Jan. 14: Reuters reported: With one dry well and a second producing up

to 244 barrels of oil a day, a Japanese oil consortium plans a third test drilling

off Cambodia's southwest coast, a consortium official said. Kiyoyuki Sato, deputy

general of Cambodia Petroleum Exploration Co. Ltd. (Campex), said the flow rate at

the producing Apsara well was not great enough for commercial use but the company

will spend at least $4 million on a third test - bringing its total investment in

Cambodia to $40 million.

Jan. 15: Land mines killed ten people and injured 53 others, including

seven children, in Battambang Province in December, the Mines Advisory Group said.

The figures were released as the Battambang Ban Landmine Committee sent a message

calling for a total ban on mines, to a 50-nation U.N.-sponsored conference on land

mines meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. December figures released for other provinces

showed 4 dead and 19 injured in Kompong Thom, and ten dead, 35 injured in Banteay

Meanchey.

Jan. 16: Reuters reported: Pochentong Airport managers intend to hike passenger

departure fees from $10 to $15 for international flights and from $4 to $5 for Siem

Riep flights. Renzo Sacchi, managing director of the Society Concessionaire de l'Aeroport,

said landing and parking fees will be raised by 50 percent soon. The increases are

needed for development of the airport, he said. The Franco-Malaysian company is also

banking on the government applying for and getting a $30 million soft loan from the

Asian Development Bank to help pay for construction of a new runway, terminal and

other things.

Jan. 16: Reuters reported: The National Assembly approved legislation imposing

heavy fines and up to 20 years in jail for people convicted of kidnapping, selling

or coercing minors into the sex trade. The law's heaviest penalties are aimed at

pimps and brothel-keepers dealing in children under 15, even if they agree. Some

critics worried about a lack of definitions for such terms as "debauchery."

Jan. 17: Reuters reported: Repaved and sporting 26 rebuilt bridges, National

Route 6A, a two-lane, 44.5-kilometer road connecting Phnom Penh and the central and

eastern provinces, was inaugurated by Second Prime Minister Hun Sen and National

Assembly President Chea Sim. The road along the west bank of the Mekong, built in

the 1960s, had deteriorated in places to a dirt track fit only for bicycles. It was

rebuilt with a $30 million Japanese grant, and will cut 90 minutes off travel time

to Kompong Cham.

Jan. 17: Thirty Cambodian teachers started a training course preparing

them for a month-long visit to Japan, the Japanese Embassy said. The teachers will

live with Japanese families and take part in programs around the country.

Jan. 18: Reuters reported: Visits by foreign tourists, business people

and officials increased 24 percent in 1995 over the previous year, Tourism Minister

Veng Sereyvuth said. Almost 220,000 foreigners landed at Pochentong Airport, with

China sending most and Taiwan close behind. More than 70 percent came from Asia.

Sereyvuth noted that only 2,000 tourists visited Cambodia in 1990 and predicted a

million a year by the turn of the century.

Jan. 18: Reuters reported: At least 13 Cambodians, 11 of them civilians,

were killed and 30 injured in four attacks on Poipet by KR guerillas.

Jan. 18: Reuters reported: Cambodia and India took steps to improve economic

and technical cooperation, signing a memo of understanding and agreeing in principle

to set up a joint commission for bilateral ties. Foreign ministers Ung Huot and India's

Pranab Mukherjee signed the memo. Mukherjee mentioned expanded two-way trades, joint

ventures and possible technical help to Cambodia in agriculture, small-scale industry

and pharmaceuticals.

Jan. 18: Development of provincial radio got a boost with the donation

by UNESCO of $9,000 worth of cassette players, mixers, mikes, headphones, cassettes

and tools to Radio Battambang. The equipment, along with training by teachers from

the Cambodia Communication Institute and a French journalism school, will be used

to improve provincial radio programs, said UNESCO's Cambodia director, Khamliene

Nhouyvanisvong.

Jan. 19: Reuters reported: The World Bank will help Cambodia make its logging

contracts more protective of vanishing forests, First Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh

said, adding that he has asked for international help in determining how much forest

remains. He said the World Bank will propose a new form for granting forestry concessions

with more-protective language, and the U.N. Development Program and the Food and

Agricultural organization have been asked to assess existing forests. The government

has been criticized for granting recent logging concessions to vast tracts of forests.

Ranarridh opened a two-day Congress at the Environment Ministry by designating 1996

"reforestation year." He said Cambodia has "a real political will

to protect the environment."

.Jan. 19: Reuters reported: A U.S.-Danish security firm opened a branch

office in Phnom Penh, aiming to protect foreign investors and tourists worried about

crime. MPA Security Services will target airlines, embassies, companies, hotels and

banks, said country manager Mark Browman.

Jan. 20: Reuters reported: King Norodom Sihanouk returned from Paris, where

he attended the funeral of former French President Francois Mitterrand and received

medical treatment, canceling a scheduled trip to Beijing for a check-up.

Jan. 21: More than 100 university students asked permission to start a

youth branch of the opposition - and so-far legally unrecognized - Khmer Nation Party.

The students gathered at party headquarters. One student, asking not to be identified,

said there was a "lot of interest" at Phnom Penh University in the party

founded by Sam Rainsy, sacked as finance minister in 1994 and expelled from Parliament

in June.

Jan. 22: Reuters reported: Heavy fighting was raging between government

troops and Khmer Rouge guerrillas in Bantey Meanchey Province, a government source

said. Government troops launched "mopping-up" operations to stop shelling

of Poipet, trying to chase the KR out of artillery range of the border city.

Jan. 24: The National School of Prosthetics and Orthotics, which trains

Cambodians to fit and maintain artificial limbs and orthopedic appliances, got two

new donor organizations, both pledging two years of funding - American Red Cross

and Veterans International. The new donors joined founders Cambodian Trust and NSPO.