Passengers aboard the MS Westerdam cruise ship, which was turned away by five countries over coronavirus fears, were allowed to disembark in Cambodia on Friday.
After tests, no one onboard was found to be carrying the Covid-19 virus, and the Cambodian prime minister, Hun Sen, personally greeted the passengers with handshakes and floral bouquets as they stepped off the ship on to a waiting bus
Continue reading...An unknown number of workers are still trapped in rubble in the latest construction disaster to hit the country
At least 10 people have been killed and 23 injured after a building in Cambodia collapsed, trapping workers under rubble, officials said on Saturday.
The seven-storey concrete building collapsed on Friday in the coastal town of Kep, about 160 km (100 miles) south-west of the capital Phnom Penh.
Continue reading...Grand Tour host says impact of global heating on lake bed in Cambodia was ‘genuinely alarming’
Jeremy Clarkson has made what could be the biggest reversal of his 30-year career. The anti-environmental columnist has, for the first time, accepted the existence of global heating after seeing the impact for himself.
Clarkson’s epiphany came as he and his Grand Tour co-stars ran into difficulty while filming a 500-mile boat race from Siem Reap in Cambodia to Vung Tau in Vietnam.
Continue reading...Founder of Cambodia National Rescue Party, charged with treason in 2017, cannot leave country or join political activities
Cambodia has freed a prominent opposition figure from house arrest more than two years after he was charged with treason, after attempts by his colleagues to return to the country were thwarted.
Kem Sokha was arrested in 2017 and accused of plotting to overthrow the government of strongman Hun Sen, who has ruled since 1985. He was sent to a remote prison, then confined to his house and the surrounding block and prohibited from talking to the media.
Continue reading...Sam Rainsy has pledged to restore democracy in Cambodia after four years in wilderness, but faces arrest when he enters the country
Cambodia’s prime minister Hun Sen has ordered troops at the border with Thailand to be on high alert and led a crackdown on supporters of his former main opposition party, as its leaders plot a dramatic return to the country.
Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) leaders living in self-imposed exile have vowed to “restore democracy” by returning to the country on 9 November. In the run-up to Saturday Cambodian authorities have jailed CNRP supporters and promised to arrest Sam Rainsy, the party leader, if he enters the country.
Continue reading...Briton, 21, disappeared after attending beach party on Koh Rong island last week
The body of the British backpacker Amelia Bambridge has been found at sea more than 30 miles (48km) from where she disappeared, according to Cambodian police.
The 21-year-old gap year student from Worthing, West Sussex, had been missing since last Thursday morning after leaving a beach party on the island of Koh Rong. Her body was found floating in the sea near the Thai border, police said.
Continue reading...Police chief says land and sea searches will continue until backpacker, 21, is found
Cambodian police have said they believe the missing British backpacker Amelia Bambridge has drowned.
Bambridge, 21, from Worthing, West Sussex, was last seen on Koh Rong island in the early hours of 24 October. She was reported missing after failing to check out of her hotel on time. Staff at Police Beach, a private venue on the island, found her purple rucksack with her purse, phone and bank cards inside the following morning.
Continue reading...Cambodian officials say six men have been interviewed about Briton’s disappearance
Cambodian officials looking for a British woman missing on Koh Rong island are focusing their search on fishing boats and have interviewed six men about her disappearance.
Amelia Bambridge, 21, from Sussex, was last seen at a beach party at about 3am on Thursday. Nearly 150 Cambodian officials and seven volunteers continued searching the island and surrounding areas on Tuesday, the fourth day of large-scale searches.
Continue reading...Amelia Bambridge, 21, from Sussex, was last seen in early hours of Thursday at beach party on Koh Rong
Police and volunteers in Cambodia are searching for a missing British woman last seen by friends in the early hours of Thursday at a beach party on the island of Koh Rong.
Amelia Bambridge, 21, from Worthing in Sussex, went to a party on Wednesday at Police Beach, which is popular with backpackers and located off the south-west coast of the South-East Asian country. Her handbag, containing her phone and bank cards, was found on the beach on Thursday but she has not been seen since the event.
Continue reading...Aki Ra was a child soldier for Pol Pot, laying mines around Siem Reap. Now he is using his expertise to clear land in rural Cambodia and make it safe again
The rusty tailfin of the mortar round can be seen poking through the roots and mud of a small dirt patch, next to a skull and crossbones sign.
Aki Ra thinks the bomb could have been lying in rural Siem Reap, Cambodia, for 40 years. If it hadn’t been found, it may have added another death to the approximately 20,000 people killed by explosives laid in the country from the late 1960s to the 1990s.
Continue reading...Autocratic rule, increased media restrictions and use of mass surveillance affect almost half global population, researchers find
Nearly half the world’s people are living in countries where their freedom of speech and right to privacy are being eroded, researchers have found.
“Strongman” regimes seeking to squash voices of dissent and solidify political power are increasingly monitoring citizens through technology, cracking down on protests and jailing journalists, according to a ranking of 198 countries on issues including mass surveillance and data privacy.
Continue reading...Country vows to return 1,600 tonnes of waste as south-east Asian countries revolt against an onslaught of rubbish shipments
Cambodia has announced it will send 1,600 tonnes of plastic waste found in shipping containers back to the US and Canada, as south-east Asian countries revolt against an onslaught of rubbish shipments.
China’s decision to ban foreign plastic waste imports last year threw global recycling into chaos, leaving developed nations struggling to find countries to send their trash.
Continue reading...Anger growing over poor standards in construction boom that has transformed Sihanoukville into tourist and gambling hub
The death toll in a building collapse in Cambodia has risen to 24 as hopes faded of finding any more survivors.
Related: Where does your plastic go? Global investigation reveals America's dirty secret
Continue reading...A Guardian report from 11 countries tracks how US waste makes its way across the world – and overwhelms the poorest nations
What happens to your plastic after you drop it in a recycling bin?
According to promotional materials from America’s plastics industry, it is whisked off to a factory where it is seamlessly transformed into something new.
Continue reading...Experts say region is losing the battle to stop the biggest animal disease outbreak the planet has ever faced
South-east Asia is battling to contain the spread of highly contagious African swine fever, known as “pig Ebola”, which has already led to the culling of millions of pigs in China and Vietnam.
African swine fever, which is harmless to humans but fatal to pigs, was discovered in China in August, where it has caused havoc, leading to more than 1.2m pigs being culled. China is home to almost half of the world’s pigs and the news sent the global price of pork soaring.
Continue reading...Armed with blockchain and AI, health workers and campaigners are battling the bogus business that kills thousands
By the time the teenage boy was standing in front of Bernice Bornmai, feverish and delirious, it was already too late.
It wasn’t just the malaria that was killing the 17-year-old, it was the time he’d wasted taking fake medicine. The antimalarials did nothing to stop the disease marching through the young Ghanaian’s body: his organs were already shutting down.
Continue reading...