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False report that ‘fraud and theft often occur in the Angkor area’ emphatically rejected

The APSARA Authority and The Secretariat of the National Committee for Coordination of Information and Public Works (NCDC) have categorically refuted a false report by the discredited Cambodia Daily Khmer new outlet, that Cambodia’s iconic Angkor complex is dangerous for tourists.

The Secretariat of the National Committee for Coordination of Information and Public Works issued a statement following a defamatory story entitled ‘APSARA Authority official reveals that Cambodia is becoming a place to commit horrific thefts against tourists’ published by Cambodia Daily Khmer , that claimed that the Apsara authority workers are working in collusion with criminals to defraud tourists, saying ‘…The Cambodia Daily rebel group is always broadcasting exaggerated information distorts the truth with malicious intent, disrupts public order and pollutes society, as well as slanders the reputation and efforts of the Royal Government.

Therefore, people, please do not be confused, please stop sharing and please stop following the broadcast of this rebel group.’

In addition, the APSARA Authority  issued a statement (below), saying that ‘The APSARA Authority would like to inform the public as follows:

1- Under the wise and energetic guidance of the Prime Minister, all institutions have been working together to achieve the goal of promoting tourism, especially considering hospitality, well-being, safety and security
national and international tourists.
2- APSARA Authority has organized hospitality and first aid training for travel agencies to enable them to have sufficient resources to rescue tourists in case of accident.
3- APSARA Authority has instructed the staff, staff, labor agency and the year of APSARA Authority to adhere to professional ethics, perform their duties responsibly and absolutely avoid any immoral and illegal acts that affect tourism and national honor.
4- APSARA Authority, with the good cooperation of the tourism police, the heritage protection police always found some objects or items that tourists forgot or dropped and returned the objects or items to tourists. In case the owner or item has not been found, the APSARA Authority has also announced on social media or collaborated with the private sector on tourism to find more owners.
APSARA Authority has never received any complaints from tourists about fraud or theft at Angkor.
6. The APSARA Authority completely rejects the unprofessional broadcast of this extremist political propaganda tool, The Cambodia Daily, which distorts the facts, incites discrimination, deception that will cause false information in society.

APSARA Authority calls on the public to stop sharing such information and to share information that has a clear source and provides true information for peace in society.

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BTS Jimin’s New Song ‘Who’ Tops iTunes Charts in 112 Countries, Regions

K-pop group BTS member Jimin’s new single, “Who,” which is the title track of his second solo album “Muse,” has topped the iTunes Top Songs chart in 112 countries and regions around the world.

According to Jimin’s agency BigHit Music on Saturday, “Who” was the No. 1 song on iTunes in the United States, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy, as well as the worldwide and European charts since its release on Friday.

On the Worldwide iTunes Song chart, six of the seven tracks from Jimin’s new album made the top ten list, while five of the seven songs made the top ten on the U.S. chart.

Jimin’s latest album also topped the iTunes Top Albums chart in 87 countries and regions, including the U.S., U.K, and France, as well as the worldwide and European charts.

In the new album, Jimin participated as a songwriter for six of the seven tracks, and as a producer for two of them. 

Jimin is currently serving his mandatory military service.

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Dodgers and Cubs Open 2025 MLB Season in Tokyo March 18, Rest of League Starts March 27

NEW YORK (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers and Shohei Ohtani will open the 2025 season in Tokyo against the Chicago Cubs on March 18 and the Athletics will start the home portion of their first season in Sacramento against the Cubs on March 31.

All 30 teams are scheduled for March 27, marking the earliest opening day other than international games, Major League Baseball announced Thursday. There were games on March 28 in 2019 and this season.

Each team will play six games against its prime interleague rival instead of four, increasing matchups between the New York Yankees and Mets, the Dodgers and Los Angeles Angels, Cubs and Chicago White Sox, and Athletics and San Francisco Giants. What is being called a Rivalry Weekend is scheduled for May 16-18 and includes the prime interleague rivalries along with Pittsburgh vs Philadelphia, Colorado vs. Arizona, Detroit vs. Toronto and Houston vs. Texas.

In the third straight season of a return to a balanced schedule, a team will play 13 games against each division rival and six or seven against each other club in its league for a total of 62. The remaining 48 games are against interleague opponents, with a single three-game series against each of the 14 other clubs in the opposite league. Teams will be home against the same interleague opponents they hosted in 2023.

The American League used a balanced schedule from 1977-2000 and the National League from 1993-2000.

The Dodgers and Cubs will play at the Tokyo Dome on March 18-19, marking the 25th anniversary of the Mets and Cubs playing MLB’s first regular-season games in Japan. Other Tokyo openers were the Yankees and Tampa Bay (2004), Boston and Oakland (2008), Seattle and Oakland (2012) and Seattle and Oakland (2019). The Dodgers and San Diego started the 2024 season in Seoul, South Korea.

MLB and the players’ association intended to play regular-season games in Paris next June but abandoned the plan because they couldn’t find a sponsor. The collective bargaining agreement also called for September 2025 games in San Juan, Puerto Rico, but none were included.

After playing in Oakland at the Coliseum since 1968, the Athletics intend to spend the 2025-27 seasons at Sutter Health Park, home of the San Francisco Giants’ Triple-A River Cats and a ballpark with a capacity of about 10,500 fixed seats. The A’s open with a four-game series at Seattle before hosting the Cubs. They play the Giants at San Francisco’s Oracle Park from May 16-18 and host the Giants from July 4-6. The Athletics franchise started in Philadelphia from 1901-54, and moved to Kansas City for 13 seasons. The team has announced plans to move to a new ballpark in Las Vegas starting in 2028.

The daytime high temperatures in Sacramento often exceed 100 degrees in the summer and artificial turf is being installed to accommodate both the A’s and River Cats.

Other March 27 games include the Cubs at Arizona, Angels at the White Sox, San Francisco at Cincinnati, the Mets at Houston, Cleveland at Kansas City, Detroit at the Dodgers, Pittsburgh at Miami, Milwaukee at the Yankees, Minnesota at St. Louis, Atlanta at San Diego, Colorado at Tampa Bay, Boston at Texas, Baltimore at Toronto and Philadelphia at Washington.

Game times were not announced.

The All-Game will be at Atlanta’s Truist Park on July 15 and the regular season ends Sept. 28.

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Lena Park Drops New EP “Stay With Me”

Singer Lena Park released her new EP “Stay With Me.”

The album was dropped at six p.m. Thursday, according to the singer’s management Bonboo Entertainment.

“Stay With Me” is Park’s first album since “The Bridge,” which was released last year marking the singer’s 25th debut anniversary.

The EP carries seven tracks including the title track “Summer Sweet,” which is available in both Korean and English.

R&B vocalist Xydo is featured in the song ‘Run to You,’ also available in two languages.

Lena Park will hold concerts until Sunday at Baekam Art Hall in Seoul.

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FTIsland to Make Comeback on July 10

Band FTIsland will make a comeback with their seventh full-length album in July.

The group’s agency FNC Entertainment released the band’s promotion schedule for the album ‘Serious’ through its official social media channels on Tuesday. 

 FTIsland will first release one of the double title tracks ‘Burn It’ and its music video on Thursday, and unveil more content including the tracklist, posters, and highlight medleys leading up to the album’s release on July 10. The album will be released through music streaming sites at six p.m. on July 10. 

The album will be the band’s first full-length album in eight years since the release of ‘Where’s the truth?’ in 2016. The members took part in producing all of the songs in the album, including the double title tracks ‘Burn It’ and ‘Serious.’

On Saturday and Sunday, FTIsland will hold a standalone concert titled ‘2024 FTISLAND LIVE ‘PULSE” at the Blue Square Mastercard Hall in Seoul.

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Jin of BTS Ready to Participate as Torchbearer for 2024 Paris Olympics

Jin of the K-pop boy band BTS is set to participate as a torchbearer for the 2024 Paris Olympics on the weekend.

According to media outlets reporting on the upcoming Olympics on Saturday, the 31-year-old is scheduled to be the first torchbearer in the Louvre Museum section of the torch relay in Paris on Sunday.

The South Korean singer is expected to begin carrying the flame at the Louvre Pyramid at around 8:30 p.m. Sunday local time, which is Bastille Day, the French national holiday commemorating the storming of the Bastille prison during the Revolution.

The torch relay in France, which began in the southern Marseille region on May 8, is expected to be held throughout Paris until Monday, before returning to the provinces. The torch will then return to Paris for the opening ceremony on July 26.

Jin’s participation is seen as a recognition of BTS’ global popularity, as well as the group’s message of “love yourself” over the past decade.

The oldest BTS member became the first to complete the mandatory military service last month.

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Twice’s Music Video Tops 500 Million Views

The music video for girl group TWICE’s 2015 song “Like Ooh-Ahh” has surpassed 500 million views on YouTube. 

The group’s management JYP Entertainment said the video broke the 500 million mark shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday.

With this feat, TWICE now has eight songs with music videos over 500 million views. Twice has a total of 24 songs with over 100 million views on YouTube, more than any other girl group worldwide. 

TWICE is set to release their fifth full length album in Japan, titled “DIVE,” next week.

The girl group will tour in Osaka, Tokyo, and Kanagawa throughout the month of June.

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Miss Grand 2024 Cambodia winners announced

Excitement reached fever pitch last night as the winners of the Miss Grand Cambodia beauty pageant were announced in Phnom Penh.

By Sotheary of Kampong Chhnang was announced as the overall Queen and won ‘Best Swimsuit’.

She will now represent Cambodia in a yet to be announced location in the finals of the contest in October 2024.

1st runner up was Svay Rieng
2nd runner up was Siem Reap
3rd runner up was Ratanakiri
4th runner up was Battambang

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Colombia defeat Uruguay to reach Copa America final

Ten-man Colombia defeated Uruguay 1-0 to reach the final of the Copa America for the first time in 23 years after an ill-tempered semi-final on Wednesday.

A 39th-minute Jefferson Lerma header sealed victory for the Colombians, who will now face holders Argentina in Sunday’s final in Miami.

It was an anarchic semi-final played in front of a packed and passionate crowd which ended with scuffles on the field and fighting in the stands, including several players who had climbed in among supporters amid the flying punches.

Colombia, despite having Daniel Munoz sent off just before the interval and facing plenty of Uruguay pressure, hung on for a famous victory to the delight of their massive following of fans.

The win was the 28th game without defeat for Colombia, setting a new record for the team.

The breakthrough came in the 39th minute when Lerma rose majestically above Jose Maria Gimenez and powerfully headed home Rodriguez’s corner.

It was the sixth assist of the tournament for Rodriguez with the former Real Madrid midfielder beating the record for most assists in a single Copa, which was set by Lionel Messi in 2021.

Colombia looked to make the most of their momentum with Richard Rios forcing a save out of Uruguay keeper Sergio Rochet, after being played in by Munoz.

ut having been so influential down the right in the opening half, Munoz lost his head completely, just before the break, picking up a second yellow card, after landing an elbow on Manuel Ugarte.

Uruguay’s Argentine coach Marcelo Bielsa took the blame for being unable to craft a win against ten-men in the second half.

“Uruguay were clearly in a position to win this game…I take special responsibility for not having been able to establish an advantage when we had the players capable of doing so,” he said.

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Seventeen becomes UNESCO’s first Goodwill Ambassador for Youth

Seventeen has become the 1st K-pop group to be appointed UNESCO’s Goodwill Ambassador for Youth. It is also the first time UNESCO has designated a youth ambassador. 

Seventeen has been supporting the #GoingTogether campaign to highlight the importance of education with UNESCO. 

Seventeen will attend the appointment ceremony on June 26 at UNESCO headquarters in Paris and meet with UNESCO director-General Audrey Azoulay and deliver an acceptance speech outlining their plans and sentiments regarding their new role.