VOA Khmer

About 50 Cambodian youths were prevented by city security personnel from performing a peace march in the capital on Tuesday. The youth, from the Working Group for Peace, had hoped to hold a non-violent march near Wat Phnom, a city landmark, to the Royal Palace, ...

A leading official from the opposition’s political negotiation team says more talks are planned with the ruling party. Son Chhay, a lawmaker-elect for the Cambodia National Rescue Party, said Monday that talks to end the deadlock will continue following the latest round of sub-national elections, which ...

Nearly 200 villagers from Kratie province gathered in Phnom Penh Monday, hoping to deliver a petition to the Cambodian Senate and other government agencies in protest of a rubber company’s development there. The villagers, from Snoul district, say a Vietnamese rubber company began developing in ...

Anti-corruption advocates say they want the US government to help them push for transparency in the extractive industries, as ongoing mining continues to disrupt the lives of many Cambodians. At least 120 companies, most of them Chinese, have obtained mining licenses in the last decade, as ...

Media experts warn that Vietnam continues to restrict social media, and Cambodia could be following suit. At a forum in Washington to mark World Press Freedom Day on May 3, panelists said online and traditional media activities have been restricted by Vietnamese authorities. The forum, ...

It is exam time in Cambodian schools. But the Ministry of Education warned on Thursday that this year it is working hard to rein in rampant cheating that plagues testing in the country’s schools. ...

Council elections quietly continued in Cambodia on Monday, with five parties hoping to place leaders within sub-national positions. This is the fourth day of campaigning, for an election that is undertaken by about 11,500 members of commune councils, and not by the general public, to place ...

Better laws and enforcement that require motorbike riders and children to wear helmets could save more than 500 lives and $100 million over the next six years, a new study says. The study, undertaken by the Asian Injury Prevention Foundation, says a new law now ...

A World Bank-supported rubber company accused of land grabs has suspended some of its projects, as an investigation by the bank continues. The Hoang Anh Gia Lai company, which received support from the bank’s International Finance Corporation, said in a decision following an April 2 ...

Council elections quietly continued in Cambodia on Monday, with five parties hoping to place leaders within sub-national positions. This is the fourth day of campaigning, for an election that is undertaken by about 11,500 members of commune councils, and not by the general public, to place ...

The body of a Canadian journalist who went missing in Siem Reap 10 weeks ago has been found inside the temple complex of Angkor Wat, officials said Thursday. David Walker, 58, disappeared from his guesthouse in the tourist town on Feb. 14, while working on a ...

Cambodian reporter for the Voice of Democracy Radio has been awarded by Reporters Without Borders as an “Information Hero.” Oudam Tat was awarded along with 100 other journalists from around the world, as part of celebrations for World Press Freedom Day. Voice of Democracy, originally founded ...

Three people have filed separate complaints against a Phnom Penh district official, accusing him of ordering violence in a clash between security forces and bystanders near Freedom Park last week. At least 10 people were injured in clashes last Monday, as opposition member Mu Sochua staged ...

The genocides in Cambodia and Rwanda were both aided by local media and propaganda, and the role of foreign media covering them is often criticized as insufficient. In interviews with VOA Khmer, media experts said more funding of that sector could help prevent such errors ...

Twenty-one labor activists who have been detained in Kampong Cham province since their arrests in January were moved to the main prison outside Phnom Penh on Wednesday. Supporters say the 21 are being detained as a lesson to other would-be demonstrators, after a brutal crackdown ...

Southeast Asian countries are likely to miss a deadline for the economic integration of Asean in 2015, a leading economist says. Jayat Menon, an economist for the Asian Development Bank, told reporters in Phnom Penh Wednesday that Asean countries are behind on key targets for integration ...

Political negotiations between the ruling party and opposition have not continued, following their failure to reach an agreement ahead of the Khmer New Year earlier this month. ...

Seven people were injured Monday when opposition lawmaker-elect Mu Sochua clashed with security forces outside Freedom Park in the Phnom Penh. Mu Sochua is leading a non-violent campaign by attempting to enter the park in protest of the government’s current ban on public gatherings. ...

Kem Sokha, the vice president of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, is in Washington this week, seeking support for his party as it negotiates a political deal with its ruling party rival. The opposition is calling for a electoral reforms and a recall vote, after ...

A senior government adviser on information technology says a draft of a cybercrime law is unnecessary and could lead to demonstrations and unrest if passed as currently written. Critics say the draft law, made public last week, criminalizes online behavior in vague language open to ...

Cambodia’s rival political sides failed to sign an agreement that would have ended the ongoing political crisis on Friday. Kem Sokha, vice president of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, told VOA Khmer that the gulf between the two sides in negotiations remains too wide ...

Rong Chhun, head of the Cambodian Confederation of Unions, is making a trip through the US, seeking support to help free 21 labor activists who have been in jail since deadly crackdowns on demonstrations in January. His visit comes as another labor leader, Ath Thun, was ...

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy told supporters on Tuesday that his Cambodia National Rescue Party is sticking to demands that the National Election Committee be reformed. But he did appear to back away from a previous demand that would have the NEC voted on and approved in ...

Political analysts at the US-based Heritage Foundation say relations with Cambodia are overdue for reform. In a recent analysis, “Promoting True Democratic Transition in Cambodia,” the Washington think tank says the 2013 elections, which the opposition claims were marred by widespread fraud, offer a chance to ...