Khmer translated by ODC
Factory libraries push literacy
In an effort to encourage literacy among garment factory workers, the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia (GMAC) and NGO Sipar are working together to open libraries in 15 factories in the Kingdom in the next three years. ...
Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/factory-libraries-push-literacy
Competition puts pressure on mortgage rates
Mortgage rates are set to continue their decline, driven by strong bank competition, say banks and home lending experts. ...
Igor Kossov
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/13633/competition-puts-pressure-on-mortgage-rates/
Judicial officials to access Chinese schools
A deal signed Thursday with the China Law Society will give Justice Ministry officials access to scholarships at Chinese universities and see Beijing fund the construction of a legal research center in Cambodia, ministry spokesman Chin Malin said. ...
Kuch Naren
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/judicial-officials-to-access-chinese-schools-89317/
Capitol tours bus company, 5 drivers remain deadlocked
Following a meeting at the Labor Ministry’s conflict resolution department Thursday, the Capitol Tours bus company and five of its drivers—who claim they were fired for attempting to organize a union—remained deadlocked over their reinstatement. ...
Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/capitol-tours-bus-company-5-drivers-remain-deadlocked-89321/
No political prisoners here, says ruling party
As outrage still reverberates among opposition supporters over Tuesday’s conviction of 11 Cambodia National Rescue Party activists on “insurrection” charges, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party has warned that questioning the verdict will imperil the ongoing “culture of dialogue”. ...
Meas Sokchea
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/no-political-prisoners-here-says-ruling-party
Warning for illegal MFIs
The governor of the National Bank of Cambodia hit out at unlicensed microfinance institutions or lenders, who he said were the reason why interest rates in the sector were high, despite interest rates falling among registered lenders. ...
May Kunmakara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/warning-illegal-mfis
Soldiers monitor border-crossing Thai farmers
Thai farmers protected by armed Thai soldiers crossed the border in Banteay Meanchey province and spent Thursday plowing fields for rice cultivation, a military commander and district official said. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/soldiers-monitor-border-crossing-thai-farmers-89315/
Labor leaders request changes to draft Law on Unions
Union leaders have sent a request to the Ministry of Labor to make changes in a draft law to regulate unions, which experts say could be used to severely limit the freedom of assembly for workers. Earlier this month, some 200 union members met to ...
Phorn Bopha
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/labor-leaders-request-changes-to-draft-law-on-unions/2875739.html
Senate passes NGO law amid boycott
Cambodia’s Senate today gave its expected approval to the controversial law on associations and non-governmental organisations (LANGO), amid street protests and a boycott from opposition representatives.All 44 Cambodia People’s Party senators present voted unanimously to endorse the draft legislation, which will next week head to ...
Chhay Channyda
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/senate-passes-ngo-law-amid-boycott
Gov’t, civil society butt heads as LANGO goes to senate
The Senate is scheduled to vote Friday on the controversial Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (LANGO), despite a boycott by the opposition party and heated opposition from civil society. ...
Jonathan Cox
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/13640/gov---t--civil-society-butt-heads-as-lango-goes-t
PM hosts mass meeting of armed forces
Some 5,000 security personnel were called to the headquarters of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s bodyguard unit in Kandal province on Thursday, where the premier said they must protect Cambodia’s territorial integrity, according to a number of officials in attendance. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/pm-hosts-mass-meeting-of-armed-forces-89310/
A prisoner’s heartbreak
Holding her husband’s hand through prison bars yesterday, Tith Narin delivered the heartbreaking news – their eldest son was dead.Narin’s husband, Ouk Pich Samnang, was one of 11 Cambodia National Rescue Party activists convicted on Tuesday for his alleged role in a protest that turned ...
Chhay Channyda and Alice Cuddy
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/prisoners-heartbreak
Deer headed to Angkor
The forests around Cambodia’s iconic Angkor Temple Complex will soon be home once more to a species of deer that had disappeared from the area due to excessive hunting during the latter part of the last century. ...
Charles Parkinson
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/deer-headed-angkor
Paychecks aplenty as ghosts haunt Cambodia's lax bureaucracy
Borith has been on the payroll of Cambodia’s parliament for 15 years but rarely shows up for work. He is busy with his other job at a non-governmental organization, and no one notices his absence. ...
Prak Chan Thul
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/23/us-cambodia-corruption-idUSKCN0PX2MI20150723
For disabled, few opportunities and little sympathy
For more than 30 years, Svay Simorn, a social worker in Phnom Penh, has cared for her daughter and grandson, both of whom are mentally disabled. Over time, she has experienced discrimination and isolation. ...
Oum Sonita
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/for-disabled-few-opportunities-and-little-sympathy/2873543.html
Cambodian opposition party leader decries sentences as act of repression
The leader of Cambodia’s opposition party on Thursday denounced the conviction and sentencing of 11 party activists to prison terms of up to 20 years for participating in a protest that turned violent as a “brutal act of repression.” ...
RFA Khmer News Staff
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/opposition-party-leader-decries-sentences-as-act-of-repression-07232015161915.html
Journalists awarded for reporting on corruption
The Club of Cambodian Journalists and Transparency International Cambodia on Wednesday announced the winners of a new award for journalists reporting on corruption. ...
Socheata Hean
http://www.voacambodia.com/content/journalists-awarded-for-reporting-on-corruption/2873497.html
UN agency cuts school meal program
A school meal program run by the World Food Program (WFP) has run out of funds, forcing it to transfer about half of its schools to government care. ...
Va Sonyka
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/13587/un-agency-cuts-school-meal-program/
Release of French Pedophile sparks outrage
This month’s early release of convicted French pedophile Philipe Broaly – despite ongoing court appeals – is an insult to victims and a huge step backwards for child protection in Cambodia, multiple NGOs have warned. ...
Jack Laurenson
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/13589/release-of-french-pedophile-sparks-outrage/
Ex-Takhmao police chief confesses to dealing meth
The former chief of police in Kandal province’s Takhmao City on Wednesday confessed that he had become a drug dealer after he was arrested on Tuesday in possession of 13 small packages of crystal methamphetamine, officials said. ...
Saing Soenthrith
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/ex-takhmao-police-chief-confesses-to-dealing-meth-89258/
Capitol bus drivers strike over fired colleagues
More than 40 drivers for the Capitol Tours bus company went on strike Wednesday, protesting outside the company’s headquarters in Phnom Penh’s Prampi Makara district to demand the reinstatement of five employees they claim were fired for trying to unionize. ...
Sek Odom
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/capitol-bus-drivers-strike-over-fired-colleagues-89268/
Education Ministry to enforce more teaching hours
The Education Ministry plans to improve the quality of education in primary schools across the country by enforcing stricter protocols for teaching hours, said Education Minister Dr. Hang Chuon Naron on Thursday. ...
Va Sonyka
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/13600/education-ministry-to-enforce-more-teaching-hours/
Lawmaker asks PM for probe of Try Pheap’s SEZ
CNRP lawmaker Un Sam An sent a letter to Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday asking for an investigation of Try Pheap’s Special Economic Zone in Ratanakkiri province, saying that the timber magnate is misusing the site to export illegally logged trees to Vietnam. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/lawmaker-asks-hun-sen-for-probe-of-try-pheaps-sez-89251/
Laotian meth smuggler arrested in Stung Treng
A Laotian man was arrested in Stung Treng province on Tuesday after crossing into Cambodia with nearly a kilogram of crystal methamphetamine, a police official said Wednesday. ...
Saing Soenthrith
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/laotian-meth-smuggler-arrested-in-stung-treng-89274/