Voice of America (VOA)
Cambodia PM hopes Trump meeting can bring peace to Korean peninsula
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday said he hoped that the forthcoming meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would bring peace to the region. ...
Neou Vannarin
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/cambodia-pm-hopes-trump-meeting-can-bring-peace-to-korean-peninsula/4394820.html
US rights group calls for end to prosecutions of opposition officials, activists
Human Rights Watch (HRW) has urged the Cambodian authorities to end “baseless” convictions of former opposition officials and activists ahead of this year’s general election. The prominent US-based rights group said in a statement on Monday that the authorities should throw out the cases against 11 ...
Hul Reaksmey
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/us-rights-group-calls-for-end-to-prosecutions-of-opposition-officials-activists/4386512.html
Rights groups, former opposition concerned by sale of independent newspaper to investor linked to PM
Human rights groups and former opposition officials have expressed concerns over the impact of the recent sale of the Phnom Penh Post newspaper to a Malaysian investor with historical ties to Prime Minister Hun Sen. ...
At Cambodia’s last independent newspaper, top editor fired, foreign journalists quit
All but a handful of foreign journalists on staff at The Phnom Penh Post, Cambodia’s last remaining independent daily newspaper, resigned on Wednesday. Citing differences over the meaning of “editorial independence,” they quit within days after new owners fired its editor-in-chief who refused to remove a published ...
Hul Reaksmey
https://www.voanews.com/a/cambodia-last-independent-newspaper-editor-fired-reporters-quit/4387613.html
Newspaper staff protest firing of editor as new owners cull dissenting voices
Kay Kimsong was fired on Monday after representatives of the new owner ordered senior staff to remove an article about the sale from its website, claiming factual inaccuracies. ...
Hul Reaksmey
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/newspaper-staff-protest-firing-of-editor-as-new-owners-cull-dissenting-voices/4384807.html
Minor opposition parties divided ahead of election
The Khmer Will Party (KWP), led by Kong Monkia, the son of a former Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) official, and the Motherland Party, led by Chann Bunhorn, in a statement distanced themselves from Rainsy, who has been a vocal opponent of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ...
Hul Reaksmey
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/minor-opposition-parties-divided-ahead-of-election/4383051.html
Phnom Penh Post sold to Malaysian investor
Saturday’s announcement by Post Media CEO Bill Clough identified the buyer of the English-language Phnom Penh Post as Sivakumar G., who was described as having an experienced journalist’s background and representing a strong investment group from Malaysia. No price was given. ...
Associated Press
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/phnom-penh-post-sold-malaysian-investor/4382678.html
Former opposition party leader pledges return to politics
Nhek Bun Chhay, the former president of the Khmer National United Party (KNUP) and a former senior leader in the royalist Funcinpec party, has said he will return to politics after he was released from prison. ...
Kann Vicheika
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/former-opposition-party-leader-pledges-return-to-politics/4374587.html
UN Rights envoy claims general election ‘not genuine’ without banned opposition party
Rhona Smith, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia, has said that the country’s forthcoming national election will not be “genuine” without the participation of the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party. ...
Hul Reaksmey
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/un-rights-envoy-claims-general-election-not-genuine-without-banned-opposition-party/4374548.html
As Cambodia marks press freedom day, journalists fear increasing restrictions following crackdown
As the world celebrated Press Freedom Day on Thursday, the mood among Cambodian journalists was subdued following a months-long crackdown on dissent in the media. The theme of this year’s event was “Keeping Power in Check: Media, Justice and The Rule of Law”, and special attention ...
Three tech-savvy women granted awards for innovation
Three women have been granted awards for their contributions to the technology sector in Cambodia. Fat Si Em, a transport and planning manager at a telecomm company, won the ICT Engineer Award; Long Leakhena, a businesswoman, won the Woman ICT Entrepreneur award; and Chan Penh ...
Malis Tum
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/three-tech-savvy-women-granted-awards-for-innovation/4287750.html
Are Disney's Cambodian carbon credits a fantasy?
The killing of three conservationists patrolling Cambodia’s biggest carbon credit project exposes the nearly insurmountable conflicts of interest plaguing schemes in which huge corporations such as Disney and Virgin Atlantic have invested millions of dollars, observers say. Military Police Officer Sek Wathana, Environment Ministry Ranger Teurn ...
David Boyle and Sun Narin
https://www.voanews.com/a/are-disney-cambodian-carbon-credits-a-fantasy/4247348.html
New Cambodia-Vietnam market to serve as ‘model’ for growing trade ties
A new market will open on the Cambodia-Vietnam border over the next year, according to commerce ministry officials. The general goods market, launched during a groundbreaking ceremony on Tuesday in Tbong Khmum province, is being built following the conclusion of demarcation of the border in Memot ...
Hul Reaksmey
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/new-cambodia-vietnam-market-to-serve-as-model-for-growing-trade-ties/4213673.html
Local officials prepare to vote for ruling party in absence of main opposition
In Popel commune, Takeo province, some seven commune councilors from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party are going to vote in the Senate election, which will take place on February 25. The election will take place without the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which gained more ...
World Democracy in Crisis, New Freedom House Report Says
The report, “Freedom in the World 2018”, released on January 16, found that 2017 was the 12th consecutive year of decline in freedom globally, with 71 of the 195 countries included in the report suffering declines, including Cambodia. ...
Freedom in the World
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/world-democracy-in-crisis-new-freedom-house-report-says/4210004.html
Chinese PM wraps up Cambodia visit, promising huge aid package
Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang has announced a series of large aid packages to Cambodia at the end of his first visit to the country this week as Cambodia turns further away from Western donors. A total of 19 agreements were signed to fund large-scale ...
Aun Chhengpor
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/chinese-pm-wraps-up-cambodia-visit-promising-huge-aid-package/4203509.html
EU Calls for Cambodia Sanctions
The European parliament has voted to consider suspending Cambodia’s preferential “Everything But Arms” trade access to the European Union in response to the country’s authoritarian backslide. ...
David Boyle
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/eu-calls-for-cambodia-sanctions/4165063.html
US demining funding reaches $124m: report
Cambodia received some $124 million between 1993 and 2016, second only to Laos in the region. Mines and unexploded ordnance kill and injure some 100 people annually in Cambodia, keeping poor communities impoverished by limiting access to farmland, the report states. ...
Men Kimseng
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/us-demining-funding-reaches-124million-according-to-report/4165389.html
Regional ‘think tank’ launched to advise on China Mekong initiative
The Global Center for Mekong Studies (GCMS) comprises six leading regional “think tanks”: the China Institute for International Studies (CIIS); the Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace (CICP); the Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV); the Laos Institute of Foreign Affairs (IFA); the Myanmar Institute of ...
Aun Chhengpor
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/regional-think-tank-launched-to-advise-on-china-mekong-initiative/4050041.html
Cambodia ‘searching for new export markets’ in case of U.S. Sanctions
Giving a speech to high-ranking officials on Wednesday, Borith spoke of the rising tensions between Washington and Phnom Penh following the arrest of opposition leader Kem Sokha and the closure of U.S.-linked media outlets and a democracy promotion NGO. ...
Kann Vicheika
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/cambodia-searching-for-new-export-markets-in-case-of-us-sanctions/4050024.html
Exclusive: Cambodia fm softens tone after scathing attack on ‘hypocritical’ west
Cambodia’s foreign minister last week launched a scathing attack on Western democracies, labeling them hypocritical and only interested in promoting human rights and democracy when it was in their own self-interest. ...
‘No impact’ on fish from major hydropower projects, PM claims
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday claimed that there had been no downstream impact on fish stocks as a result of the construction of the Don Sahong hydropower dam in Laos. ...
Solar, wind advances offer Mekong countries alternatives to dams, coal: experts
Mekong Region countries like Cambodia should reconsider their plans to expand hydropower dams and coal plants, as the costs of alternative energy sources, such as solar power, are rapidly falling, a U.S. think-tank said, while improved regional grid connections can also ease growing energy demand. ...
Nem Sopheakpanha, Seourn Vathana, and Sun Narin
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/solar-wind-advances-offer-mekong-countries-alternatives-to-dams-coal-experts/4045082.html
U.S. Congressmen, Asean MPs, express concern over Cambodia crackdown
A group of eight U.S. congressmen has called on the State Department to continue its public condemnation of the continuing crackdown on dissent and arrest of the leader of the opposition in Cambodia. ...
Hul Reaksmey
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/us-congressman-asean-mps-express-concern-over-cambodia-crackdown/4037054.html