THURSDAY, MAY 20, 2021 Intelligent . In-depth . Independent Issue Number 3667 / 4000 RIEL No red zones remain in capital Mom Kunthear – orange for moderate Covid-19 trans- trict’s Chbar Ampov II commune; would remain under lockdown with with the orders issued on May 5. mission and yellow for low-risk areas. village 23 in Tuol Kork district’s Boe- all restrictive measures announced in “What is new for this week is that HNOM PENH’S red zones The administrative measures put ung Kak II commune; four villages the previous orders still applicable. there are no more red zones because have now disappeared, with in place for yellow zones have been in Por Sen Chey district’s Chom The yellow zones, however, are no we have retained only orange and yellow zones covering almost extended for another two weeks Chao I commune; some parts of longer under lockdown though health yellow zones. The orange zone mea- the entire capital except for through June 2, while the measures Chong Khsach and Bak Touk villages measures must still be enforced. sures are extended for one week and Psome dots of orange, according to for orange zones have been extend- in Russey Keo district’s Tuol Sangke Phnom Penh municipal hall yellow zone measures are extended the new map released by the munici- ed for seven days until May 26. I commune; and some villages in spokesperson Meth Meas Pheakdey for two weeks,” he said. pal administration on May 19. The orange zones are now desig- Meanchey district’s Stung Meanchey told The Post on May 19 that travel Pheakdey said that this new decision The municipality said the entire city nated as being some parts of Deum II and III communes. and business activities in yellow now has only two colour-coded zones Chan village in Chbar Ampov dis- The decision said orange zones and orange zones must comply CONTINUED – pAGE 2 Israel aims to deter but able to ‘conquer’ Hamas: PM PRIME Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on May 19 said Israel’s bombing of Gaza targets aims to deter Hamas but he did not rule out a campaign to “con- quer” the enclave’s Islamist rulers. Deafening air strikes and rocket fire once more shook Gaza in the conflict that has claimed 219 Pales- tinian lives according to the Gaza health ministry and killed 12 people in Israel according to Israeli police. While an international diplomatic push aims to end the worst blood- shed in years, Netanyahu issued another tough threat against the armed group that has fired thousands of rockets at Israel since May 10. “There are only two ways that you can deal with them,” Netanyahu told a group of foreign ambassadors. “You can either conquer them, and that’s always an open possibility, or you can deter them, and we are engaged right now in forceful deterrence, but I have to say we don’t rule out anything.” The goal is to “degrade Hamas’ capa- bilities, their terror capabilities, and degrade their will,” Netanyahu said. An Israeli military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, however said in a separate briefing that Israel is now assessing at what stage it may Out in the cold stop its military campaign. Spanish soldiers stand guard as migrants stand on rocks off the shore of the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on Tuesday. Spain stepped up diplomatic pressure on Rabat as its “We are looking at when is the right prime minister flew into Ceuta, vowing to ‘restore order’ in the North African enclave after a record 8,000 migrants reached its beaches from Morocco. AFP moment for a ceasefire,” said the source. Israel was evaluating whether its objective of degrading Hamas’ capabili- ties had been achieved, the military source said, and “whether Hamas under- OM 5451 rice delivers golden results stands the message” that its rocket bar- rages towards Israel cannot recur. Hin Pisei mine 85 and OM 2490 varieties for The Post late last month that the dry riel in Banteay Meanchey province and Israel’s bombing campaign has pest and disease resistance. season ended with a total yield of 900-930 riel in Prey Veng province. also left Gaza’s two million popula- BOOMING demand in the Vietnamese The cultivar has bulked up yields 2.93 million tonnes on a total culti- Narin told The Post on May 19 that tion desperate for relief. market has taken prices of OM 5451 for the Kingdom’s farmers, with the vated area of 646,530ha, or an aver- traders were buying up this year’s Hospitals have been overwhelmed paddy on a wild ride during and beyond Khon Rang Reak Reay Cooperative age of over 4.5 tonnes per hectare. dry season paddy at higher prices by patients, there are frequent black- the dry-season rice harvest season this in Kampong Chhnang’s Boribor dis- A list published by the Cambodia than last year. outs and sewage from broken pipes year, according to industry insiders. trict logging averages as high as 6.5 Rice Federation on May 17 revealed Traders were shelling out up to has flooded some areas. OM 5451 is a high-yielding long- tonnes per hectare, according to its that OM 5451 is going for 900-950 riel 1,100 riel per kilogramme in early Some 72,000 civilians have fled grain cultivar of fragrant rice mainly head Prum Narin. ($0.23-0.24) per kilogramme in Kam- March, before reducing that to 800 their homes, seeking refuge in UN- grown in the Mekong Delta, created In contrast, General Directorate of pong Chhnang province, 920-940 riel run schools and other public build- by a crossbreed combination of Jas- Agriculture chief Ngin Chhay told in Kampong Thom province, 940-970 CONTINUED – pAGE 6 ings, the UN says. AFP TEARS OF JOY AS REAL ESTATE MARKET SCORES RECOVER YAWNS AS NATIONAL FROM COVID-19 ROAD 10 FORGES ON NATIONAL – pAGE 4 BUSINESS – pAGE 8 2 THE PHNOM PENH POST May 20, 2021 WWW.phnompenhpost.COM National Man sent to court for rape China’s Mars landing lauded and murder of teenager Ry Sochan Kim Sarom suspect told police that on May 15 he saw the girl riding RIME Minister Hun Sen sent a ODDAR Meanchey provincial a bicycle alone to pick black letter to Chinese President Xi police on May 19 referred a plums in a forest 10km away Jinping congratulating China man to court after arresting from the village and followed on the successful landing of the him on May 18 for allegedly her on a motorcycle to the for- PChinese spacecraft Zhurong on Mars. raping and murdering a est, where he raped her. In his letter dated May 18, Hun Sen 17-year-old girl on May 15 in After the rape, he dragged said: “On behalf of the Royal Government Chongkal district’s Krasaing her to a nearby pond where he and people of Cambodia, I would like to commune. drowned her before hiding extend my heartfelt congratulations to The provincial police’s crim- her body in nearby bushes. Your Excellency, the Chinese government inal bureau chief Yin Nareth The man then dropped the and the people of China on the success- said the suspect, 23, was bicycle into another pond ful landing of the Zhurong spacecraft on caught while trying to flee. 200m away from the scene Mars as part of the Tianwen-1 mission.” “He admitted to committing and returned to the village. On May 15, the Chinese spacecraft the crime alone and evidence Concerned about the girl’s Zhurong successfully landed on the is consistent with the state- long absence, relatives and Red Planet. It departed Earth from the ment. So, it hasn’t been a dif- other villagers searched for her Wenchang launch site in China’s Hainan ficult investigation,” he said. and later found her body. province on July 23 last year. Citing relatives of the victim, Nareth said provincial crim- Hun Sen said that this is a milestone Nareth said her mother had inal police investigating the achievement highlighting China’s con- died and her father had remar- case had watched the village tinued progress in its space programme ried so that his three daughters in a bid to identify a suspect. and interplanetary exploration. and son could be taken care of. Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) meets Prime Minister Hun Sen at Peace Palace in Phnom Penh On May 18, the 23-year-old He said he strongly believes that this in 2016. CHINESE AMBASSY, HONG MENEA The victim was the youngest was caught trying to ride out “great achievement” will significantly sibling. She and the suspect of the village. After the arrest, contribute to China’s outer space re- In that sense, we can exchange experi- yet obtained from China is a transfer of knew each other as they lived police told him to take them to search mission, which in turn will benefit ences between China and Cambodia in knowledge and technical skills and tech- in the same village. the scene where they found the scientific development of mankind. the digital [Industry] 4.0 era,” he said. nology access from China, he noted. During questioning, the her bike and clothes. “Please accept, Your Excellency, the as- Cambodian Institute for Democracy “Even technology investments such as surance of my highest regards for you and president Pa Chanroeun told The Post on broadband internet do not yet exist. As a my best wishes for your good health, hap- May 19 that Hun Sen’s letter was a diplo- Cambodian citizen who works on social piness and continued success in leading matic gesture recognising China’s achieve- development, I want to see the transfer China to a brighter future,” Hun Sen wrote.