Government

Checkpoints went up on national roads, barricades were dumped in front of the Supreme Court and police paid unannounced visits to civil society organisations and opposition officials as darkness fell yesterday ahead of today’s Supreme Court hearing on the dissolution of the opposition CNRP. ...

Two former Radio Free Asia reporters arrested on Tuesday night remained in detention at Phnom Penh Municipal Police headquarters yesterday evening, with authorities confirming that the pair were under investigation for allegedly sending news reports to the radio broadcaster. ...

In 2012, a little over a month after the Human Rights Party and Sam Rainsy Party won a combined 40 commune chief positions in local elections, the two groups met in Manila, finally agreeing on what had been bandied about for years: a united opposition ...

Fifty-five opposition CNRP lawmakers will immediately lose their salaries if the party is dissolved by the Supreme Court tomorrow. CNRP commune representatives will also be cut off if the party is dissolved. ...

The Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) recently decided to shrink the tax burden for local microfinance institutions (MFIs) by lowering withholding tax on interest from loans acquired from abroad from 14 to 10 percent, a move that the government claims will keep the massive ...

A Ministry of Health official yesterday said the ministry has banned the buying and selling of antibiotics without a prescription in an effort to curb the overuse that has led to an alarming level of antibiotic resistance in the Kingdom. ...

More than 100 families in Takeo province have been given back their land after a dispute with the Sun Hour company and an individual landholder.​ The 137 families were told officially on Saturday that 915 hectares in Tram Kak district’s Trapaing Kranhoung commune would be restored ...

The first direct flight between Japan and Cambodia, which launched last year, has bumped up the number of Japanese tourists visiting the kingdom, helping the government edge closer to its goal of attracting 300,000 tourists from the East Asian nation by 2020, according to the ...

Minister of Interior Sar Kheng yesterday issued an order demanding that all provincial governors create a “standby working group” to monitor the political situation in anticipation of unrest following the opposition party’s potential dissolution later this week. ...

Russia will send observers to the Kingdom for the upcoming national elections and has pledged to sit down to discuss Cambodia’s outstanding debt, a move that analysts yesterday saw as a sign of solidarity between two governments increasingly out of favour with the West. ...

Cambodia and China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Friday to support the development of the Kingdom’s e-commerce business operations. ...

The waters of the Koh Rong Archipelago may yet receive an additional layer of administrative protection, the Ministry of Environment announced last week, although how the proposed “marine park” will function remains to be seen, stakeholders said yesterday. ...

Authorities in Kandal province arrested 19 people in a timber raid at a Metfone shop, but released 15 after questioning, including the branch’s director. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday said he didn’t care whether the international community endorsed next year’s elections – the legitimacy of which critics have questioned amidst a crackdown on the opposition – raising concerns the Kingdom could find itself isolated if world powers decline ...

Cambodia has sent officials to interview refugees in the United States who are subject to deportation orders. Interior Ministry spokesman General Khieu Sopheak said about 50 refugees had been interviewed but no decision had been made on their repatriation. ...

The Apsara Authority has signed a deal with South Korea to restore and conserve the Elephant Terrace in Siem Reap’s Angkor Archaeological Park. ...

The leaders of Cambodia and Vietnam on Saturday pledged to complete border demarcation between the countries before the end of next year. ...

The Ministry of Interior has said it will not allow any demonstrations in front of the Supreme Court during a hearing on Thursday to decide if the opposition CNRP will be dissolved, while the Koh Kong provincial governor’s office warned it will prevent residents from ...

Irregularities have been found in the Mondulkiri provincial administration over clearing state land to make way for timber smuggling to Vietnam. An investigation has been launched to find the officers responsible. ...

The Interior Ministry’s general department of identification has urged two million people with incorrect civil records to amend their personal information with officials. ...

The National Election Committee yesterday closed the voter registration list at 5.30 pm, with more than 32 percent of an estimated 1.6 million newly eligible voters having signed up successfully. NEC spokesman Hang Puthea said final registration figures will be released today. ...

Registration for next year’s national elections closed yesterday with a rush of last-minute sign-ups, though two of every three remaining eligible voters still remain unregistered in an atmosphere that observers say raises questions about the legitimacy of next year’s planned national election. ...

Police in Kratie province were caught on video letting potentially illegal timber transporters pass through their checkpoints on Monday night, with provincial police yesterday suggesting they were powerless to crack down on such shipments as many transporters possessed axes and machetes and were addicted to ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen approved the establishment of a new interministerial task force yesterday that will work to develop and manage community-based ecotourism locations in a bid to find sustainable ways to draw tourists to destinations across the Kingdom. ...