Laurence Stevens

Cambodia’s possible pursuit of lower carbon-emitting energy sources appears to have waned after government officials this week cited a lack of incentives and higher-priority energy goals, a stance that a researcher and an activist respectively said was “short-sighted’ and the “wrong decision.”

A 4-year-old girl was abducted outside her home in Phnom Penh’s Russei Keo district on Tuesday morning, leading to a $500 reward for her safe return and conflicting reports from police officials and an NGO about the alleged kidnapper.

Cambodia has a “unique window of opportunity” to reduce its carbon footprint by making energy production and transportation more environmentally friendly, according to a study published earlier this month.

Record low temperatures and unseasonable rainfall over the past week were a glimpse into the potential, intensifying effects of climate change in Cambodia, experts said, a phenomenon that studies suggest could seriously hinder future agricultural productivity through flooding, unpredictable rains and warming of up to 5 degrees Celsius by 2050.

A provincial official Thursday’said tests have concluded that sudden fish deaths in Preah Vihear province’s Stung Sen River last month were caused by fertilizer runoff from a nearby sugarcane plantation, but the environment minister later said the investigation was ongoing and other culprits were still being considered.

Research into the effects of heat stress on sugarcane workers in Kompong Cham province found that productivity was dramatically reduced as daytime temperatures soared, a troubling finding given Cambodia’s lagging labor efficiency and expected warming over the next 30 years due to climate change.

The desire for lighter skin carries a heavy health risk.

Classic buildings are more than just landmarks to Silas Everett, country representative for The Asia Foundation. They are physical embodiments of culture, time and place.