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Security Buildup Remains in Effect After Peaceful Mass Protest
Government security forces kept up a visible presence in central Phnom Penh on Sunday morning after what on Saturday promised to be the first of many opposition-led mass protests against the contested results of the country’s July 28 national election. Some 20,000 CNRP supporters turned out ...
Hul Reaksmey and Zsombor Pete
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/security-buildup-remains-in-effect-after-peaceful-mass-protest-41924/
Contractor Says Senior Official Approved Siem Reap Land Swap
The head of a construction firm that was involved in a massive land swap with Siem Reap’s provincial government in 2010 defended the deal on Friday saying orders for the move of government offices and civil servants—which is now being reversed—came directly from the national ...
Dene-Hern Chen and Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/contractor-says-senior-official-approved-siem-reap-land-swap-41909/
Fresh Faces on CPP’s Shortened List of Lawmakers
When the ruling CPP takes its seats in the new National Assembly, its members of Parliament will include a few new faces, and significantly less old ones, according to ratified election results announced by the National Election Committee (NEC) on Sunday. The CPP’s poor showing in ...
Phorn Bopha
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/elections/fresh-faces-on-cpps-shortened-list-of-lawmakers-41902/
Australian company finds 'significant' mineral deposits in Preah Vihear
Australia’s Geopacific Resources NL said Thursday it had found “significant” amounts of gold, copper and molybdenum at its Kou Sa project in Preah Vihear. In a statement, the mineral explorer said the results of the first phase of its soil-sampling program had also found “associated multi-element ...
The Cambodia Herald News Staff
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=13&token=OGViOWQwNzllY2F
Activists Blame Short Contracts for Strikes
Labor activists at the bi-annual Buyers Forum in Phnom Penh on Thursday said that short-term contracts in Cambodia’s garment industry were fueling the high number of strikes affecting the industry. “Most of [the disputes] are over dismissals or dismissals of union leaders and the reason why ...
Dene-Hern Chen
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/activists-blame-short-contracts-for-strikes-41832/
After Land Swap, Siem Reap Government Moves Again
Siem Reap’s provincial government apparatus, which in 2010 was relocated to a remote site 16 km outside of the city as part of an extensive and hugely controversial swap of government land and buildings, is moving back to its old home in the tourist city’s ...
Phorn Bopha
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/top/after-land-swap-siem-reap-government-moves-again-41819/
Cambodian pro-opposition trade unions urge garment workers to join mass protest
The Cambodian pro-opposition trade unions on Thursday called on garment workers, civil servants and common people to join a massive nonviolent demonstration against the July 28 election results. In the election, Prime Minister Hun Sen’s party gained the victory. The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) of long-time ...
Xinhuanet News
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2013-09/05/c_132694046.htm
Japanese Investor in Talks to Take Stake in TV3
Japan’s TriAsia Group is in talks to acquire a majority stake in local television station TV3 and plans to broadcast Japanese-language shows, the television channel’s owner confirmed Wednesday. According to TV3’s owner, Khampun Keomony, revenues at the channel have been dropping, which prompted him to look ...
Hul Reaksmey and Joshua Wilwohl
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/business/japanese-investor-in-talks-to-take-stake-in-tv3-41707/
Rubber Farmers Accuse Big Firm of Encroaching on Their Land
Roughly 100 rubber farmers in Ratanakkiri province’s O’Chum district blocked National Road 78A on Wednesday, demanding that authorities take action against a pair of laborers they accuse of stealing resin from their land. The laborers—Math Las, 40, and his wife, Nos Yas, 38—who are reportedly employed ...
Kuch Naren
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/rubber-farmers-accuse-big-firm-of-encroaching-on-their-land-41712/
Forest Cleared for Stung Treng Dam Construction
Logging has officially begun in Stung Treng province in preparation for the construction of a massive hydropower dam, but local authorities and villagers said Wednesday that the clearing of forest is going unchecked outside the official dam concession area. The Lower Sesan 2 dam was approved ...
Kuch Naren and Dene-Hern Chen
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/forest-cleared-for-stung-treng-dam-construction-41693/
Cambodia reports 18th human case of bird flu this year
A 15-month-old boy in the capital’s Russei Keo district has been diagnosed with H5N1 virus, bringing the number of the cases to 18 so far this year, a joint statement by the World Health Organization and Cambodian Health Ministry said Wednesday. The latest death case ...
Xinhuanet News Staff
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/health/2013-09/04/c_132691671.htm
Limited Trafficking, Rampant Abuse in Thai Fishing Industry
Only one of the 241 Cambodians questioned for the largest survey of the notoriously abusive Thai fishing industry’s workforce to date said he was forced into the job, according to a new report by the International Labor Organization (ILO). Though some of the findings are in ...
Zsombor Peter
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/limited-trafficking-rampant-abuse-in-thai-fishing-industry-41643/
On politics, silence gold: top monks
Cambodia’s highest monks have called on the clergy to refrain from joining any political demonstrations, calling it an abuse of morals and professional ethics. In a statement issued on Sunday and obtained yesterday, the three top Buddhist leaders liken joining protests to the act of killing. “An ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/politics-silence-gold-top-monks
Gov’t warns unions on demo
At least one union leader is butting heads with the Ministry of Labour as he encourages workers to join the planned opposition party demonstration on Saturday. A letter from the ministry sent to factories on Monday called on workers and unions to avoid participation in the ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/gov%E2%80%99t-warns-unions-demo
Planned Mekong dams need environmental assessment
The Cambodian government’s plan to build 20 dams along the Mekong River, with a view to boosting energy security, could harm food security and biodiversity in the region, as well as ignite a regional conflict over sharing of the river’s water, a conference has heard. ...
SciDev.Net News Staff
http://www.scidev.net/asia-pacific/water/news/planned-mekong-dams-need-environmental-assessment.html
Calls for Boeung Kak Activist’s Release Renewed on One-Year Anniversary
Cambodian and international rights groups have renewed their calls for the release of Phnom Penh housing rights campaigner campaigner Yorm Bopha one year after her arrest, urging the public and national leaders not to forget her during the country’s current political deadlock. Global watchdog Amnesty International ...
Radio Free Asia
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/yorm-bopha-09032013201419.html
Thai policy hits Cambodian cassava exports
Thailand’s restriction on agricultural imports earlier this year caused dramatic declines for Cambodia’s cassava exports during the harvest season, provincial border officials said yesterday. Cambodia’s exports of cassava reached 288,109 tonnes in the first six months of this year, a decline of 55 per cent from ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/thai-policy-hits-cambodian-cassava-exports
Parties urged to resume talks
Citing a lack of public confidence in the official post-election irregularity resolution process – namely, the Constitutional Council’s opening of vote packages – a coalition of leading civil society groups yesterday appealed to the two main political parties to swiftly come back to the negotiating ...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/parties-urged-resume-talks
A man’s world
Straining under the weight of bricks, buckets and metal bars, a faceless army carry their loads from trucks to a massive building site on Penh Penh’s Diamond Island. Hidden beneath wide-brimmed hats and kramas masking their faces from dust and the sun, the battalion of ...
Frédéric Janssens
http://sea-globe.com/female-construction-workers-cambodia/
A lesson in caution
After nearly 50 garment workers were killed last year while travelling to or from their respective factories, the Ministry of Labour has urged truck drivers who cram dozens into the back of vehicles each day to take more care on the roads. In an information session ...
Sen David
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/lesson-caution
Sokimex Group Plans 15-Story Hotel Near Royal Palace
Local conglomerate Sokimex Group plans to construct a 15-story hotel as well as a supermarket and high-end shops on a more than 15,000-square-meter plot of land behind Phnom Penh’s Wat Ounalom, the firm’s founder, Sok Kong, said Thursday. Mr. Kong said his company had applied for ...
Aun Pheap and Joshua Wilwohl
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/sokimex-group-plans-15-story-hotel-near-royal-palace-41433/
Police Investigating Third Suspect in Mondolkiri Mining Fraud
Police said Thursday they are investigating the possibility of a third suspect who has been implicated in a fraud and forgery case over a mining deal, for which a Cambodian businessman and a Chinese associate are already awaiting trial. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Tuesday ...
Simon Lewis and Eang Mengleng
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/police-investigating-third-suspect-in-mondolkiri-mining-fraud-41441/
NEC opens safety ballot boxes from Siem Reap
The National Election Committee (NEC) on Friday opened the safety ballot boxes from Siem Reap province to search for and verify any supposed election irregularities contained in documents 1102 and 1108, on Friday. The opening of ballot boxes from the 12 voting stations was held at ...
http://www.thecambodiaherald.com/cambodia/detail/1?page=11&token=ZDVlNjIyMzA3MDk
Drop-off in beverage imports questioned
Despite the fact that beverage consumption in Cambodia is on the rise, government statistics show that imports of alcohol and non-alcoholic products in the first half of 2013 have declined by 51 per cent year-on-year. The seemingly conflicting figures left some scratching their heads. Meng Saktheara, ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/drop-beverage-imports-questioned