Phnom Penh - Cambodia still hoped to hold bilateral talks next week to defuse tensions over an ongoing border dispute despite continued political turmoil in Thailand, government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Wednesday.

"We have prepared and we remain ready for the scheduled bilateral talks with Thailand," Kanharith said by telephone.

Phnom Penh  - The German government announced it is increasing its support for the trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders in a press release on the embassy website received Tuesday.

Germany said it had pledged an additional 4.3 million dollars for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) 2009 and 2010.

Phnom Penh  - Cambodia has not planted any new landmines and had warned Thai military commanders that a disputed border area was heavily infested and dangerous well before two Thai rangers were seriously wounded by mines this week, an official said Tuesday.

Bangkok - Thailand on Saturday issued an official protest to the Cambodian government over an alleged border incursion and subsequent clash that left three soldiers injured, Thai officials said Saturday.

On Friday a Thai military patrol encountered Cambodian troops allegedly situated about 1 kilometre inside Thai territory near the Phreah Vihear temple, an 11th century Hindu temple that has been the cause of many border disputes between the two neighbouring countries for almost five decades.

Phnom Penh  - Cambodia's Prince Norodom Ranariddh, who became the country's first democratically elected prime minister in memory in 1993, announced his political retirement Thursday.

He announced his decision at a formal dinner in the capital.

Ranariddh, a son of former king Norodom Sihanouk, said he had told his half brother, King Norodom Sihamoni, Thursday morning that he believed he could serve the country better in another capacity.