ASEAN
Hun Sen on December 15, 2022 (Hun Sen's Facebook page).

Protesters in Brussels Demand Human Rights as Hun Sen Pushes Free Trade

Prime Minister Hun Sen said politics and human rights should not get in the way of an Asean-E.U. free trade deal as at least 100 Cambodian protesters demonstrated in Brussels upon his visit and demanded the release of political prisoners and the protection of human rights.

Prime Minister Hun Sen walks down the stairs of the presidential plane on his arrival at Ngurah Rai International Airport ahead of the G20 Summit in Bali, Indonesia on November 14, 2022. (G20 Media Center/Reuters)

Hun Sen Tests Positive for Covid-19, to Miss APEC

Prime Minister Hun Sen is returning home from Indonesia after testing positive for Covid-19, he said this morning, noting he has no symptoms but will miss meetings with Chinese and French leaders.

Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba gifts cufflinks to Information Minister Khieu Kanharith at the Asean Summit in Phnom Penh's Sokha Hotel on November 12, 2022. (Danielle Keeton-Olsen/VOD)

Asean Suggests Myanmar Could Be Barred From Future Meetings

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.

Traffic was quiet but flowed freely on November 10, 2022, at the start of the Asean Summit in Phnom Penh. (Keat Soriththeavy/VOD)

Man Arrested for Crossing Key Asean Summit Road

Phnom Penh Municipal Police said the arrest happened around 1:20 p.m. along one of the main roads in Phnom Penh being used to shuttle Asean Summit VIPs to and from the Sokha Hotel in Chroy Changva.

Khmer Thavrak activists sat in Freedom Park during their hunger strike on November 9, 2022. (Kuoy Longdy/VOD)

Hunger Strikers Warned They Must Leave Freedom Park

A small group of protesters camping out at Phnom Penh’s Freedom Park say they have been told they must leave and continue their hunger strike in support of a jailed opposition activist at home.

Asean Summit: What’s on the Agenda

Myanmar and Ukraine are expected to be key topics as the Asean Summit — and at least 12 side summits — kick off in Phnom Penh Thursday.

Illustration: Traffic cameras

Opinion: Cambodia Needs People-Centric Planning Before ‘Smart Cities’

Asean is promoting a “Smart City Network” of tech-focused solutions to the region’s urban problems. But there are simpler, cheaper and more sound urban policies without falling for the notion that technology is the answer to everything, writes Future Forum’s Ses Aronsakda.