Report finds Cambodian government active in one of the world's most powerful criminal networks
A landmark report has accused Cambodia's ruling party of actively running what could be the world's most powerful criminal network - fuelling a multi-billion dollar cyber-scam industry built on human trafficking and state protection.
The US government-funded study warns that Southeast Asia's scam economy - centred in Cambodia - now rivals the scale of entire national economies. And given how lucrative and powerful they've become, the crime syndicates are now almost quote "too big to fail."
The report names senior Cambodian officials, including relatives of the Cambodian Prime Minister, as central players in a vast transnational enterprise - whose reach and impunity pose a growing threat to global security and regional stability.
Guest: Jacob Sims, report author, and visiting fellow at Harvard University's Asia Centre
Producer: Anne Barker
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News.com.au
8 hours ago
- News.com.au
‘Dripping': 100 dead cats found at woman's home in Japan
Around 100 dead cats were discovered at the squalid home of a woman in southwest Japan who belonged to an animal welfare group, a local official said on Wednesday. The group, Animal Assist Senju, apologised on social media, posting pictures of the trash-strewn house it said 'was overflowing with faeces and urine'. The residence belonged to one of its staff members, who the group said had gone rogue and taken in many cats without consulting the organisation. One cat was found 'unrecognisable' with 'its skin partly peeled off and paws covered in faeces and urine', the group said in an Instagram post at the weekend. Kumamoto City's animal protection centre told AFP on Wednesday that the dead felines were initially estimated to total 'around 100'. Media reports however said the number is now thought to be higher. Animal Assist Senju, based in the region of Kumamoto, says it rescues cats and dogs from animal shelters and transfers them to new homes. 'All the members of our group take what happened very seriously,' it said in another Instagram post. 'We can only imagine what agonising pain the cats went through before dying.' The woman is no longer allowed to take in cats, it said. City officials and animal rights volunteers inspected the house twice after they were notified last week of a feline death, before launching a full search and rescue mission. It is not clear if legal action has been taken against the woman. Twelve live cats have been saved from the home so far, according to city animal protection official Tsutomu Takimoto.

ABC News
8 hours ago
- ABC News
Despite being two matches away from potential World Cup qualification, the Socceroos' best attack is still a mystery
A country's football team is rarely, if ever, made up of its 11 best players. International managers have their 'favourites', and with good reason. Seldom do they spend more than a week with their squads, and often, especially at the pointy end of World Cup qualification, there is too much riding on games to forgo a safe pair of hands for the sweaty palms of a debutant. Despite throwing a few selection curveballs in each of the four Socceroos squads he has named since taking over last September, Tony Popovic's favourites are now well established, particularly in attack. Nishan Velupillay, although missing this window through injury, has been both the biggest surprise and success of the early Popovic months, Mitch Duke and Adam Taggart have been in and around all of Popovic's starting 11s despite up and down club form, while Martin Boyle, who has just finished an excellent season with Hibernian in Scotland, has deservedly been an ever present on the right wing. This week, the Socceroos face Japan on Thursday and then Saudi Arabia on Tuesday in the last two matches of round three of Asian World Cup Qualifying. Australia currently sit second in their group and must stay there to earn automatic qualification to next year's tournament. Two draws would be enough to do it, but lose either of the games, and things get difficult. If the Socceroos do fall out of the top two positions, they will enter the fourth round of qualifying, which could end in a dreaded qualification play-off. So, it's both understandable and predictable that Popovic looks set to lean on his attacking in-circle once again this week. But waiting in the wings (and growing increasingly impatient in them) sits an exhilarating crop of uncapped forward talent the likes of which Australian football hasn't seen for decades. Last season, for the first time ever, the top four positions of the A-League's golden boot standings were taken up by Australians under the age of 24. Sydney's Adrian Segecic (20) and the Wanderers' Nicolas Milanovic (23) — who last month made the move to Europe with Scottish club Aberdeen — both had excellent seasons cutting in from the wing, while Adelaide's Archie Goodwin (20) and Western's Noah Botic (23) had breakout years as their teams' attacking focal points. However, all are yet to make their international debuts and won't against Saudi Arabia or Japan. Milanovic was included in the Socceroos pre-camp training squad earlier this month, but didn't make the final cut for the international window proper, while Botic and Segecic weren't named in either. Goodwin, meanwhile, succumbed to a hamstring injury while playing for Adelaide last month. Segecic's and Botic's non-selections have been talking points for a couple of international windows now. Both made 'call-me' goalscoring celebrations after missing selection for Popovic's March squad and Segecic recently told ESPN that he hadn't heard from the Socceroos boss at all despite his stellar year. "I think I wanted to be part of it … maybe I thought I deserved to at least be a part of the training squad. But that's football, and that's how it goes. I can only keep training, doing well, and hope to be part of something next time," Segecic told ESPN. "I think any footballer, if they were in my shoes, having done what they had done, would love to have had a call-up. "I would say it's frustrating, but it is what it is. That's football. You just have to keep going and not put your head down." Injuries to Velupillay and veteran Craig Goodwin as well as the deepening career crisis of Kusini Yengi — who's without a club and short of match fitness after being let go by Portsmouth last month — meant that there were three vacant attacking spots in Popovic's latest squad. In an exciting move, Popovic opted to reward 21-year-old centre-forward Mohamed Toure for his strong season in the Danish first division. Nine goals and three assists for Randers makes him one of the Socceroos most in-form European based players. The only other two out and out strikers named in the squad were Popovic favourites Taggart and Duke. Taggart had, by his standards, a quiet A-League season. He scored 10 goals over the course of the year but only found the net three times after the last international break in March. The 35-year-old Duke, meanwhile, comes into the window off the back of the most club football he's played for well over a year. It's still not much, mind you. He's registered just 383 minutes, mostly as a late substitute, for his Japanese team Machida Zelvia all season. He's scored one goal in that time. In all of Popovic's six games in charge of the Socceroos to date, he has played a variation of a 3-4-2-1 formation. This means that his side always features three main attacking players in the form of one striker and two supporting wide men. That's unlikely to change this week. The striking spot will be taken by one of Taggart, Duke, Toure, or, perhaps most likely, Brandon Borrello. Borrello, although most comfortable on the wing, started up front for the Socceroos in their last game against China in March. He's not quite a natural centre-forward but is a strong presser and hard worker. Either side of that focal point, the Socceroos boss changes the job description depending on the game. Sometimes the wide players are asked to play as somewhat traditional wingers, sometimes as inside forwards and sometimes as more withdrawn, duelling playmakers. Given the magnitude of the upcoming games and the quality of opposition, it is safe to assume that selection will be more on the conservative side. Riley McGree, although just back from injury, is a possible option to provide both support to the midfield and add guile in attack. On the right, Boyle is the favourite to start. He's a hard worker and will provide some pace on the counter. Regardless of what happens against Saudi Arabia and Japan, Australia's attacking questions are unlikely to be answered this week. But if things go to plan, and the Socceroos clinch automatic World Cup qualification still over a year out from the tournament, we could be a step closer to finding them. Because perhaps then, with the peril of qualification play-offs avoided and with 12 glorious months of friendlies ahead of his team, Popovic will see fit to bed in Australia's next generation of goal scorers.

ABC News
10 hours ago
- ABC News
From Trump to North Korea, South Korea's Lee Jae-myung seeks 'middle ground' foreign policy
Lee Jae-myung had his eyes on South Korea's presidency long before winning a snap election on Tuesday. After losing the last election in 2022, Mr Lee has finally taken power — but in a world where much has changed. Mr Lee, who was promptly inaugurated on Wednesday, commenced formal duties as president at 6:21am local time. An acting president had been in place after his predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol was impeached for declaring martial law. The new president will immediately face an international stage vexed by hiked tariffs and trade uncertainty, US-China tensions, and growing ties between North Korea and Russia. Observers of South Korea's politics say Mr Lee, who has been accused by opponents of being pro-China in the past, has already recast himself according to the new strategic landscape. In his inaugural address on Wednesday, he vowed to restart dormant talks with North Korea and to bolster a trilateral partnership with the US and Japan. But experts said Seoul's relationships with both Washington and Beijing would test Mr Lee's diplomatic agility. US President Donald Trump announced 25 per cent tariffs on imports from South Korea, a country reliant on exports for its wealth, in April. Along with neighbouring Japan, South Korea hopes to negotiate a lower rate and to shield its industries from the Trump administration's trade agenda. University of Sydney Korean studies lecturer Su-kyoung Hwang said the country's strong relationship with the US would likely remain largely the same, and that Mr Lee "will likely reach out to Trump as soon as possible". "Like every political leader on the planet right now, he needs to deal with Trump's capricious tariffs, the shifting international landscape, and an increasingly isolationist United States in the face of an ambitious China," she said. While South Korean conservatives have leaned firmly pro-US, progressives like Mr Lee have historically advocated for more balanced relations, said the Australian National University's Korea Institute director Kyung Moon Hwang. "Progressives are more open to engaging with China and North Korea," said Professor Hwang. The US, South Korea's strongest ally, has pushed for greater defence spending. China, South Korea's largest trading partner, is important for dealing with North Korea. "The China situation is interesting because it is economically crucial, but even more delicate because of the US administration," Professor Hwang said. "It's a hard line to walk." During his inauguration speech on Wednesday, Mr Lee didn't directly mention trade tensions with the US. But he said he would prioritise revitalising a slowing domestic economy and immediately launch an emergency task force to wage a "head-on battle" against the threats of recession. Mr Lee has stressed South Korea's alliance with the US remains the foundation of its foreign policy. In the face of opponents accusing him of being pro-China and anti-American, Mr Lee has cast himself as a centrist and pragmatist on foreign policy said the ANU Korea Institute's Jay Song. The adoption of a "strategic ambivalence" meant the new president would not take sides, Dr Song said. "He will do the deal with the US when it's serving the [national] interest and he will also do, for example, trade ... with China." And she said Mr Lee would likely be muted on tensions over China's claim on Taiwan — a matter that US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth at the weekend claimed posed an "imminent threat" to the separately governed island. In his inaugural address, Mr Lee promised to pursue "pragmatic diplomacy" with neighbouring countries and boost trilateral cooperation with the US and Japan. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio congratulated Mr Lee on his election on Wednesday. "The United States and the Republic of Korea share an ironclad commitment to the alliance grounded in our Mutual Defence Treaty, shared values, and deep economic ties," Mr Rubio said. Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba said the importance of his country's ties with Seoul remained unchanged, calling for a bilateral summit as soon as possible. Regarding North Korea, Mr Lee promised "strong deterrence" based on the US military alliance. But he said he would "open a communication channel with North Korea" and establish peace on the Korean Peninsula "through talks and cooperation". Dr Song said the victorious Democratic Party was known for being in favour of engagement with North Korea. "But what they also realise is that North Korea's Kim Jong Un is not Kim Jong Un of let's say five or 10 years ago," she said. The new government would have to set its policy towards North Korea accordingly, she said, also considering the possibility that Mr Trump could push for a deal with Pyongyang. "He may do something with North Korea directly, not involving South Korea even," Dr Song said. "So [Mr Lee] and his foreign policy team has to calculate all these changes." Yet any breakthrough remains uncertain. North Korea's support for Russia's war in Ukraine, including the provision of troops and military aid to Moscow, has complicated international diplomacy with the West. "The Ukraine situation really limits how far South Korea can go," Professor Hwang said. ABC/Wires