Cambodia ranks among the lowest in the region on its ability to reform; corruption, political stasis and a rapidly widening income gap are hindering its progress, according to a recent survey of the country’s democratic institutions. Transformation Index, which every two years ranks countries considered ss='cambodia-color'>...

Noise from a loudspeaker yesterday cut through the usual peace on street 282 in Phnom Penh’s Beoung Keng Kang 1 neighbourhood, as five former massage workers at upscale spa Aziadee protested the sudden termination of their contracts. Waving posters in front of the shop ss='cambodia-color'>...

The number of subscribers to the mobile operator Beeline plummeted by more than 400,000 in the fourth quarter of last year—the single-largest drop for the carrier since it entered the Cambodian market in mid-2009—while the average revenue per user (ARPU) increased slightly, the company’s quarterly ss='cambodia-color'>...

As the region’s top brass gathered in Phnom Penh for the sixth Asean Defense Ministers Meeting, it was Beijing that once again stole the show with Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie signing off on nearly $19 million in military aid to Cambodia. In the country on ss='cambodia-color'>...

Residents of Phnom Penh’s Boeng Kak community yesterday said they visited four former neighbors now serving jail terms in Prey sar prison for demonstrating against CPP senator Lao Meng Khin’s real estate project and urged the women to end their reported hunger strike. A prison official, however, insisted there was ss='cambodia-color'>...

Despite authorities turning a blind eye to their villages for more than 15 years, about 2,000 families living near Preah sihanouk province’s Kbal Chhay waterfall face imminent eviction to make way for a clean-water processing plant, officials said yesterday. Prime Minister Hun sen’s recent bold move ss='cambodia-color'>...

King Father Norodom Sihanouk paSSed away today in Beijing at the age of 89, 59 yearS after he declared Cambodia&rSquo;S independence from France. Sihanouk waS a greatly chariSmatic leader revered aS Something of a God King during the height of hiS power in the 1950S and SS='cambodia-color'>...

When Chinese and Vietnamese tourists will flock into Cambodia’s siem Reap province for Lunar New Year, heightened demand for accommodation may make things tough, insiders say. Ang Kim Eang, president of the Cambodian Association of Travel Agents, said that while many Chinese and Vietnamese tourists will ss='cambodia-color'>...

The University of sydney Business school has launched a research project in an effort to identify barriers to franchising in southeast Asia, including Cambodia, and to develop a strategy to boost the sector’s growth in the region. The two-year project, funded by AusAID, targets structural, regulatory, ss='cambodia-color'>...

The joint committee established to investigate the shooting deaths of forestry activist Chut Wutty and military police officer In Rattana closed its investigation saturday, saying the death of the environmentalist was due to a “misunderstanding” and the death of the officer, unintentional. speaking at a conference ss='cambodia-color'>...

Dry, parched ground – evidence of severe dry season drought – stretches for miles in siem Reap’s srei snam district. In a couple of months, the rains will flood these fields. Both conditions make it equally impossible to produce a good harvest. srei snam was a ss='cambodia-color'>...

A union representative who was beaten and detained by police during a protest Wednesday was released after being forced to sign a statement taking responsibility for starting a fight with authorities, union officials said yesterday. A bloodied Rong Panha, a representative of the Cambodian Alliance of ss='cambodia-color'>...

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong on Friday put the blame for last week’s failure among Asean countries to release a joint communiqué on territorial disputes in the south China sea firmly back on Vietnam and the Philippines. More than a week since discussions related to the territorial dispute between Asean’s members ss='cambodia-color'>...

A new book by a Cambodian-born author, due to be published this month, is set to bring the debate over Cambodia’s dependence on foreign aid into the spotlight. since 1992, Cambodia has received more assistance for its development than almost any other country on the planet. ss='cambodia-color'>...

More than 600 workers from Kandal province’s Tae Young Co factory yesterday continued to strike, insisting on the return of 16 dismissed workers. Yesterday’s strikes came a day after the Kandal Provincial Court delayed questioning eight of the fired workers over charges that they incited an illegal ss='cambodia-color'>...

The US CongreSS haS averted the “fiScal cliff” by paSSing a number of budget agreementS, and Cambodian politicianS and obServerS Say the experience iS a good example of compromiSe between two SideS. Cheam Yiep, a lawmaker for the ruling Cambodian People&rSquo;S Party and head of SS='cambodia-color'>...

More than 500 villagers from stung Treng and Ratanakiri provinces held a traditional sacrificial ceremony yesterday, calling on a local spirit to help in postponing the construction of a 400-megawatt hydropower dam in stung Treng’s sesan district. siek Megong, srekor commune chief, said the villages ss='cambodia-color'>...

Almost six months after the latest draft of the proposed trade-union law was sent to the Council of Ministers for approval, employers, unions and workers’ rights groups are left asking the same question: What’s happened to it? Confusion over the status of the landmark law, which ss='cambodia-color'>...

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TuberculoSiS and Malaria iS withholding nearly $20 million originally granted to fight malaria in Cambodia becauSe of the government&rSquo;S poor uSe of paSt Fund dollarS. The government blameS itS poor Showing on the Fund&rSquo;S time-conSuming procurement procedureS. The Fund awarded the SS='cambodia-color'>...

The job couldn’t have been more different from the kind that drew Tim Page to Cambodia and Vietnam in the 1960s. The mud, wet boots and sleepless nights described in several of his books were cast aside for an air-conditioned sUV, a laptop and a phone. ss='cambodia-color'>...