Social development

Authorities suspect that a new case of H5N1, or bird flu, has emerged in Mondulkiri province after more than 60 villagers’ chickens fell ill.Sok Kheang, chief of the provincial agriculture and fisheries department, said more than 60 chickens in Keo Seima district had fallen ill ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday took a swipe at a recent democracy report that labelled his regime “authoritarian”, before declaring no one is capable of “toppling Hun Sen besides Hun Sen”. ...

The state of democracy in Cambodia has declined to the point where it is now led by an outright “authoritarian” regime, according to the latest Democracy Index from the Economist Intelligence Unit. The Democracy Index 2017, released yesterday, ranked Cambodia 124th out of 167 countries, ...

More than 1,000 people flocked to Oudong Mountain in Kandal province yesterday to observe Meak Bochea Day, which marks the day the Buddha prophesied his own death.Nguon Nhel, second vice president of the National Assembly, presided over the ceremony accompanied by many lawmakers and government ...

A proposed access-to-information law more than a decade in the making was unveiled to the public yesterday, with just one item left to finalise – punishments for officials who refuse to disclose public information. ...

The head of a Khmer Krom advocacy association yesterday issued a statement urging his followers not to join ex-opposition leader Sam Rainsy’s newly minted Cambodia National Rescue Movement, claiming it will provoke violence. ...

Cambodia saw 6,372 dengue fever cases in 2017, down 50 percent from 12,843 cases in a year earlier, a senior health official said on Tuesday. Huy Rekol, director of the National Center for Parasitology, Entomology and Malaria Control, said the virus killed three children, aged between ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday said on his Facebook page that the number of people celebrating Chinese New Year in Cambodia is increasing.Mr Hun Sen said Cambodia now celebrates three New Year celebrations annually, including New Year’s Eve, and the Chinese and Khmer New Year. ...

Yesterday, Rainsy said the new Cambodia National Rescue Movement had a five-part plan, starting with appealing to the international community to take action. The next step is to work with “economic” partners to put financial pressure on the government.Next, Rainsy said the movement will encourage ...

The Constitutional Council is planning to meet later this week to discuss amendments to the Constitution, including changes to an article guaranteeing the right for citizens to form organisations and political parties. The document, a letter of invitation to local media, outlines an agenda for the ...

The French government has provided $50.9 million as grant aid and loans to Cambodia for clean water and hygiene in the provinces and to enhance capacity in the education sector.According to a statement from the Finance and Economy Ministry on Wednesday, the French government granted ...

A group of US Senators has sent a letter to Nikki Haley, the country’s ambassador to the United Nations, urging her to work with other members of the UN Human Rights Council to pass a resolution on Cambodia’s political situation.​ ...

More than 10 students at Bak Chenhchean senior high school in Pursat province’s Phnom Kravanh district fainted yesterday. Major Tann Kearith, district police chief, said the students fainted at about 9am and were sent to the provincial referral hospital following the incident. ...

Sean Pengse, a former government minister under the Lon Nol regime and an outspoken critic on Cambodia’s border issues with Vietnam, has died in France at 82. Pengse passed away after a long illness in the early hours of Tuesday morning, according to a statement issued ...

Estimates suggest that 0.38 percent of Cambodians have contracted TB, an alarming statistic for a country still recovering from decades of conflict. This rate shows an improvement from the early 2000s, when up to 1.5 percent of Cambodians had the disease. Even so, villagers who live far ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen met with members of the press yesterday, not shying away from classifying some journalists and media outlets as extortionists and tax evaders, while applauding United States President Donald Trump’s efforts to go after so-called fake news.​ ...

The Ministry of Education late last week instructed provincial education departments to tighten their management of schools and to discipline teachers who are failing to live up to their responsibilities.  ...

Cambodia’s long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen berated journalists on Sunday at a dinner his government hosted for correspondents and accused some of spreading fabricated stories. ...

A new shelter for the indigent elderly – plus hundreds of new community-based associations for older people – is in the works under a national plan on ageing launched by Prime Minister Hun Sen at the Peace Palace yesterday. ...

Rampant deforestation and development have increased pressure on animals throughout Cambodia. They’ve especially intensified in the country’s “spirit forests,” as the hill communities like the ethnic-minority Chong call them, which are some of the creatures’ last refuges. But the changes also threaten their culture, as ...

The Mekong River Commission yesterday launched two joint projects to better manage the Mekong basin resources and address flood and drought issues, especially monitoring the environmental impact of the controversial Don Sahong hydropower dam. ...

Almost 20 Borei Keila families have decided to accept compensation in one of the country’s most prominent and longstanding land disputes.​ ...

Cambodia’s National Cancer Center – a more than $23 million modern teaching facility – was inaugurated at Calmette Hospital yesterday, though the centre’s director and experts acknowledged that oncology services still fall well below the country’s demand. ...

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. ...