Phnom Penh

CHAMKAR TA NGET, Cambodia -- Nai Oeurn had reason to celebrate. Cambodia's civil war was over, and as the 14-year-old Khmer Rouge guerrilla marched into the capital, Phnom Penh, he truly believed his country's rural poor had triumphed. Thirty years later, after the "killing fields" and the death of one-sixth of the Cambodian population, his dream has come to this: collecting cow dung for a living, earning 90 cents for a 3-foot-high pile that takes five days to collect. For him, as for many other Cambodians, the 30th anniversary of the fall of Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975, is an...

Human rights groups in Cambodia expressed outrage Friday over prison sentences imposed on 13 women who were protesting being evicted from their land without adequate compensation. The women were sentenced Thursday by a Phnom Penh court after being found guilty of aggravated rebellion and illegal occupation of land in a three-hour trial. Their trial came amid heightened concern in Cambodia about land grabbing, which is sometimes linked to corruption and the use of deadly force to carry out evictions.

Weary palates crave surprises. So when vibrantly flavored dishes of a long-overlooked cuisine arrive on the table, even the most jaded eaters take notice. Cambodian fare has long stood in the shadow of its popular Thai and Vietnamese neighbors. It is cuisine you may have never met. A cozy restaurant just blocks from Revere Beach is happily making introductions. Thmor Da occupies the storefront once filled by the Cambodian eatery Floating Rock.

Weary palates crave surprises. So when vibrantly flavored dishes of a long-overlooked cuisine arrive on the table, even the most jaded eaters take notice. Cambodian fare has long stood in the shadow of its popular Thai and Vietnamese neighbors. It is cuisine you may have never met. A cozy restaurant just blocks from Revere Beach is happily making introductions. Thmor Da occupies the storefront once filled by the Cambodian eatery Floating Rock.

A Cambodian court has sentenced an American man to 10 years in prison for sexually abusing two underage boys. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted Philip Bruce Shepard, 69, on Wednesday of paying for child prostitution with two boys, aged 12 and 15. The boys' parents had filed a complaint to police who monitored the man's movements and arrested him in July on his way to work at a Phnom Penh children's hospital. The court ordered Shepard expelled once he serves his prison time.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Cambodia plans to build a 1,820-foot skyscraper, its prime minister said yesterday, a feat that would give one of the region’s least-developed capitals the tallest building in Asia. Prime Minister Hun Sen said he had approved a master plan for the skyscraper, which would be about half a mile from the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh — a dusty city of colonial villas, slums, and one standout skyscraper, the new Canadia Tower, at about 377 feet high. Hun Sen did not say when construction would start or how much it would cost.

On a rutted road in sun-drenched jungle, a man named Kola thought back 30 years to Cambodia's murderous Khmer Rouge regime. In 1975, at 13, Kola was marched by Khmer soldiers from the capital, Phnom Penh, to the fields. How did he, who survived to raise a family and fight for democracy, navigate those dark days? It was simple, he said: He talked to no one. He worked in rice fields. Each morning he saluted his rulers' flag. "I acted stupid," he said. To illustrate this prior life, Kola screwed his face into a demented twist, then released it back to a grin.

Come at dawn to Wat Phnom, sacred site at the center of Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh. The temple sits atop a hill, said to be the only one in this soft sprawl of a city. At the edges, even in the early hours, motorbikes buzz on busy streets, and vendors hawk souvenirs. But climb the narrow stone steps to the top, and a terrace, where a woman quietly sweeps. Through a doorway, candles burn and a man, wearing baggy pants and no shirt, he a bit of a Buddha himself, unrolls prayer mats beneath statues that do not flicker in the face of time.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- A Cambodian labor leader affiliated with the country's main opposition party was shot to death on a street yesterday, the latest in a series of suspected political killings of critics of the ruling party. Chea Vichea, president of the Cambodian Free Trade Union of Workers, was shot at least twice in the chest at a newsstand, said Va Sothy, who owned the business. "There were two assailants. One was waiting on a motorcycle and the other walked toward him and shot him two or three times" from a distance of 2 feet, she said.

Eight farmers have died after their tractor ran over an anti-tank mine left over from Cambodia's 1980s civil war. The head of the Cambodian Mines Action Center, Heng Ratana, says two others were seriously injured Friday when the mine exploded as the farmers traveled to a cassava field in Banteay Meanchey province, 190 miles (300 kilometers) northwest of Phnom Penh. He says the area was the site of intense battles between the communist Khmer Rouge and government forces in the 1980s and early 1990s.

Eight farmers have died after their tractor ran over an anti-tank mine left over from Cambodia's 1980s civil war. The head of the Cambodian Mines Action Center, Heng Ratana, says two others were seriously injured Friday when the mine exploded as the farmers traveled to a cassava field in Banteay Meanchey province, 190 miles (300 kilometers) northwest of Phnom Penh. He says the area was the site of intense battles between the communist Khmer Rouge and government forces in the 1980s and early 1990s.

A Cambodian court has sentenced an American man to 10 years in prison for sexually abusing two underage boys. The Phnom Penh Municipal Court convicted Philip Bruce Shepard, 69, on Wednesday of paying for child prostitution with two boys, aged 12 and 15. The boys' parents had filed a complaint to police who monitored the man's movements and arrested him in July on his way to work at a Phnom Penh children's hospital. The court ordered Shepard expelled once he serves his prison time.

* THE ROAD TO FREEDOM Directed by: Brendan Moriarty Starring: Joshua Frederic Smith, Scott Maguire, Nhem Sokun, Tom Proctor Running time: 93 minutes At: Kendall Rated: R (violence to bodies and normal speech patterns) During the Vietnam War, film star Errol Flynn's son, Sean, gave up an acting career to become a photojournalist. He went to Vietnam, where he helped break the story of the My Lai Massacre. In 1970, on assignment for Time magazine, he talked his way across the Cambodian border with fellow journalist Dana Stone.

"Why on earth would you go there?" That's the question posed to most people who want to visit Cambodia, says Kristen Paonessa, a senior at Northeastern University majoring in international affairs and economics. Paonessa, who aims to pursue a career in international development, fulfilled an experiential learning requirement by interning in Phnom Penh for the Harpswell Foundation. The foundation is a nonprofit that provides housing and education to children and women in Cambodia, with the goal of empowering a new generation of female leaders.

Floating Rock 485 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge 617-455-4009 www.floatingrockrestaurant.com At a little restaurant in a brick storefront in Revere, many Bostonians had their first taste of Khmer cuisine. Floating Rock served dishes laced with chilies, fresh herbs, and the fermented fish paste called prahok to guests from Cambodia and Cambridge alike. For those discovering the bright flavors, the food was a revelation. The restaurant wasn’t glamorous, but it fed customers like royalty, on the cheap.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Thailand accused Cambodia of refusing to negotiate to resolve a border dispute that led to the fourth straight day of fierce clashes yesterday, as Phnom Penh said that only UN peacekeepers can stop the fighting near an 11th century temple. Cambodia says the crumbling stone temple — classified as a World Heritage site — has been heavily damaged during several bursts of artillery fire over four days. The exchange of cross-border fire is highly unusual among members of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and...

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Thailand accused Cambodia of refusing to negotiate to resolve a border dispute that led to the fourth straight day of fierce clashes yesterday, as Phnom Penh said that only UN peacekeepers can stop the fighting near an 11th century temple. Cambodia says the crumbling stone temple — classified as a World Heritage site — has been heavily damaged during several bursts of artillery fire over four days. The exchange of cross-border fire is highly unusual among members of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and has raised tensions in a...

NEW YORK - Dith Pran, whose harrowing account of enslavement and eventual escape in 1979 from the murderous Khmer Rouge revolutionaries in Cambodia became the subject of the award-winning film "The Killing Fields," died yesterday at a New Jersey hospital. He was 65. Mr. Dith had pancreatic cancer, said Sydney Schanberg, his former colleague at The New York Times . Mr. Dith was working as an interpreter and assistant for Schanberg in Phnom Penh, the Cambodian capital, when the Vietnam War reached its chaotic end in April 1975 and both...

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Machine-gun and artillery fire echoed across the frontier between Thailand and Cambodia today as fighting between their troops erupted for a fourth day near an 11th century temple that has been caught in the crossfire. Cambodian government spokesman Phay Siphan said clashes began again early today after halting around midnight. There was no immediate comment from Thai authorities. The fighting began Friday, and yesterday Cambodian officials said Thai artillery collapsed part of a wall of the Preah Vihear temple, a United Nations World Heritage Site.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — As a suspension bridge in the Cambodian capital swayed under the weight of thousands of revelers, some began to shout that the structure was going to collapse. Others pushed, heaved, and even jumped off the span in the grip of a panic that ended in the deaths of more than 350 people. Though typical, the movement of the bridge terrified the festival goers — many of whom were in Phnom Penh from the provinces for the end of rainy season and were unfamiliar with such bridges, city police Chief Touch Naroth said yesterday, citing a government...