News

The government has set May 20 as a National Day of Remembrance, an official national holiday to commemorate the victims and suffering that occurred during the Democratic Kampuchea regime. According to a government sub-decree signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on February 14, the holiday was ...

UN rights experts yesterday urged the government to reconsider constitutional amendments, including a law that forbids insulting the monarchy, saying the changes were too vague and failed to meet international standards. Parliament last week adopted a law that forbids insulting the monarchy, along with other amendments ...

City Hall yesterday released Phnom Penh’s first ever disaster response plan, which promises to better prepare the capital for emergencies, especially floods and fires. The 73-page Emergency Response Preparedness Plan (EPRP) will be distributed to officials down to the commune level and designates responsibilities for preparing ...

The United States is committed to maintaining bilateral relations with Cambodia in order to resolve some outstanding issues.Foreign Affairs Minister Prak Sokhonn met with US Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen, chairman of the US House Appropriations Committee, at the ministry yesterday where they mainly discussed relations between ...

Cambodia’s prison population swelled to more than 28,000 inmates last year – well over the system’s capacity – with Interior Minister Sar Kheng suggesting yesterday that the construction of more luxurious pay-to-stay prison blocks for wealthy inmates could help alleviate the severe overcrowding. ...

The number of mobile connections in Cambodia has decreased slightly, from 19.91 million in 2016 to 18.57 million in 2017, a figure that is still higher than the country’s total population. ...

When government-aligned Fresh News reported on Sunday that bilateral trade between the US and Cambodia had increased to $3.46 billion last year, up more than 8 percent from the year before, they weren’t using Cambodian government data. Nor was the state-run Agence Kampuchea Presse using government ...

A group of 35 international labour and human rights advocacy groups yesterday called for charges against a trio of Cambodian civil society activists to be dropped. “We, the undersigned global unions and international human rights and workers’ rights organizations, call for the charges against Cambodian human ...

In a bid to increase fair competition in the abattoir business, the Ministry of Agriculture issued a new directive last week that eradicates exclusive rights to operate abattoirs in Cambodia. ...

Twelve judges and five prosecutors were verbally “disciplined” yesterday during a meeting of the Supreme Council of Magistracy presided over by King Norodom Sihamoni. Sam Prachea Manith, spokesman for the council, declined to name the people singled out. “This is for a small mistake that they forgot ...

The illegal filling of a mangrove forest in Peam Krasaop Wildlife Sanctuary is being investigated, Koh Kong provincial authorities said yesterday, though officials say they still don’t know who is behind the crime. Sok Sothy, deputy provincial governor, said the sand dredging and filling in of ...

Authorities in Banteay Meanchey province on Sunday arrested three people accused of inciting villagers to occupy state land slated for use by retired armed forces members. ...

In an effort to increase agricultural production and raise living standards for farmers, the Ministry of Agriculture is prioritising the creation of agricultural communities throughout the nation. In 2017, there were 880 agricultural communities across the country, of which, Takeo province had 100, Battambang 77, and ...

About 300 villagers from Kandal province’s Kandal Stueng district who are locked in a land dispute with the Heng Development Company gathered in front of the provincial hall yesterday asking for help in solving their case. ...

The National Election Committee said yesterday that three political parties standing for next week’s Senate election have done very little campaigning, while NGOs said it was a consequence of the main opposition party being dissolved. According to an NEC press release, the three parties that have ...

About 300 people from 11 provinces gathered at Prime Minister Hun Sen’s cabinet near Wat Botum pagoda yesterday to ask for help in their ongoing dispute with Empire Big Capital Limited, an investment company that cheated thousands of victims out of nearly $60 million. In May ...

The Ministry of Labour and United Nations yesterday pledged to continue working on a project that is aiding young women and men in their search for decent and productive employment opportunities. ...

Research has shown some staff in the garment sector can now earn up to $480 each month as unions and the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia congratulated workers for taking home the new minimum monthly wage of $170 for the first time. ...

Conservationists in Koh Kong province have found a nest of 16 eggs of the critically endangered royal turtle, the Wildlife Conservation Society announced today. The discovery in Sre Ambel district, the first of the year, was made on February 3 by WCS staff working with the ...

A family living in Kratie province’s Snoul district have said they are concerned for their safety following the destruction of their home. Local authorities last week dismantled the home using an excavator because it had been built on state land that is now earmarked for the ...

With over 130 registered projects in banking, manufacturing, agriculture, service and infrastructure, among other sectors, Japanese investment in the kingdom was valued at $1.6 billion in 2017, according to the Council for the Development of Cambodia (CDC). ...

Kampong Speu provincial authorities on Friday said they will reclaim more than 2,000 hectares of land inside the Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary, though six officials interrogated earlier this month for allegedly grabbing the land will only be “educated”. Oral district deputy police chiefs Prak Moul and ...

Ruling Cambodian People’s Party working groups are being handed a list of 10 diktats from Prime Minister Hun Sen, bringing the party’s recent vows to increase surveillance and restrict dissent to the local level. ...

A part of the new bamboo railway in Battambang province was blocked yesterday over of a dispute between the owner of the construction company that built the line and a man claiming the railway ran through his land near Banan mountain. ...