An Interior Ministry official said Cambodia was studying foreign interference laws, pointing to Cham invasions of ancient Cambodia, while a human rights advocate worried about “color revolution” labels.
Speculation has been rife about whether the resumption of Sokha’s trial — nearly two years after it was stopped due to Covid-19 — signaled an imminent political deal that could see the former CNRP president return to politics.
Currently, five Cambodian ambassadors are women. Those like Pech Puthisathbopeaneaky, who is general consul in Hong Kong, are at the frontiers of equitable foreign policy, changing perceptions of diplomacy as a man’s job, writes Marie Kepler.
As a treason trial against former opposition leader Kem Sokha resumed on Wednesday after a delay of nearly two years, lawyers attacked each other over the postponement, while the defendant said he had believed a reconciliation was in the cards.
Som Sophea witnessed NagaWorld grow from a cruise ship to a sprawling casino complex. The company recognized her for two decades of service, but fired her during year 26. One month into a labor strike, Sophea says she wants respect for longtime employees.
Preah Vihear’s Prey Preah Roka Wildlife Sanctuary is dotted with clearings and fresh stumps. As a local patroller walks through the protected forest, he points out dozens of logged areas, many now being cultivated by local residents. Some say they were pushed out from plantation land or are struggling with debt.
Samraong Thom commune police chief Huot Seiha denied he had taken $3,500 from three detained people in exchange for their release, as he was removed from his post and demoted one rank over the allegation but allowed to stay in the force.
Mondulkiri’s provincial spokesman says widespread loss of protected land — amid the creation of a new anti-logging task force on Tuesday — “has nothing to do with powerful people or high-ranking people.”
Activist monks say a Ministry of Religions draft law will potentially stamp out over a century of resistance and advocacy for the environment, human rights and political participation.
Alleging renewed large-scale illegal logging, environmentalists around the Prey Lang Wildlife Sanctuary said authorities should take action to stop deforestation before it was too late, just as officials had reclaimed 60,000 hectares of protected flooded forests around the Tonle Sap lake.
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