What happens when Cambodia's vibrant youth culture is confronted with its not-so-distant past?
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EAS Interview: History's Horrors Inspired Literary Beauty
Geoff Ryman talks about his novels and short stories with Cat Barton.
Most visitors to Phnom Penh, even those on a short trip, have heard of Friends restaurant. Starting out as an NGO concerned with providing practical hospitality training to ex-street children, Friends has earned itself a well-deserved reputation for friendly staff and tasty, reliable food.
On a balmy tropical night in Phnom Penh earlier this year, a glamorous fashion show took place. But while a catwalk in Southeast Asia might be expected to rustle with the sound of sumptuous silks, it was recycled plastics as "rubbish couture" that shimmered and swirled when the models stepped out in at this unusual event.
What woke me up I don't know. I just remember realizing there was someone in my house who shouldn't be there, and glancing over to see a robber almost within touching distance going through an antique wardrobe a friend had just left when she went back to Australia.
She saw me the same time as I saw her. I froze and waited for a knife or a gun, but thankfully she just ran into the night.
"It's all about soul" Billy Joel sang on his 1993 album River of Dreams. Billy Joel may not be coming to Phnom Penh any time soon, but another Billy has brought soul to the Kingdom.
Billy Haynes is a big man with a big voice and since his arrival in Phnom Penh has given couple of sneak previews (one of them via satellite to the whole nation) of what it is he does and what he does is sing. Oh, and play the bass. Last night was his opening night at the Cambodiana Hotel's Q-ba and Billy doesn't just sing. He rocks.
They may be a new generation, but Cambodian music vendors and fans say they are not ready for Britney Spear's new image, nor those of her wild partying friends, and it is changing the face of music in Cambodia.
Once images of Britney adorned every second girl's T-shirt, and businesses from beauty parlors to souvenir shops used her image to promote their image. But no more, according to experts.
Interpol has launched an unprecedented global public appeal to help identify a man shown sexually abusing children in photographs posted on the internet.
The man appears in about 200 images depicting the abuse of 12 boys, which police said were taken in Vietnam and Cambodia, possibly in 2002 and 2003.
The pictures had been digitally altered but police computer specialists have produced identifiable images.
Interpol says the man is a danger to children while he remains at large.