his land. ...
Kong Meta
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/mines-ministry-alleges-slander
Stung Treng officials crack down on dredging site
Stung Treng provincial authorities on Friday shut down an illegal sand dredging operation on the Sesan River and confiscated equipment after having warned the company to cease operations since December, officials said yesterday. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/stung-treng-officials-crack-down-dredging-site
Timber seized in raids in Ratanakkiri, Kratie
Authorities in Ratanakkiri’s Lumphat Wildlife Sanctuary seized a stockpile of first- and second-grade luxury timber on Saturday, while a truck hauling wood was intercepted by authorities in Kratie province in the early hours of yesterday morning. No arrests have been made in either case, authorities ...
Khouth Sophak Chakrya
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/timber-seized-raids-ratanakkiri-kratie
Sesan holdouts will not be given public services
Stung Treng province officials have announced they will not build public facilities for those villagers who refused to relocate to the government’s resettlement site when their villages were flooded late last year by the reservoir of the controversial Lower Sesan II Dam. ...
Phak Seangly
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sesan-holdouts-will-not-be-given-public-services
Five more held for shooting forest patrollers in Mondulkiri
Five more suspects have been arrested and are being interrogated by authorities in relation to the murder of three forest patrollers last Tuesday in Mondulkiri’s Keo Seima Wildlife Sanctuary, authorities confirmed yesterday. ...
Mech Dara and Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/five-more-held-shooting-forest-patrollers-mondulkiri
Borei Keila members told to stop protests
District authorities warned Borei Keila residents yesterday during a meeting to stop protesting lest they be arrested. On Wednesday, representatives from seven families gathered in front of the house of Suy Sophan, the owner of Phanimex, to demand what they deem just compensation for vacating their ...
Leonie Kijewski
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/borei-keila-members-told-stop-protests
Mekong River Commission to revise dam guidelines
Hydropower developers and representatives of the Mekong River Commission member countries met last week for the last time before finalising guidelines to mitigate the negative impacts of dam construction on the Mekong River, though conservationists expressed doubts about whether such guidelines would make a difference. ...
Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/mekong-river-commission-revise-dam-guidelines
Rumours ‘hurt malaria efforts’
A study of the mass administration of anti-malarial drugs in two provinces of Cambodia has shown the challenges that surface during such interventions, including the spread of “rumours” among villagers, which can decrease participation, new research shows. ...
Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/rumours-hurt-malaria-efforts
US mart chain Circle K launches capital stores
US-based convenience mart Circle K officially launched in Cambodia yesterday, with three outlets already operating in Phnom Penh and plans to open 40 more by the end of the year. ...
Post Staff
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/us-mart-chain-circle-k-launches-capital-stores
Arts can be cathartic for Khmer Rouge survivors: study
A small-scale research study carried out in Cambodia has indicated that the performing arts can serve as a form of catharsis and have value as potential reparations for survivors of the Khmer Rouge regime. ...
Yesenia Amaro
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/arts-can-be-cathartic-khmer-rouge-survivors-study
Swiss aid gives $4.6M for farmers
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) yesterday pledged $4.6 million over three years for phase two of an agriculture assistance program that is intended to help small-scale Cambodian farmers in four northern provinces. ...
Cheng Sokhorng
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/swiss-aid-gives-46m-farmers
Massive skyscraper floated again
Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday that a 600-metre building would be constructed in Cambodia, though he did not mention specifics and similar projects proposed in the past have stalled before construction. ...
Robin Spiess and Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/massive-skyscraper-floated-again
Thousands of excess Senate ballots printed
The National Election Committee (NEC) yesterday announced plans to distribute 25,950 ballots for the upcoming Senate election this month, more than double the amount of eligible voters. ...
Soth Koemsoeun
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national-politics/thousands-excess-senate-ballots-printed
‘Don’t come near Asia’: Hun Sen threatens to roll out rocket launchers against Rainsy and his ‘movement’
Prime Minister Hun Sen delivered a fiery speech yesterday, threatening to “attack” members of the opposition with Soviet-era rocket launchers, while also claiming he would arrest them anywhere in Asia. ...
Mech Dara and Andrew Nachemson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/dont-come-near-asia-hun-sen-threatens-roll-out-rocket-launchers-against-rainsy-and-his
Hun Sen rejects democracy index’s ‘authoritarian’ label
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday took a swipe at a recent democracy report that labelled his regime “authoritarian”, before declaring no one is capable of “toppling Hun Sen besides Hun Sen”. ...
Mech Dara and Erin Handley
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/hun-sen-rejects-democracy-indexs-authoritarian-label
Breaking: Kem Sokha denied bail by Appeal Court
Former opposition leader Kem Sokha was denied bail this morning by the Appeal Court in Phnom Penh, his lawyer Choung Choungy has confirmed. The hearing was held under a tight security presence, with Sokha brought in by police convoy before dawn. Human rights monitors and ...
Niem Chheng and Ananth Baliga
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/breaking-kem-sokha-denied-bail-appeal-court
Cambodia plunges in democracy survey after CNRP dissolution
The state of democracy in Cambodia has declined to the point where it is now led by an outright “authoritarian” regime, according to the latest Democracy Index from the Economist Intelligence Unit. The Democracy Index 2017, released yesterday, ranked Cambodia 124th out of 167 countries, ...
Erin Handley
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/cambodia-plunges-democracy-survey-after-cnrp-dissolution
Massive solar farm planned by US firm
US-based solar energy developer Omni Navitas announced a plan to set up a $500 million, 150-megawatt solar energy farm in Cambodia, which CEO Jim McAuliffe said would make it the largest solar farm in Southeast Asia by capacity. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/massive-solar-farm-planned-us-firm
Draft of long-awaited access-to-information law unveiled
A proposed access-to-information law more than a decade in the making was unveiled to the public yesterday, with just one item left to finalise – punishments for officials who refuse to disclose public information. ...
Daphne Chen
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/draft-long-awaited-access-information-law-unveiled
Khmer Krom warned not to join Rainsy’s new movement
The head of a Khmer Krom advocacy association yesterday issued a statement urging his followers not to join ex-opposition leader Sam Rainsy’s newly minted Cambodia National Rescue Movement, claiming it will provoke violence. ...
Soth Koemsoeun
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national-politics/khmer-krom-warned-not-join-rainsys-new-movement
Search on for Mondulkiri forestry patrol’s killers
As authorities yesterday searched for officials suspected of killing three forestry patrollers in a brazen ambush near Mondulkiri’s border with Vietnam, families, friends and colleagues struggled to make sense of the sudden deaths of their loved ones. ...
Kong Meta, Mech Dara and Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/search-mondulkiri-forestry-patrols-killers