This story from South Africa's Western Province addresses the increasing influx of orphans, and the difficulty children's centers have in keeping up.

Added to the AIDS toll and poverty, the fact that crime is rampant and in many places there is no shame in stealing from orphans or burning down and vandalizing facilities that care for them.

In Cape Town, they're ... more

The business climate is changing in Cambodia with the enforcement of a law requiring firms to undergo financial audits.

So far, 400 business will have to provide their financial statements to independent auditors by this coming December, and more will be required to do so as time passes.

Firms that are subject to auditing are those meeting at least two of three criteria - having annual turnover of three billion riel... more

Angkor Wat is all over the Cambodian news this week, as a cool new study that includes some amazing images from NASA shows just how impressive the place actually is.

The Washington Post translates the new info into a "Consevation Wake-up Call" in their coverage of the story, which is certainly relevant in today's Cambodia.

... more

And for some final bits and pieces of news from Cambodia ...

The Cambodian human rights NGO, LICADHO, has released a report that suggests attitudes toward violence against women is changing.

"Before, a husband would beat his wife and children, now he just insults them..." chilling... more

From pestilence to ... well ... more pestilence, I suppose, with many reports on what is being called the beginning of the Khmer Rouge trials.

Thirty years after the fact, someone has finally been charged with crimes against humanity and is to face the judges of the Extraordinary Chambers... more

While Cambodia is filling in lakes and selling the family jewels by long-term leasing islands, efforts to increase tourism will have to include more than real estate.

Those in charge will also have to attend to pesky details like diseases, however, if they want their beaches littered with greased-up pink people in skimpy costumes.

Cambodia and Thailand are... more

Cambodia is somewhere on the edge of worldwide media focus this week, what with the upcoming international golf classic getting almost hourly hype on CNN.

There is, of course, more going on in Cambodia than golf ... and just writing that sentence shows how much the country has changed recently.

For a look at how fast things are changing, ... more

I've been writing about India, its children, India international adoptions, Indian adoption laws, problems and more for a long time now. Over the past year-and-a-half-plus, I've posted on the nuts and bolts of the system, child labor, female infanticide... more

The US State Department has posted new information on international adoption from Nepal in the country section of their international adoption site.

Framed in a Question and Answer format, it addresses the current status of adoptions in Nepal, the US Embassy's role now for parents who are in the process, the present suspension of adoption imposed by the Government of Nepal, and what is expected to happen when adoptions resume.

Also of great interest, this article from the Nepali Times on internatinal... more

Starting off this week's wrap of news from Cambodia, a press release from the World Bank about their approval of a $36.25 million grant for decentralization and related reforms.

The World Bank’s Country Assistance Strategy for Cambodia 2005 - 2008, endorsed by the Board in May 2005, recognizes governance issues as the primary obstacle to growth, poverty reduction, and aid effectiveness,... more