A string of high-level meetings has continued back-to-back in Phnom Penh this weekend, with Asean stating it could reconsider Myanmar’s participation in future meetings and the U.N. chief calling for human rights defenders and climate activists in Cambodia to be protected.
Meetings played out behind closed doors on the first day of the Asean Summit in Phnom Penh on Thursday as hundreds of workers scurried throughout the Sokha Hotel’s labyrinthic interior to tape down innumerable red carpets and arrange flowers.
Phnom Penh is gearing up for the Asean Summit with fresh restrictions: street sellers downsizing stalls, residents taking down drying clothes, streets blocked around major hotels and nightclubs closed.
CHBAR MON CITY, Kampong Speu — Waters and spirits were high as the annual Water Festival boat races resumed after a two-year hiatus, bringing thousands to the banks of the Prek Tnaut river to watch competitors soar, or sink, through its currents.
Collecting jewel orchids has become a new source of income for remote residents in Kampong Speu, worrying botanical experts who warn the rare plant could be picked to extinction.
Indonesian nationals rescued from a Phnom Penh scam compound say they were targeting Facebook users every day to cheat them out of thousands of dollars. Most are relieved to have gotten away from the criminal work and threat of violence that hovered over them.
More than 60 Vietnamese nationals attempted to flee a Bavet city casino on Saturday, as regional media report more arrests and raids tied to forced labor and fraud operations in Cambodia.
After five years, Cambodia still has some unresolved financial red flags raised by an international counter-financial terrorism group, with a final follow-up assessment coming up next month.
Marker poles have begun to be laid through the center of the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary for the construction of a major power transmission line. Members of a community protected area disrupted by the project fear oncoming harm for wildlife and communities.
Residents of a Phnom Penh community swarmed a police car when plainclothes officers tried to arrest a local 18-year-old for drugs in May. It’s not the only community that has resisted official raids in recent months, and police have launched a review.
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